Week 9--April 28th--May 2nd

Where are the issues and what are the lessons in history? That is the question I have been considering this week. I considered it, because that is where the students' interest in history is firmly rooted--or at least in my class. And, history teachers should consider this and focus their studies around this theme.

I realize that it can be difficult to think of a transcending theme in every lesson of history we teach. However, I feel we need to. This week I taught a unit on the Watergate scandal. We read the background, watched "All the President's Men," and had a wonderful discussion on the ethics of Presidents, members of a President's staff, and the press. I was very proud of my students. The unit lessons did not include a lot of high technology or anything with frills. Rather, it had, at the root of it, a controversial issue and lessons that transcend to issues we are dealing with today. I did not truly differentiate instruction (I presented the information to all students in both written and visual form I guess). However, all students seemed engaged.

This, finding the significance of your lessons, is the foundation to effective teaching. I intend to devote time to this task this summer.

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.

Week 7--April 14th-April 18th

I used a new piece of technology in my World Geography class today. It is called google docs. It is an online office suite, similar to Microsoft Office suite, except it is online. It has a document creator, spreadsheet, and presentation maker. My geography class used the presentation maker to create presentations on a region of Europe. The neat thing is since the program is online, the students can work on parts of the presentation at the same time. They can also work on it at home without the need of expensive software. Finally, I had them add me as a collaborator and I was able to watch them work throughout the process. It is a great tool! Making effective presentations, however, is something we need to work on in the future.

My American history class continues to have the option to differentiate the methods they use to "take in" information and "make the information stick." It seems a few of them are starting to experiment and trying different methods than the audio or typical linguistic/verbal. I have not been following the effects on their academics. I want to wait until is all over to look so I am not influenced by the results. I am quite excited that they are trying other methods.

Week 6--April 7th-April 11th

This week was the start of the fourth quarter--new students, classes, and stress. I teach World Geography II, American History, and Recent U.S. History this quarter. Every quarter it seems I experiment with something. Sometimes, I wonder if try too many different things. There is something to be said about consistency. Here is what I am doing this quarter. I am continuing my research in American History--recording the readings and creating visuals that are offered on our class website. As time goes on, it is becoming more and more obvious that students will not use those options outside of the classroom. They are not convenient yet or the students do not see a great value in those tools. Some students still use them when given the option in class. I am trying to focus more on issues in world geography and less on map memorizing. I acquired a new textbook from the social studies conference that is providing me with insights. Finally, I am trying to spice up my Recent U.S. History class by using a variety of assessments--mostly project based.

The first week, so far, has been a bit hectic and rocky. I have to get "used" to the new students and establish the classroom environment. I have to become comfortable with the new schedule and managing lessons for three classes instead of two. This is the one thing about block scheduling that bothers me. It seems just when I begin to get comfortable, a new quarter begins. Oh well, until next time.

Week 5--March 31- April 4th

I was at the Wisconsin Council for Social Studies Monday and Tuesday of this week. It was quite exciting. As you can observe from the last two posts, I gathered a lot of insight and resources at this conference. I really focused on the sessions that centered around planning history, technology in classrooms, and geography. It appears that an inquiry based history course is being pushed in the profession. I like the idea of historians as detectives, and primary sources as the evidence to answer questions of society. The only problem I have is thinking of the societal questions. I have been working on this, using the Universal by Design model, throughout my masters program. While I have written "essential questions" or questions that cut through subjects and affect everyone, I struggle writing good ones. I really think they are surface questions. A goal of mine is to improve these questions and the focus of my history, and geography for that matter, units.

Ed Voice Thread.com

I just found this interesting website that I believe has a lot of potential. Take a look at the video that explains it.

Why We Do This!

I am at the Wisconsin Council for Social Studies annual conference and just returned from a short expedition in the rain soaked streets of Middleton, Wisconsin. On my way to a greasy diner, called the Cheeseburger Paradise, I conversed with a couple also in search of food. They were not educators, but they were staying at the same hotel as I--taking a class for what, I presume, was their job. The conversation began casually about the weather and progressed to our purpose in the area. The one individual among us stated that she had always admired educators, but thought we were under paid and could never quite understand why anyone would want be a part of that profession. I told her not to feel too bad for us, we knew what we were getting into when we began our adventure and the job had its perks. We parted and went to our respected restaurants.

As I sat by myself in a "cheesy" (no pun intended) food establishment, I thought about that conversation and a man I had heard speak earlier in the day, and until last week, knew nothing about. The man's name is Greg Mortenson, co-author of the book Three Cups of Tea and, as far as I am concerned, a bona fide hero--worthy of rubbing shoulders with the likes of Mother Theresa and Gandhi. Mortenson, a sort of rambler after high school, was compelled, in 1992, to climb K2, after his sister died of an epileptic seizure, and dedicate the accomplishment to her memory. He failed to reach the summit and almost lost his life in the attempt. Luckily, a Pakistani man found him. Disoriented at the time and in need of assistance, Greg was very thankful when the Pakistani brought him to his village. In return for the kindness of the people in the man's village, Mortenson asked what he could do to return their brotherly love. The village leader said they could use a school. And so began a vocational calling that would lead Greg Mortenson, and associates, to build hundreds of schools and provide education to hundreds of thousands of students--sometimes in life threatening scenarios.

And so there I sat, pondering this lady who felt sorry for teachers being under paid and this man who, with no pay at all, has changed, and is changing, one of the most impoverished nations in the world. The inadequacies of people fully on my mind, it was quite clear to me why we do this.