Last night I caught the end of a PBS Frontline program on Haitian refugees who were detained by the US government at Guantanamo Bay in the 1990s. The policy seemed to be a carry over from President Bush to President Clinton. Eventually and slowly the refugees were able to enter America, but only after the PRESS - yes that enemy to America according to our current POTUS, or could it just be the enemy to injustice, I leave that for you to decide as we are seeing injustice by both Democrats and Republicans in this instance. Back to history- The press recorded the brutal treatment the Haitian refugees suffered at the hands of American military troops. This expedited the release from Guantanamo Bay and migration to America, however there was one group that was debated even into the high courts. Haitians who were HIV were denied entrance until the courts finally ruled in their favor. This is but one example of injustice in our history. I had also seen a post on Twitter Recently about the Japanese Interment so I went back and took a few screenshots of those images. In reading through the feed many made a connection between this event and our current President's push for a Muslim Ban. As someone who studied history I understand the desire to project a sense of security to a nation as FEAR is a powerful force. Unfortunately trying to prevent fear about one issue creates FEAR of another kind. By alienating and demonizing and stereotyping one group of people we create FEAR that turns into distrust, anger and even violence towards that group of people. We saw in the execution of Executive order 9066 that people many of whom were US Citizens entitled to due process and protections of the law were stripped of their homes, possessions and freedoms. "I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with LIBERTY and JUSTICE for all." Please read those words and take pause in the last phrase - Liberty and Justice for all! We spent last week talking about African American History and know our nations policies and many individuals did not support or provide Liberty and Justice for African Americans and we still struggle with equality today. Think about other groups and how we view and treat them in society. Do we live up to those ideals. I used to ask these questions to my students and had a parent challenge me as to why I would show these negatives of America, why I wouldn't continue to build it up as the best nation in the world. My response - I truly believe America is a Great Nation and always has been despite campaign rhetoric. My purpose for shedding light on these an other instances, (we haven't even touched on the treatment of Native Americans) but I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't present history from a variety of perspectives that provide accurate accounts of the actions and intentions of those who shaped history and the consequences of those decisions. It is not my intent to tear down America but rather build it up. You can't improve upon something until you discover the flaws, imperfections and at times the glaring disfunction of the system. America is a great nation made up of people who are imperfect making imperfect and sometimes horrendous decisions. If we ignore those past mistakes and injustices we are destined to relive similar events in our present and future. We cannot sit idly by as our government and many citizens work to segregate, dehumanize groups of people and instill FEAR and mistrust in others based on religious beliefs or where they come from. QuestionsQ1 The only thing we have to FEAR is FEAR itself! What does this mean to you, and how can you use this concept/understanding with educating our future leaders/current students?
Q2 Make America Great! (again?) What does this mean to you? What does it look like? How do we achieve greatness for all? Q3 How do you use events like the Japanese Internment and Haitian Refugees to teach our students? Q4 Why are events like these vital to teach our students? What do we hope they will learn? Q5 They came for the African Americans and I said nothing, They came for the Japanese Americans and I said nothing, They came for the Haitian Refugees and I said nothing, They came for the Mexican Immigrants and I said nothing, They came for the Muslim Immigrants and I said nothing... When we say nothing we give consent to the actions. How do we stand up and help our students learn to stand up to injustice around them? Q6 The Press is the Enemy of America! This attack on the Freedom of the Press, and their legitimacy, can cause catastrophic damage to our own freedoms and liberties. How do we protect these freedoms and teach their value to students in a time of "Fake News" and Alternative Facts"? Q7 Liberty and Justice for ALL! How do we teach history knowing that this hasn't always been the case? How do we educate our students about injustice and still maintain a democratic system of peaceful discourse?
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Today I am making the leap from dialogue in a very popular TV show that ran its last episode the year I was born to African American History Month. This weekend while trying to recover from a cold I was flipping through the channels and came across an old episode of The Brady Bunch. In the few moments I watched there was a conversation between Marcia and Mrs. Brady. Marcia was having dating issues and Mrs. Brady was trying to connect with her relating that she too had been through similar experiences. Marcia rebuffed the notion stating “Parents just don’t understand our generation, things have changed since you were my age.” To which Mrs. Brady replied, “Only times have changed, sweetheart, people haven’t.” This stood out to me for many reasons. I think about the study of history as the study of people and their behaviors. History is made by people who are very similar to people today. They make choices based on their needs, wants and desires. People do things that are in their best interest more often than not. We could go into a whole discussion on how human behavior has lead us to where we are today and we continue to see those power grabs play out in modern society, but that is for another day. The dialogue from Mrs. Brady made me think about the events unfolding around us in America today. We are embroiled in debate of a Muslim Ban, building the “Great Wall” yes the name can be a little confusing as China already has a Great Wall and not to be confused with the movie by the same title. We have “Fake News” and “Alternative Facts.” We are being told by our Commander in Chief that any negative press or polls against him is due to media bias and is “Fake News” All of this has made me reflect on the power grabs from the past. The use of propaganda, control of the media, and steps to paint certain groups as scapegoats for the ills of society. This strategy has been around for centuries, but seems particularly concerning in a Democracy. A government and society that is supposed to have the rights of individual citizens held above reproach and protected against attacks. Carole Brady’s words about times have changed, but people haven’t is evident in our society in many ways. How does this all connect to African American History month? People's self interest, bigotry, racism, selfishness persists and guides our actions and interactions. So people continue to exhibit these behaviors at times to the detriment of society. While others step up and do what is right. Yet there is still a great need for change to continue both in times and in how people see each other. We have made great strides to make this world a better place, but we still have a long way to go. I see the celebration of African American History as the compilation of so many individuals standing against the status quo, standing against the forces of oppression and taking action for the greater good despite the potential risk to their own safety. History is made up of individuals doing extraordinary things in extraordinary circumstances. Tonight we are looking at the idea of creation projects. Last week I asked you for some ideas of things that you have previously done. Here is the post that includes the Google Form for you to continue to share your amazing lesson ideas or examples. My plan is after I get a number of these I will begin putting these on the site for all to see and use with their students. I encourage you to share your awesome ideas as I have come to realize - if we can help each other a little bit with an idea, an inspiration, or an entire lesson plan we are impacting not only our own students but the students in other's classes, and all students are our students. We want all students to succeed so we can have intelligent, compassionate, problem solving adults creating a better world. I think tonight's topic fits under the E for Engagement of the PIRATE acronym. Engagement is key to creating a fun learning environment. I have found in my own learning that when I am able to create something I have a sense of accomplishment. I am hoping that tonight's topic will spark some ideas in you to help unlock your students' creativity. I searched for examples of the different topics we will discuss tonight in hopes of providing you with some inspiration to continue to create awesome experiences for your students.
SSTLAP started a little over three years ago as a means to connect the ideas shared by Dave Burgess in his amazing book Teach Like a Pirate. As part of the vision to create the chat was for social studies teachers to connect and collaborate. In this time I have seen too many amazing lesson ideas and student created products to count. I have been able to take some of these ideas and use them immediately in my classroom and see the instant change in the demeanor, excitement and level of achievement in my students that helped create a more dynamic learning environment.
What I have come to realize is we have been great at sharing ideas, engaging in amazing conversations and inspiring each other but have done a poor job or collecting and archiving those resources. The idea of writing a book is in some ways just a hypothetical endeavor at least at this point, but thought it connects to the vision I have for collecting and sharing the great resources that this amazing group of educators has created and shared. We have a wide range of teachers show up in this chat and share resources in the feed frequently. We have K-12, online, college, retired and non-social studies teachers join us. What I am proposing is to create a place on this site where we chronicle the great lessons you have created or ideas you have for great learning activities that you are willing to share. The ideas will be posted here and available for all to see, use, and hopefully create opportunities for more collaboration. The form below is a starting point to share the great lessons like the infamous Grudgeball, or the transformation of a classroom into a Speakeasy or the trenches of World War I. We might see a lesson about students dealing with a historical issue like creating their own plan for Reconstruction, or a gamified lesson on the Renaissance. The list might include the use of bracketology for what event was the most important of the Cold War or some other time period. We could possibly see ways that teachers have created their own guest speakers complete with costumes. An incredible lesson that I hope finds its way to our list is a mummification unit that include a mannequin. Questions
Recently I have discovered #Booksnaps thanks to @TaraMartinEdu -where you use Snapchat to create images of pages from books with summaries or highlights of the main ideas.
I also saw that Tyler George was inviting his pre-service teachers to the chat so I thought it was fitting to mix this technology with the foundation of #sstlap which is #tlap or Teach Like A Pirate if you are new to the conversation. Questions are below- love to hear how you could use #booksnaps in your class or have students create using Snapchat for good. The Inauguration is tomorrow and this means we are about to embark on a new chapter in our nation's history. However you feel about this past election and our new president, the events of this week usher in a new era. This is true of every Inauguration of a newly elected president. We are faced with the immediate realization that things will change. Some will meet the change with excitement for the positive possibilities and others are anxious about the unknown or the perceived negatives. Tonight's conversation isn't all about the election and the Inauguration, but the setting of a historical event unfolding before our eyes is worth noting as we discuss New Beginnings. QuestionsQ1. What about this new administration gives you the most hope for change and what about it makes you take pause or inspires fear about that change that could happen with this new administration?
Q2. Mrs. Obama after her meeting with Mrs. Trump - you don't know what you don't know until you get there. Who has served as a mentor to you to help you when took your first teaching position or transitioned from one to another? What advice did they give you that stuck with you that has really impacted the way you teach, what you do, or how you see your role in education and society? How have you served as a mentor to others? Q3. Which Presidential election in history do you think marked the greatest new chapter and why? Q4. What event in history do you think is the most important turning point event and why? Why is that event a turning point to unlock a new chapter in human history? Q5. What event in your life, or teaching career was a turning point, a new beginning or marked the start of a new chapter? How did this impact you? What advice would you give to your past self when faced with that situation? Q6. The new semester is going to begin shortly and with it comes new challenges, new students, new classes, new courses, new units, etc. What about the new term/semester has you excited? What about it has you nervous and why? Q7. What chapter to come are you most looking forward to? Why? This could be in your life, or something you think will happen in the world? I have been an on again off again fan of SNL, but will admit I like the Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy thus the title. However, I always wonder if my humor is too old for the #sstlap crew. My answer may lie in the fact I took a few sentences to explain the humor of the title... This week I want to focus on creation tools. How do we allow students to present their ideas and thinking? How do we stretch our thinking to go beyond the typical methodologies that we have have done when we were in school. I came across a post by Ryan O'Donnell this week that I have shared with my colleagues and wanted to share it with you as well. I will share the post and resources in a bit. Tonight's topic isn't just about his set of tools, but rather looking at a variety of tools and coming up with ways we can use those tools to create products. So I will give you a list of tools and resources, some you may know, others maybe new and you will brainstorm projects that you could see your students using this with. This topic is kind of a combination of my exposure to Ryan's post and having read Quinn Rollin's book Play Like a Pirate and all of the great ideas in there. Questions1. How can your students use Google Slides to present what they know? What projects would you use the following: a. Time Magazine b. Facebook c. Comic Books d. any of the other templates
2. How can students use voice recording software like Twistedwave.com, Vocaroo, Voki or audacity to create a product of learning? What specific project(s) would you create for them? 3. What project(s) would you have students use a video editor like iMovie or WeVideo to create products of their learning? 4. What content would you connect to a storybook creator like storybird or storyjumper or a comic strip creator like toontastic? 5. What project would best fit the use of animated video like a Telagami or GoAnimate where students can have animated figures act out their ideas? 6. How can you incorporate things like Legos, action figures or dolls, or other toys to create a learning opportunity? Be specific in topic and activity that you could use - steal from Quinn's book if necessary! 7. How can you update the idea of Maps and Timelines? What are some ways you can use upgraded maps like Google My Maps or one of the online Timeline products in your curriculum? 8. What other tools have you used and how have you integrated them into your content to provide students with engaging learning opportunities? I didn't plan on having a chat tonight because of the holidays and honestly really enjoying the opportunity to not have to plan questions. Then I saw a post asking about #sstlap tonight, and thought I would create an abbreviated version of our chat. In full disclosure I might not be there tonight as I have begun the development of a chest cold that has made getting my normal 12 hours of sleep a challenge. Oops did I say 12 I meant 7. Just wanted to see if anyone was actually reading the post. So I quess my plan is to create a few questions and post them and schedule the chat for 8-8:30 tonight. Questions1. What is the best educational experience you have had this year?
2. What is the best educational book you have read this year or recently? 3. What educators do you want to give a shout out for helping you grow as an educator? 4. What movie or TV show have you used and how have you used it to create an amazing lesson? 5. What is your goal to create an environment where students will come to class even if they don't have to? Happy Holidays! Whether you celebrate Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanza or the end of the calendar year, tonight we are using the idea of the song 12 Days of Christmas to create our questions. I won't put you through the agony of having to listen to that song, so no video this week. Well at least not of that song. But it was the inspiration for the conversation tonight. Now I understand that we are limited to 140 characters so feel free to answer any of these questions with either multiple posts or create a video clip sharing your answer. Also note that if you have more ideas for a question than the number feel free to add additional and if you come up short in another area please steal from others and add to your answer and more importantly add to your tool kit. Questions12 What are 12 of your favorite #tlap hooks? 11 What are your 11 best songs you use in your class? 10 What are 10 ways you can introduce games into your lessons. 9 What are 9 ways you can introduce food into your lessons 8 What are 8 ways to create authentic audiences into social studies lessons 7 What are 7 ways to use TV shows or movies into your lessons 6 What are 6 ways you can or do share student work and celebrate success 5 What are 5 ways you demonstrate passion for teaching and your students 4 What are 4 ways you engage students 3 What are 3 examples of immersing yourself 2 What are 2 ways you can show students you care for them and communicate that students are awesome with their parents? 1 Share 1 ticket lesson you have created I have been watching the show Timeless and have found the adventures through time interesting. Unlike Quantum Leap where the time traveler was working to set events right, this show has two sets of time travelers, one who wants to rid the world of a powerful shadowy group while the other wants to prevent the first from destroying the present. So let’s journey back in history - Which events are the most important to our current reality? What are the watershed moments that we need to protect the most? Q1A You find yourself in the year 1968 with a multitude of events that shaped the path of the United States. Take a look at the link and decide which of the following you would channel your efforts to either preserve, or change. (Preserve -If an event caused a desired outcome. Change - if event caused negative outcomes) http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/31/us/1968-important-events/ Q2 The powers that be shift you back to the 1940s. This time you have a longer era to examine. Here is a list of events http://history1900s.about.com/od/timelines/tp/1940timeline.htm take a look and determine which you would work to ensure they happened or which you would want to rewrite history. Q3 You keep getting kicked back in history little by little. This time you land in the 1920s. Investigate the events and again choose the event that is most important to protect or redirect to make the present the best it can be. See examples http://history1900s.about.com/od/timelines/tp/1920timeline.htm Cue the Mission Impossible Music because our conversation is taking a little different twist. We not only have to identify important watershed moments, but we have to save a life. Q4 The time machine has malfunctioned and it has sent you spiraling out of control. There isn’t a specific time period registering on the control panel. This time it simply reads - Most important event in all of history. You need to program the computer to the most important event in history to prevent history from being steered down a negative path. Q5 A plot is afoot to travel back in time and assassinate the most important Woman in history. Your job is to first identify who this woman is and then travel back in time to protect her from the assassin. Q6 You were successful in stopping the previous plot. However our villains are not ready to give up. They have a new sinister plan. This time they want to assassinate the most important Leader in history. Your job is to first identify who this person is and then travel back in time to protect them from the assassin. The key is to go back to the time when they make that critical decision that sets destiny. I have been able to work in other teachers' classrooms over the past few years. In that time I have witnessed so many amazing things. I have seen teachers addressing some difficult situations like the illness of a student or colleague with such compassion and empathy that brought the class or entire school together. I am able to watch students who might normally exhibit challenging behaviors be completely engaged and even help others. When I am in classrooms I tend to see students at their best. In some classrooms this isn't anything out of the ordinary because those teachers are doing great things daily and others my appearance means students get to do something cool or new. As I was leaving a classroom today I had the thought do we all see the same situation, behaviors, actions the same way? The simple answer is no, but what I am really getting at are we seeing students' behaviors in a positive light or do we think the worst. Todd Whitaker uses the example of seeing students in the hallway between classes and poses the questions about how do you treat these students? Do you see the student you have had some difficulties with and ask them for a pass and lecture them if they don't? Do you see the student who has is academically strong and been a pleasure to have in class and say hi, how are you doing? He asks why wouldn't we treat both students like the better student? What are the consequences of engaging in the behaviors of the first example? I pose this question because I have head some teachers say - all students can learn, and yet find it acceptable to blame students when they fail. "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink" This shifts the responsibility of what happens in your learning environment solely onto the shoulders of an adolescent. Another example is looking at a class when grading using the bell curve. This means if you have 5 A students it is okay to also have 5 students Fail. Yes that's right you are saying it is okay for students to fail even before you begin teaching them. Another example is classroom envy. I have recently heard other teachers say, well I could do that if I had her class, her students are awesome. A couple points to make here - All kids are awesome if we provide them opportunity to be. I have alluded to this with my classroom encounters above. Second it undermines the efforts the teacher has undertaken to create a classroom culture that emphasizes community. It allows us to write off those students who challenge us, who don't conform or do school the way we think it should be done. It allows us an excuse to not have to put in the work to reach all students and help them achieve their awesomeness. Oh and did I mention all students are awesome! We just need to find out what we need to do to unlock their awesomeness. I do realize the ideas above are easier to say than live up to especially in my new role as a tech integrator. While in the classroom I was guilty of many of these offenses especially early in my career. I also realize some of my interactions stem from my own insecurities and trying to cover up my lack of knowledge or mastery, or wanting to hide behind the badge of authority instead of earning the respect of my students. I tore down relationships instead of building them up. I needed to read the books by Todd Whitaker and Dave Burgess, learn about Genius Hour and so many other inspirational educational movements to change my thinking from what I had been taught and had reinforced. I share this segment because as I mentioned it easy to preach and not live up to, but more importantly we need to share the message with our colleagues. We should not allow another day to go by where a teacher hasn't been exposed to the messages of #KidsDeserveIt or students hear positive messages like #YouMatter. I fell into the track of bad practices at times because that was the prevailing message around me. We cannot allow that message to continue. We must champion change for all of our students and teachers to reform education into what it should really focus on and that is relationships! Sorry for the tangent. I am not exactly sure how to turn this into a Twitter Chat, but I have some scenarios that I wonder how others would view them. I gave an example of a student in the hallway provided by Todd Whitaker. I also saw a student get up from their desk and come over to another desk and a conversation occurred. This made me think Does the teacher see what I see? Did she see a student getting out of her desk without permission to socialize or did she see a student move to the other student to offer assistance? Which did she see? Which do you see? What impacts the way we see this interaction and how can we move towards seeing things in a more positive light? Do You See What I See Questions |
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