While studying significant people who have made a difference in history, I asked my World History class to write about the prompt: Why is it important to make a difference? Why should one person care or try? We also viewed a clip from C-SPAN on Youth Civic Engagement and Social Media. These were some of their responses.
It's important to because you want to help and make things easier for others. KG
I can help people by doing small jobs for them. It is important because it can make a difference in their day or even their life. LS
To motivate other people to join together to make a big difference.
You can make a difference by helping or supporting someone who needs it. You can make a difference by creating something that helps people in some way or by creating something that makes the most difficult of tasks faster to complete. You can make a difference by standing up and holding out your hand to anyone person to assist them. All you need to do to make a difference is to be able to support what you want to do, what difference you want to create, what difference you find important. It is important to try because whether you succeed or not at the difference you try to make, it matters that you tried to make a difference; that you wanted to make a difference. That you are one of the people who care about whom or whatever you tried to make a difference for. ST
Everyone in some way makes a difference. Something little can always lead to something bigger. TO
One person can make a difference and some people will follow. KV
Any help is good, and people that need help will take any help they can get. Helping people is really good, and everyone should join in it. We can make a difference. MM
It might encourage more people to follow. CS
Anyone can make a difference if they try hard enough for something. One person can make a group of people to make a difference. If you want something changed bad enough, you will make an effort to change it. CE
I can volunteer to do small favors for people, like help clean or do some work. It's good because you should "share the love". BB
I can volunteer to help people to get a job done quicker, like cleaning up a place or painting. It's good for someone to try to do something to help because it can make a difference in someone's life. If someone donates money to a charity or other program it can change someone's life, like giving them clothes, food, water, or anything else they need. Or anyone could donated anything, do little jobs for people. JT
Every person makes a little bit of difference. One event leads to bigger events. TW
I can make a difference in my community by helping them & hoping old people. I would want to help because it's good to help people. LW
I can do things in my community, but I could also get together with other people to do it on a bigger scale. I should try because when a lot of people do little things, it makes a difference. YOU HAVE TO START SOMEWHERE. KM
Monday, January 30, 2012
Wii Grant
I received the money for my Wii grant this weekend, so of course, I went on a shopping spree! My students are looking forward to the new games/activities we will be able to participate in! Thank you to ICSS for enabling us to get:
2 charging docks for remotes
2 adapters
4 remote covers
2 remotes
2 nunchucks
4 nunchuck covers
Mario & Sonic London Olympics
-To be used in Sports History, World History, and Geography
CSI: Fatal Conspiracy
-For Street Law and possibly Government
National Geographic Challenge
-Geography (obviously)
History Channel: Battle for the Pacific
-US History, World History
2 charging docks for remotes
2 adapters
4 remote covers
2 remotes
2 nunchucks
4 nunchuck covers
Mario & Sonic London Olympics
-To be used in Sports History, World History, and Geography
CSI: Fatal Conspiracy
-For Street Law and possibly Government
National Geographic Challenge
-Geography (obviously)
History Channel: Battle for the Pacific
-US History, World History
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Essential Attributes to Being a Successful Teacher
Differentiation and a student-centered classroom
Every student deserves the chance to be successful and to work an environment that not only pushes him to his full potential, but helps him realize how he can push himself to his full potential. My students receive individualized instruction within the parameters of my standards based on their own interests. No one student must complete a task in the same way as another student. It is more important for me to help a student create and learn how to find his own knowledge as it is to pass along knowledge. Students in my classroom are actively engaged in the discovery process. This helps them not only within my content area (social studies), but within the context of being a lifelong learner. It is important to me to help students achieve their highest level of readiness for whatever path they may choose in life.
Flexibility and Creativity
Because students do not all learn the same way, it is important to me to be flexible and creative. Discovering a students’ passion and using that to help teach my skills and content are essential to a successful classroom. In addition to helping a student learn, it is important to understand how the students are learning. Formative assessment plays a key role in my instruction. It’s important to be flexible within assessments and instruction based on results of formative assessment. A low score means I ask “How can I help you understand this better?”, not “Why didn’t you study more?”.
Trying something new and not being afraid to make a mistake (and learn from it) are qualities that I try to model for my students and build into their coursework.
Being Collaborative and Global
Collaboration amongst students is essential to their learning. They can learn as much from each other as they can from me. Interpersonal skills are a key component to future success, and accountability, communication, and responsibility to a group of peers are life lessons that I make sure to include in my curriculum. I follow these same guidelines in my own personal and professional life. I have never stopped learning from my peers and often find my Twitter PLN to be my best resource. My students being actively involved in collaborative work in the classroom and my being actively involved in collaborative work outside the classroom are necessary ingredients to a successful classroom. It is important to remember that in an ever “flattening” world, collaboration should be global, not just local. The term “flattening” is thrown around a lot, but breaking outside the classroom walls is an important part of the learning experience that I try to offer my students as often as possible.
Every student deserves the chance to be successful and to work an environment that not only pushes him to his full potential, but helps him realize how he can push himself to his full potential. My students receive individualized instruction within the parameters of my standards based on their own interests. No one student must complete a task in the same way as another student. It is more important for me to help a student create and learn how to find his own knowledge as it is to pass along knowledge. Students in my classroom are actively engaged in the discovery process. This helps them not only within my content area (social studies), but within the context of being a lifelong learner. It is important to me to help students achieve their highest level of readiness for whatever path they may choose in life.
Flexibility and Creativity
Because students do not all learn the same way, it is important to me to be flexible and creative. Discovering a students’ passion and using that to help teach my skills and content are essential to a successful classroom. In addition to helping a student learn, it is important to understand how the students are learning. Formative assessment plays a key role in my instruction. It’s important to be flexible within assessments and instruction based on results of formative assessment. A low score means I ask “How can I help you understand this better?”, not “Why didn’t you study more?”.
Trying something new and not being afraid to make a mistake (and learn from it) are qualities that I try to model for my students and build into their coursework.
Being Collaborative and Global
Collaboration amongst students is essential to their learning. They can learn as much from each other as they can from me. Interpersonal skills are a key component to future success, and accountability, communication, and responsibility to a group of peers are life lessons that I make sure to include in my curriculum. I follow these same guidelines in my own personal and professional life. I have never stopped learning from my peers and often find my Twitter PLN to be my best resource. My students being actively involved in collaborative work in the classroom and my being actively involved in collaborative work outside the classroom are necessary ingredients to a successful classroom. It is important to remember that in an ever “flattening” world, collaboration should be global, not just local. The term “flattening” is thrown around a lot, but breaking outside the classroom walls is an important part of the learning experience that I try to offer my students as often as possible.
Monday, October 24, 2011
IACoPi: A Force of Change
When I walked into Adventureland Inn last April I was unaware of the life changing events that were about to take place. What I thought was a meeting to begin working on a blended e-curriculum for Social Studies became a journey that is mind-boggling to look back on. It is not an exaggeration to say that IACoPi has changed my teaching, my life, and the lives of my students.
The opportunities made available to me through IACoPi changed the face of my classroom. From blended learning to project-based learning to professional development on e-instruction, IACoPi changed all my classes in some way. My 6th and 10th grade students will each participate in a full year of instruction based in project based learning. All seven of my classes, from 6th grade through 12th grade, are working in a blended learning environment. Although my district is not part of a one-to-one initiative, IACoPi and its members inspired me to give my students the best of one-to-one blended learning and combine it with research-proven instructional strategies.
IACoPi inspired me to become more collaborative and to flatten the walls of my classroom. My students have had the opportunity to work with other Iowa districts, to Skype with professionals as it relates to our course of study, and work with teachers from other states to provide another point of view for our work. They have used Twitter to reach out about new subjects and Today’s Meet to invite other educators and administrators into our discussions. My students are becoming independent thinkers and learners through project based learning. They are mastering life skills through the content as opposed to memorizing facts about the content. They are communicating with peers and adults, creating their own work at new levels, and thinking critically about the world around them in a new way.
IACoPi has also changed my life. I have made friendships, taken on new leadership positions at school and in my community, and made it a priority to become a better member of a global society. I hope to use my IACoPi resources to inspire these ideals in my students. Each of my classes has taken on a community based service project as part of their learning. I created a student technology team to increase student leadership opportunities and encourage students to take ownership of their own learning.
The CoPi is so much more than a collaborative work environment. It is a mind set, a way of learning, and a way of living. We must all work together to help our students achieve their fullest potential. We must all work toward contributing to a meaningful global society. We must all work together to be better.
The opportunities made available to me through IACoPi changed the face of my classroom. From blended learning to project-based learning to professional development on e-instruction, IACoPi changed all my classes in some way. My 6th and 10th grade students will each participate in a full year of instruction based in project based learning. All seven of my classes, from 6th grade through 12th grade, are working in a blended learning environment. Although my district is not part of a one-to-one initiative, IACoPi and its members inspired me to give my students the best of one-to-one blended learning and combine it with research-proven instructional strategies.
IACoPi inspired me to become more collaborative and to flatten the walls of my classroom. My students have had the opportunity to work with other Iowa districts, to Skype with professionals as it relates to our course of study, and work with teachers from other states to provide another point of view for our work. They have used Twitter to reach out about new subjects and Today’s Meet to invite other educators and administrators into our discussions. My students are becoming independent thinkers and learners through project based learning. They are mastering life skills through the content as opposed to memorizing facts about the content. They are communicating with peers and adults, creating their own work at new levels, and thinking critically about the world around them in a new way.
IACoPi has also changed my life. I have made friendships, taken on new leadership positions at school and in my community, and made it a priority to become a better member of a global society. I hope to use my IACoPi resources to inspire these ideals in my students. Each of my classes has taken on a community based service project as part of their learning. I created a student technology team to increase student leadership opportunities and encourage students to take ownership of their own learning.
The CoPi is so much more than a collaborative work environment. It is a mind set, a way of learning, and a way of living. We must all work together to help our students achieve their fullest potential. We must all work toward contributing to a meaningful global society. We must all work together to be better.
Friday, September 23, 2011
World History Update
In World History we are just about to complete our first unit - an intro to time, space, and history. I split the Iowa history and geography standards up over 8 units of World History instruction. I also turned each unit into a Project-Based format. The students have been comparing maps of their town from 50(ish) years ago to present-day maps, analyzing census data and population trends, and the students are not putting together proposals for the city council on what improvements or changes might be made to the town to address/align with current population trends.
Next week we will have a community member, a city council member, and a business person come into the class to hear the proposals and offer feedback and comments. The students will be given a 1-4 rating on the success with which they addressed each standard (there are two for this unit).
I feel like the first unit has gone well so far. I've tried to provide practice opportunities for all the pieces, and multiple opportunities for feedback. The hardest part has been working the structure of the class into the traditional gradebook. I know I could use a free online standards based gradebook, but parents know to check JMC, so that's an issue I've run into. I also have to assign grades to the practice assignments, which I'd prefer not to do. However, I made the "practice" worth a small percentage so the majority still comes from the actual project.
I think standards based grading and project based learning are important to the future of education. Students are creating, evaluating, and analyzing (upper levels of Bloom's). They are also getting practice and feedback, from me and from their peers and from the community on their work. By making it public we've added a level of legitimacy that encourages students to produce their best quality work.
The students are blogging right now as well, and I'm anxious to read their feedback. It has taken some adjusting, and I'm sure all the feedback from the students won't be positive at this point so early on, but I'm hoping that with their feedback I can address concerns and modify to meet their needs and make it better for unit 2!
Next week we will have a community member, a city council member, and a business person come into the class to hear the proposals and offer feedback and comments. The students will be given a 1-4 rating on the success with which they addressed each standard (there are two for this unit).
I feel like the first unit has gone well so far. I've tried to provide practice opportunities for all the pieces, and multiple opportunities for feedback. The hardest part has been working the structure of the class into the traditional gradebook. I know I could use a free online standards based gradebook, but parents know to check JMC, so that's an issue I've run into. I also have to assign grades to the practice assignments, which I'd prefer not to do. However, I made the "practice" worth a small percentage so the majority still comes from the actual project.
I think standards based grading and project based learning are important to the future of education. Students are creating, evaluating, and analyzing (upper levels of Bloom's). They are also getting practice and feedback, from me and from their peers and from the community on their work. By making it public we've added a level of legitimacy that encourages students to produce their best quality work.
The students are blogging right now as well, and I'm anxious to read their feedback. It has taken some adjusting, and I'm sure all the feedback from the students won't be positive at this point so early on, but I'm hoping that with their feedback I can address concerns and modify to meet their needs and make it better for unit 2!
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Friday, August 26, 2011
NEH, Did You Know?
Today I showed all of my 8th-12th grade students the “Iowa, Did You Know?” video. They laughed at the more phones than toilets statistic, cheered for Facebook and Twitter, gasped at the 49th in entrepreneurial (yes, according to Pages I did spell that right on the first try) activity, and were appalled when they saw that their classrooms (mostly) look like the classroom in the 1890 photo.
After the clip and after we talked through their initial questions and concerns (Is Iowa really THAT bad?) we discussed and wrote about the accompanying discussion questions. Here I’d like to share the reoccurring themes from the approximately 85-90 students who viewed the film and discussed it’s contents.
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Question 1: Do you feel like you are being educated for the last 50 years or the next 50 years?
The students answered all across the board, with the majority answering “the last 50”. Some did feel that they were being taught for the future, but several felt they were being educated by the present.
Question 2: What do we need to do to make students better communicators, collaborators, and problem solvers?
The overwhelming responses included more technology and more group work. While some are leery of technology and wish we could just use textbooks and worksheets (because they are good at them, not necessarily because they find them interesting), many wanted to take advantage of opportunities available to them through technology such as working with groups outside of the school building.
Question 3: What percentage of your day would you say you spend using modern technology in school (I asked them not include items they weren’t supposed to be using or word processing)?
Of course the answer varied, but most were below 20% and all were below 30%. They said that it varied from class to class and what was going on in class. More technology is used, they said, during projects and for research.
Question 4: What percentage of your day outside of school would you say you spend using some form of technology (I asked them not to include watching television)?
Again, answered varied, some kids have more at-home restrictions than others, but answers averaged at around the 50-60% range. I saw some 80s and higher - and yes, even one 100%, though I’m not sure when he sleeps if it’s 100%.
Question 5: What percentage of the school day would you say you are bored? What should be done to ensure that students are engaged and want to come to school to learn?
This ranged from 2% to 98%, but the most common answers landed in the 50-70% range, though 40% and 80% made several appearances in my analysis.
Again technology was the overwhelming winner. Students wanted to be able to use their cell phones, more computers, they want iPads and to invest in new technology. Projects were a close second. Students want “fun”, hands-on learning experiences, more group projects and non-traditional learning. One student asked for flipped classes.
Question 6: What should Northeast Hamilton do to address the concerns of the “Did You Know” video?
Number six may as well have been a copy and paste of number five, although they also included making tech use more equitable between classes, getting rid of textbooks, and asked for air conditioning so that they would be more comfortable during classes and could pay attention better (well, it IS August in Iowa). A couple asked that they be included in education discussions.
Question 7: What should the state of Iowa do to address the concerns of the video?
Most students asked for more money, but some asked for the government to be less strict in educational laws concerning seat time, required subjects, and grade levels. They want to be able to have more voice and choice in the classes they take and more freedom and flexibility during the school day. Several noted that they would ask for college to be made more affordable.
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Overall I think this lesson had a positive impact on the students. I got a lot of great feedback from students who don’t typically offer an opinion, and many were still talking about it well after class had ended. It helped give them some background behind why I am doing what I’m doing in my classes and about what changes might take place in the future. The felt like they had a voice; that somebody was listening to them.
Not everyone wanted more technology, though. Some fear change and some fear technology. I saw that the fear or resistance was more prevalent in the younger grades, while the older students begged for new technology to be put in their hands. My hope is that these conversations today set the tone for a productive, engaging experience. I gave my students permission to call me out (respectfully, of course) if I was truly not teaching in a way that would help them become better prepared for their futures. We will be partners in learning this year. We will be better together.
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