Pure, Authentic Learning

Last week my friend Adriaan called me and asked if I wanted to go to a World War II re-enactment.  To say it was last minute is an understatement since he was in the driveway when he called.  Ten minutes later my kids and I were on the highway headed to Rockford for what turned out to be the largest WWII re-enactment in North America.

http://midwayvillage.com/photogallery.cfm?setid=1006

My kids never really asked much about where we were going and I never really thought to explain it because it was so last minute.  When we arrived I was planning on having to sell the experience, especially to my son who likes to say “I’m not really a history guy dad.”  I never needed to.  As we walked into the event there was a re-enactment of the allies liberating a French town that was so loud and so fascinating that we all just stared in awe.

I spent the rest of the day trying to keep up with them as they ran from display to display.  Each re-enactment group had been camped on location for days.  As we walked through the camps the “soldiers” explained their equipment, their trenches, why they were there, and what they were fighting for.  They walked through the trenches and climbed on the equipment.  My kids just soaked it in. 

On the car ride home it was quiet for about 10 minutes and then the questions started.  There were lots of questions. I answered them one after another.  This went on for the entire ride.  I love it when that happens. There was no need to generate interest or to distill some connection. I I was just giving them the knowledge they wanted.

Moments like these are gold in the classroom and in life too.  Creating this dynamic is what I do for a living. It was nice to have my children embrace the event and learn so much. It was pure authentic learning as it should be.  

I am pondering how I can make such pure interest a bigger part of my classroom every day.

How Ideas Work and What Memes Mean

I tell my students that some of the greatest ideas have cost people their lives. When a powerful idea takes wing and threatens other ideas, sometimes it is easier to kill to voice behind the idea than it is to kill the idea itself. 

Ideas though intangible, are real.  The have consequences.  They change people’s behavior, alter values and are the force behind the institutions that rule our lives. Ideas are behind wars and in extreme cases ideas can fly planes into buildings.

I always found it hard to solidify for them why this is. 

Several years ago I started doing a simulation to help guide this debate.  The set up takes 10 minutes and the debrief about 25-30 minutes.  I wanted to introduce a simple idea to the school and have my students watch as the idea spreads and people react to it.  So I chose this as my  idea and printed about 1400 of them, enough that they are everywhere, but not enough that everyone can get one. 

I hand them out to my students and ask them to give them to people in the halls.  They are not to say anything.  Just hand them out.  If people ask what they are for I tell them to say “It’s a smiley face, it smiles at you.”  The only other instruction I provide is that if they see one on the floor they should pick it up and hand it out again. By the time it is over they are everywhere. 

My plan was simple at first. People would accept it, or they would not.  Over time the discussion has developed into something more complex. We have gone from acceptance and rejection to how ideas spread, evolve and change.  Students have gotten angry as the simple message is twisted into something very, very different. 

Some examples:

    -One year the students, in reaction to a new ID policy, started to think the smiley face

was a protest movement and taped them over their id’s.  I had to reassure a few people

that it was not a conspiracy.

    -Another year students somehow got the idea that it was a coupon you could redeem for

 a free cookie.  What was great was that one of the cafeteria workers handed a few

 cookies before she was told not to.

    -One student described to the class that it was a protest about how fake people were and

 that the smiley face represent the false reality that we present and hide behind.

    -One year a protest anti-smiley appeared.    

    -Some reactions are consistent.  People begin to ask for them because they are limited

(this helps with teaching the laws of suppl and demand).  Many students, especially

 males reject the smileys, and further more attack the idea as stupid.

    -By the end of the week they are on folders, on lockers and at local restaurants.  People

 will argue about it.

    -I always have a few given back to me as a gift with thank yous for doing the exercise. 

Our discussion addresses several topics:

    -Who is likely to accept or reject this idea.

    -We talk about how people react when they reject it.

    -How people place greater meaning behind the idea than was ever intended. 

    -How people react to the individual presenting the idea.

    -How the reactions differ based upon who is handing it out, (Girls have more success with guys, especially freshman guys, go figure!)

    -How the social dynamics of groups affect the acceptance of the idea. -

    -How the spread of the idea would be affected if the idea were a skull instead of a smiley face.

When all is said and done, we have a framework for understanding what will happen as a result of the Enlightenment or the Great awakening or any other movement for that matter. We can understand that the effects of the progressives extend beyond whether they win or lose elections. It sets the tone for the diffusion of ideas throughout the rest of history. Best of all, when introducing new ideas in class, once I explain the newest -ism, they have a dynamic understanding of the process by which it diffuses into society.  (Which by the way the smileys do too. They end up in coffee shops, restaurants the mall etc., etc.)

My All School 9-11 Announcement

I was recently asked to read the school announcement recognizing 9-11.  I began writing something pretty historical but after reading through the first paragraph I realized that it was not what I was looking for.  So I focused on the idea that most of the students who would hear it do not have vivid memories of 9-11.

I remembered my parents talking to me about their connections to history.  I know where my parents were when JFK was shot.  I could tell you every one of the my father's stories of Vietnam.  Though they were not frequent, they carried a weight that made my mind record them verbatim.  I remember their faces as they told them.  I could see the truth of the experience in their eyes and hear the cracking in their voices as they spoke.  

I have not yet decided how I will be teaching 9-11. I keep weighing the best way to address it and explain its unique place in American History.  What became clear to me was that it had to begin with the students looking into the eyes of their parents and loved ones and listening. Then I wrote this:

   

Ten years ago, Americans woke and began their daily routines.  They were little aware at the time, that September 11^th, 2001 would become a turning point in American History.   The attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the plane crash in Pennsylvania resulted in the loss of 2,977 lives.  Since 2001 we as Americans have tried to make sense of this tragedy. 

The results of 9-11 are many; changes in the basic structure of our government, severe economic challenges, and the important debate about the balance between our individual rights and our desire to be safe.  While you may have been very young when these events happened, they affect you deeply whether you remember them or not. 

So this weekend, as our country recalls this tragedy, ask those who are close to you the true meaning of these events and how the world changed for them.  Understanding their answers is key to understanding the world in which you live.

Seeing History Through My Son's Eyes

My daughter and I are big fans of History.  On family road trips the sites that we pick are always historical.  We are frequent visitors to Presidential homes and libraries.   (Lincoln, Truman, Hoover, McKinley, Jackson so far.) Just being there is enough to spark our interest. 

My son is just wired differently.  There is no excitement and energy behind his visits to these places.  History for history’s sake is not his cup of tea.  Last week after leaving the Hermitage near Nashville Tennessee, he explained to me, “Dad, I’m just not a history guy.  I’m a Legos and architecture person.”  He then explained to me how the buildings were different and how they were built.   He liked the log cabins and loved the idea that all of the bricks for the house were made on site. “Like if you could make your own Legos!”   

As we walked through the house and grounds I was focused on the history and Andrew Jackson the man.  My son, holding my hand was having a completely different experience.  He liked learning about why the house had columns.  He wondered at what life in the log slave quarters might be like.  Once I realized this it was easy to draw him into the history.  It became a two step process.  Step 1: Notice the architecture.  Step 2: Tie it to history. 

Teaching History in class works exactly the same way.  This is why we need to allow students to communicate their likes and dislikes in class.  Sometimes it may feel like we are getting off topic but when we find what they value and care about, it is a doorway to help them connect with history. It is certainly not a waste of time.

As my son touched the building, walked the staircase and gazed into the slave quarters it became personal for him. He was connected.  He was engaged.  He wanted to learn.  

Packing Up and Moving to the Cloud

After a year on Twitter, having gained a fundamentally new understanding of technology and where it is going, I have decided that it is time to move to the cloud.  I realized that I needed to institute an information management plan late this school year.  I found that many of my files had multiple versions and edits.  I had files duplicated on my school computer, school network, home computer and a back up copy on a portable drive. The time involved making sure work was not lost and that various version were merged became unreasonable.  The use of multiple devices made it hard for me to access information across platforms and locations.

This is the 3 point plan I came up with.  It has already made my life much easier.

1.       Google Docs- By moving my word docs, the files there become master files that I can access and edit anywhere.  It allows me to share those files easily (and on the go) with students, coworkers or collaborators. It eliminates multiple copies and competing edits.  One wonderful side effect is that I did not foresee was how easy Google Docs would make keeping my website up to date.  In the past, updating a document on my website involved uploading the most current version.  The time involved was great and the process tedious. With Google docs changes are real time. The overall result has already been a massive savings of time.  The cost was zero.

There are still a few kinks to work out. I still have not addressed what to do with my Powerpoint files.  Google docs limits their functionality and their bulk would strain storage limits

(Note: By downloading the Offisync extension for Word you can edit Google Docs in Word.  This will be a more familiar format for most and can offer a wider range of functions.)

2.       Dropbox- This is a free download that allows you to create a common shared folder on all of your devices.  By placing a file in your Dropbox folder you edit it across devices.  It also eliminates the need to email files.   The share function will let you collaborate with people without the need to compare and rectify competing edits. I also found the share features helpful in sharing unit materials with students.  One the box is setup, I only need send the link.  Dropbox has been really helpful with Powerpoint files that can be large and troublesome in Google Docs.

3.       Evernote- Evernote is once again a free service that can be downloaded to you computer, phone or tablet.  It allows you to add and organize all of your data. Once uploaded, you can tag information making it easily searchable.  The Wow! Factor of Evernote is its ability to make text in a picture searchable.  By taking a photo of books that I have read and uploading it, I now have a database of books searchable by title and author. I can add my reviews and then share them with others.  The Google Chrome Evernote extension makes clipping and saving web pages easy.   The time savings comes from the ease in finding and accessing this information as well as the elimination of paper files and filing.  A premium service is available for those who might exceed the 60mg per month upload limit and for those who want to upload word or Powerpoint files.

My plan has yielded some great results. I have saved HUGE AMOUNTS OF TIME, which we all know is one of if not the currency of education.  Secondly it has streamlined tasks and created an ease that just makes my work more enjoyable.  I can now share and collaborate more efficiently.  The school year has not yet started and I have already gained back the time that this process took to implement.  

The Life Expectancy of a Lesson

I have to admit that I used to be a HUGE fan of LOST. It lasted 5 years. On the night of the last episode I was relieved.  Even though I loved it, I was ready to be done.  Seinfeld lasted 8 years.  Friends lasted 8 years. If you remember Moonlighting, you remember that it was over fast.  Number one show one year, three years later, gone.  The Beatles were only together for about 8 years.  Even Jesus only actively taught for three years.

Things have a time and a place.  Sometimes that time passes.  (Think bellbottoms, the mullet, legwarmers, the beehive hairdo and Glam Rock- also feel free to insert others here...)  If you were to dress as you did in high school today it would likely result in jokes, lots of jokes.  When a fad ends, though we make look at it fondly, we need to accept it and let it go.  If we don't we face the risk of becoming a relic.

We all know someone like this, the person stuck in the Grunge era or surfing the the internet on Netscape Navigator.  Well, maybe not that bad.  To sum up: things have an expiration date.  The best shows, good music, technology and even the way that we teach will one day be past its time.

This line of thinking led me to ask myself a hard question.  What lesson I need to retire?  Somewhere in my repertoire is something that was once great, but needs to be put out to pasture.  I weighed a lot of lessons.  I thought about the reasons behind why I do what I do.  When it was finally done I had chosen to retire a lesson that is one of my favorites.  It is my "Why Study History?" lesson.  The first one I teach each year.

Now, I love this lesson.  My kids leave the room talking about this lesson.  It is powerful and passionate but it lacks content. It lacks a historical take away.  It left them with no new skill.  It should be a discussion of history as an interpretive process.  It should discuss the fact that history is hard because they will not leave the room with definite answers like in math, but questions. They will be questions that I can't answer for them, that no one can answer for them.  They will need to answer these questions for themselves.

So that lesson has been retired. Permanently.  I will really, really miss it but I can do better in a way that teaches more and serves my students better.

So what lesson do you need to say goodbye too? Which one is your mullet legwarmer lesson? Which one is there that should not be?  Which one is not timely? Which content may be good but your vehicle of delivery needs rethinking? Can you let it go?

I'd love to here what you come up with.

5 Latin Quotes to Live By

5 Latin Quotes to Live By

by Shawn McCusker

Non omnia morir-

Not all of me will die.

As teachers we have the ability to leave behind lasting legacies of our work.  We give life to ideas and patterns of thinking that have true power.  What will you leave behind? What is it that you will teach that will survive well after you?  The ideas that we teach, the skills that we share, the processes that will demonstrate will survive long after we do.  

Gutta cavat lapidem-

Water hollows put rock

Of all the forces of the Earth, the simple movement of water may not be the most glamorous but is the most powerful in its persistence.  Mountains are laid low by the constant but simple effects of rain drops.  Grand Canyon, enough said. The process of education requires that we be very persistent in much the same way.  Focus on what is important and tenaciously pursue it.  Never quit.  

Ut sementem feceris ita metes-

As you sow so will you reap

In life and in our classes we live in a world that we create for ourselves. We live according to the rules that we create for ourselves.  Especially in the classroom, who we are and the lessons we teach become the patterns that run the class.  Create an environment of respect. Create an environment of cooperation. Create an environment of trust.  You will find that everyone in your class will benefit. In return your reward will be working in a place that embodies all of these characteristics.  

Et lux tenebris lucet-

And a light shineth in the darkness

Everyone has their stresses, worries and obstacles.  Every day we teach a collection of students who are bringing theirs into our class.  In what way does your class move them past this and draw them in to what you have to teach.  Classrooms that are a beacon to students allow them to put aside these obstacles and distractions.  Make your classroom a hopeful inspiring place.  


Vae Victus-
Woe to the vanquished

You are only defeated when you give up.  Year after year students will enter our classrooms and struggle.  Every year we will have to face them, address their needs and help them to overcome their .  Every day is a new challenge.  In between the times that teaching is so rewarding, it can be exhausting. When you get to that point take some time, reflect and find your passion.  Go read the letters of the of the students whose lives you have changed.  Focus on what you set out to do when you became a teacher.  Despite the difficulties that we face, the politics that arise, the time that we spend and all of the other realities of our job, in the end it is very simple.  Teach them well.