Bellringer

I decided that this year I am going to have students tweet their brief responses to some bell ringers. I'll create a hash tag that they have to add with their response. After, I can storify them, or put them into a paper.li newspaper to publish to all the students across the different sections to have them reflect on what their peers also wrote.  Here is a link to some of the bell ringers I have so far. Please feel free to use them. The maps are from a great site, twistedsifter.com. The writing prompts are mainly from www.writingprompts.tumblr.com. Some are my own original ones as well.

What do I really want you to learn

Dear Students,
As the year is coming to a close I have been thinking a lot about what I hope you have learned this year. This year, more than any other year, I am thinking about what I want the lasting impact of this class to be. Since I will be leaving this school after 9 years and teaching in another country, I have been getting very nostalgic of my time here. There are so many wonderful students here that I will miss deeply. Having said that, there are a lot of things I hope I have taught you, whether I had you this year in class or in the past, coached you in a sport or after school, or just talked to you in the hall. Here are a list of things that may not be measured on standardized tests, but I hope that you have learned this year.

Compassion. I hope that I have taught you compassion. I hope that I have modeled compassion toward you and others. I hope that you have learned of others that exhibit compassion throughout history, in our world today and that compassion is something you will make part of your life. I hope that you will show compassion to all those you encounter. I hope you remember that everyone is dealing with something, some worse than you, some better, just depends on a given day. You will not have a perfect day, week, month, year, but you can have a perfect life. Compassion is key to that perfect life. How you treat others is a direct link to how you treat yourself, so you need to have compassion for yourself. Don't be too hard on yourself. Remember to always take a step back and breathe when things get tough.

Questioning. I hope that you have learned to ask questions. I hope you have learned to question what you know, what others know and what others tell you. You always have a right to know the truth, and you must always search for that truth. Don't just accept other opinions as facts, find out where they got their information. What is their source? Is it credible? Why are they saying what they are saying? What do they have to gain/lose? Question why you are learning what you are learning. Question why decisions are made for you, about your life, without your input. Question what the government is doing, keep them honest by voting. Ask questions when you don't understand, because chances are others are also lost/confused. Questioning makes you wise, not dumb. Intelligent people got that way because they asked questions. Also, when someone questions you, don't back down. Don't change your beliefs just because you are pressed with a challenge. If you believe in what you are saying, and you have questioned yourself, stay strong. When you question, you learn. Never stop learning. You'll never know everything. You can always learn more, and you can learn from unexpected sources. Don't be too big to accept knowledge from someone. As a teacher, I have learned so much from you, the students, and a lot of that comes from asking questions. Ask questions, some answers will amaze you, change your way of life, and shake your hold world up.

Do something you are scared of doing. I am moving to a country I have never been. That scares me. But that is ok. Life is an adventure. Do things that you haven't done before. Go places you haven't seen. Don't be complacent. Talk to those you haven't had a chance to. Play a sport you haven't tried, if you aren't good at it, who cares, the fun is in the trying. You only do this once, so you need to take risks. Calculated risks. Research things first, of course, but don't live your life scared to try. It isn't as fun in the stands as it is on the field, or court, or stage. 

Be better than you thought you could be. Never be satisfied with the status quo. Challenge yourself. Reward yourself when you are successful, but don't live for one accomplishment. You can have many accomplishments. Keep stretching. Keep pushing. Nothing great ever happens without people trying, without people getting uncomfortable.  You are truly amazing. All of you. You each are unique. You have special talents. Some of you know those talents, some of you are discovering those talents, some of you will discover them later in life, but trust me, you have them. Don't let the fact that others will try to hold you down stop you from be as great as you can possibly be. People will always tell you no, it is your job to tell them, yes. At the same time, don't be a dream killer to others. Help when you can, encourage always, smile often.

Finally, don't give up. As I said earlier, people will say no. People will say it can't be done. If it is something you truly believe in, it can be done. It may take more work, it may take more effort, it may take more time, but it will be done. Plus, an added bonus is that those things that take more work, are more rewarding when accomplished. There have been countless roadblocks for famous people in history, as well for us regular people, and it is possible to come out on top, with hard work, perseverance and patience. I know those three things are tough, but it is worth it. 

Again, it has been an honor and a privilege to be your teacher this year. I appreciate all you have taught me. I wish you all the best in your future endeavors, wherever they make take you. If you ever need a hand you know that you can count on me. 

Trade Simulation or War Games

For the last few years I wanted to do an end of the semester trade simulation and I haven't been able to find one that wasn't online (we aren't 1:1). I finally decided to take the time to create one.
I set it up so each team, I wanted 2 or 3 at most to a team, was a different nation. They received a sheet that had the specifics of their nation. For instance, birth rate, death rate, GDP, resources and type of government. It also listed allies and enemies. The first step was for them to read about their nation and the others, design a flag and pick a country name. Next, they had to answer some questions about their country and the philosophy. I had each group decide on a president and a press secretary. At the end of each days simulations they would have the president give a speech, and the press secretary answer questions from the group.
Next, was the fun part, letting the students loose to start wheeling and dealing with each other. It was amazing to see them in action. The higher order thinking skills were on display as they worried about their choices for their nation and the implications of each deal.  There were some pretty heated arguments and some lying and backstabbing, but hey this is the world of politics.
For the next few days I put a list of game changers on the board. The first day Game changerswere full of surprises. As they went around making deals, I followed playing devil's advocate.
The same thing happened on day 2, 3, 4 and 5.
Overall, this was really a great week. The students were very into making deals, and things got heated at many points. It was great to get to walk around and strategize with the students.
If you have any adjustments or suggestions let me know.

Why do we do what we do?

It's been a while since I wrote a blog post, and I have had many ideas go through my head for topics, but none seemed to inspire any real thoughts for now. Perhaps in the future they will, or perhaps they will go off to retire at the Shady Oaks of Random Thoughts retirement home.  Anyways, this past week has been our testing week at school. As always, this is a point of contention for teachers as we debate the merit of the tests, what is it proving, how responsible should teachers be, etc. But this is not a post about those tests. This is a post inspired by the testing days that led me to think of so many other things as well.
Why do we do what we do at schools? What are the motivating factors? Is it for the best interest of the students or is it the way we have always done things? Do we do it just to say we are doing it?
For me, I think it is the latter. We set up our testing days at our school with juniors through freshmen testing, seniors completing "community service" one day and college visits the other. On paper, this seems like a great plan, however the problem is in the execution. This is not well thought when put in action. We test the freshmen and sophomores just to say we tested them. They are told their scores, after their schedules for the next year are already determined. They do not analyze their scores or see what they need to improve on for their future. We do not discuss the tests in any form. So it begs the question, why are we testing them? If this was truly to help the students, we would analyze the results and compare the data and figure out how best to help these students. But, like so many things, we do it just to say we are doing it.
This is frustrating to me. It seems like a simple solution to help these students. We are spending thousands of dollars to have these tests scored by GAINS, and yet, we are not getting anything but test boredom out of the students.
Why is it that we can be doing things in a school that are good, yet they never reach the point of great? Why do we have meetings that are about changing schools, and yet no changes ever get made? Why don't we make the changes that we need? What are the roadblocks? In the world of education where decisions need to be made at the speed of light, can we afford to take light years to change?  How can we justify not doing anything when the livelihoods of our students are at stake?

Music brings emotion to your lessons

Today I started teaching about Vietnam. I always like to open this unit with music. There are so many great songs and poems written about this time period. I have a Livebinder that has links to the YouTube videos, with lyrics for most.

I like to start off reading Masters of War by Bob Dylan. It is a powerful piece that really gets there attention. We have a lot to discuss after about what does it say about the war, and the feeling of the author. It is a great point of view piece to discuss the difference between the politicians and the people. We also compare and contrast it to the wars today.

We follow up with Travelin Soldier. I play the Dixie Chicks version, because I find the violins and Natalie Maines voice are hypnotic.

Then there are other songs. But that isn't what I wanted to write about. Today, after going through this ritual I noticed a student in the back, with tears in her eyes. After class she came up to me for a hug, she has a brother serving in the army. She and her friends stayed and talked about it for a few minutes, and as she left she said "I love this class."

Wow. It was amazing. It was touching. Another student asked to keep her copy of Masters of War. She said it was the best thing she had ever written. Another asked to redo it for their own mix.

The music made students who never talk come alive. It made them identify to the time. They made connections to what is happening today. They felt it. They could transcend time and be in the heart of the protest movements.

What more can we ask for?

Getting students interested in voting or It's your Civil Duty!

As a high school history/economics teacher we discuss a lot about voting. We discuss the history of it, when people received the right and how suffrage does not equal suffering. We discuss the important issues, we take our political profile quizzes. We discuss current political leaders and the job they are doing. But I have realized that this does not mean people will grow up and vote.

In order to get people, whether students or adults, to want to vote, it is like anything else, they have to know how it affects them. They have to feel the impact. They have to understand the difference they can make, and most importantly that it isn't a waste of time. There is a reason so many more people vote for American Idol or the Voice, because it's quick, and the results come in quick. It didn't waste their time.

As a teacher, I need to do a better job, everyday, illustrating the importance and relevance of voting. But I also need the media to do the same. We have to stop making elections a reality show of dirty laundry, because no one wins. People are dissatisfied with the candidates. They are angry that they are all crooks. They do not trust them, therefore, they do not vote. But the alternative is worse. We have to step up.

Again, my students tell me they are scared to make the wrong choice, so we must help them to understand themselves, their choices, and their outcomes. Make them understand that they are the difference.

Injecting human feelings into teaching

I am starting to teach my unit on civil rights. This is the 9th time I have taught this, yet I still want more. I don't want this to be the same lesson they have always had. They know the big players. They know the outcomes. But what about what they don't know?
This is when I decided that I would again, make this about them as individual students. They need to be connected. They need to feel the impact. They need the empathy to combat their perceived apathy.
I don't think my students are apathetic for the record. I think they just don't know. One told me today she would want to vote but is scared to make the wrong choice.
I was convinced yet again we need to teach them how to find answers, not what the answers should be.
Back to the civil rights. We started off with a discussion. What does civil rights mean? We say it. They've heard it. But what does it entail? How do we define it? This was eye opening in itself. The silence that faced me from my always very outgoing class. It made me think what do we want them to learn compared to what are they actually learning?
We have to take time to really assess this. Not always with a formal evaluation but even with an easy conversation.
I brought in music today to tell about Emmett Till. This was our opening lesson. Tomorrow we discuss sit ins and freedom riders. I want to focus on the nameless who make an impact to help convince my students they can do the same.