So I had an epiphany as I was running the other day. It's nothing new, I tend to have lots of them when I run, unfortunately by the time I finish and get settled I've either forgotten what exactly it was I came up with or have something else thrown at me to occupy my attention. But thankfully this one stuck and it just might be of help to someone other than just me which is the hope in all of this.
We are in strange times to say the least. We're all being encouraged from gathering in crowds and basically everything is shut down at this point. While it is tempting to give in to the apathy pulling at us and to just do nothing since for once, that is about all we can do nowadays; I know there is a way that some of us can still hang out in a sense and that is through running. The running community has been really good to me, no matter whether I'm out there running 30+ miles a week or barely half that in a month, it is always there to encourage, inspire, and motivate. I have gotten to know people and now friends that I would have probably never would have interacted with due to my introverted and socially anxious self.
I know some of you love to go out and run to get away and some of you hate it. Some of you need to do as you have fitness goals and other things waiting for you come the fall. I thought that this could be a way to help. I have set up a club using the app Strava. It's a free app (you can pay for their premium stuff for all the bells and whistles but it's not necessary) you can download. It will track your walks or runs and it syncs with fitness watches for anyone that has one. For those that are serious runners, it'll track how you do on the same routes and let you know you know your improvements, PRs, etc. You are also put into a community that is there to encourage and congratulate, regardless of whether you are out running road races or just walking your dog around the block. And right now, exercise may be one of the few times we're able to get out of the boredom of staying in the house and doing something for yourself.
So I offer an opportunity or challenge, however you want to look at it. I'd love to create a community on Strava for the CHS community; students, teachers, alums, family, everyone. I have created a group below if you have or download the app to join and be apart of this active community. And while we may not be able to get out and be together on the greenways, roads, or tracks around Concord, we can still be out there, knowing that others will see the work time we're putting in for ourselves, regardless of whatever motivates you to get out and do it. This is for all, runners, walkers, joggers, ruckers, doesn't matter. I know that if I'm going to get back into the shape I need to be in to even attempt to hit my goals for the Charlotte Marathon in November, I need as many people pushing and encouraging me. Sometimes a simple kudo on the app is all one needs, or seeing that your buddy or co-worker went outside and did something active will motivate you to do the same.
Please consider joining, it's free and getting outside with the weather warming up may be one of the few "normal" things that we get to do over the next couple/few weeks. I thank you for reading and hope to see you out on the roads, or at least on Strava in the CHS Run Group.
All the best
https://www.strava.com/clubs/599092
Thursday, March 19, 2020
Monday, December 31, 2018
The marathon analogy
So I was at a staff meeting and was called out as someone that trains for marathons (which isn't quite true, but come March 2 that box will be checked and I will have run one finally). Anyway the point was we looked at the training schedule for someone preparing for a marathon and the analogy was we don't cram all of our miles into the last weeks or two, and similarly we shouldn't be cramming in all of our content in at the last minute either when preparing for our exams.
I get and understand the premise of this but I'm not sure it's entirely true. Most teachers (I'm assuming here I know) don't try to cram all their material in at the end of their respective courses but they do want to use those last few days to review. Now, should those last few days just be doing practice exams, no of course not. And with the analogy, it's correct, those are things that should be done earlier on and not done all at the end of the year/semester.
But proper training requires those last few days before the race to be your tune-up. You still strength train and run a few miles during that last week to prepare. Just as you still work on and refine the skills and content you've taught all year. Should it be more than just practice exams and kahoot games, sure. But the point of this wasn't about refining how we review, it was avoid cramming and basically lighten up during that last week. I'm not I agree with that mindset, especially when many teachers unfortunately go from day 1 until exams teaching content. In history it is especially difficult because we're always left having to cut content and hoping that what we neglect or only brush upon isn't a main point of emphasis on the test.
I don't know if I had a point to all this, but it bugged me enough to write about it. Certainly what we do as teachers should constantly be interwoven as best we can throughout our year, but a balance should exist at the end, review and "strength training" until the end is necessary. Even if it kind of kills this cool analogy
Any ideas or thoughts about this concept, I'd love to hear them in comments to discuss or you can find me on twitter
I get and understand the premise of this but I'm not sure it's entirely true. Most teachers (I'm assuming here I know) don't try to cram all their material in at the end of their respective courses but they do want to use those last few days to review. Now, should those last few days just be doing practice exams, no of course not. And with the analogy, it's correct, those are things that should be done earlier on and not done all at the end of the year/semester.
But proper training requires those last few days before the race to be your tune-up. You still strength train and run a few miles during that last week to prepare. Just as you still work on and refine the skills and content you've taught all year. Should it be more than just practice exams and kahoot games, sure. But the point of this wasn't about refining how we review, it was avoid cramming and basically lighten up during that last week. I'm not I agree with that mindset, especially when many teachers unfortunately go from day 1 until exams teaching content. In history it is especially difficult because we're always left having to cut content and hoping that what we neglect or only brush upon isn't a main point of emphasis on the test.
I don't know if I had a point to all this, but it bugged me enough to write about it. Certainly what we do as teachers should constantly be interwoven as best we can throughout our year, but a balance should exist at the end, review and "strength training" until the end is necessary. Even if it kind of kills this cool analogy
Any ideas or thoughts about this concept, I'd love to hear them in comments to discuss or you can find me on twitter
Dusting this off
So I remembered that I had a blog, who knew right.
It was funny looking at some of my old posts, sad that I haven't written since January of last year. I feel like every year recently I say I want/need to write/blog more that lasts maybe a week or so. I'm hopeful that I can be better but it is tough, life gets in the way and this always gets pushed back. But I do have a couple thoughts things to write about for now, so I'll get those down to remember.
It is interesting to see my teaching journey through these blogs. Last time I wrote, I was in the midst of switching around my pacing guide for world history and teaching thematically. Now I no longer even teach world history, as I am fully immersed in the IB program at my school. I only technically teach one social studies class anymore, with History of the Americas. I have also taken over Theory of Knowledge, which is a really cool class but challenging because there isn't really any guide or proper way to teach it. It offers great flexibility but there is always that fear of teaching through your own lens of what matters and is important rather than what IB decides is important. Some things have been good with the new classes so far, some not so much. With it being a two year course, it's a bit easier for my seniors because they have their assessments to prepare for and write so I have some structure for them.
That'll be it for now, off to grade some work over break, my students had to live blog from the constitutional convention which was a fun activity and there will be some good ones coming up for History in the Americas. I feel like I have a decent balance between teaching the content and finding different ways to have them show their creativity and analytical skills. Plus now they begin their historical investigation process so that will help any excess time we may have from time to time. The writing will be a challenge with this crew but that's what I've signed up for, so the fun begins. Lots to review for it and TOK II, lots of reading and grading for the next couple of months. Perhaps being in this mindset will push me to write on here more often or join back up with the conversations on twitter. Working to find some better balance with this where I can do more with this but not at the expense of time away from my family. I have figured out how to do this with incorporating running into my daily routines, so this can be the next piece for me.
We'll see, I'll either write again shortly or in a few months, who knows ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
It was funny looking at some of my old posts, sad that I haven't written since January of last year. I feel like every year recently I say I want/need to write/blog more that lasts maybe a week or so. I'm hopeful that I can be better but it is tough, life gets in the way and this always gets pushed back. But I do have a couple thoughts things to write about for now, so I'll get those down to remember.
It is interesting to see my teaching journey through these blogs. Last time I wrote, I was in the midst of switching around my pacing guide for world history and teaching thematically. Now I no longer even teach world history, as I am fully immersed in the IB program at my school. I only technically teach one social studies class anymore, with History of the Americas. I have also taken over Theory of Knowledge, which is a really cool class but challenging because there isn't really any guide or proper way to teach it. It offers great flexibility but there is always that fear of teaching through your own lens of what matters and is important rather than what IB decides is important. Some things have been good with the new classes so far, some not so much. With it being a two year course, it's a bit easier for my seniors because they have their assessments to prepare for and write so I have some structure for them.
That'll be it for now, off to grade some work over break, my students had to live blog from the constitutional convention which was a fun activity and there will be some good ones coming up for History in the Americas. I feel like I have a decent balance between teaching the content and finding different ways to have them show their creativity and analytical skills. Plus now they begin their historical investigation process so that will help any excess time we may have from time to time. The writing will be a challenge with this crew but that's what I've signed up for, so the fun begins. Lots to review for it and TOK II, lots of reading and grading for the next couple of months. Perhaps being in this mindset will push me to write on here more often or join back up with the conversations on twitter. Working to find some better balance with this where I can do more with this but not at the expense of time away from my family. I have figured out how to do this with incorporating running into my daily routines, so this can be the next piece for me.
We'll see, I'll either write again shortly or in a few months, who knows ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Friday, January 27, 2017
4 Days In...Thematic Teaching
So we've taken the plunge. The course is redone and so far, so good I think. I guess I'll go through and explain the break down first before we get to week 1 here.
So after reaching out to some other teachers and bouncing some ideas off of them on this padlet and talking with one of my colleagues here at CHS, I put together these 6 units.
I decided to take this broad approach with my themes, this way too some information will be brought up in multiple units too, to help students remember some of these things rather than we go over them for a few days early in the semester and we never think about Ancient civilizations until review time right before the test.
The thought process too was in some of these units, I can give the students more of a choice for what they wanted to learn about rather than have it all be mandated for them. The goal with a lot of this do a lot of comparison work too as we'll be covering a lot of topics at once, and we can look for patterns, similarities and differences and analyze like that rather than just seemingly learning about all of these different people, places, and events and viewing them more in isolation. The units aren't equal as far as time devoted to them either, so we can really stress the conflicts & wars before the exam, as well as key figures and movements in the Intellectuals unit which is also during 2nd semester.
It also allows me to bring back a couple of projects that I really enjoyed and hopefully will have success with. My last year teaching middle school, we did tournament projects that I felt went really well, same with my after the AP exam project. I haven't been able to fit it in really to a regular world class but now it'll be the backdrop to our Intellectuals unit. I also get to bring some things I did in AP World and tweak them to now fit these classes like my Comparative Religions Project, and do some change and continuity over time things with my classes. The goal certainly is to not see history as so static and to make things as relative as possible.
I know there will be holes and I'll miss some key things, but this first week has gone really well. I think avoiding some of the early struggles like going back to starting with early civilizations has helped. We've used current events to look at historical skills. In just 4 days, we've looked at point of view, sourcing, corroboration, how things go viral using examples from just two months ago along with media bias. We're already through terrorism, and the posters my students made have been really good. And this was done with in less time than last semester had to complete there's. We start globalization and human rights next week, but if I have 17 more weeks like this first one, it's going to be an outstanding semester.
So after reaching out to some other teachers and bouncing some ideas off of them on this padlet and talking with one of my colleagues here at CHS, I put together these 6 units.
- Historical Thinking Skills & the Modern Era
- State-Building
- Religion
- Trade
- Intellectuals
- Conflict & War
I decided to take this broad approach with my themes, this way too some information will be brought up in multiple units too, to help students remember some of these things rather than we go over them for a few days early in the semester and we never think about Ancient civilizations until review time right before the test.
The thought process too was in some of these units, I can give the students more of a choice for what they wanted to learn about rather than have it all be mandated for them. The goal with a lot of this do a lot of comparison work too as we'll be covering a lot of topics at once, and we can look for patterns, similarities and differences and analyze like that rather than just seemingly learning about all of these different people, places, and events and viewing them more in isolation. The units aren't equal as far as time devoted to them either, so we can really stress the conflicts & wars before the exam, as well as key figures and movements in the Intellectuals unit which is also during 2nd semester.
It also allows me to bring back a couple of projects that I really enjoyed and hopefully will have success with. My last year teaching middle school, we did tournament projects that I felt went really well, same with my after the AP exam project. I haven't been able to fit it in really to a regular world class but now it'll be the backdrop to our Intellectuals unit. I also get to bring some things I did in AP World and tweak them to now fit these classes like my Comparative Religions Project, and do some change and continuity over time things with my classes. The goal certainly is to not see history as so static and to make things as relative as possible.
I know there will be holes and I'll miss some key things, but this first week has gone really well. I think avoiding some of the early struggles like going back to starting with early civilizations has helped. We've used current events to look at historical skills. In just 4 days, we've looked at point of view, sourcing, corroboration, how things go viral using examples from just two months ago along with media bias. We're already through terrorism, and the posters my students made have been really good. And this was done with in less time than last semester had to complete there's. We start globalization and human rights next week, but if I have 17 more weeks like this first one, it's going to be an outstanding semester.
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Reaffirming thematic changes
Alright so today just reaffirmed what I've been thinking the past few weeks with rearranging the order of what and how I teach my world history class. My 3rd block class is a bit chaotic this semester. It's when we have lunch, and this is my class that has my socialites and attention seekers. And it isn't just one or two, a third to half of them on any given day fit in these categories in a class of 30. But today, we had some of the best discussions I've had as a teacher with this class. And it wasn't because we did something super engaging and exciting, no simulations or projects. Some quick notes, review and some videos to watch and reflect upon.
So why the difference, the topic. We started really getting into the Cold War, and the students cared, they had questions, they realize that what we're now talking about ties into their lives today. And I'm stoked about how the class went and then at the same time, a bit frustrated because there's only 15 days or so left in the entire semester and now I've finally got them seemingly hooked in. And while certainly there are things I could have and perhaps should have done earlier to improve this, I do believe that waiting until the very end to discuss these topics doesn't do me any favors. At least by starting out with this stuff early, it'll hopefully make the connections that much stronger too when we look to tie in things that happened long ago to more current events.
So why the difference, the topic. We started really getting into the Cold War, and the students cared, they had questions, they realize that what we're now talking about ties into their lives today. And I'm stoked about how the class went and then at the same time, a bit frustrated because there's only 15 days or so left in the entire semester and now I've finally got them seemingly hooked in. And while certainly there are things I could have and perhaps should have done earlier to improve this, I do believe that waiting until the very end to discuss these topics doesn't do me any favors. At least by starting out with this stuff early, it'll hopefully make the connections that much stronger too when we look to tie in things that happened long ago to more current events.
Monday, December 5, 2016
Teaching thematically.....part 2
Alright, so my latest scores and current classrooms have me looking to blow some things up! I like using Canvas and have been much more hands on than I was last spring with actually teaching the content I feel, but am still not sure about how much is sticking. I've tried some new techniques which I'll talk about in another blog coming up, but I really think some wholesale changes might be needed. I really feel looking back that some of the best years I had teaching, and at least one of the years I felt the most confident in was when I switched things up and taught thematically.
Now this was middle school and those standards made teaching thematically relatively easy. High school standards are a bit trickier as they're more chronologically driven. But I don't think chronology is working, or at least I don't feel that moving away from it is going to be a detriment to my students. Here are some of my concerns or at least my rationale as to why I want to move toward thematic.
Now this was middle school and those standards made teaching thematically relatively easy. High school standards are a bit trickier as they're more chronologically driven. But I don't think chronology is working, or at least I don't feel that moving away from it is going to be a detriment to my students. Here are some of my concerns or at least my rationale as to why I want to move toward thematic.
- For world history, the stigma is why should I care, how does this relate to me today? Difficult to tie in certain eras and civilizations, and while I may care, students don't always. By the time I get to the last 100 years, which the students at least have a clue about or care about as we get into current day issues, they're burned out and we're now just 3-4 weeks left in the class. Switching to thematic allows me to start right away with current day issues & themes and hopefully get them engaged from the start. (also on our final exams, current day is one of the units/periods they emphasize)
- On that note of getting bogged down by the curriculum guides and going through everything chronologically. So much gets cut or brushed upon. There are some times where students can dig deep, but there appears to be much more breadth than much depth. But again emphasis of standards talks about Renaissance and Middle Ages, but at best there will be a couple of questions on any of that at the end of year.
- Personally I feel it is tougher to do much PBL or some critical thinking stuff. I think that kind of stuff is what I should be teaching my students. Especially in today's world with the needs for media literacy and learning key historical thinking skills, they seem to be pushed aside. I know good teachers incorporate these, but many focus on content above all else. I'd rather flip that. Teach skills, use content to teach, practice, and reinforce them.
- Lastly, I feel that there can be more choice, which hopefully will help foster more intrinsic learning from my students rather than "checking the box" I'd like for none of my students to be in the Marshawn Lynch mode of "I'm just here so we don't get fined" and I think more choice, more relevance, and more opportunities to take what they learn and see it as usual can get me there.
- I also feel that not enough human geography skills are in the course, again topics and issues that impact our students. More on globalization, human interaction, migration, cultural identity, etc.
Now the big question is how to construct it. Certainly some units are easier to tie together than others; trade, civilizations & state/empire building, and starting the year off with historical thinking skills/media literacy and current day world.
So any and all insight or thoughts are welcome, leave them in comments or find me on twitter to discuss, would love to hear it all. Thanks
Getting back in the groove of things here
Alright, so it's been awhile, life gets busy. So big points are I'm going to try to blog more, like a lot more. Decided to go for my National Board Certification too, so figure that some of the reflecting and what not I need to do for it, I can start putting in better practice with this blog. Some of it will be just general stuff about what's going on in my classroom, others bigger picture stuff, hell some may be completely random. Realized not everything I write needs to be pressworthy or even necessarily all that coherent. So this is my first for the night, have another post coming, but if anyone reading has done their NBCT, would love to hear any advice or tips you have either in comments or tweet at me @amcrowe5
Friday, June 10, 2016
Reflecting on an......interesting year
I'm not exactly sure where to start this or where it'll end up as I think upon this year. It probably doesn't help that they're using my room right now for graduation practice and so I have a couple dozen antzy seniors in here. This year has been interesting to say the least. I'm going to do my best not to rant and complain (I've done that enough I feel) here. So I'll do my best to stay on point with lessons learned here.
I'll start with my AP class, just in case I'm fortunate to teach AP World again. I was able to implement so new stuff this year, the questions of the day were more frequent and good bell ringers. I did more with analyzing art and I thought that went well. I wish I could have been there to get into more contemporary pieces, especially Guernica by Picasso. We got to the writing a lot earlier than I had the prior year, and I think/hope that helped. I know there was certainly a good sized gap during the winter, but I think hitting the writing early helped as I saw some improvements in just the 3-4 months I was there to oversee things. I also think the blog style homework did well. I think I need to be a bit more specific for its purpose in the writing process, but it was a good way to get the students introduced to some good outside readings, cover some of the crash course material, etc. That said, I know I still missed covering some things that I really had hoped to, like the Easter Island statues and some of the Polynesian migration. I think I was still getting a feel for pacing and making sure that I cover a lot while trying not spend too much time to one place that in all honesty might have been covered in 1-2 questions tops. I'm looking at you Greece and Rome. I'm interested to see how the course changes go and shape AP World too.
As for the second semester, being able to look back now, it was definitely a learning experience. I was definitely unhappy/frustrated during good chunks of the year. Disappointed that the school I came too wasn't close to what my expectations of it were. Disappointed at the negativity and seeming apathy I came across in fellow teachers and administrators. I know that this isn't anything new, but it made me appreciate the work that my previous school did to not only have competent teachers, but I think they made it a point for the group to be one that worked together, wasn't afraid to challenge one another, but also for the most part genuinely liked one another. We could all (or mostly) could hang out after work, eat lunch together, and it made coming in a lot easier day in day out. I know that is something that as I look at potential other schools that it is a question I need to be upfront about. I want to work with those that I not only like, but that will push be to be better. I don't think I have that here, and it's unfortunate since there is certainly potential.
As for in the classroom, I underestimated the changes to some extent and took the easy way too often. Moving to standard level classes, I had the mindset that I wouldn't "dumb" down the course or material because it wasn't honors. I'm proud that I stuck with that, and most followed through and did well. In all honesty, I think my class worked a lot harder and did more than the honors class did. Hopefully they got more out of it too, their final exam scores are at a spot where I am pleased. We will see what almighty EVAAS says about their growth, I hope it was similar to what I accomplished last year. But it was challenging, I had some work that some students could do in 15 minutes while others struggled to get it done in 50. I moved the class to mostly online since all the students had Macbooks, and that was good but I definitely could do better. More forms, kahoots, or socrative formative assessments or reviews. I'm not sure I stopped very often along the way to check what all they were learning, or more importantly seeing if they put it into the larger historical puzzle. I also just gave up a couple things because I didn't push them or got lazy. I was going to do current event stuff, more tie-ins to make it relevant, but after the first week, it felt forced, the students didn't really care, and rather than fixing it, I just trashed it. I think if I continue on block, it's something I need to do more with. Even if it is smaller topic (ie. a Last Week Tonight kind of thing) I think I should do this going forward. Make students more aware, etc.
That's all I got for now, I'm sure throughout the summer I'll put some of my ideas down to paper, especially once I figure out what (and maybe where) I'm teaching.
I'll start with my AP class, just in case I'm fortunate to teach AP World again. I was able to implement so new stuff this year, the questions of the day were more frequent and good bell ringers. I did more with analyzing art and I thought that went well. I wish I could have been there to get into more contemporary pieces, especially Guernica by Picasso. We got to the writing a lot earlier than I had the prior year, and I think/hope that helped. I know there was certainly a good sized gap during the winter, but I think hitting the writing early helped as I saw some improvements in just the 3-4 months I was there to oversee things. I also think the blog style homework did well. I think I need to be a bit more specific for its purpose in the writing process, but it was a good way to get the students introduced to some good outside readings, cover some of the crash course material, etc. That said, I know I still missed covering some things that I really had hoped to, like the Easter Island statues and some of the Polynesian migration. I think I was still getting a feel for pacing and making sure that I cover a lot while trying not spend too much time to one place that in all honesty might have been covered in 1-2 questions tops. I'm looking at you Greece and Rome. I'm interested to see how the course changes go and shape AP World too.
As for the second semester, being able to look back now, it was definitely a learning experience. I was definitely unhappy/frustrated during good chunks of the year. Disappointed that the school I came too wasn't close to what my expectations of it were. Disappointed at the negativity and seeming apathy I came across in fellow teachers and administrators. I know that this isn't anything new, but it made me appreciate the work that my previous school did to not only have competent teachers, but I think they made it a point for the group to be one that worked together, wasn't afraid to challenge one another, but also for the most part genuinely liked one another. We could all (or mostly) could hang out after work, eat lunch together, and it made coming in a lot easier day in day out. I know that is something that as I look at potential other schools that it is a question I need to be upfront about. I want to work with those that I not only like, but that will push be to be better. I don't think I have that here, and it's unfortunate since there is certainly potential.
As for in the classroom, I underestimated the changes to some extent and took the easy way too often. Moving to standard level classes, I had the mindset that I wouldn't "dumb" down the course or material because it wasn't honors. I'm proud that I stuck with that, and most followed through and did well. In all honesty, I think my class worked a lot harder and did more than the honors class did. Hopefully they got more out of it too, their final exam scores are at a spot where I am pleased. We will see what almighty EVAAS says about their growth, I hope it was similar to what I accomplished last year. But it was challenging, I had some work that some students could do in 15 minutes while others struggled to get it done in 50. I moved the class to mostly online since all the students had Macbooks, and that was good but I definitely could do better. More forms, kahoots, or socrative formative assessments or reviews. I'm not sure I stopped very often along the way to check what all they were learning, or more importantly seeing if they put it into the larger historical puzzle. I also just gave up a couple things because I didn't push them or got lazy. I was going to do current event stuff, more tie-ins to make it relevant, but after the first week, it felt forced, the students didn't really care, and rather than fixing it, I just trashed it. I think if I continue on block, it's something I need to do more with. Even if it is smaller topic (ie. a Last Week Tonight kind of thing) I think I should do this going forward. Make students more aware, etc.
That's all I got for now, I'm sure throughout the summer I'll put some of my ideas down to paper, especially once I figure out what (and maybe where) I'm teaching.
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Remaking Education...do we need to do it?
So I saw this article recently in the Washington Post about how Governor McAuliffe in Virginia has proposed a potentially radical plan to state board of education. Essentially he's looking to allow students more opportunities to become prepared for the workforce and more opportunities at earning college credit. It's an interesting take, one that doesn't seem that odd actually if you're in your mid-30s or older to be honest I think but it brings up a big no-no word in education; tracking. Yes the dreaded tracking which of course brings up images of scenes from Waiting for Superman.
Now I know I'm not really addressing the merits of tracking and data and all those lovely things that keep teachers up at night. But the plan does essentially put students onto two different tracks if you will, the workforce or university. Which if we're honest as teachers, is kind of the point for us. We talk about molding the minds of tomorrow, but what we're really hoping for is that the kids that we teach can grow up and find their role and niche in the universe and be happy, productive and all that jazz. And while we'd love to send students to the Ivy League, that's not going to happen with the vast majority of our students (sorry if any former students read that. You can totally make it to Princeton or Harvard if you want, its just those couple of students that sit by you, you know the ones. They may not make it). And that's totally fine. I don't need someone with a degree from Cornell when my transmission craps out, or when the HVAC unit stops pumping out hot air in the middle of winter. Most students have a decent clue about what they want to do by the time they're 15-16 years old. Why should I force kids to take trigonometry or chemistry if they want to go into the workforce and into jobs where that's not necessary. Guess how many times I've used cosine, sine, or tangent since high school? Yeah that's right, a whopping zero times, and in all likelihood, you haven't either. And I pick on math but I kind of like this plan by Gov. McAuliffe. Two core years, and then let students decide their course from there. I swear that we had several students when I was in high school that spent at least half the day taking classes for the more technical skills they'd need because they weren't sure they could afford, or more importantly, even wanted to go to college. I'll bet that a student that is choosing courses because they know it this could be useful for them in the immediate future is going to be far more serious and engaged about the material than a senior being forced to take world history for the second time to check the box and say they did it.
It goes to the TED Talk spoke of last time by John Green, comparing learning to cartography. Shouldn't we hope that for all of our students. I know many out there pull out all the stops to make class fun, interesting, engaging, relevant, etc. But even we can admit that for some (especially at the secondary level) it's checking a box for these kids. If I have a student that wants nothing more than to grow up working on a farm and would be happy if they never have to leave the state in their lifetimes; why do I need to force feed them world history. Is learning about the world important, absolutely. But not everyone thinks it's as important as I do. Why not put some of the power and responsibility on these young men and women to make the best decision for themselves. Isn't that what we complain about anyway, that these darn kids are freeloaders and don't work hard, and won't get off our lawn. How about instead of just pushing them through a obstacle course they don't want to do, we let them have some say. Maybe this isn't such a radical idea after all.
Now I know I'm not really addressing the merits of tracking and data and all those lovely things that keep teachers up at night. But the plan does essentially put students onto two different tracks if you will, the workforce or university. Which if we're honest as teachers, is kind of the point for us. We talk about molding the minds of tomorrow, but what we're really hoping for is that the kids that we teach can grow up and find their role and niche in the universe and be happy, productive and all that jazz. And while we'd love to send students to the Ivy League, that's not going to happen with the vast majority of our students (sorry if any former students read that. You can totally make it to Princeton or Harvard if you want, its just those couple of students that sit by you, you know the ones. They may not make it). And that's totally fine. I don't need someone with a degree from Cornell when my transmission craps out, or when the HVAC unit stops pumping out hot air in the middle of winter. Most students have a decent clue about what they want to do by the time they're 15-16 years old. Why should I force kids to take trigonometry or chemistry if they want to go into the workforce and into jobs where that's not necessary. Guess how many times I've used cosine, sine, or tangent since high school? Yeah that's right, a whopping zero times, and in all likelihood, you haven't either. And I pick on math but I kind of like this plan by Gov. McAuliffe. Two core years, and then let students decide their course from there. I swear that we had several students when I was in high school that spent at least half the day taking classes for the more technical skills they'd need because they weren't sure they could afford, or more importantly, even wanted to go to college. I'll bet that a student that is choosing courses because they know it this could be useful for them in the immediate future is going to be far more serious and engaged about the material than a senior being forced to take world history for the second time to check the box and say they did it.
It goes to the TED Talk spoke of last time by John Green, comparing learning to cartography. Shouldn't we hope that for all of our students. I know many out there pull out all the stops to make class fun, interesting, engaging, relevant, etc. But even we can admit that for some (especially at the secondary level) it's checking a box for these kids. If I have a student that wants nothing more than to grow up working on a farm and would be happy if they never have to leave the state in their lifetimes; why do I need to force feed them world history. Is learning about the world important, absolutely. But not everyone thinks it's as important as I do. Why not put some of the power and responsibility on these young men and women to make the best decision for themselves. Isn't that what we complain about anyway, that these darn kids are freeloaders and don't work hard, and won't get off our lawn. How about instead of just pushing them through a obstacle course they don't want to do, we let them have some say. Maybe this isn't such a radical idea after all.
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
My life is a Reel Big Fish song
A tribute to Turn the Radio Off turning 20 this year, which is crazy and makes me feel kinda old. And no I'm not selling out, my wife isn't leaving me for another girl, and nothing to do with beer. The song is "Everything Sucks." Now that's fairly melodramatic of me, but this is my space to vent, bitch, and complain if I want. So we're trying to sell a house, which is extremely stressful and sucks. The trailer on the family farm is becoming more and more expensive to make livable which we of course didn't plan on, and spending money on a temporary home where we were supposedly going to save money sucks. And we're confined in this tiny 2 bedroom box during the winter in a place we don't have outlets to go like the gym/pool, neighborhoods to walk around, and that's stressful causing everyone to be a little more on edge.....and that sucks.
And I'm well aware that my life is still better than 95% of those around the world, so to some extent I need to just suck it up. But one aspect that sucks that I really am struggling with is transitioning of schools. I feel I'm really struggling to "fit in" and move on from Northern. The people I work with are nice, I don't see eye to eye with some as far as methods and teaching practices, but it's nothing major. I've talked about some of the other challenges like going to block and the 1:1 stuff, and I have change up my routines from teaching AP World to just world history. But two things are really getting to me.
1) I feel I've lost an edge by losing AP. I watched John Green's TED Talk about learning and he used a great analogy comparing learning to cartography. AP World did that for me, it wasn't just the teaching, it was the learning for me as well. Bettering myself and finding a community and network that would really push me to be a better teacher, and also a better person. I've lost that somewhat. I don't have students with the same drive and curiosity and so I don't feel like I have that same push to be at my best. I'm settling a bit. I'm not sure this is a place or environment (even if I get a chance to teach AP again) that is going to offer me that same drive which is unsettling too. But it's tough, I feel I can too often just give assignments and sit back, and while it's easy to say just change how you do things, it's another thing to intrinsically motivate yourself to do it. Like I said, I'm settling too often I feel like, and I really don't like it. It's not fair to my kids even though they probably have no idea or clue.
2) I still too often think and worry about my students at Northern. And I know it's probably normal. And some may say, just move on; it's not that easy for me. With AP, I feel like you're selling the class to the students too. We grew that class by nearly 50 students and a lot of that came from the experiences my first crew had and my own sales pitch talking about how I was going to safely help all these students navigate one of the most challenging AP courses there is. And after half a year, I'm leaving. And I see them post stuff which I can only assume is about the class, and I get hints about how quickly (or not I fear) the class is moving and I'm extremely concerned and can't help but feel guilty. I gave the teacher all my stuff but it's not my class anymore even though I feel like I put my heart and soul into revamping it. And I love that some of my students still reach out to ask for help or just to say hi, but I wish I was there for them daily. I try not to compare Northern to here, but it's no contest really. Sure there are a couple things I like a bit more here, but all the things that mattered most don't even stack up. Most notably the connections I made with co-workers and my students. I hate I can't be senior advisors for some (although I still have one that may petition for that and I hope the school allows it) and I feel responsible when I see some of the frustrations my current crew has. I'm sure they posted negative things about me and the class when I taught it, but the frustrations I sense are tough because I feel helpless and responsible. I doubt this will get easier either until the year ends. I hope and pray that I never have to change schools midyear again, I wouldn't wish it on anyone.
And I'm well aware that my life is still better than 95% of those around the world, so to some extent I need to just suck it up. But one aspect that sucks that I really am struggling with is transitioning of schools. I feel I'm really struggling to "fit in" and move on from Northern. The people I work with are nice, I don't see eye to eye with some as far as methods and teaching practices, but it's nothing major. I've talked about some of the other challenges like going to block and the 1:1 stuff, and I have change up my routines from teaching AP World to just world history. But two things are really getting to me.
1) I feel I've lost an edge by losing AP. I watched John Green's TED Talk about learning and he used a great analogy comparing learning to cartography. AP World did that for me, it wasn't just the teaching, it was the learning for me as well. Bettering myself and finding a community and network that would really push me to be a better teacher, and also a better person. I've lost that somewhat. I don't have students with the same drive and curiosity and so I don't feel like I have that same push to be at my best. I'm settling a bit. I'm not sure this is a place or environment (even if I get a chance to teach AP again) that is going to offer me that same drive which is unsettling too. But it's tough, I feel I can too often just give assignments and sit back, and while it's easy to say just change how you do things, it's another thing to intrinsically motivate yourself to do it. Like I said, I'm settling too often I feel like, and I really don't like it. It's not fair to my kids even though they probably have no idea or clue.
2) I still too often think and worry about my students at Northern. And I know it's probably normal. And some may say, just move on; it's not that easy for me. With AP, I feel like you're selling the class to the students too. We grew that class by nearly 50 students and a lot of that came from the experiences my first crew had and my own sales pitch talking about how I was going to safely help all these students navigate one of the most challenging AP courses there is. And after half a year, I'm leaving. And I see them post stuff which I can only assume is about the class, and I get hints about how quickly (or not I fear) the class is moving and I'm extremely concerned and can't help but feel guilty. I gave the teacher all my stuff but it's not my class anymore even though I feel like I put my heart and soul into revamping it. And I love that some of my students still reach out to ask for help or just to say hi, but I wish I was there for them daily. I try not to compare Northern to here, but it's no contest really. Sure there are a couple things I like a bit more here, but all the things that mattered most don't even stack up. Most notably the connections I made with co-workers and my students. I hate I can't be senior advisors for some (although I still have one that may petition for that and I hope the school allows it) and I feel responsible when I see some of the frustrations my current crew has. I'm sure they posted negative things about me and the class when I taught it, but the frustrations I sense are tough because I feel helpless and responsible. I doubt this will get easier either until the year ends. I hope and pray that I never have to change schools midyear again, I wouldn't wish it on anyone.
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Is too much tech making me a lazy teacher?
So as I've chronicled the past couple posts, I've switched schools and about everything is different; traditional to block, full year to semesters, AP to basic level classes. on and on. Some changes are nice, others not as much, but one that has been both positive and negative for me has been our use of technology here at new school. Every student has a laptop, so we're 1:1 and certainly I'm trying to maximize these new tools. I think more than a few teachers here see them as just a distraction for the students, I'm hoping to have them be more than just something they can watch netflix, youtube, or play video games on.
For some things, it's been great. I really like the Canvas program that we use. The entire class is on the website and it links into our gradebook tools to, so I can export their grades directly into the gradebook. All of the assignments, projects are linked there, it's easy for me to use programs like Kahoot and Socrative for quick quizzes or exit tickets. But, I feel like I'm spending more and more time behind my desk or standing aimlessly around while they work (or pretend to work). And while I know this is gearing them more towards the real world, where their employers will give them a task/job/whatever and expect them to get it done. And not that I want to be the "sage on the stage" at all times (or much at all); I'm not sure how much I'm really teaching. I don't know if I'm really doing much different than I did before with a traditional hour long class, and maybe the extra 30 minutes just makes it seem like I'm sitting on my butt more. I think the balance is just harder to achieve and with so much being new, this is another thing I'm still trying to figure out. At least these exit tickets and Kahoot quizzes allow me to check to see if the students are grasping things (and for the most part they are).
I just can't help but feel a bit lazy. Maybe that's more a "me" issue than a 1:1 issue though.....
For some things, it's been great. I really like the Canvas program that we use. The entire class is on the website and it links into our gradebook tools to, so I can export their grades directly into the gradebook. All of the assignments, projects are linked there, it's easy for me to use programs like Kahoot and Socrative for quick quizzes or exit tickets. But, I feel like I'm spending more and more time behind my desk or standing aimlessly around while they work (or pretend to work). And while I know this is gearing them more towards the real world, where their employers will give them a task/job/whatever and expect them to get it done. And not that I want to be the "sage on the stage" at all times (or much at all); I'm not sure how much I'm really teaching. I don't know if I'm really doing much different than I did before with a traditional hour long class, and maybe the extra 30 minutes just makes it seem like I'm sitting on my butt more. I think the balance is just harder to achieve and with so much being new, this is another thing I'm still trying to figure out. At least these exit tickets and Kahoot quizzes allow me to check to see if the students are grasping things (and for the most part they are).
I just can't help but feel a bit lazy. Maybe that's more a "me" issue than a 1:1 issue though.....
Thursday, February 4, 2016
In need of some tweeking
So I'm a week or so in at the new place and the transition is going alright, but there is one thing I'm certainly having to figure out, and that's teaching block scheduling rather than just traditional 60 min classes. As I do this, I really am trying to make sure that I don't just find and give busy work as filler, but it's challenge now as I have some that fly through work and others that never have enough time. I think I need to do more and more creative things with their laptops since we're 1:1 too. Lots of things to explore, but this seems to be my new challenge. I don't have that constant drive that AP gave me to learn as much as possible since I know this course is not ramped up as much and doesn't have the writing aspects but I have to find something to drive and push me. I've had a couple classes already were a majority of the class is finished well before the bell, so I'm needing to find something to compete with the desires of youtube on their laptops. Next week we'll have our first project, our world religion travel itineraries which I'm excited about and hoping that can be something to push them to learn something new and spark some creativity as well. I also think I'll need to try something I saw from the great Alice Keeler (Google tech guru) and that's have the students create something on thinglink (or really any new website) without really giving them the parameters or rubric and really allow them to work independently or collaboratively to figure out this new site and learn to create their own project how they want it to be rather than be confined by what the teacher wants. It's a bit scary since we teachers like to have a certain amount of control, but I'm excited to see how it goes.
Any ideas for good digital tools, etc let me know. I'll let you know how the adjustment goes and how the thinglink idea goes. Thanks for reading as always.
Any ideas for good digital tools, etc let me know. I'll let you know how the adjustment goes and how the thinglink idea goes. Thanks for reading as always.
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
Snow Days.......
I'm going to say something that is probably going to be fairly unpopular with some of my fellow teachers and definitely with any students out there. But I hate snow days, there I said it. I've never understood the fascination with them. Maybe it's because most of my grade school childhood was spent in California where we didn't have days off for weather. And then my last couple years were in upstate New York where you needed to have a couple of feet fall overnight to get a snow day. And sure, the "breaks" are nice I guess, but it's not like it's a day lost as most seem to think. The days almost always get made up. So now I sit here, having had 1 teaching day out of the last 10 school days with exams and snow days. The semester just started and now I feel like I'm behind the 8 ball already. And don't get me started on how most teachers are expected to come in during these days. Most businesses close or allow others to work from home, having teachers come in for some of these days is just silly. Most of what we need to do can be done remotely now too, no need for us to burn sick days when we have to stay home because our children can't go to school or daycare either.
Anyways, enough of that rant, today is finally day 2 of the semester for me. Somethings I'm looking to do this semester as I've moved from AP level back to regular world history and moved to block schedule from a traditional.
Anyways, enough of that rant, today is finally day 2 of the semester for me. Somethings I'm looking to do this semester as I've moved from AP level back to regular world history and moved to block schedule from a traditional.
- First, going to continue to spend time and energy on big picture/themes. Their NC Final isn't about remembering the typical historical who, when, where, what, so my class won't really either.
- I'm going to continue to do my question of the days like I did with my AP students. Won't do them as often, but still good practice and I feel they learn from break down key topics & I can reinforce main information.
- I'll also continue to use DBQs and the SHEG lessons, I want to get students to be able to read sources, make opinions, see both sides of a topic. Teach bias and point of view. Let's be honest, those skills are more important than remembering how many Roman emperors there were.
- I want to do more to help bring in current events, so we'll have a quick current events Friday piece. I'll see how it goes, but it's something I've kind of wanted to do for years, but never felt I had time. Just little pieces, bring world news and events into the classroom and put it in front of the kids. Let them discuss how it relates to our lives, or how it relates to what we're learning about.
- Lastly, I'm able to use a program called Canvas through the Home Base program (although I'm sure you can use it without being a home base school like all of NC is). It's used often for online classes, but so far it's a place that I can put everything online and organized for my classes which is nice. Supposedly I can grade assignment, give quizzes, etc through Canvas and it'll go straight into my gradebook. I'll write more about it as I get used to it all.
So that's all for now, off to get ready to see my students, I feel like I have to remember what I'm actually doing it's been so long. Thanks for reading as always.
Tuesday, January 5, 2016
Why are some people teachers.....
Okay, so a follow up rant/blog. I've taken over for a teacher that left over a month before I arrived but I walk into his classroom and there's nothing for me. NOTHING. No plans, no pacing, nothing that appears to have been given to the substitute teacher, again, NOTHING. And from what I hear from the students and other teachers, this was really how things were the entire semester. I know students will stretch the truth, but the consistent message from multiple students and different classes is "yeah we never really had to learn, we could pretty much do whatever we wanted" then obviously something was going wrong here. And I get that we're low on teachers, it's an unpopular profession, more of the emphasis is on everything terrible about it and God knows we're not paid anywhere close to our true value or worth....but still. If you can't motivate yourself enough to do your job, which is to advocate, teach, better our next generation, WHY ARE YOU TEACHING?!? You are much a part of the problem as all of the legislators and federal and state mandates that we all have to deal with. You are the lowest common denominator that some of these backwards rules and oversight are all directed at. Your job isn't to have to cushy job where you can hang out with high school kids (or younger) and be pals. Students need more than just a "friend." You can be the cool teacher without letting the students run the show. It's no wonder I have students that don't know how to act, for my freshman especially they've been allowed to do whatever they want since day one, and I get to clean up the mess. More importantly, how does this prepare students for the business world or college. Their bosses and professors aren't going to be their friends, they're not going to allow you to act petulant and just hang out doing nothing. No wonder the stereotype of this next generation is so terrible that they're lazy and unmotivated and incapable to caring about anything but themselves. Yes, parents and the individuals share a large portion of the responsbility but so do we. Even if it's just one kid that we can reach, that's our job, that's the role you chose, your profession. Not just some paycheck or something easy where you can talk history or math or science because you like it.
I don't know where the next generation of teachers are going to come from and I understand why so many look at the profession and say it's not worth the trouble or headaches. And some days they're right. But most of the time, for those of us that actually care and give a .... it's the best job. I can't image not teaching right now. Hell, I'm currently teaching at two schools technically since I'm helping my old students finish out the semester with a substitute until their new teacher comes in...and even then I'll be advising him somewhat from what it appears. And I'm totally okay and up for that. It's crazy the difference between my students from yesterday to today, and all I did was teach a little. Kids that are "problems" aren't, treat this job with the tenacity that it calls for and you'll rarely ever have a bad day or have a class that you hate. But if you're not willing to do that, maybe teaching isn't for you.
I don't know where the next generation of teachers are going to come from and I understand why so many look at the profession and say it's not worth the trouble or headaches. And some days they're right. But most of the time, for those of us that actually care and give a .... it's the best job. I can't image not teaching right now. Hell, I'm currently teaching at two schools technically since I'm helping my old students finish out the semester with a substitute until their new teacher comes in...and even then I'll be advising him somewhat from what it appears. And I'm totally okay and up for that. It's crazy the difference between my students from yesterday to today, and all I did was teach a little. Kids that are "problems" aren't, treat this job with the tenacity that it calls for and you'll rarely ever have a bad day or have a class that you hate. But if you're not willing to do that, maybe teaching isn't for you.
Monday, January 4, 2016
One word for 2016
So there has been a lot on twitter by my fellow educators about their one word that will be their focus for 2016. I definitely want to write more so I thought it'd be a good kick off for the year. My word is CHANGE. And while most of the change is for me, I think change will be there for my students as well (both past and future now).
For me personally and professionally, the change is huge. My family has moved cities, I've had to leave a school I really liked for a new one and we've downsized temporarily while we sell our house and save up a bit into basically a 2 bedroom apartment with 2 kids and 2 dogs. And done all of that within the last two weeks of the 2015. Fun times. I'm also changing subjects as I'm going from teaching AP level to mostly standard/academic (lowest level). And after one day at my new school I see that this is going to be a bigger change for me than I realized, and potentially a big one for my students too. I've come in during the last week before finals taking over for three classes that apparently didn't have a great teacher (according to the students to who knows) and a month's worth of substitute teachers. I only have them a week, but it was staggering how little some of the students cared or even attempted to do any work. My school has laptops for every student, and I'm not even in our district's system yet, so I really was teaching with both hands behind my back. So I had a couple things I could have them do, and really today was more for me to observe and see where the next four days are going to go. For my seniors, I can work with them, most realize they gotta get through this course, and senioritis hasn't completely taken over yet. But my freshman civics class was something else. And I'm trying really hard to A) not compare these students to my former ones because that's not fair and B) to not hold it against these kids because it seems that their original teacher checked out on them in early November, and they had subs for all of December. They're used to being able to not having to any work, to being able to be on their phones, or play games on their computers, and no one ever established any kind of rules with them. I can't try to completely shock the system, since it's only four days now, and I do need them to trust me a bit so I can at least get them prepared for their finals. So if we can all survive the week, victory for me, and I really hate that mentality but I've never felt as frustrated and helpless in a classroom as I did today (more on that in an upcoming rant/blog post).
So once I get my new class, I think I really need to change things up for these kids. Many of them are used to having their macbooks and that constant stimulus of their phones, etc all through the day. I know and embrace the push and use for technology, but I think I'm definitely going to have to find a better balance than what I've seen so far. Also, especially going to block schedules, I have to change the way these students work. There needs to be less downtime, quick transitions, timed, organized, etc. That'll be a bit different for me, since I could get through a couple things and offer plenty of time with AP, there was so much to cover, I could easily assign somethings that would take a majority of class. But I know even then, I was guilty of sometimes having work that some students flew through and they had the end of class to do other things. Now with an extra 30 minutes, I really have to be deliberate with what I do, and more important what they students do. It can't just be simply, do A, then B, then C and let them go to work. I definitely want to get more groupwork, more discussions, bring some of the AP things that I did and cater it to my new students, but push them change the way they've learned. I think with the block scheduling, there is a greater tendency to get caught up and fall behind the pacing and then it creates a mad scramble at the end of the year to "oh crap here's 50 years of history in 2 days." If my students are used to dragging through units and chapters, then they'll have to adapt, not that I live and die with my pacing, but for history, if we don't cover the modern history, in my opinion, all the stuff we learned is useless. I don't want students to learn world history because they have to, I want them to care about other cultures and better understand how the world got to where it is today, and more importantly for them, how does our country and culture fit into it. It's a globalized and interdependent world, but if the students don't get to see and learn that, what's the point. That's something I try to push every chance I get, but it's important to cover the here and now as well, not just the Ancient and "boring."
So I'm ready to embrace the change for 2016, and hopefully my students will as well. Or it could be a long spring. We'll hope it all works out okay...oh yeah and sell our house soon so we can move back into something bigger than an extended stay suite will be nice too. (Could be worse, the price is right for it and it'll for now)
Until next time, thanks for reading as always.
For me personally and professionally, the change is huge. My family has moved cities, I've had to leave a school I really liked for a new one and we've downsized temporarily while we sell our house and save up a bit into basically a 2 bedroom apartment with 2 kids and 2 dogs. And done all of that within the last two weeks of the 2015. Fun times. I'm also changing subjects as I'm going from teaching AP level to mostly standard/academic (lowest level). And after one day at my new school I see that this is going to be a bigger change for me than I realized, and potentially a big one for my students too. I've come in during the last week before finals taking over for three classes that apparently didn't have a great teacher (according to the students to who knows) and a month's worth of substitute teachers. I only have them a week, but it was staggering how little some of the students cared or even attempted to do any work. My school has laptops for every student, and I'm not even in our district's system yet, so I really was teaching with both hands behind my back. So I had a couple things I could have them do, and really today was more for me to observe and see where the next four days are going to go. For my seniors, I can work with them, most realize they gotta get through this course, and senioritis hasn't completely taken over yet. But my freshman civics class was something else. And I'm trying really hard to A) not compare these students to my former ones because that's not fair and B) to not hold it against these kids because it seems that their original teacher checked out on them in early November, and they had subs for all of December. They're used to being able to not having to any work, to being able to be on their phones, or play games on their computers, and no one ever established any kind of rules with them. I can't try to completely shock the system, since it's only four days now, and I do need them to trust me a bit so I can at least get them prepared for their finals. So if we can all survive the week, victory for me, and I really hate that mentality but I've never felt as frustrated and helpless in a classroom as I did today (more on that in an upcoming rant/blog post).
So once I get my new class, I think I really need to change things up for these kids. Many of them are used to having their macbooks and that constant stimulus of their phones, etc all through the day. I know and embrace the push and use for technology, but I think I'm definitely going to have to find a better balance than what I've seen so far. Also, especially going to block schedules, I have to change the way these students work. There needs to be less downtime, quick transitions, timed, organized, etc. That'll be a bit different for me, since I could get through a couple things and offer plenty of time with AP, there was so much to cover, I could easily assign somethings that would take a majority of class. But I know even then, I was guilty of sometimes having work that some students flew through and they had the end of class to do other things. Now with an extra 30 minutes, I really have to be deliberate with what I do, and more important what they students do. It can't just be simply, do A, then B, then C and let them go to work. I definitely want to get more groupwork, more discussions, bring some of the AP things that I did and cater it to my new students, but push them change the way they've learned. I think with the block scheduling, there is a greater tendency to get caught up and fall behind the pacing and then it creates a mad scramble at the end of the year to "oh crap here's 50 years of history in 2 days." If my students are used to dragging through units and chapters, then they'll have to adapt, not that I live and die with my pacing, but for history, if we don't cover the modern history, in my opinion, all the stuff we learned is useless. I don't want students to learn world history because they have to, I want them to care about other cultures and better understand how the world got to where it is today, and more importantly for them, how does our country and culture fit into it. It's a globalized and interdependent world, but if the students don't get to see and learn that, what's the point. That's something I try to push every chance I get, but it's important to cover the here and now as well, not just the Ancient and "boring."
So I'm ready to embrace the change for 2016, and hopefully my students will as well. Or it could be a long spring. We'll hope it all works out okay...oh yeah and sell our house soon so we can move back into something bigger than an extended stay suite will be nice too. (Could be worse, the price is right for it and it'll for now)
Until next time, thanks for reading as always.
Monday, December 21, 2015
An Open Letter to My Students
I owe you all a huge thank you for making what should have been a really easy decision, an incredibly difficult one. My wife got a new job in a new city, and the obvious choice is to take something in our new city. But at first, that was the last thing on my mind. I legitimately planned originally to do the long commute and stick it out through the year. I viewed it really like my first job switch, it would take a certain school to make me leave Thomasville, Northern being one of the few. It had to take a really good school to lure me away from Northern, fortunately for my family that has happened. But it still makes it difficult to leave Northern. I had really good colleagues and administrators and perhaps most importantly amazing students. And the best things that I got to hear was how I made world history interesting, and challenging and that my classroom was always a welcoming place. Those are the compliments that we as teachers live for. It's what drives me to continue to work hard to be the best teacher that I can be, it's what excites me about my new school as I know I can adapt and provide this to a new set of students. Yet it also makes it so difficult to leave the students I've bonded with over the last year and a half.
To all my former students, I wish you nothing but the best. I can't promise you that it will easy, but the most difficult step of any journey is always the first one. As your teacher, whether you like it or not, I'll always be invested in you even though I'm not there day in, day out. Please never hesitate to reach out if you ever need anything from me, and I'll be keeping up with as best that I can.
Until we see each other again,
Always,
Mr. Rowe
To all my former students, I wish you nothing but the best. I can't promise you that it will easy, but the most difficult step of any journey is always the first one. As your teacher, whether you like it or not, I'll always be invested in you even though I'm not there day in, day out. Please never hesitate to reach out if you ever need anything from me, and I'll be keeping up with as best that I can.
Until we see each other again,
Always,
Mr. Rowe
Friday, October 30, 2015
Edcafes: Bringing Edcamp model into the classroom
So I've only been to one, but I loved the concept and my experience at edcamps. For those that aren't familiar with these, it's a giant conference that is completely led by the people attending. There's no set schedule, no mandates on which breakout sessinos you attend, the individual gets out of the conference exactly what they want and need. The topics are all chosen the morning of the conference by the participants and there aren't really any experts there to lecture. You go to the sessions you want to go to, and if you feel you've gotten enough from the session, there's no guilt or akwardness, just get up and go where your legs take you.
The big thing is the sessions themselves, as I mentioned, there isn't a set expert in the field, it's completely collaborative and everyone is encouraged to contribute. It's a discussion more than anything else. So that's what I found through my chats on twitter with my fellow AP World teachers, was the idea of an edcafe. It's based on the same principle where the students pick the topics for discussion, and they lead these discussions, all I had to do was facilitate and keep track of time. I tweaked things a bit from the original which the following video explains.
So we split this into 2 days as we're right smack in the middle of Unit 3. So I thought this would be a good way to review some topics we fly through or perhaps things they were hoping to learn more about. So on day 1 toward the end of class, we explained how the discussions would go and allowed them to put topics on the board that they wanted covered. Topics covered most of the Unit 3 staples; the Byzantines, the Americas, Islamic Caliphates, but had some things that we briefly cover like the Crusades and Charlemagne, and was glad that each class had a session on writing essays and one even had one on sharing study tips. So I helped step in and create our 8 session topics, combining similar topics if/when it was needed. After we got our sessions decided upon, I opened it up to volunteers to lead these discussions, and in 2 of my 4 classes, I had volunteers for all 8 topics, and only needed to use my wheel of (mis)fortune to choose the leader once in class class and twice in the other. So I met briefly with the leaders and told them their expectations and that between the two of them they had to come up with 4-5 discussion questions to guide the groups and be prepared to write down any key ideas or questions from the discussions tomorrow.
Today was our discussion day. I have pretty large classes (32-34) so we had about 8-9 in each group. I briefly reminded the students of the expectations for the day. Everyone was expected to be taking notes in the groups that they weren't leading. For those that lead, we split it into two sessions, so they'd rotate and take notes in one session and lead groups in the other. At the end of class I'd either collect their notes for all 8 sessions, or the leaders' discussion questions and points along with their notes for the session they didn't lead in. This way everyone was responsible for participating and being engaged in some way or another. After my initial set up and final explanations, I was on the sidelines for the rest of class, controlling the clock and making the transition between the 1st and 2nd sessions went smoothly. I was really pleased with the conversations I heard all day. I think the students got a decent amount out of today, learning about a lot of different topics and some of the students I spoke to thought it was helpful and a good activity.
I know before our next one of these in Unit 4, I'll need to make some tweaks however. Some leaders (I had two per topic) really just facilitated the conversation and allowed it to be more collaborative, especially the essays and study tip topics since they all knew no one was an expert yet. But some leaders tended to dominate the conversation and they'd ask a question and then answer it immeidately. I'm torn with this, because they obviously went and researched their topic and are sharing worthwhile information, but it became somewhat less of a discussion, and some students then went into their next session expecting to be taught all about the topic rather than actually discussing it. I think next time I'll work with the leaders to have it be more about what does the grow know and more importantly, what does the group need help with and how can this group discuss and enlighten one another. But I had some report back that some groups felt that no one really knew much of anything, so I already know where my focus should be when we review and prepare for the unit test. I know the essays and study tips sessions went well because it was much more about how can we share together and that is my goal for these rather than have two students become experts and tell their peers. Both have their positives, but I feel with the later, some key points may still be missed, where if it's truly about sharing the information, it forces all involved to collaborate and come up with answers and possible solutions. You know those real world skills everyone harps on so often.
But going through the notes and discussion points, I know there was good discussions and a lot of work done. I had another teacher come in and sit in on a couple sessions to show him and talk about using these for his classes and he was really impressed with how the conversations were going. So first time through, I'll call it a success. Certainly need to poll more students to get their ideas for how to tweak this before we do it again in December.
Thanks for reading, hope this was helpful. If you have any questions about it, leave it in the comments or ask me on twitter@amcrowe5
The big thing is the sessions themselves, as I mentioned, there isn't a set expert in the field, it's completely collaborative and everyone is encouraged to contribute. It's a discussion more than anything else. So that's what I found through my chats on twitter with my fellow AP World teachers, was the idea of an edcafe. It's based on the same principle where the students pick the topics for discussion, and they lead these discussions, all I had to do was facilitate and keep track of time. I tweaked things a bit from the original which the following video explains.
So we split this into 2 days as we're right smack in the middle of Unit 3. So I thought this would be a good way to review some topics we fly through or perhaps things they were hoping to learn more about. So on day 1 toward the end of class, we explained how the discussions would go and allowed them to put topics on the board that they wanted covered. Topics covered most of the Unit 3 staples; the Byzantines, the Americas, Islamic Caliphates, but had some things that we briefly cover like the Crusades and Charlemagne, and was glad that each class had a session on writing essays and one even had one on sharing study tips. So I helped step in and create our 8 session topics, combining similar topics if/when it was needed. After we got our sessions decided upon, I opened it up to volunteers to lead these discussions, and in 2 of my 4 classes, I had volunteers for all 8 topics, and only needed to use my wheel of (mis)fortune to choose the leader once in class class and twice in the other. So I met briefly with the leaders and told them their expectations and that between the two of them they had to come up with 4-5 discussion questions to guide the groups and be prepared to write down any key ideas or questions from the discussions tomorrow.
Today was our discussion day. I have pretty large classes (32-34) so we had about 8-9 in each group. I briefly reminded the students of the expectations for the day. Everyone was expected to be taking notes in the groups that they weren't leading. For those that lead, we split it into two sessions, so they'd rotate and take notes in one session and lead groups in the other. At the end of class I'd either collect their notes for all 8 sessions, or the leaders' discussion questions and points along with their notes for the session they didn't lead in. This way everyone was responsible for participating and being engaged in some way or another. After my initial set up and final explanations, I was on the sidelines for the rest of class, controlling the clock and making the transition between the 1st and 2nd sessions went smoothly. I was really pleased with the conversations I heard all day. I think the students got a decent amount out of today, learning about a lot of different topics and some of the students I spoke to thought it was helpful and a good activity.
I know before our next one of these in Unit 4, I'll need to make some tweaks however. Some leaders (I had two per topic) really just facilitated the conversation and allowed it to be more collaborative, especially the essays and study tip topics since they all knew no one was an expert yet. But some leaders tended to dominate the conversation and they'd ask a question and then answer it immeidately. I'm torn with this, because they obviously went and researched their topic and are sharing worthwhile information, but it became somewhat less of a discussion, and some students then went into their next session expecting to be taught all about the topic rather than actually discussing it. I think next time I'll work with the leaders to have it be more about what does the grow know and more importantly, what does the group need help with and how can this group discuss and enlighten one another. But I had some report back that some groups felt that no one really knew much of anything, so I already know where my focus should be when we review and prepare for the unit test. I know the essays and study tips sessions went well because it was much more about how can we share together and that is my goal for these rather than have two students become experts and tell their peers. Both have their positives, but I feel with the later, some key points may still be missed, where if it's truly about sharing the information, it forces all involved to collaborate and come up with answers and possible solutions. You know those real world skills everyone harps on so often.
But going through the notes and discussion points, I know there was good discussions and a lot of work done. I had another teacher come in and sit in on a couple sessions to show him and talk about using these for his classes and he was really impressed with how the conversations were going. So first time through, I'll call it a success. Certainly need to poll more students to get their ideas for how to tweak this before we do it again in December.
Thanks for reading, hope this was helpful. If you have any questions about it, leave it in the comments or ask me on twitter
Friday, July 31, 2015
Summer Reading, had me a blast.....
Cheesy headline I know, but I couldn't really resist. So I wanted to do a quick post on a couple of the books that I read this summer to gear up for this fall. Usually for the summers, I just read for pleasure as I actually have some free time to do so, but this year I've incorporated a couple others along with my usual Steve Berry thrillers. The two I've read so far that are Collapse by Jared Diamond and A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage. Both very good reads, although I'll say Standage is a much easier & shorter read. I'll start with Diamond's book. For my AP students, they read part of his other well known piece, Guns, Germs, and Steel. He has some really insightful stuff on the beginnings of agriculture which leads us right into our first unit for the course. I'll admit, Diamond is very academic and thorough in his writings. The concepts that he writes about our really interesting, examining how and why certain locations started farming while others still haven't to this day. Collapse looks to expand on some of Diamond's earlier work, and specifically looks at some ancient and more modern societal collapses and looks into why it happened, and more importantly what should we learn from them. The book covers several different locations around the world, from examining environmental & societal issues in modern day Montana, to the collapses in some of the Oceanic islands, the Maya, some Native American tribes, and the varying successes and failures of the Viking settlements, along with current day Rwanda, Somalia, and issues facing Haiti vs. the Dominican Republic. It had a lot of great insights, especially debating the notion of civilized cultures as we see these great societies and civilizations create amazing things even though they're not from the perceived civilized places in the world. A lot of the stuff on Easter Island and the other Oceanic islands was really helpful as Polynesia is always an area that is overlooked but I have some helpful and insightful stuff to help with Polynesian migration in Unit 3. The book gets a bit repetitive as he does go very (VERY) in depth about how he's able to determine some of the scientific evidence that he's able to gather. And I could only read about pollen dating so often. But as I said, some really good stuff and more importantly, and interesting way to look at things and the world. Definitely have some supplemental stuff for the year, which is always a good thing.
Standage's is a pretty interesting view of world history, looking at it through the lens of six key beverages; beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and coca-cola. While the book goes in the history and stories behind the discovery/invention of each of these drinks, but it also how these drinks shaped the societies they came up with and how influential they each were, or are still today. Some really snippets on the Neolithic Revolution, trade across the Atlantic, the British Empire, and current day globalization. Since I borrowed this book from the library, I'll need to find a cheap copy somewhere, or keep taking pics of the pieces I liked to use as bell ringers, exit tickets, etc. Both books are very helpful, and glad I picked them. I haven't read a lot of actual historical literature, it's not as easy of a read as my thrillers are which I can buzz through in a matter of days, but definitely stuff I need to continue to improve my craft and find good material for my class.
So if you're looking for a couple of good reads, I recommend both, although be forewarned, Diamond is not the easiest of reads. Thanks for reading
Standage's is a pretty interesting view of world history, looking at it through the lens of six key beverages; beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and coca-cola. While the book goes in the history and stories behind the discovery/invention of each of these drinks, but it also how these drinks shaped the societies they came up with and how influential they each were, or are still today. Some really snippets on the Neolithic Revolution, trade across the Atlantic, the British Empire, and current day globalization. Since I borrowed this book from the library, I'll need to find a cheap copy somewhere, or keep taking pics of the pieces I liked to use as bell ringers, exit tickets, etc. Both books are very helpful, and glad I picked them. I haven't read a lot of actual historical literature, it's not as easy of a read as my thrillers are which I can buzz through in a matter of days, but definitely stuff I need to continue to improve my craft and find good material for my class.
So if you're looking for a couple of good reads, I recommend both, although be forewarned, Diamond is not the easiest of reads. Thanks for reading
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
More summer musings & adventures in podcasting
Alright, so back to some teaching stuff. So I took my first stab at podcasting. I think the final product turned out alright, but learned quickly that I need a script. I tried to just wing it, I'd said in my head several times the things I'd wanted to discuss on this topic while out for a run or on the treadmill. But once I clicked start and began rambling, I quickly realized I was all over the place. Once the script was written, I got my points laid out, it was a pretty simple process. Really like podomatic and its simplicity. Definitely want to make some more now. Just need to hope for long naps from the twins to get them done. My first one was breaking down point of view, bias, and motive for my students. It's so integral for my AP World students, crucial to understand for the DBQ essay as well just understanding any document or picture that we analyze. Too often students equate point of view is simply restating what someone said in a document, "they spoke out against the church so they're anti-religion" That unfortunately leaves out the ever-important "so what" Why did they speak out against the church, what's their bias, their motives that shape this view. What leads them to saying this, what is the context going on in the world around the speaker? So hopefully this will help a bit. I figure I'll do one on all of the historical skills that the course stresses as well as one on the 5 themes and the key concepts too.
Also had our school improvement summer retreat today. Nice to get out of the house and be a part of this group. But got some good pointers that I think I'm going to add in for next year. I definitely need to add in formative assessments. The course goes along so fast and I need to make sure that I'm doing my due diligence and making sure that I'm checking constantly to make sure that my students are understanding the skills and content. I also need to start using more anticipation guides, again to help my students take what they know and allow them to expand upon it and find out where I need to focus the most moving forward. I want to be more direct and intentional with what I'm doing and hopefully these will help. So time to start tweaking my syllabus and calendars around, but it was just the shot in the arm I needed to break up a stale run to summer. It's late, gonna run, thanks for reading as always.
Also had our school improvement summer retreat today. Nice to get out of the house and be a part of this group. But got some good pointers that I think I'm going to add in for next year. I definitely need to add in formative assessments. The course goes along so fast and I need to make sure that I'm doing my due diligence and making sure that I'm checking constantly to make sure that my students are understanding the skills and content. I also need to start using more anticipation guides, again to help my students take what they know and allow them to expand upon it and find out where I need to focus the most moving forward. I want to be more direct and intentional with what I'm doing and hopefully these will help. So time to start tweaking my syllabus and calendars around, but it was just the shot in the arm I needed to break up a stale run to summer. It's late, gonna run, thanks for reading as always.
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Project Semicolon
So about a week ago, my brother posted the following "A semicolon represents a sentence the author could have ended, but chose not to. The sentence is your life and the author is you." I'd never seen this before but it certainly has a very profound meaning and impact to me and my family. I mentioned this a bit in a previous post of mine, but five years ago my mother took her own life after struggling with depression. I knew how my mother struggled, I watched her go through a painful divorce and become a shell of her former self. She did her best to put on the brave face but ultimately she didn't feel that she could fight any longer. Suicide leaves those around to go through a plethora of emotions. There's the obvious pain and sadness that centers around death, but it's not that simple. There's such conflict as you want to blame someone or something like a disease but that isn't available, you're left blaming that person, and it's hard to pile onto the woman who was my role model and strongest supporter. And these feelings endure, five years later, I still feel the wide array of emotions as my mother never got to see me become a teacher even though we talked about me changing careers, wasn't there for my wedding, never got to meet her grandkids. It's something that I live with, and have tried to learn from those lessons.
I bring all this up as I stumbled upon the hashtag #semicolonedu which looks at bringing awareness to teachers & educators that suffer from mental health issues and hopes to eliminate the stigma behind MHI. There have been great posts, particularly by @thenerdyteacher and @Joe_Mazza about their own struggles and I think one of the great things is you have several other educators that have the courage to speak up about their own demons. I'm no different, for the better part of a decade I've fought my own battles with depression. I've thankfully never gotten to the point that my mother did, but it's something that constantly is present. For me, it's a general apathy and anxiety that I fight. So many times when I could be doing something productive or necessary, I end up sitting around doing nothing, wasting time on mindless games on my phone or doing the same sporcle quiz I've done a dozen times to avoid the task ahead of me. Now I've gotten better and learned to cope and fight this as time as gone on, but it's still a struggle. It's something that led me to the complacency that caused my failures as a college coach and my firing ultimately. But because of that, I found my way to teaching, something I feel I was always meant to do, it just took me too long to find the courage to go back to school and get it done. And oddly enough, that anxiety and apathy disappears when I'm in the classroom. I've found my element, I'm not worried about failing as I was before, I'm no longer afraid to talk to people I don't know all that well, worrying about the impressions that I'll make. I have a confidence and an activity level that help me fight through it, which I can't say I ever really had. It's still funny, and probably odd, that I'm still such an introvert in "real" life while I'm loud and engaging when I'm teaching and at work. But everyday I try to stay sharp, I've gotten a passion back for reading and for running (although getting out the door some days is near impossible), I spend time playing with my kids taking care of them over the summer. At times, it's tough since I have little contact with anyone other than the twins during the summer, but they help give me perspective. They need the best Dad, I can't slack for them. And so I try to learn from the unfortunate and tragic lessons of my mother, and keep a focus going forward each day. I mentioned previously the quote that my mother and I found and used it to try and inspire us as we struggled together with our issues. I've since gotten it permanently done as a reminder to me around the tree of life. I'm excited for my next tattoo as well; a semicolon. Life could've stopped with my mother's death, I was out of work and as the one living closest to her, the executor of her will. Life appeared to be in several different pieces and I know I had no clue what the future held for me. I'm proud that rather than fall into the pits and traps that she did, I've used it more as motivation to live life to my potential, and enjoy everything about it. It's so much easier said than done, as there are still days, weeks, months that are difficult and I feel myself slide into that creature that wasted away as life passed him by. And I know that every day will continue to be a test. I think I was once foolish enough to believe that I'd "beaten" my depression. I know that's never going to happen, but hopefully I'll have the strength and confidence in my life to push through the down times. It's a battle and challenge that I know I have to win, for my story is far from finished.
I truly thank you for reading, it's been very therapeutic to finally write about my mother. For those looking for more teaching stuff, I'm hoping to do my first podcast Thursday. I'll try to post something afterwards with it and my initial reflections on it.
I bring all this up as I stumbled upon the hashtag #semicolonedu which looks at bringing awareness to teachers & educators that suffer from mental health issues and hopes to eliminate the stigma behind MHI. There have been great posts, particularly by @thenerdyteacher and @Joe_Mazza about their own struggles and I think one of the great things is you have several other educators that have the courage to speak up about their own demons. I'm no different, for the better part of a decade I've fought my own battles with depression. I've thankfully never gotten to the point that my mother did, but it's something that constantly is present. For me, it's a general apathy and anxiety that I fight. So many times when I could be doing something productive or necessary, I end up sitting around doing nothing, wasting time on mindless games on my phone or doing the same sporcle quiz I've done a dozen times to avoid the task ahead of me. Now I've gotten better and learned to cope and fight this as time as gone on, but it's still a struggle. It's something that led me to the complacency that caused my failures as a college coach and my firing ultimately. But because of that, I found my way to teaching, something I feel I was always meant to do, it just took me too long to find the courage to go back to school and get it done. And oddly enough, that anxiety and apathy disappears when I'm in the classroom. I've found my element, I'm not worried about failing as I was before, I'm no longer afraid to talk to people I don't know all that well, worrying about the impressions that I'll make. I have a confidence and an activity level that help me fight through it, which I can't say I ever really had. It's still funny, and probably odd, that I'm still such an introvert in "real" life while I'm loud and engaging when I'm teaching and at work. But everyday I try to stay sharp, I've gotten a passion back for reading and for running (although getting out the door some days is near impossible), I spend time playing with my kids taking care of them over the summer. At times, it's tough since I have little contact with anyone other than the twins during the summer, but they help give me perspective. They need the best Dad, I can't slack for them. And so I try to learn from the unfortunate and tragic lessons of my mother, and keep a focus going forward each day. I mentioned previously the quote that my mother and I found and used it to try and inspire us as we struggled together with our issues. I've since gotten it permanently done as a reminder to me around the tree of life. I'm excited for my next tattoo as well; a semicolon. Life could've stopped with my mother's death, I was out of work and as the one living closest to her, the executor of her will. Life appeared to be in several different pieces and I know I had no clue what the future held for me. I'm proud that rather than fall into the pits and traps that she did, I've used it more as motivation to live life to my potential, and enjoy everything about it. It's so much easier said than done, as there are still days, weeks, months that are difficult and I feel myself slide into that creature that wasted away as life passed him by. And I know that every day will continue to be a test. I think I was once foolish enough to believe that I'd "beaten" my depression. I know that's never going to happen, but hopefully I'll have the strength and confidence in my life to push through the down times. It's a battle and challenge that I know I have to win, for my story is far from finished.
I truly thank you for reading, it's been very therapeutic to finally write about my mother. For those looking for more teaching stuff, I'm hoping to do my first podcast Thursday. I'll try to post something afterwards with it and my initial reflections on it.
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