Our First NATIONAL HISTORY DAY Event

For the past two weeks my students have been knee-deep in their work for National History Day projects, and since this is a new experience not only for them but for our entire high school, there is an air of mystery for what to expect. Anytime you ask your students to be "the first" to do something, there are feelings of uncertainty which ripple throughout the school building. It requires careful planning from staff in order to keep everyone on the same page, but it also allows some flexibility and creativeness in lesson planning. NHD is the only event I know of where students can choose their own topic, work as a team or alone as one, select one of four formats, and aspire to enter regional, state and national competition. There is but one simple requirement for which we insist on, and this mandate is that they complete a project dealing with a turning point in history.

For the most part this has been an enjoyable experience, watching students tap into their personal interests and then delving into quality research. Early on in the process we quickly identified why Google was NOT the best place to begin when looking for reliable research and valid information. So many students weren't aware of the demise of the endangered tree octopus until I demonstrated a search with Google as model was how to proceed. After all, the website has pictures and videos from people all over the world, in addition to ways which people can donate money to this viable cause. It's almost too hard to believe....until you suddenly realize that its all been a huge hoax.

This point was taken and clearly understood by most of my students until they became bored with "scholarly research" which we required through Badgerlink, a scholarly search engine. It was easy for them to sneak back to Google and type questions for which there are so many easy responses- at least they thought it was until we mandated the use of Badgerlink for their initial research. There were groans and moans from those who often like to stray from such directions, but by now they know we are serious about this project. I know that with three weeks remaining until the project due date there will be additional hurdles to jump. This week my classes will be working on thesis statements and bibliographies, and for a good segment of them this will be like going to the dentist after years of neglect. I am readying myself for the tsunami of whines, but in time I'm confident that everything will come together nicely.

Yesterday we took those students who were truly interested in world-class research to join us for a trip to the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison. Few people are aware that WHS is the world's 2nd largest library for North American history, outranked only by the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. The WHS staff did an outstanding job working with the kids, identifying books and articles which will they can use in their work. My highlight in the day came at 2:00 PM when none of the kids wanted to leave the library, choosing instead to sit at large tables with research papers surrounding their note cards.  Once these young people were focused and engaged in their work, it gave new meaning to the word "learning." It was an incredible sight to witness!

New Semester, New Students, New Believers

As I journey further into the profession of teaching, I am hesitant to criticize my peers. Since I haven't been in their classrooms, I refuse to make any sort of judgement on their teaching styles, much less ways they evaluate their students. However, I do pay close attention to the progress of my students as well as the efforts they put forth in my classroom. Approximately 60% of my freshmen students were handed over to my counterparts this past week, and in turn I was blessed with an equal number of new faces. I found one of my classes 'stocked' with a 25% share of students who had received an "F" in US History the prior semester, a monumental challenge if I was to base my assumptions off of grades. But rather than looking at them as dumb and unteachable, I felt it best to stick to the regimentation which worked so well the first semester when all but one of my 90 students earned passing grades, and that one individual had truly earned their F.

On the first day I told all my students that if they truly wanted an "F" all they had to do was NOTHING.....but the good news was I wouldn't let them settle for nothing. Those students who experienced "Mr. D" the first semester were the first ones I went to during that first class and their testimonials were loud and clear. "Mr. D will hound you everyday for homework until you get it done!" I was NOT about to let them fail in any way, shape or form. Nonetheless, I had some doubters in the audience until they missed their first assignment....and then they discovered that I meant business.

It's not about punishment, but rather stressing the point that homework (and school) is one step away from working in the real world. In business the typical boss gives an employee one opportunity when they fail to follow procedure, and I've stressed that although I can't fire my students, I can put corrective procedures in place which will remedy bad habits. Needless to say, this comment caught their attention and the next day all late assignments were in-hand without further delay.

I am becoming a huge believer that the reasons as to why students fail one class and pass another in the same subject area is directly related to the approach which teachers take early on in establishing routines and expectations. The spring term will clearly provide me with an opportunity to prove or dispel this theory, but for the meantime I'm intent on having all students on board with completed assignments. No doubt this will require the ongoing assistance of parents, but last fall I learned the importance of getting them on my side early in the game with constant communication at various stages of the semester. This is done with personalized letters, an invitation to Parent-Teacher Conferences, e-mails, and links to my wiki-website. My students may think they are only one week into the new term, but they're actually knee-deep into the process of learning a huge lesson for later in life.

Learning the Importance of Modeling

As much experience as I thought I possessed, as a first-year teacher I'm still guilty of making assumptions about students in my classroom, and when the Constitution Announcement Project came to an end last week it was clearly evident in the group work which was submitted for final grading. For a first-time project, I was pleased with the results as a good segment of students demonstrated both interest and creativity in their final exhibit; however, it still fell short of my expectations. Amongst the eighteen groups, I was expecting to find one or two which excelled far beyond others, but there was little difference in the overall quality from one end of the spectrum to the other.

As I reviewed each of the posters, I recall pointing out specific information regarding historical facts dealing with ideas, people, and places associated with the signing of our Constitution in 1787...but no one took advantage of these, focusing instead on information which was readily available via aquick-n-easy Internet search via Google. In other words, they took the easy way out rather than seeking new information and content. I thought back to the first day when I assigned the project and how I supplied each individual with both rubric and resource report forms. From what I was able to survey no one worked from these sheets, and by all implications they made the assumption that I wasn't going to hold them accountable, despite my warnings.

It was then that I questioned myself about whether I had truly modeled it properly to the class as a whole in addition to each of the self-assigned groups. Even though I brought current day newspapers into the discussion, I didn't get them to lay their project side-by-side with one of those papers. I hadn't created my own project with which I could use to display the classifications of extraordinaire, above-average, average, below-average and not-acceptable. In return I was forced to accept work which was below their true capabilities, lowering my standards to ensure passing grades. (despite my adjustment, no one received a grade higher than C) Although I turned my head this time, I scolded myself for not modeling this properly for my students, making a promise that it would never happen again.

Despite my failings, I know my students came away with a better understanding of the events surrounding the creation of our Constitution since their final exam scores reflected a retention of knowledge. However, deep in my heart I now realize that it could have been better....and it will be next time I assign a project of similar magnitude. Over the next six weeks, my students will be knee-deep in research for our school's first National History Day project. As a result the lesson which I learned will surely benefit the way they not only gather information, but also in the ways which students present their ideas to the public...in itself raising the standards of quality for all.

One of My Keys to Success

With but one week remaining in my first semester of teaching, one of the keys of my success has been associating myself with the extra-curricular activities of my students. It's more than just showing up at the popular sporting events like basketball, but catching a hockey game, wrestling meet, school musical and more. It's identifying students outside of my classroom environment by cheering them on in the arenas of sports and other out-of-class activities. Students enjoy the concept of having 'fans' in the stands and the concept creates empathy and goodwill on a scale of massive proportions. They see me as someone who takes a vested-interest in both their team and school, in addition to generating conversation in the classroom as well as between periods. I am amazed at how much time students invest in these activities- both in training, competition, and performance. As much as I want to say "I wish you'd put the same amount of time into the homework I assign," I know that this isn't the venue nor approach I need to take. High school students are keen at assessing who is doing all they can to help them succeed both in and out of the classroom, and this is just one of the many proven ways of building that bridge.

Now It's Their Turn

My freshmen students teach me important lessons about teaching, most of the time without their knowing of it. When I returned from the holiday break, I sensed it was time to turn to another one of the examples put forth in my education at UW-SP. Although my students had been away from the classroom for almost two weeks, I wanted to turn them loose on a project in hopes that they'd discover new information in a context which mirrored my lessons in the past few months. My high school has a computer lab like so many other schools, but in my conversation with students I came to the realization that their teachers were somewhat reluctant to use this 'teaching tool' as they could. And so, my New Year's lesson would take the form of something like a webquest with groups of 4-5 students. Using the concept of creating a front page to a newspaper, I asked my students to image themselves back in the year 1787 when news of an innovative concept called "The Constitution" was revealed to the country. They were employed by a newspaper within one of the thirteen states and it was their job to communicate this "news" to the public.

I laid out the entire process with a packet which contained resource forms and story-board outlines, along with suggestions on dividing up the various responsibilities as reporter, graphics, layout, and general editor. Three class hours would be dedicated to the computer lab, but it was of utmost importance for groups to recognizing who was doing what and by when as deadline dates provided accountability and demonstrated the importance for the task at hand. An attached rubric noted how each segment of the project would be graded and with 50% of their Final Exam grade at stake, most students realized how serious I was with the project. Knowing that young teens need to get their information in various formats, I downloaded an assortment of helpful links on my class wiki and showed the class how they could easily reference these from home. The school librarian had also set aside a list of books which I had provided to her, and in addition, I supplied her with a copy of the lesson plan so she was aware of what the students might be looking for in the way of resource assistance.

Then the moment of truth for identifying who was going to be in each group. I was torn between whether I should assign working groups of four members or let them make their own choices. Rather than sticking to my guns, I elected to oblige by those of the class...which was to chose their own partners. I gave them two minutes to break and reform within their groups, and then reminded them about the importance of the task at hand. I went around to each group and asked one individual to serve as Team Captain in order to allow me easy-access to monitoring their progress. And since this was going to play a huge role in their final grade, I noted where each individual was with regards to their class grade as of that moment. I made this information 'public' to the group as I needed to stress how much this could help each individual. Some of my students got off to a horrible start with their grades last September, but this was a 'golden opportunity' for them to change all of that. For those students with current grades of 'A' -it was their moment to shine by pulling it all together for this project.

At the end of that first class I felt good about the prospects of this working, but after I unveiled it to the other three classes I was extremely pumped up as I drew from their excitement of doing "hands on work" in the computer lab. The first session in the computer lab was a real eye-opener as I watched each group begin to tackle the task. While there was the occasional comment of "I don't understand how to do this," I witnessed some good learning taking place as students undertook the challenge. In fact, I would describe it as 'high energy times 10' and then some. I made my rounds with each group, demonstrating the task with a large blank piece of paper along with a sample of today's front page from the local newspaper, pointing out features and characteristics of layout and design.

Although we still have two computer labs forthcoming in the next two weeks, I sense some good things taking place within the minds of my students. Some of who were rarely engaged have suddenly come to life again, and those who excelled with the subject of History remain focused with the task. Best of all, I feel invigorated by their learning and I look forward to seeing this come to fruition in the final two weeks of this first semester. Stay tuned.....

Getting Students to Think Challenging Thoughts

Whether they realize it or not, my students are influenced by every interaction in life, if only in the smallest of ways. All humans are impacted daily as a result of the ways which we socialize with one another. Demonstrating the concept of 'influence' and how it coincides with the creation of the U.S. Constitution might be seen as a stretch, but it provided a genuine opportunity for good learning this past week. It would also be a challenging one for my students as well as this first-year teacher, and the paradox took place on the day of a formalized Teacher Observation by the school's Assistant Principal. It had all the makings of a huge disaster or one which would open the door for long-term success.

My freshmen classes have been embedded in a four-week unit on the Constitutional Convention, U.S. Constitution, and accompanying Bill of Rights...subjects which are not often warmly embraced by a generation which is oriented for visual learning. The first 10 years of our nation's history were wrapped around the Articles of Confederation, a unique concept in itself, but a time which did not allow our country to fulfill expectations of its citizenry. Representatives arriving in Philadelphia for the Constitutional Convention sought change, but couldn't agree on how this would all come about. Each of these fifty-five men were influenced by writers and books from not only their era, but a time reaching back over 500 years prior. My ordeal was finding a way to apply this concept into "real time" so students would identify with the big idea.

There are times when teaching can be simplistic in nature and minimal effort is required by the teacher. For the record, I avoid this teaching style as it is stuffy and b-o-r-i-n-g. I like to mix it up by challenging my class with "stuff" which ties to 21st century learners to an exciting perspective like U.S. History. I began by asking students to explain the word INFLUENCE. What did it mean to be INFLUENTIAL?  Would they agree with me that their lives were influenced by their friends and family?  I instructed each student to use my blank handout to compile a list of books, movies, music, and TV shows that have influenced them, providing no more than two for any one media. This was easy enough for them to do, but the hardest was yet to come....

I asked students to put this paper aside so we could review the purposes behind the Constitutional Convention, a subject which they had been well-versed on in past days. I reminded them that state governments appointed delegates to attend the convention, twelve states sent delegations (who was missing?), delegates were civic leaders, members of congress, leaders of state governments, and revolutionary war veterans, and that the convention was held in Philadelphia, the largest city in the United States at that time. What they didn’t know was The Library Company, one of the nation’s first libraries, provided books and reference material for the Convention delegates. Imagine that, a library which was located next door, was shuffling books and documents back and forth to the closed-door meeting so delegates could use this material to construct a new constitution. These reference materials were INFLUENCING the very men who were debating a new structure for our government. The books offered up ideas and and information, some of which was written over 500 years before their birth. I displayed the words PRIOR KNOWLEDGE on the screen and probed as to where they (my students) received this information from. "That's easy, Mr. D...from our parents, friends, teachers, and life." Do you think that PRIOR KNOWLEDGE played a role for those attending the Constitutional Convention?

Now, the assignment.....I preassembled packets of excerpts from the different writings of Locke, Machiavelli, Blackstone, Swift, Paine, the Bible, Magna Carta and others for the class to examine. Based on the available time and overall difficulty of the lesson, they didn't have to look at them all, only 3-4 writings which I randomly highlighted. I preselected groups by targeting six individuals who were mature enough to keep their groups centered on the task and other students were assigned by personal learning skills. Rather than risking challenged students ending up all in the same group, I mixed them up so individual strengths could assist with those who need additional help. Handouts were distributed with the idea that this was "The Founders' Library" and they were being asked to identify segments of writings which were then integrated into both the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Tough stuff but an opportunity for true learning!

Students were off to the races, anxious to socialize about this difficult assignment which Mr. D had given them. As much as I had explained and asked if there were any questions prior to their group work, there were still those who looked at the handout and instantly threw their hands up in the air with pleas of "I don't get what we have to do!" This was a normal reaction and I knew that each group would need individual attention; after all, this is was true teaching is all about. I reiterated the instructions which those groups who struggled with the task and slowly they got it. They matched specific ideas with the First Amendment or 4th Article....then went on to the next writing. It was 15 minutes of absolute learning, moving from group to group, waiting for total chaos to break out, all while being very much aware that my performance was being evaluated by a superior in the corner of the room. Yikes!

The chaos never once erupted and students remained on task for the entire class period. Five minutes prior to the end of class, it was time to tie everything together. I asked students to pull out their original handout which outlined 6-8 things which influenced them and their thinking in life. By understanding how our country’s leaders had been influenced by books and writers, I asked them to respond to a writing prompt of “How do our lists of 'favorites' influence the ways in which we think about life?”  Their writing would not be graded on punctuation and grammar, but on content which they offered up in response to what they had learned in class today. "Bring it back tomorrow and turn it in for credit."

This had been a good day for many reasons and "connections made" was at the top of that list. Their in-class worksheets noting the ties between thinkers and the Constitution was one thing, but then to read students' understanding of how influenced they are by movies, music, and other media is totally priceless. This is genuine learning to the max and I was satisfied in knowing that my risky lesson plan did everything I hoped for and more. And the formal evaluation by my school principal was pretty sweet, too! She observed everything which took place, probably more so than I did. As a result, this teacher reinforced an important concept that the best teaching is engaged learning.

Should the Norm be an Acceptable Behavior?

This morning I drove into town to complete some errands before the first winter storm of the season descends on the area. It's a beautiful day with plenty of sunshine and somewhat mild temps. As I headed back home I passed a stretch of the county road which had been the resting spot for someone’s VCR cassette tape many weeks ago. It had evidently fallen out from a vehicle and was removed from its case. Over the course of this time period, the combination of passing cars and westerly winds had strewn the tape back and forth across the ditch, creating an ugly eyesore for anyone taking notice. In my estimation I've probably driven past this eyesore at least a dozen times, thinking that someone needed to stop and pick it up before the winter winds made it even worse. It was when my vehicle got about 100 feet past this mess that my conscience got the best of me and I back up to address the issue. It had gotten substantially worse since the first time I spotted this back in early October, and it probably took me an entire THREE minutes to clean up both sides of the road. I asked myself why hadn't I done this before? And because of this new-found love for teaching, I began exploring the issue of how we ALL accustom ourselves to the norm as acceptable behavior.

This went way beyond the idea that a 50 ft stretch of littered landscape needed to be cleaned up, and I pondered how all of us (from kids to adults) become ignorant of conduct which once was intolerable. Why would the good citizens who travel this road, not just once a day but several times, close their eyes to the need to stop their vehicle in order to attend to picking up the mess? Maybe they saw it the first time, but after that did they close their eyes to what needed to be done? And I am no better than anyone else since I could have done this many weeks ago, too! It’s one thing to see this trash as disgusting, but altogether more alarming when people begin to accept it as the norm without doing something about it.

Over the past four months I’ve witnessed something similar in the realms of education. All too often I have a sizable portion of students who come to school deprived of sleep as a result of staying up late in order to chat online, text, or play the latest video game. Assigned schoolwork becomes second priority (if that), and they are null to any sense of urgency. I’m not against young people having fun outside of school, but I have concern as to how this is ‘new norm’ could impact their future. As I contact parents in order to voice concern, I find more and more of them are acceptable of this behavior…and I’m often told “they will grow out of it.”

While most likely they will move beyond adolescence, they renege on a time in their life when they need to learn structured routines, in addition to placing education at the forefront of their lives. I have colleagues who are frustrated with the lack of response and I feel their pain. My approach is to take each student one day at a time, working whatever persuasion I can into every lesson plan. I am far from being a one-man army in this quest, and above all else I want to make sure that I never lose my sense of concern…just as so many local residents lost sight of the trash along the road. Although little is known about Aesop, the legend speaks of ways which he was able to inspire the least-likely of learners. Let us learn from him and never lose sight of how our roads should look when they are clean of debris and how our children can learn when they stand clear of diversions.