tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64903151518595878032024-03-20T06:40:21.781-07:00Evolving with TimeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020398319828054734noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6490315151859587803.post-54542348406551182252017-09-02T13:46:00.004-07:002017-09-02T13:55:01.651-07:00Kicked off the Year with an Identity Inquiry<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I've committed this year to shift the focus in my class from the traditional historical figures to group/individual voices not typically heard within the American history narrative. I am anchoring my 5th grade American history curriculum with the theme connected to <i>identity, labels, and power</i>. With each unit from American Indians, slavery, colonization, American Revolution, Civil Rights the theme is designed to reveal different perspectives other than the typical dominate side.</div>
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We spent the first three weeks of school engaged in an inquiry based project, "<i>Is identity connected to power?</i>" In the process, it was the perfect way for us to get to know each other on a deeper level and a great way to build a sense of community. The theme was first staged by showing a couple of Ancestry.com commercials. In small groups, students noted the emotions express by the individuals in the commercial as their Nigerian and American Indian ancestries were revealed. This led to discussions as to why the individuals reacted in the manner that they did.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lexegLWPIHg</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0l0_ttMidII</td></tr>
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In the identity inquiry phase, we began with the supporting question, "<i>What shapes identity</i>?" We started off by taking time to notice our classroom - how it felt, furniture, students, etc. Then, I showed a clip "<a href="https://widerimage.reuters.com/story/schools-around-the-world" target="_blank">Where Children Learn</a>" (3:24min) to get the students thinking about how where you are from can shape your identity. <b>Next year, I plan to have students work in small groups to analyze an i<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2015/11/13/how-classrooms-look-around-the-world-in-15-amazing-photographs/?utm_term=.d1c0cf6dafa6" target="_blank">mage of different classroom</a>s and note the similarities and differences within each learning environment. After each group shares their findings, then I'll show the clip. </b>The video clip goes rather quickly, and it was difficult to catch some of the details.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcnlHYAQ0hIz8MRkibO8bbjrHSRrvzSuQ-CljS0nIdWIzjj9-IOkSYQYS7yU_UZfeRGRttfY7Q_2iuc7q5ISuF62KiqGI5I0Nj_IpFvR6c_qBu9P6wXWw26U5vI-cCvqp-0ovNdCFm4nU/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-09-02+at+1.16.40+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="479" data-original-width="754" height="126" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcnlHYAQ0hIz8MRkibO8bbjrHSRrvzSuQ-CljS0nIdWIzjj9-IOkSYQYS7yU_UZfeRGRttfY7Q_2iuc7q5ISuF62KiqGI5I0Nj_IpFvR6c_qBu9P6wXWw26U5vI-cCvqp-0ovNdCFm4nU/s200/Screen+Shot+2017-09-02+at+1.16.40+PM.png" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicpNdQ0BTZBOGP33qrNlF1H45iGkMN-THfPAWNomns2YSQHOTcEbjbvjONohEbMTs4or5Yk4T8oEbs8UTPn0__5uuC9HzJOqHZ6dj7V-aqPGMu3ov7QmOxIZsvDKXghJ6k1qgvofC_zwY/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-09-02+at+1.16.15+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="768" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicpNdQ0BTZBOGP33qrNlF1H45iGkMN-THfPAWNomns2YSQHOTcEbjbvjONohEbMTs4or5Yk4T8oEbs8UTPn0__5uuC9HzJOqHZ6dj7V-aqPGMu3ov7QmOxIZsvDKXghJ6k1qgvofC_zwY/s200/Screen+Shot+2017-09-02+at+1.16.15+PM.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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We then shifted gears to exploring our own identities. I provided students with an identity social matrix I adapted from the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lets-Get-Real-Exploring-Identities/dp/1138685232/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1504380660&sr=8-2&keywords=lets+get+real" target="_blank"><u>Let's Get Real</u> </a>book by Caldwell & Oman. Each identity trait was then rated on the level of importance and how visible the trait was to others. I modeled filling out the matrix by sharing my own identity. Students began to realize that not all identity traits are visible to others. For instance, I am from Nicaraguan descent - which my students found surprising. Most did not know I was Latina. </div>
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When I had students fill out their own identity matrix, I was surprised how many students had never thought about their race. I knew I would have to clear up the difference between race and ethnicity, but had not planned for racial uncertainty among my students. I had to backtrack and help them unpack it. Some students wanted to put American for race instead of white. <b>Next year, I will definitely create a more intentional way to help students understand the word race. </b></div>
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I had students select six words from their identity matrix and other core identity descriptors not on the matrix to create identity swirls. The art teacher came in to give students a quick mini lesson on creating funky fonts and brought in a huge assortment of cool markers and gel pens. Students worked on their swirls for two class periods. Once completed, they uploaded the swirl to <a href="https://web.seesaw.me/" target="_blank">Seesaw </a>(digital portfolio) and wrote a reflection.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Creating Identity Swirls</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiebWI_LzGcfApA-ikjg0pMBks0ZnSkDeBempfsUcjsxeM1075XwoID4866tjI2eEzGHCbIW4snevlpnstQjc3KyjYWwL1ANPHSoNDDjqKs2r796VKdweHyGfJz5SpV7lJnHn5_p4yNwYw/s1600/IMG_0125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiebWI_LzGcfApA-ikjg0pMBks0ZnSkDeBempfsUcjsxeM1075XwoID4866tjI2eEzGHCbIW4snevlpnstQjc3KyjYWwL1ANPHSoNDDjqKs2r796VKdweHyGfJz5SpV7lJnHn5_p4yNwYw/s320/IMG_0125.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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On <u>day four</u>, we moved to the next supporting question: <i>How are we labeled by others/society? </i>We started off by discussing how our bedrooms typically have identity clues everywhere. Students shared what we would see in their rooms would definitely reveal part of their identity. One student suggested that it would be interesting for them to bring in a photo of their own rooms to share. Not a bad idea! </div>
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Then, I printed out images from the book <u><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Where-Children-Sleep-James-Mollison/dp/1905712162/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1504377612&sr=8-1&keywords=where+children+sleep" target="_blank">Where Children Sleep</a></u> by James Mollison. First with the whole class, I modeled the <i><a href="http://www.visiblethinkingpz.org/VisibleThinking_html_files/03_ThinkingRoutines/03c_Core_routines/SeeThinkWonder/SeeThinkWonder_Routine.html" target="_blank">see-think-wonder</a></i> thinking routine with a bedroom image that was full of identity conflicting evidence. Students were all over the place labeling who slept in the room. When I finally revealed the photo of the child with long hair, they assumed it was a girl. Then I started to read the short bio. When I read "he" they all screamed, "What?!" One by one, we eliminated the inaccurate labels they had recorded.</div>
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In small groups, students analyzed other bedrooms. The small groups presented their bedroom images to the class and shared their perceived labels. I then revealed the owner's photo and read the bio, again noticing how frequently labels were misrepresented. We discussed how hurtful and damaging labels can be too. Students were asked to spend the rest of the day detecting labels thrown their way by teachers, parents, siblings, friends, etc. They were asked to bring at least six labels and an object that made them feel powerful to class the next day.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See-Think-Wonder thinking routine with bedroom image.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd-pub_4PBQkqFCgnT_DL8AVlPct3Q238Cg3fOEem4UxzaBJftOhZM49ibcnQpvNnj5IN_Fd9WPmbabwTTWZkY2wrH4IoJX0gGYJr4HTONFOvTC9Wi6udTy1709_crGi1k8SJ-mQ43YQo/s1600/IMG_0122.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="655" data-original-width="576" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd-pub_4PBQkqFCgnT_DL8AVlPct3Q238Cg3fOEem4UxzaBJftOhZM49ibcnQpvNnj5IN_Fd9WPmbabwTTWZkY2wrH4IoJX0gGYJr4HTONFOvTC9Wi6udTy1709_crGi1k8SJ-mQ43YQo/s200/IMG_0122.jpg" width="175" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> Bedroom Image</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_dj8Dk5ctLnqKKN4zOibeYy6z_guMja3Q7Ok55nIzn_fbwJaqSvVz3cXhKkaC1tRmfftR-GKdwy8INOr5aqUWJ3f-QI_mzLKNaQf3VNnEL6ZvsFbbx9iQ9KRe1ArOT8UnqMR4aSa1WrY/s1600/IMG_0123.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="431" data-original-width="346" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_dj8Dk5ctLnqKKN4zOibeYy6z_guMja3Q7Ok55nIzn_fbwJaqSvVz3cXhKkaC1tRmfftR-GKdwy8INOr5aqUWJ3f-QI_mzLKNaQf3VNnEL6ZvsFbbx9iQ9KRe1ArOT8UnqMR4aSa1WrY/s200/IMG_0123.jpg" width="160" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Owner of Bedroom</td></tr>
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<u><br />Day five</u>: <i>Where do we hold power in our lives? </i>was the third and last supporting question. Our school counselor came in to do a lesson on power. Students brought to class an object or image that represented where they felt powerful. Some examples of objects were: pencils, swimsuit, chess playbook, sculpture, martial arts belt, etc. Students then had to think of a "power word" that the object made them feel like creative, expressive, bold, etc. In small groups, students shared their power object and word. Then, they were asked to create a tableau - human sculpture - that incorporated their words. The rest of the class did a gallery walk and tried to guess their powers. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sharing Power Object</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Power Group Tableau</td></tr>
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The take away was everyone holds power in their lives no matter what their gender, race, age, etc. When harmful labels are used, we are all empowered in different ways to interrupt these labels. <b>For next year, I need to make sure to circle back to the compelling question!</b></div>
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<u>Day six and seven</u> were spent on a booklet that tied everything together. Again, the art teacher came in to get students started on the final project. Overall, I found this project to be a powerful way to start the year and set the stage for more to come.</div>
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<u>Booklet Covers</u></div>
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<u><br />Identity Collage</u> - students had the choice to draw or use PicCollage app to print out images that represented their own identity.</div>
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<u><br />Labels</u> - Student used different labels, stamps and wrote labels that people give them.</div>
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<u>Power Object & Word</u> - Students drew or printed out an image of their object and wrote their power word.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020398319828054734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6490315151859587803.post-34601957542887242022017-08-20T10:46:00.002-07:002017-08-20T11:46:36.506-07:00Diving into the Grade-less Sea!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxETiW-TiLhg30B01RoVlsGT52o8MgvrE8OTUd00BVbYRQeDrJH1L4Ldpg8LSi-earbLWyt5SbiVM7lKm0Sg35BTteaUKe21GkCzo2cnKdY8c-fXYNrnPTWIM8GxbH1_ZrUDjCB6zQHYI/s1600/HattieSAchievement.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1141" data-original-width="1200" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxETiW-TiLhg30B01RoVlsGT52o8MgvrE8OTUd00BVbYRQeDrJH1L4Ldpg8LSi-earbLWyt5SbiVM7lKm0Sg35BTteaUKe21GkCzo2cnKdY8c-fXYNrnPTWIM8GxbH1_ZrUDjCB6zQHYI/s320/HattieSAchievement.jpg" title="" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11px;">After spending a summer reading and reflecting on the use of a traditional grading system, I've committed to make the shift over to eliminate grades as a way to evaluate the learning in my classroom. Honestly, I've had moments when I've felt anxious about the process. Then, that emotion is immediately followed up by excitement. I've had to make an intentional effort to reframe my way of thinking. Every book, tweet and conversation I've engaged in only confirms my decision to move forward. You will never know if you don't try it yourself, right? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11px;">Seriously, who can argue with John Hattie's research on what raises student achievement. Formative teaching evaluations, feedback, metacognitive strategies top his list and are all components of the grade-less shift.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-size: 11px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 11px;">I began the process by reading "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hacking-Assessment-Gradeless-Traditional-Learning/dp/0986104914/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1503243976&sr=8-1&keywords=hacking+assessment" target="_blank">Hacking Assessments</a>." I found it to read much like an easy to follow, useful instructional manual. Star Sackstein, <a href="https://twitter.com/mssackstein" target="_blank">@mssackstein</a>, </span></span><span class="username u-dir" dir="ltr" style="background: rgb(255 , 255 , 255); color: #657786; direction: ltr; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; unicode-bidi: embed;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11px;">provides you with the straightforward "nuts and bolts" of dropping grades. </span></span></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibdwMa-URB9oop1uPUNTBjJ_-ZqIrGGEcVJpM6ryPmJaVNhphZ4Y7DX_59g9uZubRnh6xkIpOlYVqjWXfDI1nlCmEuVY2XG1Xv64-meJtPQQlNN9Heep8dqPoX-KL7atycPcy8RPkTl68/s1600/51JwZqdOyUL._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibdwMa-URB9oop1uPUNTBjJ_-ZqIrGGEcVJpM6ryPmJaVNhphZ4Y7DX_59g9uZubRnh6xkIpOlYVqjWXfDI1nlCmEuVY2XG1Xv64-meJtPQQlNN9Heep8dqPoX-KL7atycPcy8RPkTl68/s200/51JwZqdOyUL._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" title="" width="133" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-size: 11px;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-size: 11px;">After reading Star's book, since letter grades are off the table, I've been on a mission to find tools to help in the implementation of dropping grades. </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11px;">One of my biggest fears is that parents will not feel plugged into their child's academic progress. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-size: 11px;">However, </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11px;">I am realizing that I've been giving letter grades way too much credit. In reality, a letter grade tells virtually nothing about what the child actually knows! </span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11px;"> It did not take long for me to figure out that t</span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11px;">here is not a "one size fits all" protocol f</span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11px;">or alternative ways to communicate the student's progress with parents. So this will be a year of piloting different tools.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-size: 11px;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11px;">We are a GAFE school, so Drive & Google Classroom will be a way I plan for students to reflect and receive teacher feedback. </span><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 11px;">It was suggested in a blog I read that Google Keep be used for recording student conferencing anecdotal notes. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11px;">After looking at different platforms for digital portfolios, I decided for my 5th graders to use </span><a href="https://web.seesaw.me/" style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 11px;" target="_blank">Seesaw</a><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11px;">. I particularly liked its simplicity of posting work and reflections. There is also a family version of the app so parents can also view their child's learning. I'm also going to try</span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11px;"> </span><a href="https://info.flipgrid.com/" style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 11px;" target="_blank">Flipgrid</a> <span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11px;">video discussions for reflections </span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11px;">and Google Forms for exit tickets. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11px;">My assessments are currently about 65% project/inquiry based learning projects. I quickly found out that people have mixed feelings about traditional assessments. For the time being, I will continue to use some traditional assessments, but I will reframe the way I evaluate them. First of all, I've learned to not call them tests. Joy Kirr refers to them as "check comprehension" and Monte Syrie calls them "performances." Teacher Sharleen Smith cleverly calls them "YOK," you outta know.</span> <span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11px;">Based on a form Catlin Tucker uses with her students, I reformatted the table to fit the needs of my 5th graders. I doubt this form is perfectly designed. I'm certain I will have to make adjustments - but it's a start!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-size: 11px;">I've been leaning heavily on Facebook</span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11px;"> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/277181926058422/" target="_blank">Teachers Going Gradeless</a> and Twitter </span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11px;"><a href="https://twitter.com/TG2Chat" target="_blank">@TG2chat</a> groups for help. The wave of people that are knee deep in the process generously share the good, bad and ugly. There is no way I would be diving into the "grade-less sea" without their support.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11px;">If you are at all curious about this movement, you should check out the Twitter chat, #TG2Chat, on Sundays at 8pm CST. You will definitely find amazing educators to follow! Some of the educators whose blogs I frequently read are <a href="http://www.letschangeeducation.com/" target="_blank">Monte Syrie</a>, <a href="http://geniushour.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Joy Kirr</a>, <a href="http://catlintucker.com/" target="_blank">Catlin Tucker</a>, <a href="https://mrblackwelder.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Aaron Blackwelder</a> and <a href="https://medium.com/teachers-going-gradeless/the-5-best-reasons-for-going-gradeless-e6577c44d5b1" target="_blank">Arthur Chiaravalli</a>. I would highly recommend that you follow them on Twitter too. They are passionate about dropping grades and will respond to any questions you may encounter along the way. Another goldmine to check out is @Joykirr' s Livebinder, "<a href="https://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=1693716" target="_blank">Feedback in Lieu of Grades</a>." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11px;">On a final note, I'm sharing the letter my administrator sent to the parents. I am fortunate to have such an incredibly supportive administrator in my corner. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11px;">While pockets of educators at my school are considering piloting dropping grades for an assignment, project or unit, I am the only one jumping in head first. It will undoubtedly be a learning curve for me, but hopefully my students will reap the benefits of it in the long run. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11px;">Personally blogging about my experience is a way to pay back for all of the inspiration and support I've received from my PLN. It's also a constructive way for me to reflect on my experiences!</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">Dear 5th grade parents,</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">As you know from my email earlier this month, we will be piloting various alternatives to traditional grading this year in Middle School. Our goal is to focus on learning. As obvious as that sounds, there is an abundance of research indicating that traditional letter-grading practices, like the ones we've used for years, can have a detrimental effect on students in the long run. Some research has shown that, with letter grading, over time natural curiosity wanes, external motivators overtake internal motivation (and this extends beyond one's formal education), interest in a topic can come to an abrupt end as soon as the final grade is received, and self-esteem gets closely tied up in the grade earned.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">Connie Fink, our 5th grade social studies teacher, is trying a new approach in her classroom this year when it comes to providing feedback on each student's learning. Below is a note from Connie:</span><br />
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<i><span style="color: blue;">I am thrilled to make learning the central focus in my classroom, not grading. Please know that while I am prepared and committed to follow through on my new approach to providing students and parents feedback, I do expect to make adjustments along the way.</span></i><br />
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<i><span style="color: blue;">While the curriculum is similar to previous years', the main focus will be on reaching mastery with skills and content rather than on the grade earned. After completing their work, students will have multiple opportunities to move toward mastery with the assessed content/skills. Feedback and reflections are an essential part of the process. Count on me trying out different tools to provide you and your child with feedback. Throughout the year, feel free to share what it feels like on your end. I will share more on Parents’ Night!</span></i><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">Your feedback to Connie and to me will be an important ingredient in helping us assess the effectiveness of her approach this year. Please don't hesitate to share your thoughts as we move forward together.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020398319828054734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6490315151859587803.post-78004013757678744482017-07-03T09:16:00.000-07:002017-08-16T18:30:48.600-07:00Igniting Curiosity!Always aiming to create an engaging learning environment, I kicked off my summer learning by reading <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Curious-Classroom-Structures-Teaching-Student-Directed/dp/0325089906/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499088029&sr=8-1&keywords=curious+classroom" target="_blank">The Curious Classroom</a> by Harvey "Smokey" Daniels. Smokey mentions that it's "often acknowledged that kids' curiosity somehow disappears by about fourth grade." Smokey totally hits the mark with this book! He provides easy to implement ideas that are sure to ignite student curiosity way beyond the fourth grade. <br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Curious-Classroom-Structures-Teaching-Student-Directed/dp/0325089906/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499088029&sr=8-1&keywords=curious+classroom" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw2kt96ezdHQlx1fgd9mzZXzCBkA8qR9ocw80QF7LXTIsWbngTqt-qWBZMbuHrE4bjjQRozP-Tj_DRXS_XRXST8zLKGvZvUIovAo6DNfHzIm6ogEeR-RaUOnfEeeIJkYHLX1l9NZ-Y30E/s200/IMG_8567.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>
Questions are at the core of all of the structures Smokey provides in his book. He suggests that in order to build empathy and a sense of justice, we have students ask "Where do we fit in?" (identity) and "What can we do to help?" (power). Falls perfectly right in line with my goal of the overarching "identity" and "power" themes I plan to carry out this year. Most of the inquiry models featured are short, five to twenty minutes to a couple of days in length where students use research skills and strategies before digging into a long inquiry unit. Grades and rubrics are not suggested for these types of experiences. Below, I've shared some recommendations I plan to try out in my classroom.<br />
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<b>Wonder Wall or Notebook </b><br />
Provide students with a place to record questions and wonders as they occur throughout the day. Then, reserve time once a week for students to explore these questions during a <i>Wonder Workshop. </i>Students with similar topics can be placed into small teams. However, working independently is fine too.<i> </i>During the workshop, students read articles and record their new learning to share with other classmates. Each member of the groups has to contribute at least one piece of new learning. Students are encouraged to take notes, make illustrations, or create diagrams in order to share their learning/thinking.<br />
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<b>Soft Starts</b><br />
The concepts involves reserving the first 10-15 minutes of class for a quite time so students can explore topics of interest, consider it a scaled down Genius Hour session. It's a way to begin your inquiry based class in a peaceful and individualized manner. The main idea of these soft starts are that they are simple and repeatable, paving the way for further inquiry. There are different ways to implement this concept. Here is how I plan to structure my "soft start" themes:<br />
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<i><u>Mondays</u>: </i>New York Times "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/22/learning/whats-going-on-in-this-picture-may-22-2017.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2Flearning-whats-going-on-in-this-picture&action=click&contentCollection=learning&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection&_r=0" target="_blank">What's going on in this picture</a>?" Use the provided prompts or simply do a <a href="http://www.visiblethinkingpz.org/VisibleThinking_html_files/03_ThinkingRoutines/03c_Core_routines/SeeThinkWonder/SeeThinkWonder_Routine.html" target="_blank">See Think Wonder</a> thinking routine with the class. You will be amazed how much time can be spent analyzing one picture! On Fridays, the details of the photo is revealed.<br />
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<i><u>Tuesdays</u></i>: "Talking Tuesdays" Students read an article, typically related to an upcoming unit, that's simply meant for pleasure reading. As they read, they mark important, interesting or puzzling details. <a href="https://newsela.com/" target="_blank">Newslea</a> and <a href="https://www.commonlit.org/" target="_blank">Commonlit </a>are great sources for these types of articles.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhif8mAnm9qusFQTC89-sjwjN0vz3jxiZMKknR-U0J5HQmVHorUIUTeWfsBT5SE6vhLpx-p4pg0zRUjTNE9yzdQW804TQ87BM2ctH6rPmxcJm9CXOVseTNtpWk0aUwybpEDRtfemM7MA2M/s1600/Newsela.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="269" data-original-width="821" height="65" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhif8mAnm9qusFQTC89-sjwjN0vz3jxiZMKknR-U0J5HQmVHorUIUTeWfsBT5SE6vhLpx-p4pg0zRUjTNE9yzdQW804TQ87BM2ctH6rPmxcJm9CXOVseTNtpWk0aUwybpEDRtfemM7MA2M/s200/Newsela.png" style="text-align: center;" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaAg2J0MYbWhsrFILh9HzybtrO2wVl_I9eG0jZsPP91nC1zxXmCYLGD5JtfD8dEGEd9ZDmNkaDfQeYRFFIPxCQxOSkgxJqdRjomDnJ6A9XAq11aP_cpCqjV5xIeF4kJeFSvTJc__qWyUI/s1600/qcmvdzlsrxyqyftnahs1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="309" data-original-width="1600" height="61" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaAg2J0MYbWhsrFILh9HzybtrO2wVl_I9eG0jZsPP91nC1zxXmCYLGD5JtfD8dEGEd9ZDmNkaDfQeYRFFIPxCQxOSkgxJqdRjomDnJ6A9XAq11aP_cpCqjV5xIeF4kJeFSvTJc__qWyUI/s320/qcmvdzlsrxyqyftnahs1.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Another option I'm considering is "Traveling Tuesdays." I am dropping my geography unit and plan to integrate it throughout all of my units. Darcy Nidey, a fourth grade teacher featured in Smokey's book, incorporates a "destination jar" in her class. She asks the students on the first week of school to "think about the one place in the whole wide world that they would most like to visit someday." Students record their personal dream destinations and drop it in a jar. Every Tuesday, Darcy pulls out a destination slip. This becomes a whole-class inquiry. Students are given a couple of minutes to take notes on a four-quadrant note-taking form recording:<br />
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<li>what they already know about the place</li>
<li>some questions they have about it</li>
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Quickly, Darcy requests their research topics so she can partner them up with another student. Then, a <a href="https://padlet.com/" target="_blank">Padlet</a> page is opened with boxes labeled for each research team's name & topic. Students move on to the other two boxes on the note-taking form to fill in information from at least two other different sources. The final step is to synthesize the most important information they have learned and type it up in the Padlet to share with the class.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizu2ObA65ACVxFra-sRGvSJQ3tDyUrik7wD2RBFAnE4I13Rdv7UsTjqWMSDFwgHxisj3HwWJxsaIfcG0P7rv6N3bAhfwk5dennKzMrfIp6_iWbjD7sDdCTxO_SNZT4_97IbE1J4lGCvA0/s1600/File_000.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizu2ObA65ACVxFra-sRGvSJQ3tDyUrik7wD2RBFAnE4I13Rdv7UsTjqWMSDFwgHxisj3HwWJxsaIfcG0P7rv6N3bAhfwk5dennKzMrfIp6_iWbjD7sDdCTxO_SNZT4_97IbE1J4lGCvA0/s400/File_000.jpeg" width="300" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOlrrgPfqkIjAm_RXV2jcDjXVHXhFCLotdBVNL-aofjUOdagKe3yJ3iGYj5ZzBXQAffULc4S0e1cGjtrg-WfXASOmOhZu_LxW-b36vcRMRjakP4V2BnsbLePpKUKR4CeeND8fBr_ODvxI/s1600/download.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="210" data-original-width="210" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOlrrgPfqkIjAm_RXV2jcDjXVHXhFCLotdBVNL-aofjUOdagKe3yJ3iGYj5ZzBXQAffULc4S0e1cGjtrg-WfXASOmOhZu_LxW-b36vcRMRjakP4V2BnsbLePpKUKR4CeeND8fBr_ODvxI/s200/download.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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<i><u>Wednesdays</u></i>: "Wonderopolis Wednesdays" Students read, listen to the article, watch the video clip and/or record questions. These questions can be springboards for future inquiries. Another website similar to <a href="http://camp.wonderopolis.org/" target="_blank">Wonderopolis</a> to checkout is the <a href="http://www.thecuriosityworkshop.com/" target="_blank">The Curiosity Workshop</a>.</div>
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<a href="http://www.thecuriosityworkshop.com/" style="display: inline !important; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="144" data-original-width="412" height="69" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGrBzXbcgklO4bjGpe1j-mUi_8xDdW2r3oSwHWZo6UJK6FkmVRd-DTBoV58caWtyyZnrjbgKf775XkLE4bczdkYq6d0CGKMwPxgsF5HyrfcR6rIasLqi7q5AJ5Hqhq4m0nixpVfocdrqk/s200/Screen+Shot+2017-07-03+at+8.18.52+AM.png" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3RMAIrcqkkUCfDCAIn3BGrFaVGrajke5tvFWye_G80lGu1xaZrzzrt2SPpH_9OD9gbxgXScc4lrvZamvdqSMNDbCS5zSP-fuq2AA6BQEWL9Hcb5jR50vjKA0Prh5TjJ93TrN73oX0MkY/s1600/logo_hover_red.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="157" data-original-width="609" height="51" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3RMAIrcqkkUCfDCAIn3BGrFaVGrajke5tvFWye_G80lGu1xaZrzzrt2SPpH_9OD9gbxgXScc4lrvZamvdqSMNDbCS5zSP-fuq2AA6BQEWL9Hcb5jR50vjKA0Prh5TjJ93TrN73oX0MkY/s200/logo_hover_red.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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<i><u>Thursdays</u>: </i>"Throwback Thursdays" A fifth-grade teacher, Julie Eisenhauer, in Smokey's book projects a primary source using Padlet. Once projected, students can post virtual stickies of their thinking. Students work in groups of four or five to process the image posting questions, responding to each other, and sharing theories. This is a wonderful opportunity to highlight content that may not be part of my curriculum. I think <a href="http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history" target="_blank">This Day in History</a> would be a good source and quick way (one minute videos) to implement this theme. Of course there is no shortage of digital primary sources either, the <a href="https://www.loc.gov/" target="_blank">Library of Congress </a>is a good place to start.</div>
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<u style="font-style: italic;">Fridays</u>: "Friday Headlines" A perfect way to catch up and discuss what's going on in the world. There also always seems to be a historical connection we can make to the content we are learning in class. Again <a href="https://newsela.com/" target="_blank">Newsela </a>is a good source for current events. Also, try checking out <a href="https://www.tweentribune.com/" target="_blank">TweenTribune</a>. Students LOVE the <a href="https://www.flocabulary.com/topics/week-in-rap/" target="_blank">Week in Rap</a>. While it's the only source I've provided in this post that's not free, it is well worth the subscription cost.</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020398319828054734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6490315151859587803.post-4935465054980997182015-10-18T07:13:00.001-07:002015-10-28T10:36:53.317-07:00Recreating History Using Spatial Skills<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuD147_lteySIp-ul5CxZm_ekgUnVfO763v6a5TMKzsBkqYl14vk90_LAfquXlziyjSZ9vlrY2rcC-U-q5FxJw-oX_XzbZlwu1PVFeNoJS2HNkGD_v6bSdn0GoBI_LEGE4S1boKGmFHA4/s1600/photo+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuD147_lteySIp-ul5CxZm_ekgUnVfO763v6a5TMKzsBkqYl14vk90_LAfquXlziyjSZ9vlrY2rcC-U-q5FxJw-oX_XzbZlwu1PVFeNoJS2HNkGD_v6bSdn0GoBI_LEGE4S1boKGmFHA4/s320/photo+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finding waypoints.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.48px; white-space: normal;">A couple of years ago, the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/education/k-12/connected" target="_blank">Obama's ConnectEd</a> initiative provided schools with the opportunity to have free access to the online GIS mapping tool <a href="http://www.arcgis.com/features/" target="_blank">ArcGis</a>. I jumped on the opportunity not realizing that the learning curve would be a steep one for me. However, the project-based learning possibilities involving problem solving, data analysis, and technology integration encouraged me to step outside of my comfort zone. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.48px; white-space: normal;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.48px; white-space: normal;">Fortunately, it was not a journey I had to take without guidance. Vanderbilt professors, Janey Camp and Steve Baskauf (also a USN alumni dad), generously provided their time and expertise so our 5th graders could dip their toes in GIS mapping. Janey and Steve's passion in this field was inspiring. Their collaboration was instrumental in helping me design a project that would be engaging, yet developmentally age appropriate for 5th graders. The objective of the project was to develop a core set of skills to get students thinking of maps they could design in the future. </span></span><span style="line-height: 1.38;"> </span><span style="line-height: 1.38;"> </span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Recreating primary source image with iPad.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Recording changes in the landscape. </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.48px;">I also wanted the project to be connected in some way to history. In comes collaborator number three, Jenny Winston, USN archivist. Jenny pieced together a collection of images </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioxheEcDGxxs_susNgi0u1RvP15n_sheOFFcKmxX5KQ84P0zfDSrb5TY6boBcj-SnCevXVC_TUGt5QxIMHWbYRpySYAME4Kidz7PL8qUmhCWTm4ONTkPMROmWon51A0ccWKVfEoxYIJBw/s1600/photo+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioxheEcDGxxs_susNgi0u1RvP15n_sheOFFcKmxX5KQ84P0zfDSrb5TY6boBcj-SnCevXVC_TUGt5QxIMHWbYRpySYAME4Kidz7PL8qUmhCWTm4ONTkPMROmWon51A0ccWKVfEoxYIJBw/s200/photo+3.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Analyzing primary source.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.48px;">from the USN archives taken on <a href="https://my.vanderbilt.edu/trees/2015/10/the-trees-of-peabody-college/" target="_blank">Vanderbilt's Magnolia Lawn</a> from the 1930's to the 1990's. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.48px;">Students, in groups </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.48px;">of three to four,</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.48px;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.48px;">spent </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.48px;">time in class analyzing the different images using the thinking routine, <i>See, Think, Wonder</i>. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.48px;">Students were told they would take a walk over to Magnolia Lawn to determine the original spot their image was taken and recreate it. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.48px;">Using the iPad, students marked up distinct landmarks on the digital images. It was no surprise that all of the students </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.48px;">identified</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.48px;"> the trees as targeted landmarks. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit85mlt36cvvcbmH3AvWlDj2OG02Cv4DkQSNtelLlijh4T34K44ltZE6OVGplXJouvoHKpYHg_fPf60PW8eU0P4ODNfsquRALtSZRj_U2jc8gBTyzP1Bg4HvuG3lHmcuXI5A2FdKDQnk0/s1600/photo+1+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit85mlt36cvvcbmH3AvWlDj2OG02Cv4DkQSNtelLlijh4T34K44ltZE6OVGplXJouvoHKpYHg_fPf60PW8eU0P4ODNfsquRALtSZRj_U2jc8gBTyzP1Bg4HvuG3lHmcuXI5A2FdKDQnk0/s320/photo+1+%25282%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> Using Explain Everything app to mark up primary source.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.48px;">Our next step was for students to learn how to collect data by locating waypoints (latitude and longitude) using GPS devices and to record their observations on field notes. </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.38;"><span style="line-height: 1.38;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.48px;">So, off we went across the street to Magnolia Lawn with GPS devices, iPads and clipboards in hand. </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.48px;">At first, following the multiple steps required to use the GPS devices brought on a few challenges.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.48px;"> </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.38;"><span style="line-height: 1.38;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.48px;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.48px;">After reading their reflections, what they considered to be a focal point, the trees, </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.48px;">in reality became somewhat of an obstacle. Here are some of the s</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.48px;">tudent reflections noting the different ways the landscape of Magnolia Lawn & the USN Edgehill entrance have changed over the years: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maya: "</span><span style="line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>The tree in my picture was much more decayed and broken down. There was more foliage, so it was hard to identify the location of the photographer</i>."
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.08px;">Eva: "<i>S</i></span><span style="line-height: 22.08px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>o much has changed on Magnolia Lawn. Things like trees, bushes, and things that might have otherwise been keys to finding the spot where the picture was taken are no longer there.</i>"</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.08px; text-indent: 48px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Townsend: "</span><span style="line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>There were bike racks along the grass at USN. There are a lot more trees today than in 1950. The doors of the school are brown today, not white. A lot of the trees in my photo are not there, so it was very hard to find the right place to take the photo.</i>"</span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 22.08px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lindsey: "<i>I was looking for a crack in the road, but since the road had been fixed, the crack was not there. I was looking for a tree split in half at the bottom with ivy all over it, but the tree was not there. I had a lot of fun doing this project, and I think that you should do it next year. I had fun trying to find the spot and the angle of the picture. Also, it was a little bit of a challenge because a lot of the characteristics that were there in the 1980’s were not there when I recreated the picture. It was like a puzzle, and I had fun finding the pieces.</i>"</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 22.08px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Philip: "<i>One of the human characteristics that was in my photo and is not around anymore is the white paint on the front of USN. A physical characteristic that is not around today is the extremely heavy foliage of the trees in one of the photos. We ran into many look alike trees, and other things that were confusing, such as which building to choose, as they all had columns. I think we worked very well together, seeing as we found all three photographs. We had a good time in the process, all cooperating together and checking the others' views of where the photograph might be taken from, and often agreeing with each other.</i>"</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.38; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Myla: "<i>There are no longer ridges on the stone wall as seen in the primary source, now it's now just a flat stone wall. We had a hard time finding the exact waypoint of the 1942 photo because there were trees blocking the building, so we couldn't see where we needed to stand. Finding the 1992 image location was challenging because now there is a tree that is blocking the direct view of the building. We found a tree that was in the primary source, but now it is much bigger.</i>" </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeGBo4mOfmk6eakCXnKU-HWjehJuAiBUqwvENEz3ILff-BQfWPzZ_9W63PJBipV9D5lYJsjjvBMww4NrMs0fO6RfvmWLoy2jYVUcaOU9e76CGHonQlcIFZPWnhppOQAIcpypckAok1pdI/s1600/IMG_0044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeGBo4mOfmk6eakCXnKU-HWjehJuAiBUqwvENEz3ILff-BQfWPzZ_9W63PJBipV9D5lYJsjjvBMww4NrMs0fO6RfvmWLoy2jYVUcaOU9e76CGHonQlcIFZPWnhppOQAIcpypckAok1pdI/s200/IMG_0044.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Found the <a href="http://bioimages.vanderbilt.edu/vanderbilt/12-176" target="_blank">flowering dogwood tree</a>, still standing. <br />
Used PicCollage app to create before/after shots.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvNDX557HDPFnE_tjYjjndrpiLrYYcb0X51pnqXE7ZnC_Uex7rbGcaAM8zrls9DN05BD2JJe6Qzp0QdODNWdXA1c1My3dH25GCXytR1QJSKL8p0hlhCgPVVrCX7FoLe15MkHtjcilzzlg/s1600/IMG_0022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvNDX557HDPFnE_tjYjjndrpiLrYYcb0X51pnqXE7ZnC_Uex7rbGcaAM8zrls9DN05BD2JJe6Qzp0QdODNWdXA1c1My3dH25GCXytR1QJSKL8p0hlhCgPVVrCX7FoLe15MkHtjcilzzlg/s200/IMG_0022.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> Street between Magnolia Lawn and USN <br />
made this picture tricky to recreate.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.48px;">After collecting the data, students created maps with location pins, before/after photo images, and text explaining some of the changes. When mapping their latitude and longitude points, some groups quickly realized the importance of accurately recording waypoints. A pinpoint on the map in Alabama or Antarctica was a sure sign something was off!</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Final student ArcGis map project.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.48px;">Judging from the student reflections, e</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.48px;">veryone contributed towards the common goal using their unique talents for the good of the entire group and had fun in the process!</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 22.08px; text-indent: 48px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020398319828054734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6490315151859587803.post-21380503462882288182015-08-09T13:31:00.001-07:002015-08-28T15:29:38.123-07:00Library of Congress, Hits it Out of the Ballpark!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">My week at the <a href="http://www.loc.gov/">Library of Congress</a> Summer Institute for Civil Rights has been one of the best weeks of professional development I've experienced. I will not lie, it was extremely intense! I am certain I used up every ounce of brain juice. The analysis of primary sources was a total hook for an organic engagement of inquiry, collaboration and reflection.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Using the Project Zero thinking routines as a framework, each analysis activity had us actively invested in the process in so many different ways. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvhhzmEWs_gq3lCqBFP4oPTfedI2lxVcBVAKdIM0mvzh0AbOdw-zdZLDKa5woG9AbHcK2D_IX-2gOiV3Mb4gjJOg-9YQrh8dApAM9DFX7mEx0jzfbsaaK9FOFNomUsnXEBB00IMdNgSdQ/s1600/IMG_4018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/047091551X/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=desktop-1&pf_rd_r=1ZSJKVPKR66Q8QJXCF14&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=2079475242&pf_rd_i=desktop"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMYTgWS2LcfJFzGcq6QcIq5zD7iImI7fwdzGb4VeRdhNp1KIriXnEp9vyHuoZTkrJHAKmtuS1_P8xGLmsmy35xDGqkYZaZK6Rj64qG7UhZty7nc6c-AloK8_asgAh-wKuKYrATT1zeLOM/s200/imgres.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I was fortunate that I was familiar with the routines and had attended a <a href="http://www.casieonline.org/events/pz">Project Zero Casie </a>conference all about thinking routines just 3 months before attending the Institute. <a href="http://www.visiblethinkingpz.org/VisibleThinking_html_files/03_ThinkingRoutines/03a_ThinkingRoutines.html" target="_blank">Visible thinking strategies</a> provide a framework to prompt students to be deep thinkers and synthesize new knowledge. The visible thinking, most importantly, shows the process of thinking not just a final answer. The book provides a menu of critical thinking activities that work with just about any learning opportunity. It's a wonderful way to keep the learning low-risk and open-ended. Visible thinking strategies also dovetailed perfectly with the analysis of primary sources. Some of the routines we used while analyzing primary sources were<i> <a href="http://www.visiblethinkingpz.org/VisibleThinking_html_files/03_ThinkingRoutines/03d_UnderstandingRoutines/Headlines/Headlines_Routine.html" target="_blank">Headlines</a></i> (great for synthesis) and <i><a href="http://www.visiblethinkingpz.org/VisibleThinking_html_files/03_ThinkingRoutines/03e_FairnessRoutines/CircleViewpoints/CircleViewpoints_Routine.html" target="_blank">Circle of ViewPoints</a></i> (powerful way to tackle perspectives). </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Another automatic go-to are the <a href="http://www.loc.gov/teachers/usingprimarysources/guides.html">Library of Congress primary source analysis tools</a> which scaffold the inquiry process for just about any possible primary source. There is also a <a href="http://www.loc.gov/teachers/primary-source-analysis-tool/">web version</a> available.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">One of the perks to attending the Institute was the after hours tour of the Jefferson Building's Reading Room. We had total VIP access! I wish I could have bottled up the excitement as we entered the Reading Room, total giddiness. It reminded me of just a few months ago when I was at the Washington Memorial with eighty 8th grade students, and we ran into Usher doing a soundcheck for an Earth Day concert. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvhhzmEWs_gq3lCqBFP4oPTfedI2lxVcBVAKdIM0mvzh0AbOdw-zdZLDKa5woG9AbHcK2D_IX-2gOiV3Mb4gjJOg-9YQrh8dApAM9DFX7mEx0jzfbsaaK9FOFNomUsnXEBB00IMdNgSdQ/s1600/IMG_4018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvhhzmEWs_gq3lCqBFP4oPTfedI2lxVcBVAKdIM0mvzh0AbOdw-zdZLDKa5woG9AbHcK2D_IX-2gOiV3Mb4gjJOg-9YQrh8dApAM9DFX7mEx0jzfbsaaK9FOFNomUsnXEBB00IMdNgSdQ/s200/IMG_4018.JPG" width="150" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9_PV9xsVN6KlaQ8w9UHPT-NkxK-ZtFnbvUcX-72NPqMQM8p6bCRktAtya0Cq9fRPWn5n6PnC95jSmpIWvO-lgZbzn0cDA7TiBRHtjC_nEQ98OcUrMh51BGBzJr-yBunWOYOs24jfMKLM/s1600/IMG_4011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9_PV9xsVN6KlaQ8w9UHPT-NkxK-ZtFnbvUcX-72NPqMQM8p6bCRktAtya0Cq9fRPWn5n6PnC95jSmpIWvO-lgZbzn0cDA7TiBRHtjC_nEQ98OcUrMh51BGBzJr-yBunWOYOs24jfMKLM/s200/IMG_4011.JPG" width="150" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv0jHm3WRpkCxCoJJ9Qqry6O7C-Sig9YHzW4Mx5yWfgWFmhNW9uFhaE0iSVh1SaO_TuvPj8zuRN5QFXZ2XFfRDRwfM97N8AvSOwCB4_5jmM7f7jdr0XLkbZyeAXXIvUIXFoNFtntZS5fg/s1600/IMG_4006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv0jHm3WRpkCxCoJJ9Qqry6O7C-Sig9YHzW4Mx5yWfgWFmhNW9uFhaE0iSVh1SaO_TuvPj8zuRN5QFXZ2XFfRDRwfM97N8AvSOwCB4_5jmM7f7jdr0XLkbZyeAXXIvUIXFoNFtntZS5fg/s200/IMG_4006.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>
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<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">We also had the incredible fortune to hear a panel made up of Rosa Parks' dear friends from the Rosa Parks Institute in Detroit: <span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 17.5636348724365px;">Elaine Steele, Lila Cabbil, Anita Peek, Dr. Roberta McLeod, Ella McCall-Haygen and other friends June Jeffries and Joe Madison.</span> They shared with us Parks' courage and how she valued relationships. The ladies then hung out with us for part of the week. It was a truly surreal experience. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPkwVyj0WE_hz_tu9pw4QBb4XaD_gcBre4u6m5U1wKSbpeRiouxRs5cJaGqr6RB6Nv9fdljIJE4wB7gRZerTCwm-9aclqhEF7T98yMJzViiKAe5u4VjhwxvQjQp6jh81Eqo2THQ9b9-nQ/s1600/IMG_4032.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPkwVyj0WE_hz_tu9pw4QBb4XaD_gcBre4u6m5U1wKSbpeRiouxRs5cJaGqr6RB6Nv9fdljIJE4wB7gRZerTCwm-9aclqhEF7T98yMJzViiKAe5u4VjhwxvQjQp6jh81Eqo2THQ9b9-nQ/s320/IMG_4032.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.5636348724365px; text-align: start;">Ella McCall-Haygen, me & </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.5636348724365px; text-align: start;">Dr. Roberta McLeod</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF98UX6YUxr7it_zwXHE0SAAnC3NxEnf_KMNCDQ_GiTtuW7QvMKpBiUpHFyCls8cfGbdYE1ygUcGr2ivdTDjxjJ6XuHhyphenhyphengF0ACbcQx4-kfqVjIW-s8CKvw07ma184o-gYwc4yLBaI1q80/s1600/IMG_4036.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF98UX6YUxr7it_zwXHE0SAAnC3NxEnf_KMNCDQ_GiTtuW7QvMKpBiUpHFyCls8cfGbdYE1ygUcGr2ivdTDjxjJ6XuHhyphenhyphengF0ACbcQx4-kfqVjIW-s8CKvw07ma184o-gYwc4yLBaI1q80/s320/IMG_4036.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panel of Rosa Parks' Friends</td></tr>
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<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">One of my favorite parts of the institute was the opportunity to tour the Library of Congress exhibit <i><a href="http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/civil-rights-act/" target="_blank">The Civil Rights Act of 1964: A Long Struggle for Freedom</a></i>. We were partnered up and were assigned to an exhibit case. We were then asked to select something that we connected with in the case and later present it to the group. We had questions to guide us in the process. It was jigsaw at its best! I'm totally stealing this idea next time we take our students to a museum.</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/civil-rights-act/" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="47" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXse9AQf9sN4Oyp2XHeqMd1rf-kdwfO7pLbpcG2aIWmMDsNWssNo_oZDvEOzuepIMpB0bzW_4JB990DyHVxxe860evFONgwb0P2Xwsz9UBx2pJf3JxiNTMZMK-dUIXEIO7P3HoOAeGJZk/s320/Screen+Shot+2015-08-09+at+3.04.36+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Some of my major primary source takeaways I plan on using to ignite inquiry are:</span><br />
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Focus on the voices behind the movement. I plan on highlighting Bayard Rustin, an openly gay man, that was the mastermind behind the March on Washington but is rarely noted.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Include raw, unfiltered primary sources throughout the year as much as possible. Coming across a Daisy Bates letter regarding the poor treatments of black students at Central High, specifically mentioning Minniejean (visits our school every year during our Civil Rights unit), I consider hitting the jackpot! There is a goldmine of sources available.</span></li>
</ul>
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<a href="http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/civil-rights-act/civil-rights-era.html" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ddReAxBrmexfYlt2_uS8Hh2Nu3_jh9ahB1eITLUh9lR1gUa96KePtKqj6QHFzZYSAY3fVycyNo2qb00DN5tpgk9iMat3MBuG92aG1a-ePGEE7J-Vcfrh9OrdAr7ur3mGdQjpefgOGu4/s200/Screen+Shot+2015-08-09+at+2.59.12+PM.png" width="169" /></a></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">When teaching about the Civil Rights unit, I plan to include primary sources from slavery, Revolutionary War, to current events to represent the long and still much present struggle of social justice.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">During my Native American unit, I will fold in powerful Indian boarding school primary sources . I'm thrilled that there is actually a "Nashville" connection too. Adding this slice of history makes a connection later on in the year with the Civil Rights unit's focus on school segregation and civil rights violations. </span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I walked away from the Summer Institute with a better idea on how to maximize the access/usage of the Library of Congress digital sources. The experience has totally transformed me, and I cannot wait to implement new ideas with my students. I've walked away a better teacher with an arsenal of best practice pedagogy and a passion for learning with primary sources. During the Institute, I was in the company of other educators that share my passion for learning and history! I have a feeling some of those friendships will continue inspiring me beyond our time together in Washington D.C.</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020398319828054734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6490315151859587803.post-8723367917443163392015-07-27T12:38:00.001-07:002015-07-27T12:38:51.762-07:00Learn Like a Pirate!<span style="font-size: large;">I absolutely love summer! It gives me time to reflect, learn and act. Over the summer, I always fit in workshops/conferences and reading my highly anticipated stack of books. I learned via Twitter that <a href="https://twitter.com/PaulSolarz" target="_blank">@PaulSolarz</a> has a wealth of knowledge which he generously shares. I was so excited when I heard he had written a book, no more 140 character limit! Paul Solarz's book <u>Learn Like a Pirate</u> pushed me to think about the way I run my classroom, taught me a few tricks, and now I am committed to create some change.</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Learn-Like-PIRATE-Students-Collaborate/dp/098821766X" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;"><img alt=" Learn Like a Pirate" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6gwm_ylSG0cLMBNo8G2aMIfRdoHWwH5AVNWkF3cBxySPOfzIABRIwaU5Rr-db1uUpWUtNnj6O7PwCd4bRgNBYa8VQb4q5fdPbifa5l6N5XfZobNbqPyJg1dTV9KgYueRrGnYII_eGb14/s200/51svEql0jkL._SY344_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="133" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"> I consider my classroom already to be student driven, but Paul's book has some practical suggestions that I can easily implement to iron out some of the bumps I run into. Here are some changes I am creating in my classroom this year:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Give Me Fives:</b> What a wonderful way to empower students to step in and take the reins. I typically ask students to step forward to share with the class. By being the sole person to make these calls, I'm positive I am missing learning opportunities that everyone would benefit from, including me! I plan to introduce <i>give me five</i> at the beginning of school along with the rest of my <i>rituals</i>. I have a feeling it is going to be liberating and up the ante of our learning community.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Post Daily Schedule:</b> I tried this out a few times last year but was not consistent. I aim this year to stick with it. I feel this small change will help with my class activity transitions, which don't always run as smoothly as I wish. When I am in a workshop/conference, I too like to know the agenda. I owe this piece to my students.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Pulling Popsicle Sticks for Partnerships/Groupings: </b>Grouping students is one area of my job, I don't enjoy. I love the popsicle stick idea for grouping on the fly. As Paul states in his book, "Random partnerships help build strong student relationships amongst everyone in the room."</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Good versus Bossy Leadership</b>: Students regularly collaborate in my classroom. Year after year, I run into a few students that hijack a group's efforts. The teacher-student discussion is a total balancing act, because I don't want to discourage the students from leading. Paul suggests in these instances to pull the student aside and ask them if their <i>behavior is displaying good leadership skills or has crossed over into bossiness</i>. As teachers, we need to nudge the kids to <i>lead with kindness</i> by making them aware of their tone. I plan to front load the discussion when I present the collaborative group expectations, but will not miss out on the opportunity to provide feedback along the way!</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Student Reflection:</b> The last couple of years I have gotten better by factoring in time for students to reflect on their learning. E-portfolios have been a great platform to record reflections. At times, I have overthought the process of guiding the students in this process. I have learned that you are better off by providing students with some guiding questions. Paul has great go-to questions to prompt deeper thinking during and after the learning process that I am totally stealing!</span></li>
</ul>
<ol><ol><ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Describe what happened or what you did during the lesson.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">To explain your learning experience provide: </span></li>
</ul>
</ol>
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<li><span style="font-size: large;">strengths and weaknesses</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-size: large;">successes and setbacks </span></li>
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<li><span style="font-size: large;">hard and easy</span></li>
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<ol><ol><ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">What did you learn due to the experience?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">What can you do to improve your learning? How will you extend your learning past what is expected?</span></li>
</ul>
</ol>
</ol>
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<span style="font-size: large;">There's much more in the book to check out including some active learning ideas, resources and 21st century skills. The book has QR codes that link up to Paul's website which is full of examples of student work, a great source for inspiration. Off to the next book in my reading stack, summer is near the end for me!</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020398319828054734noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6490315151859587803.post-14070404499446718202015-03-06T15:22:00.002-08:002015-03-09T17:30:02.075-07:00Historians as Work!It's always exciting to plan and implement a new project, especially one packed with rich learning opportunities. Our school is turning 100 this year. So in honor of our centennial year, I designed an inquiry based project that would celebrate our school's history throughout the decades. My plan was to promote historical thinking as students analyzed primary sources and shared their findings in a digital story. What I did not expect was the high level of student engagement. Class periods seemed to be cut in half and students left class begging for more, a teacher's dream! I also got sucked in and was actively learning beside them as we uncovered the layers of our school's history.<br />
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The first step to creating the project was to identify the targeted skills I could integrate into the project such as:<br />
<span style="text-align: center;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="text-align: center;">- working in collaborative groups</span></div>
<span style="text-align: center;">
</span><span style="text-align: center;"></span>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="text-align: center;">- comparing/contrasting ideas</span></div>
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</span><span style="text-align: center;"></span>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="text-align: center;">- analyzing primary sources</span></div>
<span style="text-align: center;">
</span><span style="text-align: center;"></span>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="text-align: center;">- inquiry & researching</span></div>
<span style="text-align: center;">
</span><span style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">
- close reading, inferencing & summarizing</div>
</span><span style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">
- sourcing & citations</div>
</span><span style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">
- interviewing & presenting</div>
</span><br />
<ul>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Actually, the list of skills seemed to expand as the project evolved. For instance, I decided to weave in literary devices in order to prompt more descriptive writing. The amount of technology skills embedded into this project was really off the charts too.</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Building Background Knowledge</b></div>
I invited colleagues to stop by our classroom to share stories about our school's inception. I felt this would give everyone a foundation of where and how it had all started. In the process, it ignited curiosity and a sense of excitement among the students.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2mpF1uB6mxXnJ3pHT02hKAVwtoH6n8oDWkFLoKiYy6ogZeT1DnKbBD5yoL1KZxvmq6viAOUmwdZcvNS7Be4Js8dFzSbCOzs7cpqnplAGCwesuH5wmBcVGzEZTFY7FzhR3O2oFwZTTQb8/s1600/IMG_0576.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2mpF1uB6mxXnJ3pHT02hKAVwtoH6n8oDWkFLoKiYy6ogZeT1DnKbBD5yoL1KZxvmq6viAOUmwdZcvNS7Be4Js8dFzSbCOzs7cpqnplAGCwesuH5wmBcVGzEZTFY7FzhR3O2oFwZTTQb8/s1600/IMG_0576.JPG" height="149" width="200" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvvAvrHHHXrYA11Q7C5Z6i_1SAhq-RqWYwTqEnXworXEGOlmbqul2SzSb2J21rwvAe-b166lzRqVsKMWWthY151Kxh80uUOZ-HK_BqPAbBXbst_BGoASWGPULUKKbJxg2RfF5E1m3f6w8/s1600/IMG_0569.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvvAvrHHHXrYA11Q7C5Z6i_1SAhq-RqWYwTqEnXworXEGOlmbqul2SzSb2J21rwvAe-b166lzRqVsKMWWthY151Kxh80uUOZ-HK_BqPAbBXbst_BGoASWGPULUKKbJxg2RfF5E1m3f6w8/s1600/IMG_0569.JPG" height="149" width="200" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrdUmjasfXP6qbIAqOL988e-xY0sAdD2z4biE9eMzRs-82qfATkrwO1BdoVh8xqqBKCvhamaguOZjxisop7RDLpNBCHUxBHrLnaiQNjTXlGAhW9iKvHE8ieQ1_qUwR1YED-xAdWIow7vs/s1600/IMG_0567.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrdUmjasfXP6qbIAqOL988e-xY0sAdD2z4biE9eMzRs-82qfATkrwO1BdoVh8xqqBKCvhamaguOZjxisop7RDLpNBCHUxBHrLnaiQNjTXlGAhW9iKvHE8ieQ1_qUwR1YED-xAdWIow7vs/s1600/IMG_0567.JPG" height="149" width="200" /></a></div>
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<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>The Time Capsule Hook</b></div>
In order to kick off the project, I taught a mini-lesson on primary and secondary sources. I showed the students a clip of the 1795 time capsule that was recently found in Boston and another clip that revealed what was inside the capsule. I announced that we were about to embark on a similar mission to in order tell our school's story. They could not wait to start!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="300" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/s9iTX1xhRlA" width="400"></iframe><br /></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3Pytx2x926Q" width="400"></iframe><br /></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Creating an Archivist Mindset</b></div>
<i>Photographs:</i><br />
To prepare my students to analyze photographs with a critical eye, I used a class activity I call <i>Zooming In. </i>Using my Smartboard, I revealed a photograph bit by bit, stopping to discuss: <i>What do you wonder? What do you notice? What do you think?</i> It was a great way to slow down the process of analyzing photographs. I would not reveal more of the photograph until all thoughts were exhausted. I was impressed by the questions and inferences students made. Students were surprised by how much information they could get from a single photograph.<br />
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<i>Objects:</i><br />
Prior to starting this project, I visited different antique shops around town to scout out unusual antique objects. Each group was assigned an object to analyze its design and purpose. Then, I brought out the modern day versions of the objects, so students could compare and contrast the objects.<br />
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Our school is very fortunate to have their own school archivist on staff, Jenny Winston. So, I took full advantage of her expertise and passion for primary sources. First, she and I worked closely brainstorming ways we could use the primary sources from our school's collection. After kicking around a few ideas, we decided on the concept of building decade boxes from the 1920s to the 1970s. She selected an assortment of primary sources, with 5th graders in mind, such as photographs, letters, newspapers, textiles, graduation rings, and yearbooks. She also scanned some of the sources from each decade and shared the Google Drive decade folders. So, the students had access to the digitized primary sources. They also had access to our school's virtual, <a href="http://www.usn100.org/" target="_blank">interactive timeline</a> and <a href="http://usnarchives.omeka.net/" target="_blank">digital archives </a>website which holds a larger collection than what could be found in their digital folders.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Decades GDrive folders with digital primary sources</td></tr>
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On her first visit to our class, Jenny, brought a few interesting primary sources for the students to check out. She went over how to appropriately handle the sources in order to preserve them, by laying them flat to examine and turning the pages gently at the edge, all while wearing gloves. Honestly, there was something about the idea of students wearing white gloves as they handled the primary sources that transformed their mindset from a typical 5th grade student to a passionate archivist on a mission. It was like the white gloves came with investigative superpowers!<br />
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<b><b>Let the Investigations Begin!</b></b></div>
Students worked in groups of 3-4. They selected a decade of interest from 1920'-1970's and were provided a <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BAYldmEZ3Bm3HixFbN6DtHrjmy2FJbiFDS3BHBT0Tpk/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">rubric</a>. Each decade's inquiry was anchored with the same essential question, <i>In what ways has USN preserved its traditions and evolved throughout the decade? </i>Students were also provided with suggested focal areas of investigation (academics, sports, club/social, and facilities) but were encouraged to modify them as needed. The project was easily differentiated based on the complexity of the primary source selection from different texts to photographs. Each primary source naturally provided the students with a breadcrumb trail to another source. Students were totally immersed in the challenge of piecing the puzzle together. One student made the connection of how he felt like Sherlock Holmes as he investigated. It was quite a scene to see their excitement as they connected the dots of their discoveries.<br />
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<a href="https://drive.google.com/a/email.usn.org/file/d/0B1XbWOtsTdSodkItTC1iVEdrLWs/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Analyzing Primary Sources</a></div>
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<b>Technology Playing a Part</b></div>
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Technology only enhanced the process of investigating and reporting their findings. Students used the web to access secondary sources to answer questions that came up in their investigations like <i>What is kitten ball? </i>and<i> How do you dance the jitterbug?</i> They quickly discovered that taking pictures of primary sources allowed them to use the iPad as a magnifying glass, so they could zoom in and out on an image. Onsite reporting was a snap with a mobile device. Students used their iPads to take photos of the school and to interview faculty members. Our athletic campus is not located on our school's campus; not problem for my students, they cleverly realized they could use GoogleEarth to obtain street and ariel views. We used <i>Book Creator</i> to produce the digital stories. Students were encouraged to "smash" apps, and they did not hesitate to do it using <i>PicCollage, Explain Everything and iMovie </i>apps. Each student produced their own pages and later the group's pages were merged into one book.</div>
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<b>It's Showtime!</b></div>
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Presentations were practiced in class and students were reminded not to read to the audience, but to aim at presenting the big ideas of their decade. They were also required to present dressed in attire representative of their decade. It was entertaining to hear a 5th graders interpretation on their decade such as how teachers never smiled in the 20s.</div>
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<b>Changes for the Next Time Around...</b></div>
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It is wonderful when the outcome exceeds the expectations, and that's exactly what happened with this project. The experience heightened my awareness that the level of student engagement and problem solving mindset increases significantly when primary sources are in the mix. This experience has motivated me to find ways for primary sources to be at the core of my instruction, promoting critical thinking and problem solving throughout the entire learning process.<span style="font-family: garamond; font-size: 12pt;"> </span>As I reflect, there are just a few items I would consider changing. In addition to the essential question, I provided students with supporting questions. A few students were paralyzed when they could not find answers to the supporting questions, even though they were told they did not have to answer all of them. While a few other students felt like they were done researching once the supporting questions were answered. I meant the supporting questions to be jumping off point not a means to the end. Next time, I would instead provide them with general questions that scaffolds the process of making observations & interpretations with the primary sources.<br />
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I feel we also underestimated the use of the digital primary source collection website. Initially, we felt the students would be overwhelmed by the amount of sources. However, once they figured out how to browse with tags, it was smooth sailing. Using the website would eliminate the need to share the decades GDrive folders. Groups collected and sourced their research on a shared GDoc. I might instead consider using <a href="https://padlet.com/" target="_blank">Padlet </a>next year. I would also start off the project with each group researching the main historical events of their decade, before giving them access to the primary sources.</div>
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Lastly, I would consider a class trip to the <a href="http://www.tennessee.gov/tsla/index.htm" target="_blank">Tennessee State Library of Archives</a> next year prior to starting the research. This would add another level of authenticity to the entire experience.<br />
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While we will only be celebrating a centennial year once, I have a feeling this project will be experienced for many years to come!</div>
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I'm recording all of the brilliant ideas I saw this weekend before I forget them, or I file them away never to be seen again.<br>
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<i><b>Teach Like a Pirate - Dave Burgess</b></i><br>
My first session was the Teach Like a Pirate session with Dave Burgess. I had already read his book a couple of years ago, and his performance strongly reinforced the idea of creating an experience for kids by making the lessons come alive. While his lesson on teaching the branches of government was in his book, seeing it in person completely makes sense now. I am totally stealing this idea!<br>
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<i><b>LGBT - Norma Bailey</b></i><br>
Due to the horrible service at the restaurant as I waited for my lunch, I almost missed this session. I am so glad I walked out without my lunch. Norma was amazing! She beautifully stated that gay students are no more special than other students, but they are no more less either. So, how can we break the silence? Her suggestions included:<br>
<ul>
<li>Make LGBT issues explicit in the curriculum. </li>
<ul>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB16h21cl27tk9x4KHo2_MgRSHy8i2yCM1pVjaP3GDfzYFQBJgCYxpRd3_gj9m-9tkk0-vw-v9hdaCggcJg-asnuQCYVXh-6Te1PY67LSA8z-bFZC020b1_Bnvc373AI8xrZHohymlp3I/s1600/61iqHqZzf7L._AA160_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB16h21cl27tk9x4KHo2_MgRSHy8i2yCM1pVjaP3GDfzYFQBJgCYxpRd3_gj9m-9tkk0-vw-v9hdaCggcJg-asnuQCYVXh-6Te1PY67LSA8z-bFZC020b1_Bnvc373AI8xrZHohymlp3I/s1600/61iqHqZzf7L._AA160_.jpg"></a>
<li>Easy to infuse in social studies with current events. Civil Rights unit is a natural path, not everyone has civil rights. A great essential question: What starts a civil rights movement?</li>
<li>Language arts by using good literature such as: <i> Annie On My Mind, SP likes AD!, The Misfits</i> (perfect for middle school), <i>I am Jazz</i> (picture book)</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul><ul>
<li>Identify when an author is gay or lesbian.</li>
<li>Science: genetics unit - Why are people gay?</li>
<li>Math: Bring in graphs about LGBT data/people.</li>
</ul>
<li><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB16h21cl27tk9x4KHo2_MgRSHy8i2yCM1pVjaP3GDfzYFQBJgCYxpRd3_gj9m-9tkk0-vw-v9hdaCggcJg-asnuQCYVXh-6Te1PY67LSA8z-bFZC020b1_Bnvc373AI8xrZHohymlp3I/s1600/61iqHqZzf7L._AA160_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">http://glsen.org/nonamecallingweek</a></li>
<ul>
</ul>
<li>How to handle harassment:</li>
<ul>
<li>Stop the harassment</li>
<li>Identify the harassment</li>
<li>Broaden the response</li>
<li>Ask for change in the future</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<b><i>Close Reading</i></b><br>
I also attended a few close reading sessions. The tying in of text evidence, finding patterns, and the value of questioning was pretty much the focal point in all of the sessions. Some ideas I want to try out are:<br>
<ul>
<li>Using <i>metaphors</i> to extend the thinking. "How is _____ like ________?" (example: How is water like electricity?) Then having the kids go back to the text to find text to support it. </li>
<li>Using the <i>5W & 1H </i>to pull key details found in the text, then having students share and anchor it back to the text by having them provide the page number where the information was found.</li>
<li><i>Image analysis</i> by 1st asking students "What do you see?" then using a <i>Sense-O-Gram</i> chart</li>
<li>Ask "What did the words make you see?" instead of "What did you read?"</li>
</ul>
<i><b>Motivate & Engage Students to Think Critically through Close Reading of Complex Text - Leah Ames</b></i><br>
Love the idea of students experiencing the value of multiple interactions with the text to deepen understanding by using the short clips from www.theinvisiblegorilla.com and the Doritos "Missing Cat Super Bowl XLVI" commercial.<br>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5KDwASLFPQbwOwD1YwRbkZ7H2VS3MegPCbBjGCLUWKY84PK0OJuuSMcxqd-eMBmXRXQlsTP9xjWXf8yRD-3ptb1xaya5cXpFdhFISg_-9yzJuPEDckHrq_Y6iGfYiAsQruCtpsPXEmj8/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-11-08+at+6.52.41+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5KDwASLFPQbwOwD1YwRbkZ7H2VS3MegPCbBjGCLUWKY84PK0OJuuSMcxqd-eMBmXRXQlsTP9xjWXf8yRD-3ptb1xaya5cXpFdhFISg_-9yzJuPEDckHrq_Y6iGfYiAsQruCtpsPXEmj8/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-11-08+at+6.52.41+PM.png" height="119" width="200"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-8ku8C3giR08SXUoCLOZ0rmzGGEtn2_oIshMJBrGVSniAmZu09vJtaE0lmrXzkqXlB_Ho6cIrKz7AWTH78BeG2fBunvJzx4URzTA0MlGWfjfyCO5tpS3ksO4GGMAmoR5mIRv1GmdcfAU/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-11-08+at+6.59.48+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-8ku8C3giR08SXUoCLOZ0rmzGGEtn2_oIshMJBrGVSniAmZu09vJtaE0lmrXzkqXlB_Ho6cIrKz7AWTH78BeG2fBunvJzx4URzTA0MlGWfjfyCO5tpS3ksO4GGMAmoR5mIRv1GmdcfAU/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-11-08+at+6.59.48+PM.png" height="111" width="200"></a></div>
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Doritos Commerical<br>
1st view <b>What </b>did you notice?<br>
2nd view <b>How</b> did it happen?<br>
3rd view <b>Why or why not</b>?<br>
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Another suggestion was to use songs such as "Brave" by Sara Bareilles, which generated a deep discussion among our group.<br>
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<b><i>Note & Notice by Kylene Beers & Bob Probst</i></b><br>
This duo did not disappoint! I had read their wonderful book and am anxiously awaiting their non-fiction version to be published. They ran through teaching kids to notice the six signposts with their accompanying anchor questions. Tell kids to read with their PENCIL in their hand! These strategies are helpful because the kids know the questions, so they will also know the answers or at least be looking for them as they read. Using this method gives the students ownership to the text.<br>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5UHBJxkE9xFJwbBPcZYlOhSil1QkKYQwjaK5wOZOSowNb6YoTIGNFcg6bGIcBcaDJw3Ni-uWnOLgC4pR0dpKdIn_lmtG9g6SKzP7vpE9nVUF3Z50KAGle_YFTRndeVL-oTsx2z9kyz9s/s1600/jpeg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5UHBJxkE9xFJwbBPcZYlOhSil1QkKYQwjaK5wOZOSowNb6YoTIGNFcg6bGIcBcaDJw3Ni-uWnOLgC4pR0dpKdIn_lmtG9g6SKzP7vpE9nVUF3Z50KAGle_YFTRndeVL-oTsx2z9kyz9s/s1600/jpeg.jpg" height="200" width="153"></a><i><b>If You Can't Manage Them, You Can't Teach Them! - Kim Campbell</b></i><br>
Kim Campbell is an energetic and motivating presenter! I was so impressed I sat through two of her sessions. I plan to buy her book on Monday.<br>
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Here are some of her ideas I plan to use:<br>
<ul>
<li>Partner Talking strategy </li>
<ul>
<li>Partner A (talker) & B (listener - smile/nod only)</li>
<li>Talk for 30 seconds (timers were a big deal, sense of urgency)</li>
<li>Teacher approaches B to tell her what A said</li>
</ul>
<li>Brain Breaks (students can only listen to their age in minutes)</li>
<ul>
<li>Pinky and hand movement</li>
<li>Get the Wiggles Out - 12345 (arm), 12345 (other arm), 12345 (each leg), 12345 (tush), 1234..., 123...., 12..., 1...</li>
<li>Egg, Chicken, Cow, Human - Rock, Paper, Scissors </li>
<li>Rock, Paper, Scissors - sit when you lose, can get back up when their opponent loses to another person</li>
</ul>
<li>Groupings</li>
<ul>
<li>Index card 4 square to group up, 2 they pick and 2 where you give a criteria, helps with quick groupings</li>
</ul>
<li>Signals</li>
<ul>
<li>claps</li>
<li>eyes on me</li>
<li>hands on head</li>
<li>chanting "When I say middle, you say school"</li>
</ul>
<li>Don't have more than 3-4 pet peeves at a time (try foam sheet for desk tappers)</li>
<li>Never use "sh" </li>
<li>Use EXPECTATIONS not RULES - rules are meant to be broken</li>
<li>NEVER redirect the same kid about a behavior twice! Hold them accountable.</li>
<li><b>Post it Note Review</b> Study Strategy (make extras for the early finishers)</li>
<ul>
<li>Write a name of a person, place or thing on post it</li>
<li>Exchange Post It's (without seeing what the new post it says), put it on forehead</li>
<li>Ask classmate 3 questions to try to figure it out</li>
<li>Come back to seat when music starts </li>
</ul>
<li><b>Draw it! Describe it! Do it!</b></li>
<ul>
<li>1 or 2 = draw it (Pictionary)</li>
<li>3 or 4 = describe it</li>
<li>5 or 6 = do it, act it out</li>
</ul>
<li><b>Keyword Prediction</b> - pre-reading strategy. Post random keywords for students to predict with their AB partners, collaborate as they play around with the words, even make up questions then ask teacher question. Then bring it up a notch by showing an image - what do you notice, wonder?</li>
<li><b>20 Word Summary</b> in exactly 20 words summarize the main points after a 10 minute lecture.</li>
<li><b>Mystery Participate</b> - put 3 student names in your pocket, if all three of the kids participate get to play a round of Rock Paper and Scissor tournament. Don't tell them who it was if you don't meet the expectation.</li></ul>
AMLE's offerrings allowed me to be put a bit of everything on my learning plate. It was truly satisfying, just what I needed to take my teaching to the next level.<br>
<br>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020398319828054734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6490315151859587803.post-4810191695738715372014-09-07T11:51:00.002-07:002014-09-07T14:27:43.780-07:00Understanding the World Through Geography<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The <a href="http://www.ncge.org/conference" target="_blank">National Council for Geographic Education</a> (NCGE) holds an annual conference that is hosted in different cities every year. This summer it was held in Memphis which seemed like the perfect opportunity for me to connect and learn along with other educators from around the globe. There were so many interesting sessions offered that I, at times, felt torn wanting to be in three different places at one time!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A major part of the sessions included student learning opportunities that incorporated Geographic Information System (GIS). Advances in technology now allow our students to have access to current data which engages them in analysis, interpretation and critical thinking related to data maps. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis" target="_blank">ArcGIS Online</a>, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a cloud based program, is one of those resources. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ArcGis </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">along with </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Google Maps</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> also allows for time travel to explore past landscapes throughout history. The idea is for students to become geo-literate, looking for patterns in real-time like where people live and why.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In addition to the GIS concept, sessions included activities using literature to make connections to reading, primary sources and maps. I felt like I was making curricular tweaks with each session I attended! For instance this year in our Civil Rights unit, I plan to incorporate the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Green Book</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (1936-1964) which helped African American automobile travelers identify accommodations during the Jim Crow era. The session showcased teaching strategies using the Green Book, as a primary source, and the picture book </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ruth and the Green Book</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in relation to geographic advancements in studying race relations, mobility and civil rights.</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.autolife.umd.umich.edu/Race/R_Casestudy/87_135_1736_GreenBk_Cover.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.autolife.umd.umich.edu/Race/R_Casestudy/87_135_1736_GreenBk_Cover.gif" height="200" width="144" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBvhWwShDJgZVdyvApFgA1pdf6pAN55uRQd6gKuSf56e-G4FEqzAUOonmK41PS5n-nKNChkJ27OTXe8qDp3fEAilllvmiFXy9Yegpr3paZg-jKMbid-fu-HQqVdxzu-ZZY1I-I0-YMFnh3/s1600/Ruth+and+the+Green+Book.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBvhWwShDJgZVdyvApFgA1pdf6pAN55uRQd6gKuSf56e-G4FEqzAUOonmK41PS5n-nKNChkJ27OTXe8qDp3fEAilllvmiFXy9Yegpr3paZg-jKMbid-fu-HQqVdxzu-ZZY1I-I0-YMFnh3/s1600/Ruth+and+the+Green+Book.jpg" height="200" width="168" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The last day of the conference a quote posted from President Obama caught my eye, "The study of geography is more than just memorizing places on a map, it's about understanding the complexity of our world." It truly sums up how the conference reinforced the importance of geography and that maps tell stories. The possibilities of using 21st century technology just makes the learning experience more authentic and engaging.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020398319828054734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6490315151859587803.post-56072229004661709422013-09-03T11:52:00.001-07:002013-09-03T12:02:37.081-07:00Revamped Tech Infused Geography UnitSo I spent a great deal of my summer redesigning my dreaded geography unit. While the skills and objectives remained the same, the new and improved unit has more application practices. Having a set of 20 iPads living in my classroom has extended the possibilities as far as my creativity can run with it. I continue to use the five themes of geography as the framework for teaching geographical thinking. However, I felt I went much deeper this time around. In partnerships, the students worked on self selected landscape images from anywhere in the world. I partnered up with our school librarian in order to build copyright awareness. In the library classroom, students explored <a href="http://www.searchcreativecommons.org/">www.searchcreativecommons.org</a> as a source for images. Most students found the most success using Wikimedia through the Creative Commons website. <span style="text-align: center;"> </span><br />
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Students were also provided with the following rubric:<br />
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-06a9c284-e149-3911-5311-afccc2c7758b"><span id="docs-internal-guid-06a9c284-e14a-439e-41d0-8597cf5f21d9"><img height="29px;" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/96rZdRsk3nK1atTVpKZ9K07FnOmFpL_UuFvoVhDriOheiHIxrRAjaswWZRgED93NG1E3cOielX6xfJtz7XI7XmrfrnpPvVDshLoWjrjVooDWW8P9r-u4K1u2bw" width="123px;" /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5 Themes of Geography Rubric Mini-Project - QUIZ GRADE</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
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<table style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none;"><colgroup><col width="85"></col><col width="442"></col><col width="97"></col></colgroup><tbody>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Criteria</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Description</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Points</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Title</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Must have location & each partner’s name.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pins</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">* Each theme is represented by a different colored pin.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">* Must have at </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">least one</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> pin per geography theme. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">* Placement of the pins on image are related to labeled theme - with the exception of location, place, region.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">20</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Text</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">* Explanation of how the theme applies to the image must be accurate and clear. Do NOT just copy your notes or type the name of the theme. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">* Make sure to include </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">how</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> your theme is being applied to your image (ex. Movement: people, ideas, & good). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">* Need to include absolute & relative location.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">30</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Image</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">* Each pin must have a photo, with the exception of place. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">* Images for location and region themes </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">must</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> be maps. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">* Photos/maps add meaning or support to your text.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">30</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sources</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Include a pin different from the theme pins to represent your sources used (Wikimedia, Flickr, etc.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shared</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Project is linked to edmodo group & labeled with location & each partner’s name.</span></div>
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Then off to the races we were, opening up Thinglink accounts, and crossing my fingers that the 5th graders would remember their passwords the next day. So much for crossing my fingers! Even having them use the same password/username as they had recently been assigned to sign into the school website proved not to be foolproof. Many of the students typed in their passwords/usernames incorrectly which led to the multiple requests to reset their accounts.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEu1sXkJZLiqYye9s0-EtX-duQFG9eS13uk2jwCZIcycmL12Umal-8OW7JJGnQug-Fci4J2JG5-aTX-Waap0rlWxKhoyoYIJgSgRPNW5CDnmt82ioIIcwwSjl0Hv3ejFgvMSYK_e6SoUk/s1600/images.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEu1sXkJZLiqYye9s0-EtX-duQFG9eS13uk2jwCZIcycmL12Umal-8OW7JJGnQug-Fci4J2JG5-aTX-Waap0rlWxKhoyoYIJgSgRPNW5CDnmt82ioIIcwwSjl0Hv3ejFgvMSYK_e6SoUk/s200/images.jpeg" height="48" width="200" /></a><br />
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The project itself was wonderful! It will definitely be a repeat next year with a few tweaks. Thinglink was a terrific platform for the students to apply their knowledge of the five themes of geography. The Thinglink learning curve was minimal, very user friendly. I then had them embed the link onto edmodo. A homework assignment was for the students to go into edmodo and provide meaningful comments to three of their peer's Thinglink projects. I then graded their projects right on edmodo. One bump I ran into was that embedding the link did not work for all students. The images would not completely load onto the site. Next year, I will have students simply link their project instead.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJFCorbol7BZdWQpTMhDUhyozFjLcCzmhzVXg2dYvq7N0qdLbaCtcQgX51dciw-LGKlMR1OMU7ork4hYVSWrFuzmhCTgKYb2M_2eVJI61yk5oKC8O8_y5y1Szm6zulWa5_pgNw5eYEzpc/s1600/imgres.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJFCorbol7BZdWQpTMhDUhyozFjLcCzmhzVXg2dYvq7N0qdLbaCtcQgX51dciw-LGKlMR1OMU7ork4hYVSWrFuzmhCTgKYb2M_2eVJI61yk5oKC8O8_y5y1Szm6zulWa5_pgNw5eYEzpc/s200/imgres.jpeg" height="57" width="200" /></a></div>
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I was blown away by how must thought the students put into this project. We spend a total of three class periods working on this project, and it was totally worth it. Not only was I able to assess their geographical thinking, but I also evaluated how they worked collaboratively, their written expression and grammar skills along with how closely and accurately they followed a rubric. These were all great starting points for the new school year. Hoping our next geography U.S. states project using 30 Hands will be just as successful!<br />
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Here is one example of their work:<br />
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0IixrXdWD5kuf1BzFCOcsf2GcyMLALQXkbn06jkNOWZ51y6hE7glAPnuJ9GZaTF5YA2G4yyKrlV659FW2jjf1OnYOHOdLU0HxCUVFaGvf4MGNERDG70e5e0iOUKKDvl_P38KrviskfFI/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-09-03+at+1.40.51+PM.png" height="181" width="320" /><a href="https://www.thinglink.com/scene/426744259429793792#tlsite" target="_blank">https://www.thinglink.com/scene/426744259429793792#tlsite</a></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020398319828054734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6490315151859587803.post-83216423470857340512013-08-07T17:37:00.001-07:002013-08-07T17:37:34.192-07:00Summer Learning Reflection Game Changers<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What a summer it has been, full of active learning - mostly self directed too. There was some traditional professional learning involved such as attending ISTE in San Antonio along with 10 other colleagues. This summer I experienced my first unconference, a PrincipalMeet and a TeachMeet. I also filled my learning time reading books such as "</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Questions-Opening-Student-Understanding/dp/1416615059/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375631012&sr=8-1&keywords=essential+questions" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Essential Questions</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">" by Grant Wiggins and "</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Design-People-Learn-Voices-Matter/dp/0321768434/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375631065&sr=8-1&keywords=design+for+how+people+learn" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Design for How People Learn</a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">" by Julie Dirksen. However, most of my learning and collaborating was done virtually. I participated in book & weekly chats, listened to podcasts, watched webinars, collaborated with my PLN, and along the way made new Twitter connections. I was able to pick and chose areas that interested me the most, the ultimate DIY PD.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I spent a good amount of time learning and using new apps of which I plan to use with my students this year such as:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisgFat8FbTfkeKlVlwOY-R_FeX99vxPv_pXJK6Mu6DwqRVAqBr-7dfJDlfWdc_QS3XhyphenhyphenWAPa3-ABvjhadqWGb0Dh9NuwJkiqoEUxb2MpSNlDp4XsspZZOQ8H2aQSGLGPq31gEU8ScykNo/s1600/imgres.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/30hands/id605013231?ls=1" target="_blank">30 Hands</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaTMcF-2EmFvUWkzl3ogvgNyXAm2ApKi33MZnPImYm57M8Sa1XfYeo-wXnz-pQ5L7bnatl0jQvX0STVKczXr0aB7i8eigS3BNHRj4H2jfdJwtj_p6MRMZRkAX5IEjQZRhY_foMLODNtG8/s1600/imgres-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaTMcF-2EmFvUWkzl3ogvgNyXAm2ApKi33MZnPImYm57M8Sa1XfYeo-wXnz-pQ5L7bnatl0jQvX0STVKczXr0aB7i8eigS3BNHRj4H2jfdJwtj_p6MRMZRkAX5IEjQZRhY_foMLODNtG8/s1600/imgres-1.jpeg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/30hands/id605013231?ls=1" target="_blank">Aurasma</a></td></tr>
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<a href="http://www.subtext.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTNnWxg-Un4U3kAOFjJjo-WomNLTREmAU0cUfcdTd6ZpYlri6N8MtHBPiKaaQ6JTMM-EItoTxudDBNUvhO1JDEHpwohLQfU3-CaIykXliSjR6RgGaUwU8IQXNgGP-ad1buBFDhnvUsrKE/s1600/imgres-2.jpeg" width="200" /></a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/thinglink/id647304300?mt=8" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj9VAjBANvrFRLfW-shqDG11Je1_wPX5l4Sw38hVq4OxJSgoGIHPUuVaLKCe4s5dQ3WwuhHnv1x4x6LmnmKME8thpKv9qTqLWi2yFhvTnCcQ6USAcPAzLGwyyM_EUFmYO4JerdZbctt7w/s1600/images.jpeg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/thinglink/id647304300?mt=8" target="_blank">Thinglink</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This summer has also been pivotal in shifting the way I design lessons. I actually spent a great deal of time revamping my most dreaded unit, geography. Paul Solarz (@PaulSolarz) played a big part in helping me rethink how and why I was teaching geography. It simply started with a tweet, and his comments on my Google document were extremely valuable. Just the spark I needed to take off with my planning. He is a wealth of knowledge and generously shares.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I also jumped in and started designing a class website using Google Sites. It is still a work in process, but I am feeling good about providing my students with a landing places to find resources, links, and information about my course/units. They too will be using Sites for their digital portfolios, another new experience for me. My students will continue to use Edmodo and Kidblog </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">as collaboration platforms. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I also started blogging myself. Which I find to be a powerful, reflection tool. It is so helpful to dump all of my thoughts and learning into a blog. I've also enjoyed reading other people's blogs. Now, I can share with my students my personal blogging experience, just as I expect them to be bloggers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I also have more of an understanding of how the 20% Project concept works, and I connected with people on Twitter that I can rely on for support. I am so curious to see how the concept will work with my students.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My classroom will also be different this year. I've gotten rid of my teacher desk, my room instantly became larger. Instead of desk, I will have a rolling podium that will house my teacher laptop and iPad. Twenty iPads will be living in my room, no more anxiety as to whether I will have access to technology. This will be a game changer for sure!</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqkL1MXiGMaNTKvmqDdUY43-MlV7pTIhvkV3CjVLR82hBmYC98QxsFB6s42mzMcrqGjeh_YihWHI1vkYDRK-ugm8Zdmxqi_mNJh_AJJeny-pegjJstbrALPA3XFSYYq5RQt6jGivSqEfY/s1600/IMG_1684.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqkL1MXiGMaNTKvmqDdUY43-MlV7pTIhvkV3CjVLR82hBmYC98QxsFB6s42mzMcrqGjeh_YihWHI1vkYDRK-ugm8Zdmxqi_mNJh_AJJeny-pegjJstbrALPA3XFSYYq5RQt6jGivSqEfY/s200/IMG_1684.jpg" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9d-wGsFKnVnDV9VyHZL2zjEVspJdR4VrZEeVtEOQ0iiBUpQsPqWtnoNMh-9zMZBZ0XsHJYLifbVGDB6yomcggm3X-ab97o9WUn7c-Nda7taFzVB59n6MTpzNNAsi6Ks8gE63KtJxYg9s/s1600/IMG_1685.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9d-wGsFKnVnDV9VyHZL2zjEVspJdR4VrZEeVtEOQ0iiBUpQsPqWtnoNMh-9zMZBZ0XsHJYLifbVGDB6yomcggm3X-ab97o9WUn7c-Nda7taFzVB59n6MTpzNNAsi6Ks8gE63KtJxYg9s/s200/IMG_1685.jpg" width="150" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With all of my learning experiences in hand, I am so excited for the first day of school. When people ask me if am ready for school to begin, I immediately answer "YES!" I usually get a surprised "Really?" response. I can't wait to take my new learning and ideas out for a test drive. Hoping for smooth sailing, but I realize not everything will work as planned. I will embrace and learn from the failures and relish from each successful learning experiences. It's is going to be a great year!</span><br />
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Finally the day came yesterday for me, the opportunity to experience my first unconference type gathering. Will King (@wkingbg) and Allen Martin (@AlsTechTime), both whom I met at ISTE, invited me to crash their Bowling Green school district Teach Meet. As I followed their keynote speaker, Adam Taylor (@2footgiraffe), from Nashville, TN to Bowling Green, KY, I wondered if the event would seem awkward given that I was not a Bowling Green public school teacher. However when I walked into the Bowling Green High School, I was pleasantly surprised not to experience a moment of awkwardness. Actually quite the opposite happened, the teachers were so kind and welcoming. Our shared passion for learning and teaching completely blurred the fact that I was not a teacher in their district.<br />
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The <i>Newscasts for Any Classroom </i>was a wonderful session. Janet Martin walked us through the steps of setting up and implementing the project. Working in groups, students would learn how to plan and write/storyboard a segment of a newscast. The newscast would include a lead story, other stories, weather, commercials, traffic, etc. The integrated tech piece involved using iMovie to film and edit their production. I am going to attempt to use this idea with my explorer unit. So instead of individually presenting one by one about their explorers, groups of explorers will create one newscast. I can only imagine the creative student productions that will transpire! Janet's SlideRocket presentation can be found at <a href="http://www.tinyurl.com/TMnewscast">www.tinyurl.com/TMnewscast</a>. As part of her resources, Janet also shared this great clip on storyboarding to show students.<br />
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As I walked out of the newscast session, Kim Calhoun (@CalhounDOwork), a 9th grade history teacher, approached me about some cool ideas she had in her classroom. In her classroom, she began pulling amazing student projects out of a box. At the moment, the cardboard boxes seemed more like treasure boxes to me. Kim had her students create War World II poster foldables. I immediately started to think of the different ways I could use her ideas with my own students. She generously gave me a sample to take with me. I now plan on using foldables with my American Revolution unit. I keep hearing and reading that "learning should be a hot mess." Well, nothing screams "hot mess" more than a classroom full of students with paper, scissors and glue!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUvXaGnFZkEX9khd9sVh71BqKcqdXUmcp3LRbJIPSDG9H0GOe3vXPNXJTdlQa9pJ_J0cgrHhZJqHae3l9ezvM6xZReZ-zeA52Ncq_Vd5uQF-8sXiuMHyI3qc9kBCQpGG4iu-xFkDoWNng/s1600/IMG_1529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUvXaGnFZkEX9khd9sVh71BqKcqdXUmcp3LRbJIPSDG9H0GOe3vXPNXJTdlQa9pJ_J0cgrHhZJqHae3l9ezvM6xZReZ-zeA52Ncq_Vd5uQF-8sXiuMHyI3qc9kBCQpGG4iu-xFkDoWNng/s200/IMG_1529.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYIJsPHz1gdKSdGh9WJ_IcTDf1B4gHBy8nerlsTk-Z3HrliDXgKF90bA2EvX3lDFU1bFoZx8ywW0DZG6hzCTRDpbzLwsRwqoI6_NM0ICKMxHk9HLN1GHwiMWeNrvouv_oTgDJvQZIkFlg/s1600/IMG_1527.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYIJsPHz1gdKSdGh9WJ_IcTDf1B4gHBy8nerlsTk-Z3HrliDXgKF90bA2EvX3lDFU1bFoZx8ywW0DZG6hzCTRDpbzLwsRwqoI6_NM0ICKMxHk9HLN1GHwiMWeNrvouv_oTgDJvQZIkFlg/s200/IMG_1527.jpg" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGGb3BUjNxFvvSCkcMDYfg7nDlWBqskqJMOdzcSprnEE_C57CqhcI5CAZVEYAfOn4Dq7zWk40sBwf5-SHEJKSb-4Nl84gAsLjUlsqBkQkL5-FnCFsqc_faLIEzkPEKLaXPxWOX1rzQA2k/s1600/IMG_1526.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGGb3BUjNxFvvSCkcMDYfg7nDlWBqskqJMOdzcSprnEE_C57CqhcI5CAZVEYAfOn4Dq7zWk40sBwf5-SHEJKSb-4Nl84gAsLjUlsqBkQkL5-FnCFsqc_faLIEzkPEKLaXPxWOX1rzQA2k/s200/IMG_1526.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
Infographics is a tool I have not yet used, but I totally see the platform as an opportunity for students to effectively show their understanding. So, I was pleased to learn the basics from Will King's session on how to help kids sort and organize data. I loved the simplicity and visually appealing graphics of this image Will shared with us.<br />
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<span style="text-align: start;">I plan to use this tool early on in the school year as a culminating geography unit project. I am leaning toward using </span><a href="http://www.easel.ly/" style="text-align: start;" target="_blank">http://www.easel.ly/</a><span style="text-align: start;"> which is still on my summer learning "to do" list.</span></div>
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Adam Taylor's session on engaging students with technology was full of practical and easy to use tools. I was particularly glad to get a Socrative overview since I plan on using this assessment tool with my students this year.<br />
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As I left the session of how to embed Web 2.0 tools into a web page, Ms. McCoy, took me to a back room to show me their green screen. I was amazed, I wish we had this set up at our school. I was completely impressed by how cleverly an iPad box, an 8 x 10 frame glass, and velcro became a stand/holder for an iPad to film productions.<br />
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Overall, my first Teach Meet was a day full of learning, a total success. I can't wait for my next unconference. Now I understand the excitement that runs through Twitter as people tweet about the unconference craze.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020398319828054734noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6490315151859587803.post-26342270775415283632013-07-21T16:10:00.001-07:002013-07-21T16:16:24.550-07:00Learner's High, Who Knew!After spending a year on Twitter reading posts and blogs, I am finally ready to join the blogger world. It is not that I don't appreciate the power of reflection and sharing, I just felt like blogging would be yet another "to do" item on my ever growing list. I also thought I really did not have much to say that has not already been or would be said through my remarkable PLN's blogs. However, I've come to realize that blogging needs to be more about my own reflections as an evolving educator. It's a personal journey, but if I can contribute or inspire others to try something new, it's an added bonus!<br />
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This is such an exciting time in education. In the past year, there has not been a day I have not learned something new or have been willing to jump outside of my comfort zone. As I take more risks, it seems like I crave more challenges. I use to be an avid runner and would push myself until I experienced a 'runner's high.' Honestly, I felt like I could run forever. Well since having my third child and years of wear and tear on my body, I can no longer run. I never thought I would be able to reach the incredible 'runner's high' feeling until I jumped on the tech ed learning wave. There is something about being totally consumed with learning and reaching that 'eureka moment' that sends me into a superhero mode and fuels my motivation for the next challenge. Who knew that there was such a thing as a 'learner's high!' Yes, I've become a learner junkie. My hope is to lead my students in a couple of weeks on discovering their own 'learner's high' experiences.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020398319828054734noreply@blogger.com0