Reflections of Quarter 1: Setting the Table

The first quarter officially comes to an end today, hard to believe how fast its gone!  In my American History classes we've covered the time period extending from Reconstruction to about 1900.  It is my goal to get through WWI by the end of the second semester.  Although my students are often engrossed in subject material, the first few weeks of a new school year are about more than just American History, Algebra, or Biology.  To me the first quarter is about students learning how to interact in certain classes, understanding routines of each teacher, and getting used to the responsibility of a new school year.  Students have a lot going on, and the first quarter is about setting the table for the remainder of the semester/year.  I've been very pleased with how quickly my classes have learned the routines of my classroom, things have gone smoothly, I have learned a ton about these groups and they are beginning to understand how my classes function.

Other than the goal of getting through WWI in the 2nd quarter, my goals for my students over the next 9 weeks include: begin to create content rather than just consume it,  begin thinking critically about history, and continue discussing/analyzing current events and how they affect us individually.  It's been a great start to the school year, lets take it to the next level in quarter two!

YouTube in Education

Recently in my American History classes we covered a unit on Industrialization and development in the United States in the late 19th century.  When we finished the unit, the students were assessed on the material.  Assessment does not always mean a test, as we complete projects, essays, quizzes, etc, however in this case they had a test on the unit.  I always prepare a study guide for the students and did so in this instance as well.  Rather than discuss the study guide in class, I recorded audio of a discussion and shared it on YouTube with students to access at their own convenience.

I have done a few of these in the past, however my students this year really appreciated this method. (See picture below for # of views!)  It allows them to study when they want-and not have to rely on just hearing the review in class.  They may access this as many, or as few, times as they'd like.  If they miss the class period we review during, they can still get every bit of information they need.  YouTube is a great tool for this and many other practical solutions in the classroom.  I simply recorded my voice on http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/ and uploaded my videos to my YouTube channel.  You can capture videos, create photo slideshows, insert sounds or music, all from your computer's webcam on YouTube, and they have made it very user friendly and simple.  I anticipate this being something that many teachers will be attracted to, as students today are busy-and the more access you give them to your material-the more they will access it!

For an example of my test review click here.

L to J Update

About a month ago I gave a brief overview on a form of classroom assessment known as L to J, to read my post click here.  As of today, we are through 5 full quizzes in each class and are starting to get some early results!  Its interesting to note that while all classes take the same quiz-not all classes achieve the same results for a variety of factors!  As we progress through the semester-the trend should obviously lead to greater results, so far we've only scratched the surface!  Here are our current results after 5 weeks:

Teaching 9/11

This past Wednesday marked the 12 year anniversary of the horrific attacks on America.  Many of my students (freshmen) were just 2-3 years old when this happened, hard to believe its been that long ago.  Teaching 9/11 has always and will always be a delicate topic for educators everywhere.  Where do we begin?  What do we include?  What do we omit?  All of these are difficult questions, however one thing is certain: we must teach it!  It's too important and too historic to omit.  I have done a variety of lessons in the past, I tried something different this year and spent a bit more time preparing, it went well and the students learned a great deal.

To preview the lesson I asked the students in each class to jot down the first 5 words that came to their mind when I said 9/11.  I then typed each of these words into wordle.net which created the word clouds in the pictures below, fascinating to see what the students know, think they know, and possibly don't know!  We then viewed news clips from the day, discussed the facts of what happened, and used google earth and the sphere app to take virtual field trips to these sites.  

The lesson went well.  I am always amazed to find out how much confusion there is over what exactly went on that day 12 years ago.  Here are a few takeaways for me from the lesson: (1) no details are too small to omit.  Many students don't know if Iraq/Afghanistan/Syria or who was involved, teach the facts and explain them thoroughly. (2)  Descriptions of the day in words are good, but video/audio footage gets the students to really understand the gravity of this situation and can be extremely powerful. (3)  Finally, more schools/teachers need to teach 9/11..every year, in every grade, in every subject, if we do not...9/11 will become another date on the calendar.  Never Forget.

Talk a Mile a Minute

Recently we completed our review unit on the Civil War and Reconstruction.  We then took our first test of the year.  To prepare for the vocabulary section of the test we used a review activity that I picked up from Toby Boss at ESU 6 in Milford last year.  This is a great activity that gets students up and moving, lets them be a bit talkative (loud!) and allows peer review and instruction.  The students loved the activity and we will definitely be using it again!  Below are a few pictures from our activity.

L to J

This week I introduced L to J to all of my students.  Although many of them are familiar with the process, I took the time to explain it to them in full so they understand the logic behind this learning tool.  L to J is a simple, yet very effective way of measuring student/class learning throughout the year.  For a full explanation of the process check out the website: http://ltojconsulting.com/ I have 6 sections of American History classes this year, each section will be competing to attempt to break their previous all time bests (ATB) with each quiz.  Students love competition and thrive when they have clear goals in mind.  L to J is a great way for students to compete with themselves, as a class, and against other classes.  Most importantly this is a great way to track student learning throughout the school year.  Below is a snapshot of our week one results by section.

First Day of School

The first day of school is exciting..no matter how many "first days of school" we have all been through, each one is unique and filled with anticipation of what's to come in the school year.  It's also nerve-racking, intimidating, and scary for many students and teachers alike.  As I enter my sixth year in the teaching profession, never has this been more evident.

 For the first time in my career, I'll be teaching all students of the same age, incoming freshmen.  Starting tomorrow, I will welcome in 142 new high schoolers who I will spend roughly 175+- hours with over the next nine months.  As excited as they'll be on the outside to enter the hallways of a building they've yet to have classes in, I know that deep down that intimidation, fear, and curiosity of what's to come will be weighing on them heavily these first few weeks.  For these reasons I will focus not only on my subject matter (American History) but also lessons in character, citizenship, and responsibility.  Teaching and modeling proper behavior has never been more important for educators, and this will be a goal of mine throughout this year.  They will experience things during this school year that they never have, it will be a year full of "firsts."  They will also experience adversity, and I believe it is part of my job to teach them how to handle it properly and learn from it.

I've heard a lot of "hype" about this class of 2017..both positive and negative.  Fortunately for these students, and myself, I rely on a quote from legendary football coach Bill Parcells who said: "I don't listen to the hype, I go by what I see."  I'm looking forward to a great year with these kids.  Let's make this First Day of School one to remember.