Anthony Fitzpatrick, Implementation Manager for the NJ Department of Education, was a guest speaker at one of the Teaching American History grant sessions in 2012. His book, Social Studies Can Be SPECtacular motivated me to change the way I approach the teaching of a time period.
On Thursday, the second day of school, I started out by having my students brainstorm everything they knew about Abraham Lincoln. Students wrote down things like 16th President, lawyer, born in a log cabin, tall, beard, top hat, married to Mary Todd, had 4 kids but only one survived to adulthood. I then shared with them this Prezi that I had made and discussed Social, Political, Economic and Cultural characteristics. Finally students were instructed to group each item into one of those categories. It worked really well...except for how do you categorize tall? We skipped that one, but it did provide a nice side lesson about determining important vs unimportant facts.
I am excited to use it throughout the year as students investigate different time periods, set the context for historical documents and much more. I hope that you will try it out in your own classroom!
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Where Have the Leaders Gone?
The public is often eager to blame teachers when things go wrong in a school, but take it from me, the problem starts at the top. I feel that we have a crisis in leadership in education right now. I cannot say whether it is an issue of people are being promoted too fast, that they don't receive enough training and support or that too many just don't have the skills to be leaders. I have worked with plenty of administrators during the course of my 13 years in education, and sadly can count very few of them as effective. Most seem to forget what it is like to be a teacher in the classroom. Several are unapproachable and unwilling to take input from teachers. Staff development is decided by them and all teachers are treated alike. They ask us to differentiate in our own classrooms, but never give us the opportunity when it comes to professional development. They act as if they have all the answers and constantly remind us that they have control over our schedules. Any given year they could make you teach a new subject, regardless of whether that is in the best interest of the students.
I thought that maybe it was just my school experiencing this lack of leadership, but sadly I am hearing from many fellow teachers that their schools and districts have the same problems. What is the consequence of a lack of leadership at the top? Well, in my particular school, morale has declined as we have been made to feel that we are not doing as well as we think we are. Teachers feel as if they have to "battle" administration on everything from meeting times to schedules. With so much to focus on in our classrooms and with our curriculum, it seems to me that a positive working environment should be a priority for administration. I think about how good of a school we are already and how amazing we could be if we just felt more support from our leaders. I am inspired when someone gives me autonomy to be creative and work with colleagues to come up with solutions for the challenges that face my school and students. I don't feel inspired when I am told what to do and how to do it. I like to feel as if I have a voice in improving my school. I like to know that my unique talents and skills add value to the staff and are utilized. However, too often my requests to provide assistance have been overlooked. It makes me not even want to offer any more and leads to burn out. I know I am not alone.
Another problem is that in California, a person only needs three years of teaching experience to become an administrator. That is not nearly enough. It takes far more time to really become a master teacher. How can an administrator with only 3 years of classroom teaching experience possibly be an instructional leader for their staff members? Often times this person is responsible for evaluating a teacher with 20+ years of experience. This I believe is one of the problems with our educational system. Evaluation should be done through peer review and the instructional leaders on campus should be the master teachers.
If we want to improve education, we need to take back our schools and allow those who are in the trenches day in and day out to make the important decisions. We often times know a lot more than administrators give us credit for. We have good ideas and really do want to work to solve problems. Most of us care a great deal about our students and schools. If you would just ask us, you might be surprised at how much we could do to help improve our schools.
I thought that maybe it was just my school experiencing this lack of leadership, but sadly I am hearing from many fellow teachers that their schools and districts have the same problems. What is the consequence of a lack of leadership at the top? Well, in my particular school, morale has declined as we have been made to feel that we are not doing as well as we think we are. Teachers feel as if they have to "battle" administration on everything from meeting times to schedules. With so much to focus on in our classrooms and with our curriculum, it seems to me that a positive working environment should be a priority for administration. I think about how good of a school we are already and how amazing we could be if we just felt more support from our leaders. I am inspired when someone gives me autonomy to be creative and work with colleagues to come up with solutions for the challenges that face my school and students. I don't feel inspired when I am told what to do and how to do it. I like to feel as if I have a voice in improving my school. I like to know that my unique talents and skills add value to the staff and are utilized. However, too often my requests to provide assistance have been overlooked. It makes me not even want to offer any more and leads to burn out. I know I am not alone.
Another problem is that in California, a person only needs three years of teaching experience to become an administrator. That is not nearly enough. It takes far more time to really become a master teacher. How can an administrator with only 3 years of classroom teaching experience possibly be an instructional leader for their staff members? Often times this person is responsible for evaluating a teacher with 20+ years of experience. This I believe is one of the problems with our educational system. Evaluation should be done through peer review and the instructional leaders on campus should be the master teachers.
If we want to improve education, we need to take back our schools and allow those who are in the trenches day in and day out to make the important decisions. We often times know a lot more than administrators give us credit for. We have good ideas and really do want to work to solve problems. Most of us care a great deal about our students and schools. If you would just ask us, you might be surprised at how much we could do to help improve our schools.
Monday, August 5, 2013
Mind Mapping in US History
I participated in a Twitter chat tonight and can't believe how much I have been missing out on by not being on Twitter until now. The #sschat topic tonight was on thematic vs. chronological teaching. Many ideas were tossed around and one of them was mind mapping the curriculum so that even if it is taught chronologically, students can see connections. I think I may try this since my US history team has decided to have a singular focus for 1st semester on the conflict between federal authority and state's rights. We will be discussing issues such as the constitution, nullification crisis, slavery, national bank in the first unit so it would be cool to break them into social, political and economic ways the conflict when throughout history. By the end of the year we could even connect it to today. I have taught mind mapping to adults and think that is a skill I will share with my students this year. And then we can create a giant mind map in my classroom which will help students visualize the connecting themes. Thanks @KaelynBullock for the idea!
Here is an update that shows the mind map I created for the unit discussed above. I think it came out pretty cool!
Here is an update that shows the mind map I created for the unit discussed above. I think it came out pretty cool!
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Creative Internet Activities
While attending the Presidential Timeline Institute at the Nixon Library last week, I learned about several websites that can help students create fun and interesting projects to display what they know. One of these was Big Huge Labs. There are tons of games and activities, but the three that I found most useful for a high school class were the Motivator, Magazine and Movie Poster apps.
The Motivator allows students to add pictures and text to create a motivational poster. It is an easy way to assess student learning, as are all of these apps. I also plan to use it as an anticipatory set for a unit or maybe a daily warm up. Here is an example that I created.
The Magazine allows students to create a magazine cover with headlines, date and price. Here is one I created to give you an idea of how to use it.
The Movie Poster is very similar, only one is promoting a movie about a particular topic. It takes some critical thinking to decide the title, leading actors, producers, etc.
I plan on trying these in my classroom this year. I think the students will have fun with it! They can be used in any of the social sciences and even for current events. I love programs that are adaptable to a wide range of topics and subjects.
The Motivator allows students to add pictures and text to create a motivational poster. It is an easy way to assess student learning, as are all of these apps. I also plan to use it as an anticipatory set for a unit or maybe a daily warm up. Here is an example that I created.
The Magazine allows students to create a magazine cover with headlines, date and price. Here is one I created to give you an idea of how to use it.
The Movie Poster is very similar, only one is promoting a movie about a particular topic. It takes some critical thinking to decide the title, leading actors, producers, etc.
I plan on trying these in my classroom this year. I think the students will have fun with it! They can be used in any of the social sciences and even for current events. I love programs that are adaptable to a wide range of topics and subjects.
Sunday, July 14, 2013
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.
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.
Friday, July 12, 2013
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Strategies for Summarizing
Looking for creative ways to have students summarize a reading or what they learned from a lesson? Try these to make summarizing both more interesting and meaningful.
A-Z Summary: Take post it notes or 3x5 index cards and write a letter of the alphabet in the top left corner. Students must then start the first sentence of their summary with that letter. I usually skip letters hard letters like Q and X or easy letters like T because they could just write "the." By having to think of a way to start the sentence with a certain letter, it forces them to think more about the topic and what they learned. I used this after a class discussion of the Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists and it allowed me to make sure the students who were not as vocal still understood the main arguments of each side. It is a great tool to use when you have an extra few minutes in class. It could even be modified in creative ways such as, write the second letter of your last name.
3-2-1: On a post it note, students write 3 things that they learned that day, 2 things they found surprising or interesting and 1 question they still have. This way you can check for understanding and find out what areas need more clarification for students.
# of Words Summary: Some students often write too little or too much when summarizing. Try requiring students to write a summary that is exactly the number of words you assign, no more and no less. This forces them to decide what is most important. It is best to do this strategy in groups the first time as it can be really tough for students to do if they have not had a lot of experience with how to summarize effectively.
A-Z Summary: Take post it notes or 3x5 index cards and write a letter of the alphabet in the top left corner. Students must then start the first sentence of their summary with that letter. I usually skip letters hard letters like Q and X or easy letters like T because they could just write "the." By having to think of a way to start the sentence with a certain letter, it forces them to think more about the topic and what they learned. I used this after a class discussion of the Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists and it allowed me to make sure the students who were not as vocal still understood the main arguments of each side. It is a great tool to use when you have an extra few minutes in class. It could even be modified in creative ways such as, write the second letter of your last name.
3-2-1: On a post it note, students write 3 things that they learned that day, 2 things they found surprising or interesting and 1 question they still have. This way you can check for understanding and find out what areas need more clarification for students.
# of Words Summary: Some students often write too little or too much when summarizing. Try requiring students to write a summary that is exactly the number of words you assign, no more and no less. This forces them to decide what is most important. It is best to do this strategy in groups the first time as it can be really tough for students to do if they have not had a lot of experience with how to summarize effectively.
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