One of my forgettable lessons was when I had my students do an assignment in Social Studies. They had to do research on a country of their choice (besides Canada & USA), on 6 elements of culture, for example: government, history, expressions of culture (food, clothing, music, festivals, etc.), economy, etc.
I had previously done this before using PowerPoint on our desktop computers in the pod outside my class (in a P3 school). However, over the summer, 4 of the 11 computers were moved to another pod, and 4 of the remaining 7 were not working (this was around the end of September or early Oct). We had a mobile lab with laptops (20), but the grade 8 & 9 students damaged them so badly that it was decided (over the summer) to not repair them. So, I had to get our new mobile lab with 15 mini-Ipads. I used to have a Mac, but that was years ago, and do not have an Ipad or mini-Ipad. I scrambled about 3 days before kids would start the assignment to see what I could use, and 1 teacher suggested using Prezi, and another said there should be a PowerPoint equivalent on the mini-Ipads. I learned Prezi with a youtube video and by doing one myself that night, and the next night learned how to use KeyNote in the same manner. I tried to show students how to use both, and some were quite successful with Prezi; however my lesson with Keynote was not as good. Fortunately 2 other students in class with Ipads were a huge help! Sweated that one out. Since only my students use these programs now, and since I've not used them since last October, I would most likely find it challenging to teach them again (need to for next Fall!). Mike Context: A cross-curricular assignment for French Language Arts and for Social Studies.
Challenge: There is a major shortage of water in the state of California, and the Governor of California wants to negotiate a long-term, binding agreement with Canadian government representatives for the purchase of fresh water from Canada. Several parties will be taking interest in this activity, such as reporters, demonstrators who oppose the deal (or support it), and other parties that the students will come up with. Activities: Students need to: - to have an idea of the global situation with fresh water: read an article provided by the teacher (me) that informs students how little of all the water that covers the surface of the Earth is drinkable; how it will be a big problem in the 21st century & why; how much of the planet's drinkable water is in Canada's possession, how Canada must start to manage it more responsibly; statistics of illnesses and disease because of a lack of water or of a lack of clean water; the amount of water needed for various things (ex: 215,000 L of water needed to produce 1 tonne of steel); efforts made by the Canadian Agency of International Development to improve access to safe water supplies and its management; etc. - do research on the situation in California regarding the ever decreasing availability of drinkable water, and their efforts to improve the situation in the past (and in surrounding areas). - do research on any possible history of attempts by California or any US state to get into an agreement with Canada regarding the purchase of drinkable water. - see an older documentary showing how Canada tried, but could not stop the purchase of a gasoline additive (even though it causes cancer) because of stipulations in the North American Free Trade Act. - come up with a role-play situation, for example, where there are reporters and demonstrators outside a meeting where government officials from both the state of California and Canada are meeting to possibly sign a long-term, binding agreement for the purchase of drinkable water (happening in Canada as the demonstrators are Canadians who oppose any such agreement!). - the role-play will be presented most likely using Tellagami (https://tellagami.com/) Feedback: - the other grade 6 Early Immersion class will see this presentation and then participate in a referendum, to see if they will pass the deal or not (like voters of Canada). They can also give written feedback on what they specifically liked about the final product, and what could be improved. - a mark will be given to all participants for their active participation (the process) using mini-conferences and observations will facilitating the project, their use of the French language. The grade 6 curriculum for Social Studies, in the last module, touches on the unequal global distribution of wealth, violations of human rights (focusing on children), and taking age-appropriate action.To try and do something a bit different, I think I would like my students to use technology to create a mock trial for either the owner of a chocolate plantation in Africa where there is child forced labour, and/or for both the person who kidnapped/sold the child into slavery. One issue with incarcerating the kidnapper is that it is often a family member, like an uncle (in one documentary I saw).
Activity: to create and have filmed a mock trial to judge whether someone or some people is/are guilty or not of violating the human rights of a child or children. It could be based on one particular industry or market, or, students could research and present different kinds of violations and then choose one to do a mock trial on. Since I have a lot of resources on child labour in the chocolate industry, I believe I would steer them towards doing this - after all, what child is not interested in chocolate! Context: a courtroom (with a judge, lawyers, news reporters, family members of the victims and of the accused, etc. Desired behaviour: after having learned about human rights, and after having done some activities to learn more about a specific industry/market involving forced, child labour (I have a great article, a great PowerPoint, and can show them a great documentary - all after getting permission from the parents), students will not only be more aware of the violations of children's' rights, but also be aware of how their actions can support these violations (for example, not buying Fair Trade Chocolate). Intrinsic feedback: we could have guests (teachers or students) be invited to serve as a jury and make the decision, which would set the accused free or have them face the punishment. The judge could deliver what he/she is appropriate (could be based on how they feel, or could be based on research done by the class of previous consequences). It would be interesting to see someone receive a sentence, and then add a small scene seeing how the person got off free in a very short time. The mark given by the teacher for the final product, and the process as it unfolds, is also intrinsic feedback. Mike Being a French Immersion teacher, we use the language a lot in every subject I teach. Also, across my curriculum, I really try to develop my students' sense of empathy.
I often choose reading material that evokes emotion or empathy, for example, a Christmas story we always read that compares poor children to a rich boy who can't go to school because he is an invalid. In Social Studies, we read articles (like children kidnapped to work as slaves on chocolate plantations in Africa) that really get them to think on how the choices they make in their daily lives can have a serious impact on others - like buying certain kinds of chocolate supports those who force children to work as slaves. A different student has to present what's in the news every week, to keep abreast of what's happening around us locally and globally. We end the year with students choosing to take age-appropriate action for a cause. Just today a few students approached me and asked if we could do something to raise money for the people in Nepal. They had heard on CBC radio (grade 6 kids!) that there was a 2nd earthquake and that the government of Canada was matching donations. We also do lighter things, like role-playing certain situations, in various themes, in Healthy Living. I like Michelle Longley's comment on this: Hi Mike, I too, like to bring out the "active citizen" in my students. In Social Studies we created Public service announcements for a cause of their choice and then had a "People's choice awards" viewing of all of the finished PSA videos (they used IMovie). Then, we voted on first, second and third place. The first place winner got their classmates support in raising a minimum of $50 towards their cause. When I teach a novel called Surviving Hitler-A Boy in the Nazi Camps, we learn about the true story of a 12 year old boy who has to survive the camp system. The first year I taught this unit, we actually contacted the "survivor" and used Skype to interview him. To this day, former students come back to visit me and still mention that experience. Michelle Students will invest more in their learning when they know what is to be done with the knowledge or information. It reminds me of a chat I had with a couple of boys in my class who have not been too motivated with their current French assignment (create a small play with a story I told them, and add an ending - I left it out). After a long chat at recess yesterday, explaining what they would get out of the assignment, they seemed to be more interested. Then today I showed an example another group had done 3 years before (recorded on video), they could not wait to get started. Last week someone had asked to leave their group because of their lack of motivation, and now they are certainly on a roll!Two things that struck me from this article was when the author mentioned that “clients didn’t know what they didn’t know”, and that besides having the knowledge, one needs to know how to apply it.
The change in the list describing the tasks one needed to learn, basically clarifying certain terms, demonstrated how the language we use to set a context really matters. If students don’t know what the instructions mean from the beginning, how can they begin? They will be like students trying to complete an assignment without really knowing what they are exactly doing. This reminds me a bit of a current assignment my students are doing in Social Studies. They were told that they would have to teach part of a unit, in any way the wanted, as long as they had visual aids, like charts or statistics or photos, using PowerPoint, Prezi, Bristol board, etc. I think that part was quite clear for them, however, the topics they had to choose from were basically a list of sub-titles from their text book. They had to read the section in the text book and then do research online to prepare a lesson, with a couple of comprehension questions for the class afterwards. What this article made me realize, that I should have used language that clarified what each section meant. Instead of writing something like, “The Human Development Index, pages 140-142” as a subtitle, I could have written something like, “The Human Development Index: describing the latest way of measuring the quality of life in a country, pages 140-142”. As I was reading it, I could not help but think how I could start an assignment the way the introduction to our weekly tasks are, with a description of what we will be able to do by the end of the unit. Then, in this article, Mulder did it. This could have been used with my Social Studies unit, with Math, with every subject I teach. Nice little article. References Mulder, C. (2014). Creating Context in Product eLearning Design. Retrieved May 9th, 2015 from world wide web http://elearningindustry.com/creating-context-product-elearning-design We are all different in the way we learn, the way 2 people standing together observing the same students can perceive something differently, the way we interact with each other, the way we are motivated by ourselves or by outside forces, the way we react empathetically or not to various events around us - I could go on and on.
We are all different in the way we learn things, for example, I have always found that I have a great photographic memory, and often would be able to recall notes I took at university as if I had a photo of them in my memory; yet, my first cousin would never take any notes at all. He would sit beside me and just listen, claiming that he was an aural learner. I believe that as teachers, we also have our strengths in the way we teach, not just in the way we learn. I believe that teachers are most successful when they teach in a way that best suits their natural way of teaching things, whether it be to a little sister as on older teen, as a parent to an infant, a neighbour teaching a friend, or a teacher teaching their students. Despite the fact that some students learn in different ways, we have to tap into our natural strengths to try and reach all students. Sure we will adapt and differentiate our instruction, but it varies from year to year and class to class. As a teacher, I would think that we all take into consideration the different learning styles of our students. The Ed tech team at Educational Technology and Mobile Learning indicate that teachers must “create a course that best fits this exact style” (2015). If by a course they mean an entire year teaching a subject, a teacher can tap into all learning styles. However, this does not mean that it can be done daily, or that each child will be reached anyway. As I previously mentioned, and as the adversaries of teaching to the learning style of every child, people are different. Just this year in a French Immersion class of only 20, I have students who are very reluctant readers and writers, with severe ADHD, and even a few students who are very, very unmotivated unless somehow we incorporate hockey into the lesson. This year I had a student teacher who did an awesome job at getting students out of their seats and doing a lot of hands-on, constructivist-theory based, creative, discovery-type activities with great results; yet, still, the same students who always have challenges getting things done did not have improved academic success. Learning styles are not a myth, and the reality is that we are at our best when we naturally teach in a way that is our best natural way of reaching all students, with their learning styles, learning challenges, medical challenges, personality challenges, social challenges, personal life history challenges, home life challenges, etc. in mind. EdTech Team (2015). The Myth of Learning Styles 'Debunked'. Educational Technology and Mobile Learning. Retrieved from: http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/12/the-myth-of-learning-styles-debunked.html I did my multiple intelligence test and my #1 is no surprise to me, "interpersonal". I've always been a people person! Totally not a "money" person. You could show me a perfect plan for a business opportunity and I could not do it. I've met so many people over the years, especially when I used to play guitar & sing at parties in my late 20's to mid 30's. Always felt I could read people very well, though. My second was music smart. Lots of my cousins are in bands (career-wise) and I played & sang at many weddings. Never asked a penny (see, can't make a dime!) but got a lot of beautiful gifts for it!
I like how you did art/creative assignments, song connections, and drama as follow-up activities with Romeo & Juliette. One thing I always do is get my students to analyze & present a classic French song, then do a CD cover as if the song was the title song of an album. This year, and 2 years previous, I had an artist and help my students create 3-D clay tile representations of their art work - was awesome!!! As for Drama, I love it. Acted in plays at the Chester Playhouse while teaching in Chester, years ago. I have students do a final project in French Language Arts at the end of the year that usually involves a lot of work, and takes a fair amount of time, but I believe that it incorporates the three domains described in the article by Prince Hycy Bull, Ph.D. The assignment begins by having students read aloud a story about a beautiful, self-centered, yet poor woman who feels she should be living a life in luxury, borrows a diamond necklace to go to a ball with her husband. Like when Cinderella enters the room, she is immediately the one that everyone notices. After a night of dancing with a line-up of men, in front of their jealous wives, she gets home with her husband to find the diamond necklace missing! Students must then form groups to recreate the story as a play, writing out the direct speech and narrative comments only (and stage directed comments), and create a unique, well-described, plausible ending. As with constructivist theory, students must participate actively in order to build their play collaboratively and hopefully grow as a writer / actor. The activity is definitely aligned with several of Gardner’s multiple intelligences as they need to Linguistic: discuss, negotiate, and come to agreements as they write the script for the play (using language), and present the play orally (filming it). Spatial: planning each scene and how people will enter & exit scenes, avoiding blocking while acting / filming, putting props in certain places (setting up a room at their home as their poor, drabby apartment, and setting up a ball room), background actors (men in line waiting to dance with her, expressions of jealous wives in the background), etc. Bodily-kinethetic: expressing themselves with emotion while acting out the play. Musical: in the past, several groups have had music added to their play after editing what they recorded Interpersonal: the discussions and building that goes on in groups, and the performance itself. Intrapersonal: the reflection that goes on not only once the play is over as a self and group evaluation, but during the process (getting together in circles on the floor with partner from other groups to share how it’s going), and while filming (looking at it to make sure a retake is not necessary, or to change a scene a little). Naturalistic: being creative as they construct the end of a story that could happen in the real world, making connections with their prior knowledge to complete the task. The simple fact that they are learning while constructing, using words as the write their script, and creating images as they film their work, aligns this assignment with cognitive theory. No wonder it always seems to be the favourite assignment of the year for my classes. Mike Teaching Channel- www.teachingchannel.org CBC Archives (for teachers) Collections Canada-www.collectionscanada.gc.ca Sheppard Software for Math JobsPeopleDo.com http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/center/students/trade/index.htm Teacherspayteachers.com SmartExchange Discovery Education AVRSB Learning Portal http://engagingstudents.blackgold.ca/ Superteacherowrksheets Busyteacherscafe http://www.hippocampus.org |