Week 8--April 21st--April 25th

Two themes are the focus of this weeks reflection. Theme number one is the concept of "Thinking Like a Historian," a new framework the state of Wisconsin historical society is promoting. I went to a conference on the topic and was in agreement with the presenter and how best to present history. The framework can be found here. I believe I am on track with this idea. I think my focus on identifying essential questions in each unit is the start. From that point, I must break each unit down into the framework and teach the students the process of thinking. I brought back some material and shared it with my department head--he seems to be excited about it too!

The second theme is love and logic. I am reading this book for my learning community and I agree with the philosophy. I thought I would experiment with the idea this week. I have some students who refuse to cover their textbook. This week I decided to give them a choice: either cover the book or it has to stay in the classroom so it does not take as much abuse. Some students got their books covered immediately and others are fine with leaving the books in the room. My ultimate goal was to get the books covered so they were protected. However, some are staying in the room now instead of going home with students. I am not certain that is what I wanted to happen. I'm still struggling as to weather this was a success or not.