Author: molersmusings

This week we continued the American Revolution. We focused on some of the taxes and acts that made the colonists mad. Then we shifted our focus to how the patriots, colonists, and others protested to show their anger.

Every year I evaluate the lessons from the previous year. New school years bring new students, and I simply can’t teach the same way. I teach the same content, but I change how I teach. For example, last year I used a powerpoint from Mr. Roughton’s website that related the taxes and acts to a parent fighting with their child. This year, I decided to switch the content up to a CyberSandwich with Nearpod. The nature of my classes, and trying to rock and roll with more EduProtocols, influenced my decision.

I also through in some review games this week. One of my new favorite review games is the Rolling Recap which is from the EMC2Learning site. I used the 12 topic stitch up also from the EMC2Learning site. The 12 topic stitch up is fun, and competitive, so I only used it with two of my classes (one class of mine has 29 students and competition would lead to chaos).

All in all, this was a big week. We smashed and rack and stacked lots of protocols with the American Revolution. This is what I love about EduProtocols – the options and creativity are endless. I’m excited to share these new ideas with you…………

Monday – Nearpod CyberSandwich, Gimkit

Tuesday – Rolling Recap, Gimkit

Wednesday – Graffiti Wall, Frayer, CyberSandwich, Retell In Rhyme

Thursday – Rolling Recap, Retell in Rhyme, Gimkit

Friday – Number Mania, 8Parts, Gimkit

Monday

Today we used Nearpod to complete a CyberSandwich. I like this option because it provides me with some control over the teaching and situation. When I put together the Nearpod CyberSandwich, this was my setup:

1. Collaboration Board – what do you know about the taxes and acts that made the colonists mad?
2. Open ended question – I linked the reading with the CyberSandwich and added a 10 minute timer. Students read for 10 minutes and took notes.
3. Collaboration Board – students shared 1 or 2 facts from their notes.
4. Open ended question – I set a timer for 10 minutes and students wrote a summary from their notes. I also added some scaffolding with sentence starters.
5. Draw It Slide – I used this for a Sketch and Tell to have students reflect on what they learned for the day.

I love using Nearpod for the CyberSandwich because it provides a structure for the students. A lot of my students need structure. A LOT. I love this set up too because it’s easy to grade – all of the reports and data are in one spot. Here are some examples of student work:

At the end of class, we finished with a Gimkit. This was the same Gimkit from the previous week. The averaged score from all classes was 72%.

Tuesday

Tuesday I needed a mix up. Something simple, but fun. I was exploring through the EMC2Learning site and stumbled across the Rolling Recap. I feel like I shouldn’t share the Rolling Recap because it’s from a paid site. To keep it simple though – I used 4 dice, students got into groups of 2 or 3, and we had to review content. In short, students loved it, they were engaged, and we had tons of fun. The Rolling recap took about 30 minutes of class time and we finished the day with the same Gimkit from the previous day. All classes raised the class average to 80% or higher.

Wednesday

Since we discussed the anger the colonists were feeling due to taxation without representation, I shifted the focus to the types of protest used during the American Revolution.

Graffiti Board

To begin the lesson, I used a graffiti board which used this question, “How do people protest, or express themselves, today?” We took 2 minutes and students went to the board to write things such as: destruction, rioting, boycott, signs, marching, voting, writing, etc. The point of this was to help students understand that forms of protest today are no different than protests in the 1770’s.

Frayer

Next I had students complete a Frayer with the groups: Sons of Liberty and the First Continental Congress. These two groups were mentioned in the reading. I set a timer for 8 minutes and students finished both Frayers in that amount of time. One thing I need to do is to use Parafly to help students paraphrase. This is a priority on my list. I chose these two groups because they were mentioned in the protest article the students read. The focus was to have students write their own simple definition, add more information/characteristics about the group, add examples of people in the groupo, and include a picture. I encouraged the students to use words and people they knew. Here are some Frayer examples:

CyberSandwich

Following the Frayer, I had students do a version of a CyberSandwich where they read an article on colonial protests categorized their notes into Peaceful, Violent, and Destructive forms of protests. This CyberSandwich was completed on paper. Students read for 10 minutes and took notes. Then they discussed their notes with a partner.

Retell In Rhyme

Instead of a CyberSandwich summary, I had students work on a Retell in Rhyme with a partner. I have found that a Retell in Rhyme works best, at the middle school level, with two or more partners. Students had 10-15 minutes to write as many couplets as possible. Here are a few things I did to help simplify the process:

1. I explained couplets. I mentioned that “couple” makes up the word couplet so it means 2 sentences that rhyme.
2. I also created a Google Doc with a simple table to help students collect their information.
3. I shared the website www.rhymezone.com with the students.

I found out quickly that students became frustrated. Creating rhymes is a challenging process, but it’s a good challenge. Every class ended with me knowing that I couldn’t just stop the lesson – I had to keep it going.

Thursday

Reflecting on student frustrations from the previous day, I wanted to offer more time for the students to work on their Retell in Rhyme. However, simply beginning class with that would be a disaster. I needed something to activate their memories with recall and get them in the right frame of mind. The Rolling Recap came out again. I had students get together with their partners and we took 15 minutes for a Rolling recap to describe peaceful, violent, and destructive forms of protests. At the conclusion of the Rolling recap, we revisited the Retell in Rhyme.

Here is what I did differently (and it helped out wonderfully)…….

1. The Rolling Recap to activate and recall knowledge.
2. I used: I do, We do, You do – I created a rhyming couplet, I asked the students to help me create a rhyming couplet, then I gave them 10 minutes to do it on their own.
3. I used the I do, We do, You do to explain the use of details from the article and using words that have many rhymes.

Here are the results:

At the conclusion of the retell in Rhyme, I knew the students couldn’t anything more so I set up a surprise Gimkit. The surprise Gimkit: Know your States. I decided that students need to know states, countries, and basic things. However, I don’t have all the time in the world and I will use downtime in class to address this.

Friday

I wanted Friday to be an extension of the protest lesson with the Boston Tea Party. I thought about a Thick Slide, but no. I thought about a CyberSandwich, but no. As I read through the article from last year’s lesson, I realized the Boston Tea Party has some interesting numbers. As a result, we did a Number Mania.

When students came into 505, I gave them an article about the Boston Tea Party. This article was intentional as it had references to things we learned about during the week – Stamp Act, Townshend Act, Sons of Liberty, and so on. I decided to read the article this time. I think it’s good to read to students and offer some insight to the information. As I read, I had the students highlight five numbers with facts about the Boston Tea Party.

When I finished reading, I gave the students fifteen minutes to create a Number Mania slide. They had to include a title, 5 numbers with facts, and pictures. The Number Mania slide should tell the story of the Boston Tea Party. When the fifteen minute timer ended, it was time for an 8Parts.

The reading I handed out for the Number Mania was simple and to the point. No pictures. No pictures on purpose. After we read for numbers, facts, and details we used the 8Parts. The 8Parts was used a visual, a way to use the details we just ead, and a way to work on some ELA skills. As students analyzed the picture, I encouraged them to use nouns such as Sons of Liberty, chests of tea, ships, Boston, etc. Students also sourced the painting of the Boston Tea Party. Finally, they created a summary and pasted their summary onto their Number Mani slide. The two EduProtocols were a perfect compliment to each other. Here are some students examples:

The reading and Number Mania took 20 minutes, and the 8Parts took 10 minutes. In total, the slides you are looking at took 30 minutes total. One of these Number Mania slides was completed by a student with an IEP. This is my new favorite combination of EduProtocols – a plain reading, Number Mania, and an 8Parts to bring in a visual and summary.

At the conclusion of this lesson, we concluded with a Gimkit over 4th grade trivia. I have nothing more to say after seeing the class averages……..

“We do a lot of stuff in this class. We make a lot of things” This is what a student said to me yesterday. To which I replied, “Yes. we get after it.” I strive to make my class an experience – an experience where students are creating, collaborating, communicating and critically thinking.

This week we started with the American Revolution. I just had to move onto a new unit. Between tennis and everyday craziness, this year has started off rough. My lessons have felt disjointed and unorganized. It was time to end the Age of Exploration unit. Sometimes I worry that I need to do some formal test, sometimes the students always finish stuff. Then I think….it’s okay. They will move onto 9th grade and be fine. They will move onto 10th grade and be fine, and so on.

Much like the Age of Exploration unit, I began with a Number Mania timeline and a definition of the American Revolutionary time period. We also used an 8parts to analyze the toppling of the King George statue. I threw in a Nearpod, a History Haiku, and that was the week.

Monday – No School

Tuesday – Graffiti Board, Number Mania, Fast and Curious

Wednesday – Fast and Curious, 8parts

Thursday – Nearpod (sketch and tell, thin slides), Fast and Curious

Friday – Nearpod, Fast and Curious, History Haiku

Tuesday

On Tuesday, we started the American Revolution unit with a Number Mania Timeline. I’m continuing my goal of introducing the different time periods before starting new units. Before beginning the Number Mania timeline, I wanted to try a graffiti board.

For the graffiti board, I had students look for important keywords, events, and people in the American Revolution chapter. Here were the rules for this game I read about in Michael Matera’s book, Explore Like a Pirate:

1. I gave them six minutes.
2. They had to raise their hand to be able to go to the board.
3. Once something was written, it could not be written again.
4. I always have a “magic word” that if anyone write they can earn extra points for their team (In this case, however, I brought in a donut 🍩 for the student).

When 6 minutes was up, students now had a wordbank of words related to the chapter. I asked them two questions:

1. Do any of these words or terms look familiar? (The Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party, Declaration of Independence are always familiar).
2. Do you notice any trends or does this list give you insight as to why the Revolution happened?

The Graffiti board wordbank created by the students would serve as a guide for our next activity – a Number Mania. For the Number Mania I gave students 10 minutes to look up events related to the American Revolution. They could use the word bank as a guide for their searches. Students submitted multiple facts, years, and events through a Google Form. I converted the Form data into a Spreadsheet and shared through a Google Classroom assignment. Finally, students had 20 minutes to select 5 events and place them on a timeline. They also added three pictures and a title. The last part of the Number Mania was for the students to define the American Revolution time period. Looking back on the Number Mania, I need to have students work on paraphrasing information. It’s time for some ParaFly to come out next week.

We finished out class with a Fast and Curious on Blooket. Blooket was having some connectivity issues – some students could join while other students could not. I had to have several conversations with classes because students were annoyed and upset they couldn’t join. Some students were so seriously distraught they couldn’t join because they felt they would get a “bad grade” – trying to change this mindset in 505 is still a work in progress. Eventually we got it working, and all the class averages were low 50%.

Wednesday

Today we began with a Fast and Curious on Blooket. It was nice to change up from a Gimkit or Quizizz, but Blooket was having connectivity issues again. We managed to still do it. This time class averages went up over 60%, and I focused on 3 questions about King George, Patriots, and Loyalists. I focused on these questions and words because the 8Parts we were doing on this day involved Patriots taking down a statue of King George. Here is the classic picture:

I paired up this picture with an 8Parts to get students analyzing the King George statue image with some historical thinking skills. I made some slight changes to the template to focus on some grammar skills, and historical thinking skills. Here is the template:

I used this 8Parts template knowing it would look familiar to the students. I tried some other 8Parts remixes with primary sources and documents from the Stanford History Education Group – Primary Source Parts. To me, this is a scaled down version of the Primary Source Parts.

Before beginning the 8Parts with the King George statue, I share my experience in New York City (Bowling Green Park) when I realized I was standing in the very spot where the statue came down. I share my photos with the students and share some cool stories about Bowling Green Park.

Since the students were familiar with the template, I quickly walked them through the process. We began with the three word title and moved onto nouns. I asked them, “What is a vocabulary word we could use for a noun?” Most put down Patriots. I’m trying to help them make connections to between the content and the activities that we do.

After nouns, I had students describe their noun. Then we moved onto verbs and adverbs. I give the students a quick tip with adverbs – I mention how most them end with “ly”. Then I quickly walked the students through historical thinking skills. The last step in 8Parts is to use the parts and write a summary about the King George statue image. Here are some examples:

Thursday and Friday

Thursday and Friday were reserved for a Nearpod. I’ve been incorporating some Nearpod this year because it allows me to gaina. bit of control in my classroom. Some of the original, creative stuff I would normally do I feel like I can’t do it with some of the classes. I found a Nearpod on the French and Indian War and I edited it to fit in some EduProtocols such as Thin Slide and Sketch and Tell. Another thing that occurred to me was the French and Indian War is referred to as the Seven Years’ War in the textbook. I tried to make that adjustment as well.

Before beginning the Nearpod, I had the students think back to the Number Mania timeline and the year 1754. I said to the students, “This is where our story begins. This is the foundation for why the patriots were pulling down the statue.”

The Nearpod was great as it had these elements:

1. Thin Slides with Collaboration Boards
2. Sketch and Tell with Draw It Slides
3. Some self checking quiz questions
4. Primary Source Analysis
5. Scaffolding

For the most part it was engaging. On Thursday, I stopped at the Proclamation Line because I could tell the students were tired. So, we switched gears to a Gimkit (I transferred all my questions from Blooket to Gimkit). This injected some life into the class.

On Friday, we finished the Nearpod with the Proclamation of 1763 and a quick three question assessment. After the Nearpod was finished, I showed the students how to create a Google Drawing slide on the assignment and I had them write a History haiku.

The History Haiku is an idea I learned from Michael Matera at the 2019 Summer Spark in Milwaukee. Students write a Haiku as a formative Assessment. I put up success criteria, and students had ten minutes to write a Haiku about the Seven Years’ War:

1. 3 lines (5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables)
2. Add a picture
3. Add a title

Here are the results:

This week we continued with the Exploration and Colonies unit. We dove into Colonial Regions this week. I don’t focus on the individual 13 colonies because, to me, it’s not necessary. The idea in designing this lesson was having students understand how geography impacts the economy and various industries in the colonial regions.

When I set up my lesson, I created a fast and curious on Quizizz with 14 questions and paired it with a CyberSandwich. This is one of my favorite pairing of EduProtocols. I also used the unit as an opportunity to try out the Research Protocol created by my co-author Scott Petri. The Research Protocol led to the evaluation and creation of a summary slide. Finally, the students used their summary slide to create an airEMC advertisement to attract people to their Colonial Region.

Monday – Fast and Curious, Sketch and Tell

Tuesday – Fast and Curious, CyberSandwich

Wednesday – Research Protocol Sheet, Fast and Curious

Thursday – Research Protocol Summary Slide

Friday – Summary Slide, AirEMC (This is on www.emc2learning.com)

Monday

I used Monday as a way to introduce the Fast and Curious about colonial regions. The beginning class averages ranged from 42% to 53%. At the conclusion, I gave some feedback. This Fast and Curious included some vocabulary and content related questions. After giving some feedback, students started on a Sketch and Tell with some vocabulary.

The vocabulary within the Sketch and Tell related to the CyberSandwich reading for Tuesday’s class. The 4 words on the Sketch and Tell were:

1. Mercantilism
2. Democratic
3. Economy
4. Charter

Students had 20 minutes to create a sketch and write a definition in their own words. I set a timer for 5 minutes and reset the timer for each new slide. This was the 6th rep of Sketch and Tell this year, and the students keep improving.

At the conclusion of the Sketch and Tell, I ran the fast and Curious one more time. This time, class averages ranged from 68% to 75%.

Tuesday

Tuesday was the first rep of a CyberSandwich this year. My 1st and 8th periods I ran a traditional CyberSandwich using Google Slides. For my 3rd, 5th, and 7th period classes I ran the CyberSandwich using Nearpod. Why the difference? My middle three classes need a bit more control and Nearpod helps me provide that control.

On the CyberSandwich with Google Slides, I linked in a one page, TCI textbook section on the colonial regions. I also provide a paper copy as well. Here is my process for the Google Slide lesson:

1. Students read and take notes for 10 minutes.
2. Then students share their slide with a partner. (I have students share their slide with a partner after the reading because the sharing and moving is a distraction).
3. Students discuss for 5 minutes.
4. Then students spend 10 minutes writing a summary.

For my Nearpod lesson, I broke the reading into smaller sections because the students in my 3rd, 5th, and 7th periods need that. I linked each section to a collaboration board in Nearpod. I also added in some interactive, virtual reality slides showing geography of these regions. Here was my process for the Nearpod lesson:

1. Students read about the New England region and shared two facts on a collaboration board. (Students wrote down notes on a piece of paper.)
2. Then students looked at a virtual reality slide showing a coastline in Maine. We noticed the rocky coast, trees, and hills discussed from the reading.
3. Students read about the Middle region and shared two facts on a collaboration board.
4. Then students looked at a virtual reality slide showing a small farm in Pennsylvania. We noticed the forest, hills, and fields.
5. Students read about the Southern region and shared two facts on a collaboration board.
6. Then students looked at a virtual reality slide showing a small tobacco farm.
7. The last step was writing a summary for the impact of geography on the economy of each region. I used a Nearpod open question slide with a 10 minute timer. As soon as the timer ends, the question shuts down.

At the conclusion of both CyberSandwiches, everything was graded. Then we transitioned to a Fast and Curious. The class average range was 75% to 84%.

Wednesday

I went into school Wednesday morning wanting to do something different with my colonial regions lesson. Usually I tie in an annotated map, but I wanted something different. After some thought, I decided to use Scott Petri’s Research protocol from our book EduProtocols Social Studies Edition. I wanted this lesson to be an extension of the CyberSandwich from Tuesday. I also wanted the end goal (end creation) to be an advertisement to convince people to move to their colonial region.

The first thing I created was a Google Sheet for students to collect their facts and information on colonial regions. I created a drop-down-menu column in the sheet so students could categorize their facts with geography, economy, people, religion, education, government.

My next step was creating my own customized Google search engine. Yes, you can create your own Google search engine. Visit this site: programmablesearchengine.google.com, give your search engine a title, and add your own links. It’s incredible. I linked my search engine into the Google Sheet.

When students arrived, I had them choose one of the colonial regions. I gave them 30 minutes to find 15 or more facts from 3 different sources. This , of course, was scaled down from Scott’s AP version. For 30 minutes, students copied and pasted facts. I liked that I added in the category column because it had the students reading their facts and pondering how they should categorize them.

This protocol was incredible. The students were engaged. I also loved that they were engaged with a Google Sheet. More students need to be using spreadsheets in multiple ways.

Thursday

On Thursday, around 60% of students had all 15 facts ready to go. The next step in the process was having students rank their facts. I explained to them that copying and pasting was okay the first time around of fact collecting. However, in order to evaluate and rank facts, they need to read them, consider them, and rank them. The students ranked their facts from most interesting to most boring. Then I explained that basic knowledge such as people we ALL know, dates we ALL know would be considered boring in my book.

Students began to evaluate their information and copied their top 10 facts to the Research Protocol summary slide. Some students got creative and organized their facts, some just pasted facts, and other did what they could. This entire idea of this protocol seemed weird to them, but then again, most of how I run my class is weird to them. It’s taking a while for the kids to get used to me, but I’m making small breakthroughs.

After students ranked their facts, I had them create a summary slide. On the summary slide, students wrote a summary, or overview of their region focusing on 4 categories (geography, economy, religion, education, government, or people). They added two picture with captions and a title. Here are some samples:

Friday

For the end product, I wanted to see what the students would create with the airEMC template (This is a template made to look like an airBnB site). The purpose was to convince people to move to your colonial region. However, as students began working, I feel like the message got lost and I threw too much at them at once. I established success criteria, but many students seemed lost. It may have been the original language on the slides of choosing a “home” or it could have been that they were not familiar with airBnB. Here are some examples:

This week we broke away from the French and Spanish colonization and we focused on British colonization with Jamestown and Plymouth. This week I wanted the students to complete another Thick Slide. The interesting aspect of this year is the fact that I have never had these students in past years. Every student is new to me and new to EduProtocols. As a result, when I introduce a new protocol, I follow it up with a second rep.

In this example, the students did a Thick Slide on the Middle Passage last week. This week, we followed that up with a Thick Slide on Jamestown or Plymouth. I also wanted the students to share their slides and contribute to each other’s learning.

We finished the week with a creative Netflix template. The students love this template and it’s super engaging for most content.

Monday – Thick Slide, Fast and Curious (Gimkit)

Tuesday – Fast and Curious, Frayer

Wednesday – Netflix template, Fast and Curious

Thursday – Netflix, 3xCER

Friday – Gimkit, Add to Portfolios

Monday

This week we began to learn about Jamestown and Plymouth. Last year I didn’t focus on either colony. Instead, we did an investigation on the disappearance of the Roanoke colony. The Roanoke investigation is engaging, however, the students I have this year would struggle with the content. Plus, this lesson requires a lot of planning and printing stuff, and my head is barely above water now. I decided to keep it simple and went back to Jamestown and Plymouth.

I knew I wanted a lesson to get the students to contribute to each other’s learning. The best, and most, familiar way to achieve this in my room is through a Thick Slide. I created a quick Thick Slide, found a quick reading, and shared the stuff with the students.

Before students began creating their Thick Slide, I ran a Gimkit for 5 minutes. Most class averages were between 52-58%. After some feedback, I gave students 20 minutes to complete a Thick Slide on either Jamestown or Plymouth. I had them focus on these items:

1. Why was the colony founded?
2. What hardships did the colony face?
3. What made the colony successful?
4. What kinds of people went to these colonies?

With this being the 2nd rep of Thick Slides, here are some student examples:

We finished class with another Gimkit and all classes raised their averages between 75%-80%.

Tuesday

Tuesday I began by showing the students how to change the share settings on their Thick Slide. I do this so the students can access each other’s slides after we share. I’ve been asked many times, “How do you have students share slides for contributing learning?” Here’s how I do it:

1. I share a Google Form.
2. Students fill out the Google Form – which colony did you do? Paste a link to your slides.

1. I turn the Form data into a SpreadSheet.
2. I share the SpreadSheet on the Google Classroom assignment.

After students shared their slides, I gave each student a Frayer model. I print out the Frayer models for this because it’s easier write down the information. On the Frayer I filled in the 4 boxes with the same 4 questions mentioned above:

When students were finished, I had them create new Gimkit questions with the Gimkit Kitcollab. I shared a link through Gimkit and students began creating and submitting questions. I establish 1 rule: The same question cannot be repeated twice.

As students start submitting questions, I can accept or reject the question. At the end of time, we had a 20+ question Gimkit entirely made by the students.

Wednesday

Now that students had their thick slide completed, as well as the Frayer completed, it was time to create. I thought about giving students a choice, but I reminded myself that I have never had these students before. As a result, I dropped that idea. I needed something engaging and effective which meant the Netflix template came out.

I love the Netflix template and the students love it as well. When I put the template up on the Newline TV thing I have, one student said, “Are we watching a movie?” When I showed the students it was an editable tem[plate, they were instantly enthralled.

With the Netflix assignment, I listed out success criteria on the board:

1. A Creative Title.
2. The pictures relate to Jamestown and/or Plymouth.
3. You included in your description and episodes 3 or more of the following:
   – Year(s) founded and location.
   – Why it was founded.
   – Hardships they faced.
   – Why did the settlements become successful.

Here are some of the students examples:

Thursday

Thursday was used for taking 10 minutes to finish up the Netflix assignment from Wednesday. After the 10 minute timer went off, I introduced a new EduProtocol – 3xCER. I learned this from Ariana Hernandez and adjusted it to fit with social studies.

The 3xCER is a remix of the 3xGenre found in Kim Voge’s Deploying EduProtocols book. In the original 3xGenre students have a picture, small reading, video, or some topic they learned and they write a quick poem, an persuasive piece, and an informational piece in one class. With the 3xCER, students work on writing claims, using, evidence, and reasoning three different ways.

In my case of using 3xCER, we used the John Smith and Pocahontas lesson from SHEG. This is a perfect lesson to fit with Jamestown. Before we even began, I ask students a question, “What is a claim?” To my surprise, not many students knew. Here is your weekly reminder: don’t assume your students know basic things.

On our first rep, we read the timeline to place people and events in context. Many students were surprised that Pocahontas was a real person. We also discussed that her real name was Amonute, sometimes known as Matoaka. Then students typed the question – Did Pocahontas save John Smith’s life?After reading the timeline and typing our main question, students read document A which implied that Pocahontas did not save John Smith’s life. From this, I asked a ton of questions to help students write a claim, find evidence, and use reasoning.

The students were on their own for document B which implied Pocahontas did save John Smith’s life. However, with this document, John Smith completely changed his story 16 years after the fact. After they finished document B, students had to write their own claim. I stated, “Document A implied a claim, Document B implied a claim, now what is your claim? What do you think happened?” I encouraged the students to go back to the timeline to help them develop reasoning to add more to their evidence and prove their claim. Here are those results:

Anyclass time leftover was spent playing the student developed Gimkits from the previous day.

Friday

For Friday I developed a brand new lesson on 3 colonial regions. I thought about starting it, but I thought – why? Instead, a new thing I’m doing this year is a student portfolio. I’m teaching students how to use Google Sites to keep all of their work readily available. I can use this portfolio for parent-teacher conferences, they can use it to see their growth, or students could use it to reflect. Part of the class period was spent adding documents to the site.The other part of class was spent playing gimkit or finishing missing work.

Back at it……..and it was the longest week ever. We added an Advisory period this year which now gives us 8 periods a day. I’m used to 7 periods, and this will take some getting used to.

Every year I want to add new things to my teaching and into my classroom. This year I wanted to incorporate more reflective things for my students. For example, I have students reflecting on their attitudes and feelings towards meeting goals within lessons. I’m doing this with the Magana Mastery Tracker (I cannot share the link but you can find this awesome tool in Dr. Magana’s book, Learning in the Zone).

I used this first, full week of school to teach students about some EduProtocols. The students I have this year I have never had and they are not familiar with EduProtocols. I’m used to having some of the same 7th graders from the previous year which makes for a nice school year. As a result of never having these students, I’ve already noticed some interesting things which I mention later…

Monday – Number Mania Intro, Thin Slide

Tuesday – Sketch and Tell reps, Thin Slide

Wednesday – Historical Thinking Skills (HTS) Fast and Curious, Frayer

Thursday – Historical Thinking Skills Practice with 8Parts

Friday – HTS Infographic (Original) (Scaffold) (Number Mania style)

Monday

The theme for Monday was getting to know each other. I began class with a fast and Curious about me. Then I introduced the Number Mania EduProtocol to get to know the students. On Google Classroom, I shared a premade Google Slide so I could introduce the students to Word Art, changing fonts, and changing colors. Please…….don’t assume that students know how to use basic Google functions. Google has been a part of my district for 10 years, and I still need to teach basic Google knowledge.

Before students began, I established success criteria such as changing fonts, changing colors, adding 4-5 numbers with facts, adding 2 pictures, and adding a title. Basic stuff. As the year progresses, I change the success criteria to focus more on content and organization. Once students open the Number Mania, I explain that they must use 5 numbers related to their lives. I don’t give any ideas, hints, or examples.

Here are some of the most creative numbers the students came up with: the number of states the student visited, shoe size, siblings, graduation year, etc. After the students chose numbers, they added a story about themselves at the bottom of the Number Mania. I had the students pause, and I asked, “If these numbers told a story about you, what story would it tell?”

Something I incorporated into the lesson this year (I could tell the students needed it) was stopping the students halfway through the Number Mania and having them check their work against the success criteria.

All in all, this is a great lesson to introduce basic Google skills, introduce the Number Mania, and get to know the students.

Tuesday

On this particular day, I wanted to introduce students to Sketch and Tell. Class began with a simple Sketch and Tell prompt: What is your hobby or talent? I use the first rep to go over Google Shapes and I introduce ctrl+D for duplicating shapes. The only success criteria I established were using multiple shapes and using multiple colors. The first rep lasted 8 minutes (I sometimes do things in eights – it’s my lucky number). I had the students partner up and explain their sketches to a partner. Then students wrote about their hobby or talent after sharing it with a partner. This was followed up with a 2nd rep.

The 2nd rep of Sketch and Tell is called The Town Dump. I created this lesson because a student pissed me off. (I often think of my best stuff when pissed off or with a beer). Three years ago I had several letters written by students taped on my wall and door. One day I noticed that someone wrote all over one of the notes on the wall. Pissed me off, and I created a lesson tied to history. Here is that lesson:

1. I ask students, “Does everything have a story?” Most respond with yes, and some respond with no.
2. I then read the story called the Town Dump by Wallace Stegner. This story is about a man reflecting on items of his he found in the Town Dump – some of the items can reveal what life in the town was like. Other items were his that were discarded because other people didn’t care for those items in the same way he did. He reminisced about the stories behind some of those items in the story.
3. At the conclusion of the story, I mention items in my room and the stories behind them. My laniards from conferences. The broken globe on my desk that belonged to a colleague that passed away 5 years ago. The student notes on my door. I make a point to say these items might be junk to you, but they mean the world to me because they have a story and I have an emotional attachment to them.
4. I then transition to Sketch and Tell and ask them to sketch an item that most people would view as junk, but it would mean the world to them.

This is a powerful lesson and a great way to get to know your students at the beginning o the year. Plus, this is a nice transition to teaching historical thinking skills. Using historical thinking skills is the way to bring artifacts and various sources to life with their stories.

thinking skills. Using historical thinking skills is the way to bring artifacts and various sources to life with their stories.

Wednesday

On this day I began with a Fast and Curious with historical thinking skills. I created a 12 question quiz featuring primary sources, secondary sources, sourcing, contextualizing, corroborating, and close reading. The class averages were 52%, 52%, 57%, 60%, and 57%. I quickly gave feedback and then we switched gears to a Frayer.

Last week students did 3 frayers so they were ready for this protocol. I had four Frayer models with primary sources, secondary sources, sourcing, and contextualizing. Last year I used a Sketch and Tell for these words, but I wanted to switch it up this year. Students defined the words, shared examples, nonexamples, and characteristics. For reference, I shared a slide presentation with information. I gave students 15 minutes to Frayer all 4 words. I quickly learned that I should have given 20 minutes. After the timer went off, I had students share their slides to the Newline interactive tv in my room. Some students came up and presented their Frayers while others wanted me to present. We took the Fast and Curious again and the scores were now 62%, 62%, 67%, 62%, and 70%. To me these scores were an improvement, but they weren’t as high as I expected them to be.

At the conclusion of the lesson, I had students track their progress with the Magana Mastery Tracker. Students set a goal for the lesson then rate their feelings, progress, and effort on a 1 to 3 scale.

Thursday

I began class Thursday with another rep of Fast and Curious. The scores this time were 60%, 59%, 62%, 62%, and 68%. I was completely caught off guard by these scores. I took some time to go over the Frayer models with my own examples.

I thought to myself, maybe if we practice the skills of sourcing, contextualizing, corroborating, and close reading then maybe the scores would go up. When I give feedback, I could reference our practice.

As a result, I created an iteration of 8Parts with historical thinking skills. I don’t know if it could be applied to photos, but I took a chance anyway. On Google Classroom, I shared my iteration along with a picture called Louis and Lola?. As you know, I take risks, I reflect, and I attempt to do better next time.

With this being our first rep, I walked students through the process of analyzing a photograph. I coached them up. The first thing we did was source the image, we wrote down the author, year, and title. Then I asked, if anything seemed stranbge about the title. Some students raised their hands and stated the question mark seemed strange because maybe their names aren’t Louis and Lola. Next we close read/analyzed the photo for details. Then students contextualized by searching the date 1912. I asked them., “What major event happened in 1912?” We discovered the Titanic sank. Then I asked, “What is the purpose of this photograph?” MANY students struggle with author’s purpose and point of view with informational sources. I waited a long time and across all classes I got, “The photo was made to share the news.” We thought about it and figured that if the Titanic sank, maybe they are trying to find the parents of these kids. Finally, students corroborated the information and found another source related to the photo. I made the point that if we never corroborated another source, all we would know is what we guessed about the photo. At the conclusion of the lesson, I had students write a summary about the photograph. We were unable to take the Quizizz once more.

Friday

We started off class with the same Quizizz again. This time the scores were 68%, 68%, 62%, 59%, 76%. Earlier in this post, I made reference to never having these students before. These low scores were eye opening to me. I looked at last year’s scores and my classes were at 90% or higher on the 4th rep of Fast and Curious. We had discussions in every class about using Quizizz, Gimkit, or Blooket as a learning tool. It’s not a review and forget tool. I’m hoping this is a phase and result of students getting used to me and my style.

To conclude this unit, I had students creating an infographic about Historical Thinking Skills. Some classes, I shared a blank slide presentation and let them create. Other classes, I shared the scaffolded version of the slides to help them visualize where information should go. I gave the classes 30 minutes to create. On Monday, they will have 10 minutes to finish up their infographics.

“What if they don’t do it correctly? I’m going to have to take an entire class period to go over their slides,” a colleague said to me. 

I replied, “They’ll be fine.” 

They replied, “What if they forgot something? I would have completed everything in the directions.” 

To which I replied, “I have a Masters degree. You have a Masters Degree. They’re all 11 and 12 years old. We would make the most creative slides the world has ever seen. We would follow every direction.  They’re learning a process.” 

     I share this conversation because too often we get caught up in the day to day content and compliance of learning. We all want to do better for our students. We all do so much and are called upon to do more. At times it’s the weight of the world pushing down at us and it’s stressful. However, we must remind ourselves about the core of any classroom – the human child. 

     The children who come to our classrooms are all from different walks of life. I’ll never forget when a student questioned my teaching and use of a worksheet. Rather than be offended, I began to reflect. Ultimately, I asked myself this question, “What experiences am I creating for my students?” My classroom ran like a “one size fits all” machine which didn’t place the emphasis on each individual student. 

     We are all unique individuals with unique skills and talents. My job as an educator is to discover students strengths and talents and bring them to life. As a result, I created a classroom based around students and creating, critically thinking, collaborating, and communicating (The 4 C’s). However, while students are creating, I’m walking around giving feedback. I’m talking. I’m joking. I’m teaching students. 

     When I revamped my classroom, I took a major risk and it began with creating lessons where students were creating their own learning. I stopped assigning textbook sections with comprehension questions. Instead, I changed it to students reading a textbook section, finding 5 important facts, discussing and comparing their facts, and then creating a summary of their learning. I will run this framework around fifteen times a year. This repetition allows students to grow and get better throughout the year. 

     My classroom is also a place where students are creating learning artifacts to share with each other. I really wanted students learning from each other. Oftentimes, my students are designing slides to help them learn new information. These slides are unique to them and their own strengths. They are also sharing these slides with their peers and across all my class periods.  Students should not hide behind Chromebook screens. We should be leveraging technology to get students sharing knowledge, and giving feedback, to each other.  

     Since I switched to a student focused classroom, I noticed several changes. Students were happier and more confident. With the design and repetition of lesson frames, students were able to recognize their growth and learning through the year. This made me a happier teacher as well. I no longer am the teacher that states, “This week is moving so slow.” 

     Now I’m back to my conversation from above. The entire focus was on every student having correct slides and following directions. The focus was on content and compliance. My focus is on individual students. How did I help ease my colleague’s mind? I had every student partner up and they gave feedback to each other. They had one minute to tell each other something they liked about their slides. Then students had one minute to tell each other something they would change on their slides. As a result, students helped each other find missing quotes or misinformation. Students did the work. Students did the learning. 

     Why does this work for me? I began trusting my students and helping them understand their unique strengths, talents, and skills. I didn’t sign up for teaching so I could brag about being the first to get through a textbook. I didn’t sign up to talk at students all day. Rather, I chose this profession because I want to help make a difference in the lives of students and create change for everyone. 

Year 10 in the books! What a year it was in 505 – I made some changes and set a goal to teach Reconstruction by the end of the year. Throughout the year, I made some small changes to units and lessons and achieved the goal. Here are my units with some thoughts:

1. Unit 1 – Exploration of North America
2. Unit 2 – Road to the Revolution

With these 2 units, I can get carried away with Jamestown and Plymouth, French and Indian War, and all the little acts and taxes that were passed by British Parliament. I cut out all the small details and focused on the important pieces. For example, I focused on who fought the French and Indian War, the debt that was accrued, and the Proclamation of 1763.

1. Unit 3 – Constitutional Convention
2. Unit 4 – The Constitution

These are 2 of my favorite units. I rarely teach the same way year to year, but I really like and reuse a lot of the lessons. Government and the Constitution are passions of mine, and I try to make these lessons as hands on as possible. I cut down Units 1 and 2 so I could focus more on the Constitution.

1. Unit 5 – The New Republic
2. Unit 6 – Westward Expansion

These 2 units I’m always trying to tinker with and perfect a bit more. I really enjoyed the blogging aspect of the New Republic Unit, but it needs something else (what that is, I don’t know yet). I focus on the first 5 presidents which covers a lot of material and takes us to Westward Expansion.

Once I begin westward expansion, I begin to think, “Should I include Andrew Jackson?” He’s intriguing, engaging, interesting – but is it important?

1. Unit 7 – Industrial Revolution and Reforms
2. Unit 8 – Civil War
3. Unit 9 – Reconstruction

Despite me questioning whether I should teach about Andrew Jackson, Westward Expansion is a nice transition to the Industrial Revolution and reform movements. Westward expansion and reform movements are a nice transition to the Civil War.

3 Positives

1. EduProtocols

EduProtocols are constantly evolving from year to year. I love it. These lesson frameworks are engaging, familiar, and are easily adaptable to different levels of students. The creativity and collaboration among students was at an all time high in 505. Here are my top EduProtocols this year:

CyberSandwich – I love this protocol because it can easily be created and scaffolded in a variety of ways. This year I used a Main Idea note taking strategy:

Students partnered up and read to each other. As one student read, the other student took notes. After both students read and took notes, they discussed their notes. The summary at the end of the CyberSandwich was a newspaper article creation.

Another way I used CyberSandwich was through Nearpod. This was a great way to control the pace of the CyberSandwich and provide scaffolding strategies. I often used the Nearpod CyberSandwich in my class with a high percentage of students with IEP’s. Here is what I did to set this up:

1. The 10 minute reading was set up as an open ended question. I linked the reading and had students take 6-8 important facts/notes. I also added a 10 minute timer in Nearpod.
2. Next I had students add important notes to a collaboration board. This was followed up with a brief discussion.
3. Finally, I had students summarize their learning with an open ended question. I also added a 10 minute timer to this slide.

Thick Slides

My favorite EduProtocol this year, hands down, was the Thick Slide. This protocol is so versatile with any lesson. I used Thick Slides to help students form and create an essay. I used Thick Slides as a way for students to share and learn from each other. I used Thick Slides as a way to just be creative. Here are some awesome student examples:

Here are the ways I used Thick Slides:

1. Monroe Doctrine – this was used as a way for students to develop a thesis statement, and write a small essay. Out of the EduProtocols students used for helping them write their essay, most enjoyed the Thick Slide.
2. Abolitionists – students created this Thick Slide, changed the share settings, and shared their slide with other classmates through a Google Form. I gave students a Frayer model and they used each other’s slides to learn about other abolitionists.
3. Civil War – students used the Thick Slide to help them collect information about a battle that a local Civil War veteran fought in. This was used to help create a tribute to that Civil War Veteran.
4. Reconstruction – students used this Thick Slide to collect information. I had them give each other feedback about their slides. Then I had students reflect on which information was important versus not important. They used this to help them create a news story about Reconstruction.

2. Civil War Veteran Project

For the longest time I was obsessed with the cemetery near my school. It was one of the original village cemeteries with numerous old gravestones. I was always curious about the names, people, and gravestones. However, I never knew where to start or where to look. I just let it go until this year……

I had a student teacher who informed me what a Civil War veteran’s grave stone looks like. In 1879, Congress passed a bill that would honor Civil War Veterans throughout the United States. Their grave stones would be made of white marble, rounded top, with a Union Shield, and contain the veteran’s name, company, and rank. With that bit of information, I knew it was time to do the project. With EduProtocols in my back pocket, the project was easy to plan and design.

To begin the project, we walked to the cemetery and collected names. I had students write down the full name, company, rank, and years for 3-4 veterans. When we went back to the classroom, we began searching Ancestry.com, Civil War Index, NPS database, and other Civil War databases. Students created an Iron Chef, Thick Slide, and recorded a tribute to a local Civil War veterans on FlipGrid. It was a great way for students to connect history to their community. Here are some examples:

3. Lifelines and Messages

I have mentioned this before – I don’t care about Social Studies. I’m not driven by content. I’m not driven by pacing guides. I’m driven by anyone who steps foot in room 505. I care about the success and well being of anyone I’m around.

It’s important to me to talk with every students 2 or more times per class. It’s important to me to begin every class by asking students how they are doing. It’s important to me to show kindness and gratitude.

I grabbed an idea from Monte Syrie – Lifelines. I handed out a lifeline to every student this year. The lifelines were used by students when they were having a bad day and couldn’t possibly focus on work. As a result, they could use a lifeline and trade the class period for time to rest, reflect, and do nothing. However, they knew they had to make up the work. Most teachers would be apprehensive about this, but it’s important to me to show a little grace. The students did not abuse this, and I was amazed at how responsibly they handled the lifeline.

Students often love the daily messages I write on the board. I don’t bring attention to them. I simply write them and let the students read them on their own. Occasionally, I will leave the board blank to see their reaction. A blank board is often met with disdain and a lot of questions. Here are my messages from the last week of school:

Needs to be Better

Everything needs to be better. It never feels like enough and I have a drive to make 505 better and better. Here is my list of finding better:

1. More student to student feedback.
2. More positive contacts home. I always begin the year doing great with this, and then it drops off.
3. More student created assessments.
4. More writing skills (we write ALL THE TIME), but more revising and editing techniques.
5. More “in the moment” feedback from me.

Despite it never feeling like enough, please take time to read a Letter of Recommendation a student wrote for me. Yes, this is a talented 8th grade student…..

To whom this may concern,

     I am writing to recommend Adam Moler for Ohio Teacher of the Year. It was a pleasure to have him as a teacher for the past two years, and having him as an educator is surely a blessing to any student.  

     Mr. Moler has an aptitude for improvisational teaching during challenging circumstances, and has the natural ability to make students feel heard and appreciated while being in class. For instance, he holds a “Friday Check In” once a week to listen to the needs and thoughts of his students, while fully understanding feedback with a non judgemental understanding. If he finds that a particular lesson may not be thoroughly understood by everyone, he modifies the lesson according to the students needs.

     For example, students are able to pick their pathway of learning by completing work that leaves leeway for creativity. In the document  5.3 Assessment Options, the following are represented:

1.  contemporary themes for assessment items that cater to younger generations, to better advocate the educational subject with his audience
2. A concise expectation of what items should be included (allows for the student to better reflect on learning expectations)
3. Rhetorical questions that grant a deeper thinking

     Many assignments also require creativity and adapt to the needs of those with Neurodivergency (having conditions such as ADD, ADHD, ASC, ect.) by recognizing strengths and allowing for diverse skills found in these disorders to be utilized. In The Great Western Race Assignment, Mr. Moler gave myself and fellow students the ability to define concepts with the input of our own knowledge and way of thinking. 

     To further prove that his teaching skills are astonishingly effective, the Learning Statistics document records my personal increase in knowledge, commonly grown by 40%-61% from the first attempted quiz.

     While being skilled in the education department, Mr. Moler has an inclination for being an inspiring and knowledgeable role model in the lives of many, by writing words of guidance and support to his students. Some of many of these quotes can be found in The Inspiring Quotes of Adam Moler documentation. 

     After being a student of Adam Moler for 2 years, my fellow students (see Student Feedback Link for more information) and I can confidently recommend him as the Ohio Teacher of the Year. 

This week we moved into the 2nd week of the new unit about Reconstruction. Again, I’m using this unit to explore some of the topics to gain a better understanding of how everything works together. Next year, I’ll have a better understanding of the content and hopefully create an intriguing essential question.

I wanted the main focus of this unit to be on Reconstruction plans, Reconstruction Amendments, people and groups involved, and the Compromise of 1877. This week, we focused on Reconstruction Amendments, people, and the Compromise of 1877.

Aside from the content, I wanted to focus on using EduProtocols as LEARNING ARTIFACTS. I liked this terminology used by Dr. Sonny Magana. It gives the work a purpose. The EduProtocols allow students to develop their own knowledge, have conversations about the content, give each other feedback, and create. Protocols win against crappy question worksheets any day of the week.

Monday – Fast and Curious, Sketch and Tell

Tuesday – I lectured the entire class (Yes, I did that. Sometimes it’s needed) – presentation created by @corywwalker.

Wednesday – Thick Slide with NewsELA reading, Fast and Curious

Thursday – Choice of Fact Mania or Somebody – Wanted paired with a NewsELA article, Fast and Curious

Friday – Final Project of the Year – News Frenzy (EMC2Learning)

Monday

Monday I was absent, but I wanted the focus to be on the Reconstruction Amendments. An easy go to lesson for me when I’m absent is a Sketch and Tell. Students are familiar with it and stay engaged with it. I put together a quick Sketch and Tell that focused on the ratification year of the amendments, definition of the amendments, and effects of the amendments. I paired a 3 minute video with the Sketch and Tell. The video was ideal because it was short, it began with information students previously learned, and it did an excellent job of explaining the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments.

The fast and curious I set up was through Gimkit. The Gimkit included 30 questions about Reconstruction Plans, amendments, and people. I like to mix up the platforms I use for fast and curious. Quizizz is great, and, in my opinion, provides more accurate results. Gimkit is good, and a nice mix up as it provides lots of reps with questions. However, the students get caught up in the game aspect of Gimkit and don’t focus as much on the content. You definitely need to coach them through using Gimkit properly and be able to explain the purpose of Fast and Curious. The fast and Curious scores were as follows: 62%, 52%, 63%, 51%, 56%.

Tuesday

Based on the Gimkit results from Monday, and being absent, I needed to get everyone on the same page. I found 2 great Peardeck presentations from a teacher in Virginia named Cory Walker (@corywwalker). Going into class Tuesday, I had several goals:

1. Get the students on the same page.
2. Reteach the Reconstruction Plans.
3. Go over Amendments.
4. Discuss and analyze the loopholes in the language of the amendments.

I copied the 2 presentations I found from Cory and combined them into 1 peardeck. I rearranged the slides to show how southerners responded to the 13th amendment with Black Codes, 14th Amendment with Jim Crow laws, and the 15th amendment with voter restrictions.

What’s sad to me is the entire time I was teaching about the amendments, I felt like I was breaking some sort of rule or law. This is the sad nature of our country now.

After I combined the 2 presentations, I lectured the entire class. The Peardeck aspect of it made it interactive. It’s unlike me to lecture, so I started off class apologizing. As I lectured, I was inspired by this 15 Minute History podcast on Reconstruction that Dr. Scott Petri shared with me.

After my lecture, did I bore students? Yes. However, many students said they actually liked that I took time to lecture. I shared a Google Form asking students why they liked me taking time to lecture. Here are some responses:

1. “You made some things clearer.”
2. “You’re really good at telling stories.”
3. “You explain history really well.”
4. “I like the stories.”
5. “It reminded me of story time.”
6. “I feel I learn better this way.”
7. “We didn’t have to really do anything.” – 🤦

The only class that had time for the Fast and Curious Gimkit was 5th period. They raised their class average from 63% to 85%.

Wednesday

On Wednesday we got back to creating “learning artifacts” for the Reconstruction unit. I wanted to do a follow up with the lecture from Tuesday with an article I found on NewsELA entitled, What everyone should know about Reconstruction 150 years after the 15th Amendment’s ratification, written by Tiffany Mitchell Patterson, PhD, a professor at West Virginia University. I liked this article because it added new information to my lecture from the previous day, and it covered much of the same content. I paired this article with a Thick Slide.

On the Thick Slide, I had students include a picture with a caption, 5 important things to know, a meaningful quote, and I included a review of southern responses to the amendments. As students were working I was giving feedback on their 5 important things to know. A lot of their information was stuff they already knew. I wanted the students to focus on new information. Some students included information about the 19th amendment ratification in 1920. We discussed the 19th amendment as being important, but it might not be relevant to notes on Reconstruction. Ultimately, I was trying to help them understand how to choose relevant information.

We finished class with a Fast and Curious Gimkit. The scores were as follows: 72%, 71%, 77%, 78%, and 68%.

Thursday

Today was reserved for the Compromise of 1877 and the end of Reconstruction. I gave students a choice for learning about the compromise – a reading I found on NewsELA or an EdPuzzle featuring a segment from the CBS Sunday Morning Show. (I love the segments from the CBS Sunday Morning Show featuring Mo Rocca!!!) Students also had a choice to create their learning artifact – Somebody – Wanted – But – So – Then, or Fact Mania. Most students chose Fact Mania. I had students focus on the who was running for president, what was the compromise, and why did the compromise end Reconstruction? For the Fact Mania, students had to choose 5 important facts to highlight, include pictures, and add a title.

We concluded class with another Fast and Curious Gimkit. The class averages were: 76%, 74%, 79%, 79%, 71%. The questions missed the most were questions from the Reconstruction plans. Upon review, I noticed the 2 classes with the highest averages we focused on the Reconstruction plans the longest. The other 3 classes I rushed through Reconstruction plans. The other aspect to this is the amount of absent students lately. It seems Covid is making a comeback and more students are getting sick.

Friday

Today was used for finishing up the Compromise of 1877 and beginning the final project. I thought about giving students a choice, but I kept it at one thing – The Fake News Frenzy from EMC2Learning. I cannot share this file, so check it out on their site.

I explained to students that they made learning artifacts to go back to and use for their final project. I prefaced everything with this, “If Reconstruction were featured on a news show, which aspect of Reconstruction would be highlighted?” This seemed to help students with the open-endedness of the project.

I love the News Frenzy file because it has students creating headlines, using social media posts, creating interviews with people, and creating tabloid headlines. A lot of creativity and thought must go into their creation.

Student Feedback

I shared my final Friday check-in with the students and I asked this question, “What advice can you give me about how to be a better teacher?” Here were some responses:

1. “I think you’re a pretty good teacher already. The only piece of advice I can give to teachers is to try and understand the kids. Try and understand why they didn’t get their homework done or why they were sleeping in class. Being a student isn’t the easiest thing so having a teacher who understands makes all the difference.”
2. “Not much. In my opinion you are an amazing teacher and there isn’t really a lot to grow off of. As a teacher you are great at most things you do.”
3. “Be patient with us you are already an amazing teacher but we have a lot going on throughout middle school that is stressful and hard to explain but please just be patient.”
4. “I think you could maybe teach a little more to the whole class out loud because when you explain things out loud it becomes clearer than reading a paper sometimes.”
5. “I really cant think of anything you can do better. You are the best teacher i’ve ever had and you are the most understanding and funniest.”
6. “nothing because honestly I need to be a better student and you have been so good to us”
7. “i don’t think i can, you already are by far the best teacher i’ve had”
8. “None, you are one of the best teachers I have had.”
9. “there is no advice i can give when you’re already best teacher at teaching in this school, at least in my opinion”
10. “Create more material so that some activities are repeated as much. Like less number manias and Iron chefs.”
11. “No advice. You are single handedly the best teacher I have ever had throughout my educational journey.”