HOOT Scenario

Now that you're all getting a feel for your characters, we need to start getting into the larger issue that we'll be focusing on for the rest of the semester. Our characters have been gathered from various places in history to provide their perspectives on the "trial" that we'll be conducting shortly. Here is a brief background of the story:

The larger issue touches on the genocide in Darfur region of Sudan. This is a region in Africa where thousands and thousands of people have been killed fled the country as a result of a brutal civil war. The civil war is a result of conflict between the two major ethnic groups in the Sudan: black Africans, who are mostly farmers, and nomadic Arabs. Groups of black African rebels began attacking government targets because they felt that the government was favoring Arabs, and both the government and a variety of militias (generally believed to be supported by the government) have hit back. Many people believe that the government and the leading militia (the "Janjaweed") are trying to drive Black Africans out of the country.

Among the many refugees are the members of the Eissa family (Suleiman and Khadija and their two children, ages 12 and 14), who fled to Great Britain two years ago and have been held at a detention center in Bedfordshire, while awaiting their asylum hearing. Asylum would allow them to remain in Great Britain as refugees. In late August, citing “positive moves toward peace and democracy” in Sudan, the British government rejected their application. The Eissa family has been given until the end of December to “voluntarily” leave the country.

On behalf of his family, Suleiman Eissa has come to the Court of All Time in the hope that the Court will side with him and convince the British government to stop deportation proceedings and grant his family asylum. If the Eissa family is deported, they will be forced to leave Great Britain and find somewhere else to live. The Court has agreed to hear the case in a special session to be held at the Alhambra palace in Granada, Spain. Your characters, along with the other guests will all be able to participate in the debate surrounding this case. Justices have already been chosen and will be posting their legal philosophies soon. You need to start thinking about how your character would feel about this issue and which justice he or she would support.

Here is more information about the war in Darfur. You can read more about deportation here, and asylum here.

Live Blogging the Skywalk...

Amy, Ingrid, and I are live blogging the Google Earth for Instructors session at MACUL!

Born and Raised in South Detroit...It's a Live Blog

The Futility of Trying to Teach Everything of Importance by Grant Wiggins

The article aligns very closely with how I feel about teaching. One of the greatest challenges that I see in the classes that I will be teaching is the tremendous amount of material that we are expected to cover. Due to the extensive lists of names, facts, and dates that students are responsible for learning, I feel that they gain very little of the type of knowledge that is described in by Wiggins. Much of the material is so superficial that I question the value of even mentioning it, much less requiring it to be memorized to answer a question on the final exam. The analogy of standards being like a game of Trivial Pursuit is a good summary of how I feel about the content that we are required to teach. There is so much focus on memorizing these facts that there is little time to teach methods of inquiry and allow students to develop a historically-minded way of thinking that will prepare them for future educational and professional tasks.

One of the most striking things I have noticed while in my placement is the superficial manner in which world events are treated. One of the chapters in our world history textbook covers 700 years of African history in one chapter that is less than 20 pages long. A few tribal chiefs are listed and the students are expected to memorize their names and basic accomplishments, but there is no need or desire to question motives, causation, or connectivity. One of the most disheartening things I’ve seen is the fact that it doesn’t even appear to have occurred to the students to think about these things. It would seem that they have had the “Trivial Pursuit” driven way of learning history so strongly ingrained in their minds that they no longer take it upon themselves to formulate the deep questions that are required of “experts” in historical fields.

The largest teaching problem addressed in the article is finding the balance between teaching to the standards and teaching the students how to reach beyond the standards to execute higher-order thinking. When I am teaching, I hope to remember to ask myself what inquiry skills I am teaching my students. I hope to be able to find a way to balance teaching state-mandated content with these skills that I think will be valuable. It will be a challenge to find the time to do this because of the fast pace that the curriculum standards mandate, but I believe that it is worthwhile.

American History Claymation Style

We made this fabulous video of George Washington chopping down the cherry tree in our Ed Tech class. Our first President has never looked better.

Theory and Practice

I thought that the Levstik and Barton article that we read was very interesting and was very relevant to my experience in the MAC program so far. For much of the summer, I found myself struggling to wrap my head around the theoretical work that we were doing because I didn’t see how it would apply to the classroom. I kept telling myself that things would be better in the fall when we finally got into the schools and were able to see how the theory informed practice. Though I haven’t done a great deal of lesson planning yet, I can already see how the theory is becoming relevant.

This article was even more interesting because it dealt specifically with the way that students learn history. It is important to tailor lesson plans to the way that students understand the material that is being presented. We must also be aware of the socio-cultural situations in which we teach. Because history is often considered to be subjective, it can be controversial at times. Each student who enters our classrooms will bring with him or her a unique live experience and history of their own that will shape the way that they view the subject matter. Finding a way to connect with each of these students is essential to ensuring that students are able to formulate the knowledge that they need to be successful.

The Wiggins and McTighe article about backwards design was also very useful. It makes sense to begin with a fixed goal in mind and then plan to work toward that goal with daily lessons. Not only does it make for more effective instruction, but it facilitates planning and pacing. Because we as teachers have already created an assessment, we are able to tailor our instruction so that it enables students to be successful on that assessment. Setting clear goals that provoke higher-order thinking is an extremely important component of effective lesson planning.

It's Just the Facts, or Is It?

The two very different teaching styles presented in "It's Just the Facts, or Is It?" by S.G. Grant were interesting to think about. The first example reminds me of most of the classes that I had in middle and high school, as well as college. George Blair’s style raised questions in my mind about the extent to which history is a narrative. I think that it is important to give the presentation of historical events at least some element of storytelling in order to engage the students, but at times the discussion seemed almost scattered. From the description provided of the following days, it also seemed like he backtracked a lot.

In contrast to this, the description of Linda Strait’s lesson stood out as much more hands-on and had a great deal of student involvement. Because she focused extensively on one topic, her students were more likely to have a deeper understanding of the causes and effects of the Civil Rights movement.

The biggest difference that stood out to me was the different types of knowledge that students in each classroom ended up with. Students in Blair’s classroom may have ended up with a larger collection of facts that they were able to recite, but because the Civil Rights movement was treated so superficially, it is unlikely that they would have gotten a grasp of the underlying causes. The type of knowledge they gained would seem to be more suited to passing standardized tests or winning Trivial Pursuit games. In contrast to this, Strait’s teaching seemed to be focused on teaching the students to think critically and analyze the facts and events of the era. This ability is invaluable, and I believe that it is what we should strive to impart in our students.

The reading addresses the problems of lesson structure and teaching style. One of the challenges of history teaching is deciding how to organize all of the information into coherent units that students can comprehend. The two teachers studied used different methods of organizing their lessons, and this influenced the type and depth of knowledge that their students gained. Their teaching styles and classroom management techniques also played a role in determining the extent to which their students learned. I think that it is very important to assess what type of knowledge I want my future students to gain and tailor my teaching and organizational methods to ensure that that goal is accomplished.

Lost Generation

This poem is wonderful. I wish I could think of brilliant ideas like that.

Language and Communication

During the group presentation in 649 today, I was really struck by the video about Walter Payton College Prep High School. The educational opportunities that those students have are incredible. Someone commented that they were a bit jealous because they never had those opportunities in high school. I wholeheartedly agree with this.

I studied Spanish in high school, and it was one of my favorite subjects. For a while I considered minoring in it. Even though I haven’t formally studied it in a while, I’ve kept up by reading Spanish novels and an occasional movie or two. Even with all of that, I’m by no means fluent. I can’t help but wonder how different my learning experience would have been if my Spanish AP class in high school had included video conferences with students in Spain or Mexico. As a learner, I’m aware that my biggest weakness is comprehending native speakers of Spanish. I was taught mostly by teachers who acquired Spanish as their second language. I had no trouble understanding when they spoke because they and my classmates all had the same American accent that I’ll never quite be able to lose (oh, those rr’s…). Having a chance to converse with a group of native speakers like the students at Walter Payton are able to would have made a huge difference in my learning experience.

Their interactions embody the type of meaningful cultural exchange that ties our increasingly interconnected world together. I was one of a lucky few students during high school who had the opportunity to travel abroad as a Student Ambassador. I’d be willing to bet that I learned more during the eight weeks I spent overseas over the course of three different summers than I did in any one classroom. Bringing people together allows them to share their unique perspectives on the world. We not only learn about a different culture; we learn a great deal about our own. Imagine how much richer our society would be if every student had the opportunity to interface with students from around the world.

I’m fascinated with the possibilities for the use of video conferencing in the classroom. I’m sure there will be another post soon about that.

All of this talk about using communication to bring people closer together makes me think of that most iconic of Disney structures: Spaceship Earth (Sorry, I’m a Disney nerd. They brainwashed me when I worked there…). I leave you with the old incarnation narrated by none other than Walter Cronkite. His version is a little dated, but the sentiment is the same, and he'll always be my favorite narrator. Is it possible that my repeated visits to this attraction as a child shaped my views about technology and communication?

Educating Citizens

I believe that “educating citizens” is the most important aspect of schools. On the surface, this seems obvious. Of course schools are intended to educate our citizens. However, I believe that there is a deeper meaning.

Educating citizens doesn’t mean filling students’ heads with facts and numbers and dates. It means providing them with the tools to function as effective citizens in today’s society. That’s not to say that the content-specific facts that we seek to convey aren’t important. They are also necessary in order to succeed in society. However, the greatest gift that we, as teachers, can give to our students is the ability to think and reason as functional adults. From this ability stem all of the skills needed to contribute to society. Simply memorizing a litany of facts may help students pass exams, but it will ill-equip them to succeed outside of the classroom.

At present, I believe that the most important skill to impart is the ability to critically evaluate information. We are constantly bombarded with information from sources varying from reputable to completely fabricated. The capability to filter that information and analyze its meaning is essential in today’s society. Without this skill, students will be doomed to fall for every hoax, ideological discourse, and misrepresentation of reality that they encounter.

On the other hand, and educated citizen is able to assess which information is worth knowing and disregard the “junk” that so often populates the internet. They will then be able to take advantage of the wealth of good information that technology allows us to access. The more accurate information that individuals can get their hands on, the better able to actively participate in and contribute to society.

This type of literacy must be addressed in the classroom. Teachers who fail to teach these skills to their students are doing them a huge disservice. We must encourage them to think critically about the information that is presented to them. This type of knowledge will stay with students long after the facts, formulas, and numbers that we teach have faded from their memories.