I was very nervous about teaching The West and the World (CHY4U1). There is a lot to know and I was moving away from the typical essay/document study/seminar format. In case I teach the class again, I want to make note of the things that I think worked and the things that need to be improved upon or completely dismissed.
1. For the 2013 school year, the Ministry of Education changed the course to "World History". As a result, I think the big idea will need to change to better reflect the curriculum expectations. I could be wrong and won't know until the new curriculum documents are released.
2. I decided to stray from a chronological framework. The main reason I decided to structure the course thematically is to allow students the opportunity to learn about what they were interested in. I felt that a chronological structure (first we learn about the Enlightenment, then Romanticism, etc.) would limit the students' choice, because they would have to stick to a topic that was applicable to just the time period we were studying. Additionally, in a course that covers 500 years, the more recent history often gets missed. This happens in the grade 10 course and we're only dealing with 100 years of one nation's history!!
Because the course was structured thematically, I thought the students needed some chronological framework. As a result, we completed a collaborative Google Document to get some basic background about the various time periods. The document is here. For some reason, I felt that the students needed to have a quiz. Why? My reason is admittedly lame...ensure that the students learned the material. Obviously, a quiz of this nature doesn't really measure a student's learning. In the future, I would encourage students to complete the task and use it as reference as needed. My true goal was to have students create a framework to refer to, not to know the minute details.
3. Right off the bat, we worked on defining the Western world. I think this was an important task because it introduced the students to the various interpretations of what constitutes the Western world. Depending on the curriculum changes, this may not be necessary. If this definition is necessary, I would not have the students write an essay. I think an analytical paragraph would suffice. I had the students complete an essay because I knew that they wouldn't be writing a formal essay. I was fearful of removing an essay completely from a grade 12 university preparation course. Upon reflection, a short essay at the beginning doesn't really do anything of substance to prepare the students. I would rather focus on the skills that an essay attempts to get at: creating and defending an argument using appropriate evidence. The essay assignment is here.
4. Throughout the course, students completed three document analyses. These were completed in class. If I teach the course again, I would continue with the document analyses. I think it is important for students to engage in primary sources because they encourage students to read materials closely, think critically and express themselves in a clear and concise manner.
5. The first unit of study was Revolution. This unit and the second unit about war were more traditional because the content was teacher-driven. I chose to do this because I wanted to gradually give the students more control to self-direct their learning. We focused on the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution. I wouldn't change the summative task, which was the creation of a pamphlet. Students had complete freedom to choose a revolution of their choice to study. Additionally, as a class, we created the parameters of the task. The templates used to design the task were based on Ted McCain's book Teaching for Tomorrow. The assignment is here.
I didn't want the summative task to assess the content that the students learned about the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution. I am more interested in assessing the skills the students have developed. These skills include the ability to complete research and synthesize that research into a well supported argument. That doesn't mean that the content doesn't matter...the content has to be historically accurate and thorough to demonstrate the important skills.
6. The next unit was War. The unit followed a similar format to the previous one. We did some work about World Wars One and Two and the summative task was to research the influence of a person from one of the wars. This assignment is here.The students shared their thesis and supporting evidence in a presentation. Unfortunately, the presentations were long and, oftentimes, boring.
I still think that the ability to present is important, so I wouldn't get rid of this assignment. I would do more formative presentations to give the students feedback. Additionally, I would do away with the requirement to include video and/or images. Students didn't do a good enough job actually using the audio-visual to support the thesis. I think that through the other assignments, students will get enough practice using images as support. I will have the students focus on presenting their understandings using their language. I don't want them to rely on audio-visual to do it for them.
7. The next unit looked at science and technology. This was the first time that I really jumped into Project Based Learning. The links below are my reflections on the unit.
Trying Out PBL
Actually PBLing...If That's a Verb
Reflecting on Science and Technology PBL
Final Thoughts on Science and Technology PBL
8. The final unit was Colonialism. This unit was very rushed, because there was only eleven days to complete it, including the summative task, which is here. Because it was so rushed, I am having trouble reflecting on what I would do differently. Part of me think that I would only have three units and dedicate more time to those units and more skill development. I don't know what unit I would delete. While the colonialism unit was underdeveloped, I think that it could be a powerful and interesting unit. I also think that there will be less time to complete a full four units, because I intend on incorporating a blogging component and that will easily take eleven class periods.
9. As previously mentioned, I would have the students contribute to a blog throughout the course. I think blogging is an excellent way for students to think about course material, share their ideas and collaborate with others. This Google Presentation further explains the role of blogging. (Ideas contributed to the presentation come from PLC with Alanna King and Lisa Unger.)
Blogging also allows reflection, which I attempted to have my students do after each assignment. The debrief questions are here. I found that the students didn't take the debriefs seriously. I am hoping that by making their reflections visible (and not so formal), they will see that others shared similar problems and perhaps a conversation can take place between students about how they can improve their skills to improve their learning.
10. I was very happy with the culminating task. The task was the contribution of a blog post to a common blog about the future influence of the Western world. The collaborative blog is here. Originally, the task wasn't in the form of a blog. I didn't have a concrete idea as to how I wanted students to share their learning...I just knew what I wanted the students to demonstrate. I took a risk with using a blog, despite the fact that most students had little to no experience with blogs. I was impressed with students' ability to demonstrate their learning in this format. I liked the blog because students had an authentic audience. On exam day, students had to respond to two of their classmates' blogs. We did some practice with responding during class and I was impressed by the level of thought students demonstrated on exam day. I can only imagine how great the students' work can be if we blog throughout the semester.
Overall, I enjoyed learning with my students and think that the semester was a success, but I see where I need to make changes and improvements to aid in student learning for future semesters.
Monday, 11 February 2013
Monday, 14 January 2013
Getting Excited about Student Blogging
I only started blogging roughly five months ago. I often have trouble writing my posts for a couple of reasons. I have trouble finding the time to actually physically type my thoughts. I do a lot of thinking, and while I am thinking I often compose a post in my mind, but it doesn't usually make it to the computer. Secondly, I also wonder if anything I have to say is "smart" enough...so I take the chicken's way out and just don't publish anything.
Despite being new to blogging, I am quickly falling in love with it. I see the value in sharing ideas and having discussion, asynchronously. And I want my students to do it too. I jumped in head first, without much pedagogical thought. My grade 12 history class is composing a blog post for their culminating task and on exam day, they will respond to two of their classmates' posts. (We have a common blog and everyone is a contributor.) So far I love the assignment...but I should have been having the students blog and respond to others' blogs throughout the semester. And I should have known better...my school does A LOT of work on backward design. (I will forgive myself...this is my first time teaching the course and halfway through I decided I didn't like the culminating task and changed it.)
Today I had my students read and respond to blog posts from Lisa Unger's (@l_unger) grade ten history class. Peter Skillen (@peterskillen) and Brenda Sherry (@brendasherry) provided me with some great resources for responding to blog posts and my students used these resources well, as evidenced by their responses. You can access the resources here and here. I took time to read the grade ten posts and my students' responses. I was wildly impressed. My students' responses were often thought provoking by offering opposing viewpoints with evidence. They also asked the grade ten students interesting questions to further their thinking. Furthermore, I really liked that I could give my grade twelves feedback so easily by simply responding to their comments on the blog posts.
My foray into student blogging (thanks to Lisa's encouragement) will be continued next semester, as I plan on having two of my three classes blog throughout the semester. Wish me luck!!
Despite being new to blogging, I am quickly falling in love with it. I see the value in sharing ideas and having discussion, asynchronously. And I want my students to do it too. I jumped in head first, without much pedagogical thought. My grade 12 history class is composing a blog post for their culminating task and on exam day, they will respond to two of their classmates' posts. (We have a common blog and everyone is a contributor.) So far I love the assignment...but I should have been having the students blog and respond to others' blogs throughout the semester. And I should have known better...my school does A LOT of work on backward design. (I will forgive myself...this is my first time teaching the course and halfway through I decided I didn't like the culminating task and changed it.)
Today I had my students read and respond to blog posts from Lisa Unger's (@l_unger) grade ten history class. Peter Skillen (@peterskillen) and Brenda Sherry (@brendasherry) provided me with some great resources for responding to blog posts and my students used these resources well, as evidenced by their responses. You can access the resources here and here. I took time to read the grade ten posts and my students' responses. I was wildly impressed. My students' responses were often thought provoking by offering opposing viewpoints with evidence. They also asked the grade ten students interesting questions to further their thinking. Furthermore, I really liked that I could give my grade twelves feedback so easily by simply responding to their comments on the blog posts.
My foray into student blogging (thanks to Lisa's encouragement) will be continued next semester, as I plan on having two of my three classes blog throughout the semester. Wish me luck!!
Tuesday, 11 December 2012
Final Thoughts on the Science and Technology PBL
In my previous post, I wrote that I was afraid the students lost the history part of the assignment. Upon reading their documentary proposals, I was right. There was a lot of discussion about NOW, but not so much about how the scientific or technological development impacted HISTORY. I have compiled a list of what I will change for next year if I am lucky enough to teach the course again.
Ideas to Improve for Next Year:
1. Use one or two documentary proposals from this year as exemplars. This way, students will have an idea of what needs to be included and will also have an idea of how to improve upon last year's students. For example, on the exemplars, I will note comments about how they could have been improved. This way I can show the students where more of the history could have been incorporated.
2. Students will have, as a follow up to the brainstorming about "best", an informal discussion with me about how their development fits into the criteria they determined for "best".
3. I will "Gini-Newmanize" the assignment. To truly decide what is best, I will have students brainstorm a short list of possible best developments so that they have developments to compare against. I think this will foster more critical thinking.
4. Students will have practice answering questions about their work in informal settings. They have been completing debriefs after each assignment, so I may make the questions more specific or I might have more informal presentations where an expectation will be for students to ask each other questions. I also plan on using blogging, so that will also be a way for students to read and respond to each others' work.
Ideas I'm Proud of and Will Keep Doing:
1. I'm glad that the students worked with partners or small groups. I got to see different aspects of the students, as some took on definite leadership roles. Students also got to experience negotiating with their group members and reaching compromises. I also had one student make a difficult decision and break off from his partner because he wasn't doing any work and was holding him back.
2. I liked having a teacher panel come in. The students took the one-minute pitches more seriously because they had an authentic audience. I also think that it is important for students to share their work. One student commented to me that he liked having the opportunity to see what his classmates were working on.
3. I liked going beyond the essay or the research report. I think having students write and present for different reasons and audiences strengthens their ability to communicate ideas.
I think with some tweaks and experience, I can improve this unit. My goal is to bring PBL to my other units and other courses.
Ideas to Improve for Next Year:
1. Use one or two documentary proposals from this year as exemplars. This way, students will have an idea of what needs to be included and will also have an idea of how to improve upon last year's students. For example, on the exemplars, I will note comments about how they could have been improved. This way I can show the students where more of the history could have been incorporated.
2. Students will have, as a follow up to the brainstorming about "best", an informal discussion with me about how their development fits into the criteria they determined for "best".
3. I will "Gini-Newmanize" the assignment. To truly decide what is best, I will have students brainstorm a short list of possible best developments so that they have developments to compare against. I think this will foster more critical thinking.
4. Students will have practice answering questions about their work in informal settings. They have been completing debriefs after each assignment, so I may make the questions more specific or I might have more informal presentations where an expectation will be for students to ask each other questions. I also plan on using blogging, so that will also be a way for students to read and respond to each others' work.
Ideas I'm Proud of and Will Keep Doing:
1. I'm glad that the students worked with partners or small groups. I got to see different aspects of the students, as some took on definite leadership roles. Students also got to experience negotiating with their group members and reaching compromises. I also had one student make a difficult decision and break off from his partner because he wasn't doing any work and was holding him back.
2. I liked having a teacher panel come in. The students took the one-minute pitches more seriously because they had an authentic audience. I also think that it is important for students to share their work. One student commented to me that he liked having the opportunity to see what his classmates were working on.
3. I liked going beyond the essay or the research report. I think having students write and present for different reasons and audiences strengthens their ability to communicate ideas.
I think with some tweaks and experience, I can improve this unit. My goal is to bring PBL to my other units and other courses.
Reflecting on Science and Technology PBL
I started off designing this task with a lot of excitement. I had great visions in my head...engaged students deeply learning about the historical impact of science and technology on our world.
We started off by discussing the impact of science and technology on our personal lives. I figured this would be a way for students to see that, even if they "hate" science like one student told me, science and technology influenced their everyday lives in a positive manner. Some students talked their cell phones or laptops and others discussed how medical advances impacted their lives.
This led into the discussion of "best". We brainstormed what "best" meant and how we could decide if a scientific or technological development was the "best". You can see their work in the photo above.
To prepare for our work, we did some textbook work to get some background information and we also looked at the curriculum expectations that our tasks were supposed to illuminate. Since the task was to write a documentary proposal, we watched a documentary in class, so that we had a frame of reference for what a documentary looks like. Obviously, the students have viewed many documentaries, but this gave all of us the same reference point. While watching the documentary, which was "Christianity: God and the Scientists", we used TodaysMeet as a back channel. I value the use of a back channel while watching a documentary because it allows real time discussion of key points and engages the quieter students.
To allow the students an authentic audience for their work, they had to create one-minute pitches to sell their documentary. I invited teachers in to see the pitches and to ask the students questions. This made me nervous, because I feel it puts my teaching on display to my colleagues and I didn't want to mess up or appear to be a crappy teacher. In hindsight, asking my colleagues to come in was a good idea, as it seemed to force some of the students to take the work more seriously because teachers they had before would be seeing their work. They don't want to impress me; they want to impress last year's teacher! It was fun hearing students (in a panicked voice), "I know Mr. Richards is going to ask this. We have to have an answer." Or "Mr. Nelson's coming? Now I'm nervous". Or "Mrs. King's intense!"
What I really enjoyed about this task was listening to the students collaborate. At the beginning of the task, I sat down with each group to help them create a task list, so each student knew what they were responsible for. I backed off checking in with them towards the end, because I could heard each group working together, challenging each other and coming up with solutions. One day towards the end of the project, the students were working so intently that when the bell rang, most of them were visibly startled. (This gives me an idea for a new post: The Problem with Bells.)
My concern about this task is that I forgot the "history" part of the unit. Yes, at the beginning we talked about Bacon, Descartes, Galileo, etc. and discussed how technology played a role in the Industrial Revolution. I'm afraid that in their work the students focused too much on present day and not the historical progression of how the technology changed society.
We started off by discussing the impact of science and technology on our personal lives. I figured this would be a way for students to see that, even if they "hate" science like one student told me, science and technology influenced their everyday lives in a positive manner. Some students talked their cell phones or laptops and others discussed how medical advances impacted their lives.
To prepare for our work, we did some textbook work to get some background information and we also looked at the curriculum expectations that our tasks were supposed to illuminate. Since the task was to write a documentary proposal, we watched a documentary in class, so that we had a frame of reference for what a documentary looks like. Obviously, the students have viewed many documentaries, but this gave all of us the same reference point. While watching the documentary, which was "Christianity: God and the Scientists", we used TodaysMeet as a back channel. I value the use of a back channel while watching a documentary because it allows real time discussion of key points and engages the quieter students.
To allow the students an authentic audience for their work, they had to create one-minute pitches to sell their documentary. I invited teachers in to see the pitches and to ask the students questions. This made me nervous, because I feel it puts my teaching on display to my colleagues and I didn't want to mess up or appear to be a crappy teacher. In hindsight, asking my colleagues to come in was a good idea, as it seemed to force some of the students to take the work more seriously because teachers they had before would be seeing their work. They don't want to impress me; they want to impress last year's teacher! It was fun hearing students (in a panicked voice), "I know Mr. Richards is going to ask this. We have to have an answer." Or "Mr. Nelson's coming? Now I'm nervous". Or "Mrs. King's intense!"
What I really enjoyed about this task was listening to the students collaborate. At the beginning of the task, I sat down with each group to help them create a task list, so each student knew what they were responsible for. I backed off checking in with them towards the end, because I could heard each group working together, challenging each other and coming up with solutions. One day towards the end of the project, the students were working so intently that when the bell rang, most of them were visibly startled. (This gives me an idea for a new post: The Problem with Bells.)
My concern about this task is that I forgot the "history" part of the unit. Yes, at the beginning we talked about Bacon, Descartes, Galileo, etc. and discussed how technology played a role in the Industrial Revolution. I'm afraid that in their work the students focused too much on present day and not the historical progression of how the technology changed society.
Thursday, 22 November 2012
Actually PBLing...if that's a verb
At the beginning of the month, I blogged about my desire to try Project Based Learning with my Grade 12 history class. I introduced the task last Thursday and so far, so good. The first couple of days were devoted to discussing the curriculum expectations, establishing common understandings and defining the word "best".
The students easily created their groups, and most selected their topic quickly. One group had some difficulty because they didn't want a topic that was "too easy". I LOVE that they wanted a challenge.
The first day we went to the library was quite uncomfortable for me and for some of the students. They wanted me to TELL them what a documentary proposal was...and my heart started beating quickly because I felt like I was letting them down because I wouldn't tell them. (I had given them some leads as to where to look to find out.)
Today was excellent. I sat down with each group and discussed their progress so far and gave them some suggestions about dividing up tasks and making use of Google Docs to collaborate. One student asked if he could create evidence during the conference. I was taken aback, because while the task is creative, it is IMPERATIVE that the evidence be factual. I soon figured out that he didn't actually want to imagine the evidence, but rather compile various statistics to support his argument. I breathed a sigh of relief. I have also noticed students who don't appear to be leaders, take a leadership role in their group. Additionally, one group is created from students who I don't even think spoke to each other previous to this task. They seem to mesh really well and I am excited to see their progress.
In my previous blog post, I asked about converting a Word Document (that has a "sophisticated" table in it) to a Google Doc. I couldn't find a way to make it work. Using the Word Document provided by the Buck Institute for Education, I created a PBL template in Google Docs. Feel free to use it. It is at this link:
Sunday, 4 November 2012
Trying Out PBL
So I am going to be trying project-based learning for the next unit
in my Grade 12 history class. So far, I have had my students work on
defining and designing their own assignments, so that they have choice
about what they are going to focus on. Up to the actual assignment, I
have been directing their learning via focused questions, textbooks,
readings, group work and videos/documentaries.
The next unit focuses on science and technology in world history from 1500 to present. With such a huge time frame and the fact that the course looks at the West and the world, it would be impossible to teach deeply anything of real significance. Instead, I am going to have students, in partners or small groups, research a scientific or technological development that is of interest to them.
I am really quite nervous about doing this. I gained some confidence from reading Ted McCain's book, Teaching for Tomorrow and the Buck Institute for Education's resources regarding PBL. I found the Buck Institute for Education's online resources to be invaluable.
See the link below for my unit. Any feedback is appreciated. (Note: I prefer to use Google Docs, but I couldn't upload the BIE's planner nicely into Google Docs because of the tables. Does anyone know of a simple way to transfer Word tables to Google Docs?)
What have been your experiences with PBL? Do you have any suggestions or tips for me?
Science%20and%20Technology%20PBL.doc
The next unit focuses on science and technology in world history from 1500 to present. With such a huge time frame and the fact that the course looks at the West and the world, it would be impossible to teach deeply anything of real significance. Instead, I am going to have students, in partners or small groups, research a scientific or technological development that is of interest to them.
I am really quite nervous about doing this. I gained some confidence from reading Ted McCain's book, Teaching for Tomorrow and the Buck Institute for Education's resources regarding PBL. I found the Buck Institute for Education's online resources to be invaluable.
See the link below for my unit. Any feedback is appreciated. (Note: I prefer to use Google Docs, but I couldn't upload the BIE's planner nicely into Google Docs because of the tables. Does anyone know of a simple way to transfer Word tables to Google Docs?)
What have been your experiences with PBL? Do you have any suggestions or tips for me?
Science%20and%20Technology%20PBL.doc
What do numeric grades really tell us?
This past week, I attended ECOO 2012, which is a
conference in Ontario regarding technology in the classroom. Not all of
the sessions focus on technology, though. I attended one session that
didn't focus on technology, but rather on student assessment. The
speaker was Scott Kemp, an English teacher in the Wateroo Region
District School Board.
I found Scott's session to be informative and challenging. It informed me of a way to more authentically evaluate my students' work and it challenged me to think about how I can change my grading practices. Before the session I had been doing some thinking about how superficial specific grades are. What is the difference between 81% and 82%? What does an 82% paper have that an 81% paper doesn't?
I think that numeric marking is here to stay, but in Ontario, we only need to give numeric marks twice a semester (midterm and final). My goal for second semester (I don't feel comfortable starting a new way of grading in the middle of the semester) is to focus on providing students with useful feedback, but no number grade. Like Scott, I will provide a numeric grade only at the required times, and the numbers will only be in increments of 5% (ie. 75%, 80%, 85%). I plan on documenting my students' work more thoroughly, especially through the use of teacher-student conferences.
I am not putting these new (to me) ideas on complete hold until second semester. This week end, I was marking Grade Nine English ISU assignments. I focused on providing useful feedback and I looked at the rubric and assigned a grade based on where most of the check marks fell and I only used increments of 5%. Additionally, my Grade Twelve History class is starting on a presentation task tomorrow. I created a "checklist" to guide my student-teacher conferences, as a way to keep track of the formative feedback I will give the students while working on the presentations.
How are you evaluating your students' tasks? What are your thoughts about numeric grades? Do you think it is possible to get rid of numeric grades completely?
I found Scott's session to be informative and challenging. It informed me of a way to more authentically evaluate my students' work and it challenged me to think about how I can change my grading practices. Before the session I had been doing some thinking about how superficial specific grades are. What is the difference between 81% and 82%? What does an 82% paper have that an 81% paper doesn't?
I think that numeric marking is here to stay, but in Ontario, we only need to give numeric marks twice a semester (midterm and final). My goal for second semester (I don't feel comfortable starting a new way of grading in the middle of the semester) is to focus on providing students with useful feedback, but no number grade. Like Scott, I will provide a numeric grade only at the required times, and the numbers will only be in increments of 5% (ie. 75%, 80%, 85%). I plan on documenting my students' work more thoroughly, especially through the use of teacher-student conferences.
I am not putting these new (to me) ideas on complete hold until second semester. This week end, I was marking Grade Nine English ISU assignments. I focused on providing useful feedback and I looked at the rubric and assigned a grade based on where most of the check marks fell and I only used increments of 5%. Additionally, my Grade Twelve History class is starting on a presentation task tomorrow. I created a "checklist" to guide my student-teacher conferences, as a way to keep track of the formative feedback I will give the students while working on the presentations.
How are you evaluating your students' tasks? What are your thoughts about numeric grades? Do you think it is possible to get rid of numeric grades completely?
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