Mind. Blown.

Happy Sunday, colleagues! This past week I was scrolling through Twitter when I came across a post from Jennifer Gonzales. Of course, the title got my attention, but the article, itself, was even better.

Buzzword Bling: Putting Substance Behind Our Big Words
Guest post by Typhani Harris, Ph.Dhttps://t.co/dZBcykUCmv#teaching #studentchoice #studentengagement #teachingstrategies #wholechild

— Jennifer Gonzalez (@cultofpedagogy) January 23, 2018

This blog post is 2 1/2 years old but is still very much relevant. A lot of what is spoken in the blog post directly relates to my classroom and my education philosophy: 21st-century learning, real-world projects, and engagement. The part that blew my mind was the piece about how real-world knowledge is when it is real for students, but not necessarily real for teachers.

When I taught Social Studies, and I heard about making curriculum real-world, I struggled. I was frustrated with trying to explain what I considered "modern day" topics while teaching about what happened in the US 300 years ago. The closest I ever felt I got was the very last unit I developed last year when I had the students study a modern event dealing with racism and connect its lineage back to Reconstruction and Jim Crow laws. I felt so successful, and it was the last US history topic I taught over nine years.

After reading this blog post, I realized that I was unintentionally teaching real-world concepts for the last five years! I was doing so by connecting to their real-world NOW. I knew it was a best teaching practice to provide students opportunities to interact and communicate with each other. For some reason, I never thought about how beneficial it was to produce situations (or simulations) that were similar to their lives right now. Those situations/simulations are real-world for THEM (even if they're not real world for us).

What are some ways to design real-world lessons, projects, or units for our students?

• Even though students can't vote, they are interested in today's politics. If you teach Social Studies, compare and contrast political actions in 1789 with the government today. Compare the Presidents and their agendas. How is the Supreme Court different? How is Congress different? As you continue to teach your curriculum (into the 19th and 20th centuries), discuss where the changes happened. Focus on, How did we get here today? 
• Let students write a blog. Sometimes you can give them prompts, but sometimes, let them free write. Let them blog about what they're reading or have them blog about a recent personal Instagram post. If you want students to comment on each others' posts, have them look at vocabulary. Are there any words that might sound better than what they posted? It's a sneaky activity that expands their vocabulary!
• Students are obsessed with Netflix! Do you want them to write a story? Have the students "pitch" their plotline to Netflix executives. Want to make the lesson even more real world? Have a panel (teachers, students, maybe even local filmmakers?!) that discuss their storylines with them, in person, in front of the class. 
• I'm speaking here as a non-math person, but is it possible for students to study algorithms? Is it possible for them to look at how Facebook's news feed has changed (based on the algorithm)? Could they do a scientific study of how (or how often) they see a person on their Instagram feed now that it is no longer based on time of posting?

My challenge to you, this week, is to find a way to make your content more relevant to students TODAY, whether you update a lesson, add technology, or just listen to what students care about today. Thanks for reading. I'll see you next week :)

- Rachel

@historicalipad

My Teacherspayteachers website

Week Reflections

Greetings colleagues! After a second week back from break, I am reflecting on how the last two weeks have gone. There are two things that I want to discuss this week: 1) a class exercise that I thought worked well in my classroom and 2) homework.

A QR Codes activity
This past week, I did a mini-lesson that I thought went well. My students are currently learning about the American Revolution. One thing I believe is important for students for context and engagement is connecting past and present. For the past couple of years, I have had the students compare and contrast the American Revolution with a modern revolution; one that took place during the Arab Spring in 2011. I picked four countries that the students could research. These four countries (Syria, Libya, Egypt, and Yemen) still have strife within their nation today.

My mini-lesson activity involved the students going out into the hall for four stations, scanning a QR code that took them to a video, and had them write, at periodic times, on a sheet of paper about the conflict. I had the students write one-word summaries to a) make them get to their point quickly and b) save time. They were not researching these conflicts yet; they just needed to be exposed to what happened. It was a preview activity to get their minds running and their hearts connected.

I think the lesson went well. There were some tech stumbles during my first period, which is, sadly, why they are my guinea pigs! The other three classes were much smoother.

It was interesting to see which country they chose based on the preview activity. I will say that most students chose Yemen to research, and I truly believe it's because of the video that they watched. That video was much more visual than the other three. Now I know I need to find better videos for the other three countries to make sure they are engaged visually. 

Homework outside of school 

I have mentioned throughout my blog this year about my struggles with my current students. One issue that keeps popping up, whether in my class, on my small team, or in eighth grade, is a lack of completing homework. 

I will admit that I am from the camp that could totally do away with homework. I have read numerous articles about countries overseas that have no homework, about the benefit of play, especially at an early age, and how homework provides little benefit in the actual class. 

Part of me, still, cannot let homework go. I will say that I do NOT assign homework nightly as a punishment, nor do I assign regular homework for "practice." My only homework, Monday - Thursday, is flipped learning. Flipped learning, like my mini-lesson this past week, is meant to expose them to the content. Lecturing has little value in the classroom, in my opinion, so the "lectures" happen through videos or readings. I assess their focus and attention through quizzes where they have to pass with 70% proficiency. 

What has been a challenge with this group of students is that they do not want to do flipped learning. It is interesting to listen to them grumble about their classroom grade, yet not see the correlation between avoiding flipped learning and then having a failing grade in my class. Then it can be so enlightening when I hear a student in my class have that lightbulb moment where they say, "I learned that last night through flipped learning!" 

I am not ready to give up flipped learning; it has a purpose in my classroom and is meant more as a support than punishment. I believe that I do not implement flipped learning quite right, and it is still a work in progress. 

Anyway, back to my original rant: my students don't do homework. Period. But they also do not like completing work in my class. Period. If a student does not complete something in class that is due the next day, it becomes homework. So I am seeing this trend of students not working in class, but then not working at home. So they do not complete the assignment and have a low grade in my class. It is this strange catch-22 where I do not know how to help keep my students on track. I try to create engaging (not fun) lessons where they collaborate with each other and have creative opportunities. But even that does not feel like enough. Any advice? 

Thanks for reading! I'll see you next week :)

- Rachel
@historicalipad
My Teacherspayteachers website

Historical Wanderings

Hello, colleagues! I have returned from my East Coast trip and am still processing my vacation! I was lucky enough to have one of my sisters move to Eastern Pennsylvania. She is close to Philadelphia and Washington DC, two cities I have never visited. It is rather embarrassing to admit this as I am an American history teacher! Our district has a modified year-round schedule (nine weeks on, two weeks off), so we get a two-week break in the middle of October. It is the most fantastic break in the schedule! Flights tend to be relatively cheap, so my husband and I were able to fly directly to Philadelphia round trip for less than $300. Trust me; this is a steal.

We spent a day in Philadelphia, two days in Washington DC, and a day at Gettysburg. It was an amazing experience! I appreciated these places more as an adult because I could provide context for myself - I knew the magnitude of these places and felt honored to be there.

A photo posted by Rachel Jeffrey (@rbailsjeffreyphoto) on Oct 16, 2016 at 4:31am PDT

As I walked around, I asked myself (and talked about it out loud to my husband and family) if I could imagine bringing my students to PA and DC. One of my colleagues takes students to different locations around the world - taking them to the East Coast would be easier, right? It can't be that hard, right?!

While we toured, I saw many school groups out and about. The common thread through each set of students: they were loud and were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. The teacher in me (and my husband) wanted to yell at them for their disrespect. I also wanted to talk to their leader and ask what on earth they were doing. But as I thought about it, I wondered if I could do any better with my students. Could I get my students to care about these places? If so, how? What does it take to get students to connect to the past?

A photo posted by Rachel Jeffrey (@rbailsjeffreyphoto) on Oct 21, 2016 at 7:07am PDT

What stood out to me was:
1. The teacher had thirty or more students with them at any given time. Often, it was more than fifty.
2. The teacher had the students move at their individual pace
3. The teacher often stood to the side away from the students

I decided that if I took students out east, it would be a select group of students (preferably twenty or less). I would not attempt to take all kids because one person cannot adequately monitor nor connect with a large group of students. Secondly, I would not just watch my students; I would guide them through the exhibits and locations and would guide them with a purpose. I'm not sure I would give them a handout, but I would have tasks for them and activities that help them connect. Students relate to others through feelings and emotions, so they have to have some context to understand the magnitude of why they were there. Third, I would pick select locations based on what my students study in the classroom. For example, I would skip the Vietnam Memorial as we only study early American history. That is a memorial that the tour groups seemed to struggle with the most - they ran around, talked loudly, and Snapchatted while I watched a woman leave a gift for her deceased father while sobbing. There was no connection between those kids and what was happening around them.

In the end, I had a fantastic trip. I was able to see some incredible locations, learned some new things about history, and get some great photos. I am incredibly grateful for my journey out east. I am also thankful that I was able to see those tour groups so that I will think carefully about classroom field trips in the future.

Thanks for reading! I'll see you next week :)

- Rachel
@historicalipad
My Teacherspayteachers website

Interested in purchasing my photography? Check out my store on Redbubble.

A photo posted by Rachel Jeffrey (@rbailsjeffreyphoto) on Oct 17, 2016 at 7:16am PDT