A Whole New Kind of Teacher

In the craziness of COVID, I stopped blogging. But now I am back, inspired by colleagues sharing their teaching experiences. So let's recap the last few years of my journey to becoming a whole new kind of teacher.

Once we returned to in person learning, I was so disillusioned with the way students were responding, both academically and behaviorally, that I knew I needed to big change. That school year of 21-22 was definitely one of my worst in 22 years of teaching! I had students who refused to collaborate, or even talk to others at their table, students who threw food in class (11th grade boys), and just too many not caring about their grades. By the end of the year, even colleagues were snapping at each other. Many teachers I knew were not in a good place.

That August, I returned with a renewed sense of purpose and a new focus for how I would teach. I decided to stop teaching my 11th grade US History class chronologically, and instead focus on themes. It was the best decision I could have made! Not only was I re-energized, but my students overwhelming responded that they preferred the new method. In fact, the 22-23 school year was definitely one of my BEST ever!  I will address the themes in another post. 

It was not jus the change to thematic teaching that made it so amazing, but the introduction of Edu Protocols. It started with a conversation with a former principal, who now works at the district office as an Assistant Superintendent. I was telling her about my struggles with student apathy and behavior. She gave me the first of the Edu Protocols books to read, The Edu Protocol Field Guide. I took it home and was in her office a week later begging for more. By the time I had gone back to school, I head read the Edu Protocol Field Guide Book 2, Deploying Edu Protocols: A Guide to Educational Change Leaders, and the Edu Protocol Field Guide Social Studies Edition. I was obsessed and ready to transform my classroom!

For those not familiar with Edu Protocols, they are lesson frames that can be used with any content and any grade level K-college. The premise is that once students learn the structure of a lesson or activity, that they can then get into more complex content and with deeper thinking than before. I use many of them in my classroom now and will continue to share lessons that I do to show how to implement them. My school has also taken on the task of rolling out Edu Protocols schoolwide over the course of multiple years. 

The 23-24 school year was another one of my favorites. I continued to improve thematic teaching and rolling out Edu Protocols. Now in 25-26, I decided to make a switch to teach Government. My degree is in political science and I wanted a new challenge. I had taught US History for most of my 25 year career. I will still continue to teach US History through my AP class, but am very excited to get to apply Edu Protocols to the study of American Government. 

I am excited to be back writing again and hope that the strategies and struggles I share will help inspire and improve other teacher's classrooms as well.

Spectrum of Slavery

In my AP US History class, we study the different points of view of slavery during the Antebellum period. One method that helps my students understand the different opinions is to create a spectrum from the most radical abolitionist to the most staunch supporter of slavery. The discussions they have in groups while they debate takes their understanding to a new level. In the end, I have 7 volunteers stand at the front while the whole class puts them in order. This furthers the discussion.

Speed Dating

This idea was something I learned from being part of an AP US History group and I adapted it to my classroom. At the end of our unit on the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, we held a Speed Dating Day. This was done in both my college prep and AP classes and they loved it!

Prior to this, students were assigned a reformer to research. They were responsible for submitting a resume for this person. Then on the day of the Speed Dating, we had three minute rotations where "reformers" could talk to each other and find their perfect match for reforming an area of the Gilded Age. Students were encouraged to bring props to enhance their presentations. Each student was given a chart to complete during the activity.

Talk about 100% engagement! Even my less talkative students were actively engaged in conversations. Next year I plan to add romantic music, candle lights (battery powered obviously) and other decorations to make it seem like a real Speed Dating event.

Meeting their perfect matches!

Thomas Nast shares cartoons!

The Great American Hall of Fame

This post is in honor and memory of a friend and teacher named Darren Thomas. Darren taught AP US History. He was quite proud of his Idaho roots and so established a Mr. Potato Head project for AP students to conduct after the exam was over. Each year students chose 2 famous Americans to induct into the Great American Hall of Fame. What they did was choose Americans they thought were worthy of the honor and had debates over their merits. Once the two individuals were chosen for the year, a Mr. Potato Head was created in their likeness. They are then formally inducted into this hall of fame with a special dinner ceremony. Here are examples of Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton:

Other individuals who have been inducted include Sacajawea, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Dorothea Dix, Clara Barton and FDR. There is even a Hall of Shame group of inductees that includes Aaron Burr.

Mr. Thomas just recently passed away and his students created a Mr. Potato Head of him and inducted him into the Hall of Fame.