You probably saw the news headline, but if not, here is the horrible news: Ben Brazeau, leader of the #SSTLAP crew, has been kidnapped! The ransom note mentioned a series of digital locks that must be opened in order to free Ben from his captors - and we only have an hour to solve the clues. It’s imperative to open the locks, or Ben will not be able to fulfill his summer plans - celebrate the 4th of July, go on a family vacation, attend his beloved Packers’ training camp, read some of his favorite PD books, or see an upcoming summer blockbuster. Plus, #sstlap will cease to exist, crushing the collective soul of the greatest crew of social studies teachers on the planet. Braz got the ball rolling years ago by resuming the chat, and we need to keep it going. Free @Braz74!
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20% Time Questions
June 22, 2017 #sstlap 6 PT Guest Host @scottmpetri Overview: Genius Hour is an inquiry-driven, passion-based classroom strategy designed to excite and engage students through the unrestrained joy of learning. Many teachers accomplish this by setting aside time in their weekly classroom schedules when students are able to learn about and create whatever they want, unencumbered by teacher control (Krebs & Zvi, 2016). Join High School teachers Scott Petri (History) and Holly Avdul (English) as they chat about implementing Genius Hour. :07 Q1 How well will your department/school leadership buy into the concept of 20% time? :14 Q2 How do you think parents will buy-into the concept of Genius Hour? :21 Q3 Where can you scale back on content delivery so that your students can participate in 20% time? :28 Q4 How are you planning to help your students develop inquiry questions for their Genius Hour project? :35 Q5 How do you help students realize their intellectual gifts so that they can become high performers? :42 Q6 What challenges do you anticipate as you shift to supporting students along an independent course of inquiry? :48 Q7 What was the biggest “A-Ha” moment you had in devoting Genius Hour to your students this past year? :54 Q8 What advice would you give to a teacher pursuing Genius Hour aka 20% time for the first time? Resources https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/FREE-Project-Based-Learning-Materials-for-the-English-Classroom-20Time-Project-1918986 http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/classroom_qa_with_larry_ferlazzo/2017/06/response_genius_hours_can_be_transformative.html https://www.middleweb.com/35076/genius-hour-help-includes-the-scaffolding/ https://www.geniushourguide.org/ Social Science Genius Hour https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kcHWQnYDbo Thursday, June 15 #sstlap Twitter Chat - 6 PT 8 CST
Guest Host: @historytechie Teachers want support in developing innovative classroom practices. Approximately, $18 billion is spent annually in the US on PK-12 professional development. The average teacher spends 89 hours per year on professional learning activities mostly directed by districts. Yet the majority of teachers report that too many professional development offerings are not relevant, not effective, and not connected to their core work of helping students learn. A variety of teacher practice networks have sprung up in response to this. Join, Liz Ramos, one of 20 teacher leaders supporting a community of 300 Social Studies teachers nation-wide in the Constitutional Rights Foundation’s Teacher 2 Teacher Collaborative. Liz and other teachers in CRF’s TPN will chat about how teachers can expand their practice networks, connect with like-minded colleagues, and energize their innovative practices. Q1 What networks do you use to find instructional resources and digital tools to support your growth as a teacher? Q2 Which do you personally prefer F2F (in person) learning or Online (asynchronous) Learning? Why? Q3 How well has your school/district prepared you to implement college and career-readiness standards? Q4 How often does your school/district utilize mini-lesson studies, video-peer coaching, lesson plan critiques, analysis of student work, and online discussion of related research and articles in PD? Q5 How often have you worked with teachers from other schools and districts learning new pedagogical practices? Q6 What organizations do you use for Online Learning (OL) to support your growth as a Social Studies teacher? Q7 How can teacher practice networks strengthen ties with local/state/federal organizations to sustain teacher leadership? Q8 How do teacher leaders know when they can effectively lead other teachers in collaborative, professional learning? Resources http://chiefsforchange.org/policy-paper/4658/ http://www.teachersknowbest.org/reports https://s3.amazonaws.com/edtech-production/reports/Teachers-Know-Best-2.0-Infographic.pdf Introductions: Tells us who you are, what you do and what’s your summer deep dive (i.e. book, travel, prepping for a new teaching assignment, etc) 1) Looking back at the teachers and professors you have had, which ones reeled you in their lectures and why? 2) The tools! From chalkboard to PowerPoint, there a lot out there to pick from. Which is your go to and why? 3) One key element in lectures / direct instruction is being an engaging storyteller. How you have you helped make your lectures more engaging? 4) Besides the classic “calling on raised hands”, what are some ideas or strategies for asking questions? 5) Visual literacy; Photos, paintings, cartoons, maps and more; social studies is a field where images abound. What are ways you incorporate images and visual literacy in your instruction? 6) The traditional “set and get” style has seen many changes. What are some alternatives to lectures you have used? 7) What are some other ideas you’ve seen or heard which you would like to dive in and try next year? This week I wanted to at least take a moment to honor those who served and gave the ultimate sacrifice protecting our Freedoms through their military service. I didn’t know how to do a whole chat about that, but still need to acknowledge this. So I came up with tonight’s multiple section chat of the things that I have been pondering lately. Honoring History, Celebrating and preparing for the end of the year with reflections on where we have come from, and of course celebrating those who provide us support to do what we love to do.
Q1 Please take a moment to acknowledge those who have served and lost their lives in the military. Feel free to name individuals who you have a connection to, or simply share your thoughts about those who have served as we extend Memorial Day by a couple of days to honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. Q2 What does Memorial Day mean to you, and how do you teach about it in your class? Has it turned into many of the other American Holidays that have become so commercialized people don’t realize what the day is truly supposed to be about? How do you preserve the meaning of Memorial Day in your classroom? End of the Year - I want to honor Memorial Day, but also want to give you opportunity to reflect on your year in review. Q3 As you look back over this year, What are some of your favorite moments from this past school year? Q4 Who are some of the individuals who helped create lasting memories or lasting impressions on you this year? Hopefully these are positive experiences! Q5 If you had to create a 6 word memoir of this year, what would it be? Supporting Cast Q6 I just read Justin Birckbichler @Mr_B_Teacher wrote about his journey with cancer and his latest post http://www.aballsysenseoftumor.com/ make me think more about relationships. Who has allowed you to do what you do professionally? Who has provided you opportunity to take risks and shine? Q7 Similar question to 7 but who has provided you with opportunities to pursue your dreams and ambitions? Who has been your supporting cast as you work through the challenges of achieving your goals? Who has helped keep you sane, made you dinner, been your rock through the journey? Q8 Who do you support to take risks, FAIL and then succeed, be more than they thought they could be? Who are you there for without question? How do you support them? This last section really hit home as I continue to struggle with that work/home life balance. I have taken a step back from being on Twitter and engaging in as many chats as I have previously while working on Graduate Classes. I am learning from the classes, but struggling to learn new things that got me excited about technology and new innovations. At the same time I have tried to devote more time to family, but as always I feel like I could do more and need to do more. In every aspect of life there are forces pulling at us, and we need to figure out priorities and then live up to being present when in those situations. I have a colleague who says BVOS - Best Version OF Self. I am still working on that, and know that my time with the #sstlap crew helps me with that. With that being said, I am hoping others will sign up to host this summer. I plan on participating in the chats, but the planning each and every week does take time and I like most everyone else find summer to be a busy time of year. I am hoping to share the load of hosting this summer as well as provide others the opportunity to steer the ship and see what they want to discuss and am excited that some have already volunteered to host. Sign up here if interested. |
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