BACK TO SCHOOL!

It is August, which means it's school time! I just finished the first full week of school, and I am exhausted!!
I am teaching 4 preps this semester. Which is nothing new. However, I added AP US History to my course load this year. I am pretty excited about teaching APUSH this year. I am completely overwhelmed, but excited!

On the first day of school this year, I gave my students a Learning Style Inventory (LSI). I think it is important to know how my kids learn best, but I also think it is important THEY know how they learn best! I did this last year for the first time, and I really liked having that information to form lessons throughout the year.

I found a LSI I liked online. It was a short 24 questions about how they learn. They scored the inventory on their own. Some scored equally in multiple categories. I explained to them we all use all the methods to learn, we are just determining how we learn best. I had them keep the actual inventory, they just had to tell me their top style.

As we go through the year I will use the outcomes of the LSI to create differentiated assignments for my students, create small groups, and simply to make myself more aware not everyone is a visual learner, like myself! 


Happy Learning!!

Contemporary Issues

I teach a Contemporary Issues elective course. This is my 6th year to teach this one semester class. We not only talk about current events, but I get to engage them in what is happening in our community, the country and around the world.

My purpose in this class is to present issues and facts {as unbiased as humanly possible} and allow my students to create their own opinions. It is WAY too easy in today's society to not have an opinion on anything. It is too convenient to open up a web browser, search a topic and whichever site pops up first - well - that must be truth.  It is WAY too easy to believe what your friends believe because they seem to be opinionated about a topic - so they must be right. It is WAY too easy to not care and not seek truth.

My students are presented with controversial issues {gun control, environmental issues, poverty, child soldiers, the slave trade today, internet censorship, etc. } and they are asked to research both sides of the issue. They are asked to debate and discuss. They are asked to write and process. They are expected to think.

This is one of my favorite parts of teaching. Not only do I get to constantly question what I believe about current hot topics, but I get to see little lights come on as we discuss things that are actively changing the world in which we live.  {As a disclaimer: I do not share my opinion with my students. I feel like I could sway their opinions as an authority figure, which would go against my ultimate objective.}

There are days I feel like they don't get it, or they don't care. I get that. I am not naive to think all students are going to give 100% everyday or care about all the things I present to them. I think it makes those "lightbulb" moments that much more special. I get excited to see them excited talking about current issues in the world. If even for a moment - they are getting it.  If you have spent much time around teenagers, it's not often you overhear conversations in the classroom about what Kim Jung Un did / said yesterday. This week I had students rushing in before class to talk about North Korea.

Sometimes, we {all people - not just teenagers} get distracted with our own worlds and dont look outside our bubbles to what is happening around us. THAT is what I am working to change. THAT is what I call a success. When students would rather talk about the world and how it is impacting others / us than who was fighting on twitter last period. I feel like I am doing my job well.

Today, this post,  was a reminder to why I am doing this.

President's Day P.D.

Happy President's Day! A celebration of our founding father, George Washington. His birthday is later this week, and the government wants to celebrate! So they gave us a day off! Except ... I am working. :) Those of you not working, enjoy your day off.

The good news to working on President's Day, if we are looking for good news,  I learned about a few tools today that I can use in my classes, and to continue my professional development.
When you find something interesting - you should share it and tell someone! So that is what this post is about.

Today during a PD session geared towards using technology in the classroom, I was introduced to Edmodo.  Its a teacher facebook :) I haven't spent a lot of time with it yet, BUT the part I have found to be helpful is the PLC groups. I have subscribed to the professional development and social studies groups. Teachers can post questions, post ideas, help one another out. Pretty great. There are a lot of other perks to the site, but I haven't used them yet. I am looking forward to exploring more. Eventually, I would like to get my students signed up and we can communicate through the site for assignments / discussion boards/ reading analysis... the options are endless.

Specifically for the Social Studies teachers:  http://sheg.stanford.edu/
I have seen this site before, but haven't spent a lot of time on it. After spending some time on the website today, I found a lot of great materials to use in class on our next unit - The Cold War. This site uses documents for students to analyze. They are given an essential question - and by using the documents they are given, they form an opinion.  It is aligned with Common Core - which, of course, is awesome!

Any other good recommendations? Leave a comment, and let me know!

WWII: America Joins the War

Dr. Seuss seems to bring us all to a place of childhood nostalgia. He also brings us political satire.
Today in class we analyzed a cartoon Dr. Seuss drew before the United States joined WWII.

Students had to observe, infer and question the cartoon.
I also asked students if they thought Dr. Seuss was in support of going to war, or against it. Most students said he was obviously against it. I had at least one in each class say that no, actually it looks like he is for going to war. He appears to be making fun of the situation. Below is the explanation of Seuss' views on the war and his intentions with the cartoon.

"Dr. Seuss wants the U.S. to get involved in the war effort against the totalitarian regimes. It is clear that Europe is weak as a result of the takeover by fascists and Stalin and the entire continent is suffering. The caption seems to chide the U.S. for staying in their own bed and not getting in with the rest of the suffering nations. Uncle Sam is portrayed as large and clearly healthy, and seemingly able to assist but has his eyes closed to the situation since he has a separate bed."

We had a class discussion on joining the war. Two questions were presented, and students had to write about their opinion on each. I had students share their opinions on each.

{Prior to Pearl Harbor}

• Why would Americans NOT WANT to join WWII?
• Why might Americans WANT to join the war?

The Dust Bowl

After having students complete a homework assignment on the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, we spent the day hearing stories from those who lived through it.

I found a video on Discovery Education, that you can access HERE  that follows the story of two families during the 1930s. One from Oklahoma, and one from Arkansas.

After learning about the decisions of thousands of farmers to pack up their belongings and move West, we had a class simulation of the same.

These were the guidelines of the activity:

Our farm in Oklahoma is covered in dust. We are losing the farm to foreclosure because we are unable to make a profit off the land. We are losing everything.

As a family,(yes, we are a large family… but family nonetheless!) we are heading west in search of a new life, new jobs, new opportunities.

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO TAKE??  

You have the clothes on your back, and we are heading out of town in the morning. Take only what you can carry.

On a small slip of paper, write down four essentials you CAN NOT live without.

 

Then we had to do some imagining :) They had to pretend the conditions from the 1930's still applied to our simulation, but they could bring the items they actually own today in 2013.

I read the lists out at the end to see what things we were bringing with us. This is always entertaining to see who prepares for the journey with hygiene essentials like a toothbrush and deodorant (we are always thankful for the ones who remember those items). There are those who cant live without their phones, but some unlucky few who forget to pack their charger.  I had several today bring guitars so we could sing campfire songs along the way :)

This was a fun way to end the discussion today! I hope they were able to in some small way understand the sacrifice of leaving many things behind to start anew.

American's Face Hard Times

We are covering the Great Depression this week.

After the notes of statistics and figures of the bank failures and businesses going bankrupt, it is easy to forget the faces behind the numbers.
How easy is it to gloss over 25% unemployment? It's the stories that give us insite into the lives of those millions of people out of work. Its the stories that tell us what it was like to have to leave home, leave your family behind to find work - food.

In 2009, Lisa Ling went into Tent City in Sacramento, California; one of the hardest hit cities during the current recession to interview the occupents. I show this clip to my students every year for a few reasons. One, its a good clip. Two, students are able to emotionally connect with the hardship of thos ewho lost everything when the economy started to fail. Three, they are able to connect the stories of the people in recent years to the lives of those who lost so much in the early 1930's.

(originally aired on Oprah, Feb 18, 2009)

 

 

 

 

The stories of the people we are studying are the bases of history. It is easy to sometimes forget the reality to the condensed versions of what we gloss over in textbooks. Another great resource - interviewing those you know!

Today, I was reminded of the importance of story. I had several students share their family historyin class. They told the stories of their grandparents, and some great grandparents experiences during the Great Depression. They were stories that allowed me, and their classmates to learn a little more about the time period than had we just stuck to the notes.  

 

I won't use names, but I want to be able to share the stories with you - in hopes you will also be able to better understand the lives of those who experienced the Great Depression in the 1930s. These are not direct quotes - but as close as I can remember!

 

 

"My grandma's parents sent her and her siblings to a children's home, because it was the only way she could insure they would get something to eat. The parents would come visit the children. But they lived there throughout the Depression."

"My family lived in Kentucky on a farm at the time. They said it wasn't that big of a deal there. They were able to farm, and live off the land. They never had to really worry about food." 

"My great grandma didn't trust the banks! She hid money all over her house. Once she died, we were finding money stashed away in toilet paper rolls!"
 

Have a conversation with your family to learn your family history. What did your family experience during the Depression?

Do you have stories to share??

 

 

 



Midterms

Its midterm time here in Tennessee!


After the 100 question test, followed by 4 short answer writing prompts and a 5 paragraph essay ... I say it's time for my kiddos to have a break! 


Have a great 2 weeks off, and I will see you in January!

***HAPPY HOLIDAYS***