Author: molersmusings

Well, not much a week in 505 – snow and ice cut the week short. The month of January was filled with interruptions – we went to remote learning twice, high school scheduling stuff for students, three or four snow days, and some upcoming field trips. My early republic unit, we are currently in, should have taken 5 to 6 weeks. However, we are only halfway through it. What should have been 5-6 weeks, will now be 7-8 weeks. Everything is a mess, but we just go with the flow and adapt.

With remote learning last week, students studied John Adams and the Sedition Act. However, I only had 42% students engagement. When we came back from remote learning this past Monday, I needed something that could serve as an introduction to John Adams, yet serve as a continuation of student learning from remote. I couldn’t find much, so I typed up a one page article about the sedition act with background information and how both parties felt about the act. We also did some review this week with Blooket and Gimkit. I was hoping to get to Thomas Jefferson, but weather cut our plans short.

Monday – Fast and Curious, CyberSandwich with John Adams

Tuesday – Quest 3 project Choice with Empathy Map or Hero’s Journey

Wednesday – Quest 3 Project Choice

Thursday and Friday – blizzard bag day – I shared a Thomas Jefferson reading from Icivics

Monday

With the start of the week, I had to be absent from school. So, my student teacher took over and ran a lesson I put together. Remote learning engagement from the previous week was awful, so I needed something to get all students on the same page. I needed something familiar, easy to run, and effective. I needed a CyberSandwich + Fast and Curious combo!!

I try to run a CyberSandwich at least once a week. It gives students a chance to read and practice with informational text, discussing information text, and summarizing their learning. Since work completion was not great last week, I needed a reading about John Adams that could introduce background information and add information for anyone who completed work from the previous week. The main goal of each Quest is to learn about a decision made by each of the first five presidents. Then students analyze that decision from the perspective of a Federalist or Democratic-Republican.

I ended up typing a one page document about John Adams and linking it to a CyberSandwich. Then I created a ten question Quizizz about the reading and John Adams. When I create a Quizizz for a Fast and Curious, I try to keep it to 10 questions or less. If I created this with a Gimkit or Blooket,I would add more questions since those games are based on time.

With this particular CyberSandwich, I added four questions to provide some scaffolding support for students. Instead of a summary at the end, I had students create dialogue between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson about the Sedition Act. I like to mix up the CyberSandwich from time to time to help with students engagement. However, the process stays the same – 10 minute, 5 minute discuss and compare, 10 minute summary or creation.

Here are some student examples:

The students did great with the Fast and Curious Quizizz as well. Part way through the day, I texted the students teacher in my room and asked him how everything was going. He took a picture of the Quizizz results and said, “You have these students trained well.” Here are those Quizizz results:

Tuesday

As I stated above – The main goal of each Quest is to learn about a decision made by each of the first five presidents. Then students analyze that decision from the perspective of a Federalist or Democratic-Republican. Tuesday, I wanted to have students fill out an empathy map from the perspective of a Federalist or Democratic-Republican regarding the Sedition Act. I decided not to do a digital copy and printed 100 empathy maps. By the time 5th period rolled around, I wanted to try out a new EduProtocol I learned from Dr. Scott Petri (@scottmpetri) called the Hero’s Journey. Scott likes to use this EduProtocol at the end of a lesson or unit. I wanted to use it in place of an Empathy Map – it had that same empathy map feel to it.

Basically, students fill out a storyboard format as they map out how a character changes through a story. Here is that story map:

Through the Call to Action down to the Return – I thought this fit perfectly with analyzing the Sedition Act from multiple perspectives. I decided to try this lesson out with my 5th period and it worked out great. Here are the directions:

1. This Hero’s Journey lesson lasted 20-25 minutes.
2. I encouraged students to keep it simple and add pictures and/or icons.
3. Students used examples from the CyberSandwich reading. This lesson gave students a chance to reuse the CyberSandwich reading a 2nd time. The more students can interact with a reading the better.
4. I had students focus on one perspective as they filled out each box and followed the questions/prompts.

Whether it’s an Empathy Map or Hero’s Journey – these organizers can help students create their final project for Quest 3 – Facebook Profile, Blog, or Yelp Review. Here are some student journey examples:

Wednesday

Wednesday was project choice day for Quest 3. Students could choose between 3 options: Facebook Profile, Yelp Review, or writing a blog on their Google Site. The goal with choice is to have students discuss the Sedition Act and impact of the Sedition Act signed into law by John Adams.

I shared a Google Doc with all the project choices listed out. I even linked in directions videos, some scaffolding support, I can statements, and a rubric. When I give feedback on student work, I always refer back to the I can statements. Here are some student examples:

Thursday and Friday

These days were Blizzard Bag days as we got hit with snow and ice for much of the day Thursday. So, I shared a reading about Thomas Jefferson from Icivics. This reading served as an introduction to Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase for when we return to school.

My 505 Messages

The Cincinnati Bengals are going to the Super Bowl! I never thought I would see a playoff win in my lifetime. Now I have seen 3 in just as many weeks. Who Dey baby!!!

Down 21-3, I’ve been so “Bengalized” I thought it was over…until the Chiefs decided to get greedy right before the half. This new Bengals came out of the locker room with new energy. New life. When it came down to the coin flip…again, I’ve been so “Bengalized” that I thought it was over. BUT, this is a new team, new attitude, turning over a new leaf, and Cincinnati is like a new city.

For people outside of Cincinnati, and may not get it, this means the world to us. This is monumental. There is nothing cooler, happier, more down to Earth than Cincinnati when the Bengals are winning. Cincinnati. Is. Back. Baby!!!

However, at the end of the game, I was told I was being too loud. To which I replied, “I don’t care. I can be as loud as I want.” You see, for 2 1/2 years there hasn’t been much to cheer about. As a teacher, I’ve been stressed, overworked, beaten down. It’s rare that people ask a simple question, “How are you doing?” My answer, honestly, is……..not great.

Between COVID, politics, and rude people there hasn’t been much to cheer about. Seriously, it’s not that hard to follow COVID rules. It’s not hard to give up some freedoms for the betterment of others. It’s not hard to be nice to people. It’s not hard to listen to people and agree to disagree. It’s not hard to use common sense, yet, we make these things impossible, so it seems.

So, yeah, I’m going to cheer as loud as I want to because there is something positive about this Cincinnati Bengals team. Something magical. Something that we can all learn from – a belief that there is something better.

Who Dey Baby!!! Enjoy…

This week was one big jumbled hot mess. We began the week with remote learning Monday through Wednesday. Then the entire week was made to be remote learning. Student engagement was 42%. Like I mentioned above – one. big. jumbled. hot. mess.

With remote learning, I usually slow down what I’m doing. If I expect 1 class period in person for something to finish, I usually give 2 to 3 remote learning days. With that, here is the week we had:

Monday – empathy maps for the Whiskey Rebellion

Tuesday – Whiskey Rebellion assessment choice (blog, Facebook, or Yelp)

Wednesday – Whiskey Rebellion assessment choice (blog, Facebook, or Yelp)

Thursday – Begin Quest 3 – John Adams and the Sedition Act. (Quizizz, Edpuzzle)

Friday – John Adams and the Sedition Act (Quizizz, EdPuzzle, Primary Source Analysis)

Monday

The entire goal of my Quest unit on the early republic is to get students thinking from someone living during the 1790’s to 1820’s as a Democratic Republican or Federalist. Some of the bests blogs, Facebook profiles, or Yelp review activities happen when I can help students really place themselves in the moment. One of the best ways to have students place themselves in the moment is an Empathy Map. The empathy map I use came from EMC2Learning so I will not share it, but you can find empathy maps all over the internet.

I had students look back at Quest 1 and the character they created with their chosen political party. Next I had students write that party in the middle of the empathy map. This was followed by having students think about how a Federalist or Democratic Republican would view the whiskey tax, farmers rebelling, and the use of military force to end the rebellion. This type of mindset really helped students create some awesome blogs, Facebook profiles, and Yelp reviews for the final assessment for Quest 2. Here are some student created empathy map examples:

Tuesday and Wednesday

Tuesday and Wednesday were devoted to choosing and finishing a project choice for Quest 2 – the Whiskey Rebellion. The goal with these project choices is for the students to get into character and analyze decisions made by presidents. In this case, students would write about or review the decision made by George Washington to end the Whiskey Rebellion. The two most popular items students completed were the blog post or the Yelp review. Here are some examples:

Thursday and Friday

My hope going into THursday and Friday was that most students completed a Quest 2 blog, Facebook, or Yelp review. However, 42% of students completed one of those items. However, I sent emails, comments, or videos trying to increase work completion. I can’t hold up the rest of students for some. So, I posted Quest 3 – John Adams and the Sedition Act. I chose to only focus on the Sedition Act because it’s an act that is still relevant today. Plus, it’s an act that Federalists and Democratic Republicans can debate. Democratic Republicans felt John Adams signed the Sedition Act into law to silence their party. Federalists urged John Adams to go to war against France. This lesson has many interesting takes.

To begin this Quest, I chose an Edpuzzle video that fits perfectly with the lesson. The video discusses background information to the Sedition Act such as the tensions with France and the XYZ affair. I also had students take a Quizizz with the information they need to know with this quest.

The last activity I uploaded to the assignment was a primary source analysis with the Sedition Act. In this file I included a vocabulary sort with context clues and a reading of the Sedition Act. Then I have students creating a discussion between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Finally, students reflect on if a president should limit free speech.

My Room Messages

What a week! A short week for me. Students returned from remote learning on Tuesday. These days are usually a cluster as the students are all on different pages coming off of remote learning. Some students do everything, some students do some, and some students do nothing. As a result, Tuesday was a catch up day.

As I mentioned in the last post, students are creating a character that is a Federalist or Democratic Republican and they write a blog criticizing presidential decisions. My website for the unit can be found here: New Republic Quest. This week shaped out like this:

Monday – no school, Martin Luther King Day

Tuesday – catch up day with a Gimkit

Wednesday – Quizizz, Frayer, Whiskey Rebellion Cybersandwich

Thursday – Quizizz, Content Compactor, Empathy Maps (I cannot share these 2 items because they are located on www.emc2learning.com)

Friday – High School scheduling related stuff from the school counselor.

Tuesday

Today was a remote learning catch up day. In my last post, I mentioned that 60% of my students complete everything, 20% completed half of the assignments, and 20% did nothing. On days like this, I use a Gimkit. The best Gimkit mode for a day like this is the Fishtopia mode. This mode works best because I can set it to run for 25 minutes or longer and it maintains students engagement.

While students are competing on Gimkit, other students can work on their missing work from remote learning. I can also focus on helping students while others are playing the Fishtopia mode. I know…..I know….this sounds great and fantastic. However, Gimkit stopped working throughout the day. So, plan B was put into effect. We closed Chromebooks and got out the games – Uno, Jenga, Apples to Apples, and Operation. It turned out to be a great day because many students completed work for Quest 1 while other simply had fun.

Wednesday

Today was an introduction to the Whiskey Rebellion. I don’t like to talk too much if it’s not necessary. So, I introduced the years of George Washington’s presidency and quickly mentioned how a group of farmers challenged the new government. This led into our next activity – the fast and curious Quizizz.

For the Quizizz, I created 9 questions about the Whiskey Rebellion all tied to the I can statements for the lesson. I ran the Quizizz at the beginning of class then gave some quick feedback. Students completed a Frayer and a CyberSandwich. Then Class ended with one more rep of the same Quizizz. Here are the results I tracked throughout the day along with a a side by side comparison of one class period.

After the first rep of the Quizizz, I had students Frayer the word, “Excise Tax.” Taxes are things many 8th graders don’t fully understand. I felt this word was important to understanding the Whiskey Rebellion. Students used the SEE IT model for the Frayer – state the definition, elaborate on the definition, list 3 examples, illustrate, and talk about it. Here is an example of a completed Frayer…

After 4 minutes and quick discussion, students jumped into the CyberSandwich. This was a quick 10 minute read and note taking, 3 minute Discuss, and a 5 minute summary. I had to shorten the discussion and summarizing pieces so we could get one more rep of the Quizizz in before class. We had a shortened class period. After the 2nd rep of the Quizizz, all students and class averages improved significantly. Here are some CyberSandwich examples:

Here is a quick grading tip for everyone – at the conclusion of a CyberSandwich, Sketch and Tell, or any type of writing piece, I have students copy and paste their summary into a Google Form and submit. This way I have all summaries in one space and don’t have to waste time clicking through Slides.

Thursday

The ultimate goal of this quest through the Whiskey Rebellion is to have students analyze the rebellion through the eyes of a Federalist or Democratic-Republican. How would people from these parties feel about the taxes? How would they feel about the farmers rebelling? How would they feel about the use of military force to end the rebellion? The best way to do that is with an Empathy Map from Emc2Learning.

With this lesson I wanted to do more than an Empathy Map so I began class with the same Quizizz. Every class raised their Quizizz class average from the previous day which was awesome! I followed the Quizizz with a great activity from EMC2Learning called the Content Compactor.

Before starting this activity, I had students look at their blog from Quest 1 to remind themselves of the political party they chose for their character. With the Content Compactor, I had students finding a quote from a reading that would show how their character would feel about the Whiskey Rebellion. Students then summarized the quote. Then they narrowed their summary down to 1 word. Here are some awesome examples:

The Content Compactor was great getting students into the mindset of their character. (There are reasons I do certain activities in certain orders. Everything is intentional and has a purpose.) I followed the Content Compactor with the Empathy Map where I had students think about what their character (Federalist or Democratic Republican) would hear, say, see, and think about the Whiskey Rebellion taxes, farmers rebelling, and use of force. This Empathy Map will help students complete a blog, Facebook Profile, or Yelp review for the final project for Quest 2. Here are some examples:

My Room Messages For The Week

This week my school switched to remote learning Tuesday through Friday. Monday, obviously, was an in-person day. (I thought about typing ‘in-person, normal day’ – but there really aren’t normal days in middle school). This week was a continuation of our Quest Unit through the Early Republic. The unit can be found on my website here: newrepublicquest.weebly.com.

Students were finishing up learning about Federalists, Democratic Republicans, and creating a character/avatar for our quest before we switched to remote learning. As a result, I had to slow things down and switch up the lesson a bit to make things less stressful.

1. Monday – finish up the Federalist/Democratic-Republican Choice Board and create a character using the Hero Builder.
2. Tuesday – first day of remote learning – Create a Google Site.
3. Wednesday – choose to write a blog (rubric and scaffold) or design a Facebook profile from your character’s perspective.
4. Thursday – finish writing blog or designing Facebook profile.
5. Friday – finish writing blog or designing Facebook profile OR begin Hamilton’s Financial Plan lesson with a Quizizz.

Even with remote learning, I like the way this lesson and unit are going. My goal throughout this unit is to find a way to incorporate some more games and gamification from EMC2Learning. The gamification element works perfectly with the Quest idea and EduProtocols.

Monday

Monday was a continuation of some students finishing the Federalist vs. Democratic-Republicans choice board. However some students were creating characters/avatars for the Quest Unit. ^{_{(Again my goal with this unit is to have students create a character that lives during the New Republic with the first 5 presidents. Their character is either a Federalist or Democratic-Republican and critiques the decisions of the first 5 presidents through a blog post, Facebook post, or Yelp review).}}

I really liked the Hero Builder (character creator) lesson from EMC2Learning. At first I was unsure how this would fit into the lesson, but it made sense and worked out. Students that created a character with the Hero Builder really loved the idea and were super engaged. Anything that involves dice is always engaging. Students really liked rolling the dice and having to weigh, or apply, values to their beliefs as a Federalist or Democratic-Republican. As a result, they really got into creating their characters. Here are some examples:

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday

Tuesday was out first day of remote learning. My plan for remote is to keep things as simple as possible. When your expectations are the same as in-person learning, things can get out of hand quickly. As a result, if I think something would take 1 class period with in-person, I will give 2-3 days for completion during remote learning. I will share some more thoughts on remote learning at the end of this post.

Tuesday

Tuesday was a simple day – create a Google Site and add titles and pictures. That’s it. The Google Site will be used a portfolio to write blogs or embed Facebook profiles or Yelp Reviews throughout the unit. In order to teach this, I created a screencastify video where I walked the students through creating a Google Site and using the Google Site template tools.

I decided to cancel the Hero Builder (character creation) assignment. Many students needed some guidance with this activity and it would have been to overwhelming for remote. So, I would just have students create a character, using a rubric, within their blog or Facebook profile choice.

Wednesday and Thursday

Once Google sites were created I used a couple of Google Meets to walk students through the project choices for our first Quest. Students had 2 options:

1. Write a blog from there characters perspective. Students had a rubric to follow. Click here for the rubric. I also included a scaffolded blog writing to help guide students through organizing their information. Click here for the scaffold.
2. Facebook profile template – students could create character through a Facebook template. They create posts and add images related to their character and their associated political party. I wish I could remember where I got this template from, but I like this particular template because it’s easy to use and change.

I had a Google Meet Wednesday and Thursday to go over how to use the rubric to create a blog or use the Facebook template. In addition to the Google Meet, I also made videos using Screencastify going over directions for the assignments. For 2 days I worked so hard trying to give feedback, answering questions, and trying to get students to turn things in. In the end, 60 students completed a blog or completed a Facebook profile. With simple math, this is about 60% engagement. Compared to things I have heard from others, 60% engagement is average. Here are some student examples of blogs and Facebook profiles. What I love about this “Quest” unit is it allows for student creativity to shine…

Friday

Friday’s remote learning day had it all going on – students finishing blogs or Facebook profiles and turning them in. Students that were finished moved onto the Hamilton’s Financial Plan lesson. I didn’t want to do this lesson, but I felt like my choice board didn’t cover the national bank, loose/strict interpretation of the Constitution, or Hamilton’s plan to get rid of debt very well.

I used this lesson last year during remote learning and I designed it using a template from Amada Sandoval. This lesson includes the following:

1. Background information and context.
2. Short videos where I explain parts of Hamilton’s plan.
3. A video where I explain the compromise over Washington D.C.
4. A slide where students sort statements into correct categories.
5. A final slide where students add thought bubbles to Jefferson and Hamilton to show their thinking about the national bank.

All in all it’s a pretty simple lesson and perfect for a remote learning day. Along with this lesson, students took a Quizizz twice.

My Messages for the Week

Remote Learning

I’m not some remote learning expert and there are many ways to do it. However, I want to share 2 things that make my life easier during remote:

1. Screencastify – I love this tool for remote learning. I gladly pay for my subscription. I make direction videos ALL THE TIME. These direction video cut down on questions a lot. I also use Screencastify to give feedback to students. I really dislike typing the same thing over and over again. So, I record my screen and make quick 30-60 second videos giving students feedback on blogs or projects. Students have told me they prefer the feedback videos over the typed comments. You can even set up videos to track who watches them which could be good for taking attendance. Lastly, you can add questions into your videos now as well.
2. Have a separate Google Meet running – In Google Classroom I have an assignment titled, Resources To Help You. Under this assignment I have a copy of our remote schedule, a picture of my room message, and a Google Meet link that is open all day. Next to me I have a separate Chromebook open with the Google Meet running. Students join into the Meet whenever they need help throughout the day. When I’m away, I share my screen with a message that says, “I’ll be back shortly.”

Every remote learning experience is different, but these two things have made my life a bit easier during this time.

It was a decent Winter break and I returned to a teacher workday on Monday followed by students returning on Tuesday. I will fully admit right now – I was not prepared for Tuesday. However, I began a new unit.

The new unit I was starting is simply called, “The New Republic.” Despite my unpreparedness, I thought about this unit all winter break. I am my own worst enemy sometimes – I think too much. My ultimate goal is to create the best possible lesson I can for all students. As a result, I think of one way to teach a lesson, then I think of another, then I see another idea. Ultimately, I go down a rabbit hole of lesson planning and have nothing ready to go. Despite this, I do have a lot of resources I have collected over the years and I decided to fall back on a unit I created 5 years ago.

Five years ago I wanted to recreate how students learned about the first 5 presidents and the new republic. Rather than a typical president by president unit, I wanted something more engaging, something better. As a result, the Quest was born.

In short, the New Republic Quest is made up of 6 quests (not lessons). The first quest has students learning about the Federalists and Democratic-Republican parties. When the quest concludes, students design and create a character that belongs to one of these political parties. After students design a character, they blog from that characters perspective and create a backstory. Quests 2 through 6 have students using their character’s political party beliefs as they create a blog and critique decisions from the following presidents:

1. George Washington – Whiskey Rebellion response
2. John Adams – Alien and Sedition Acts
3. Thomas Jefferson – Louisiana Purchase
4. James Madison – War of 1812
5. James Monroe – Monroe Doctrine

For example, if a student chose their character to be a Federalist they might say Jefferson’s Louisiana Territory Purchase makes him hypocritical as a strict constructionist. They also might say it weakens the national government because the United States is too big. Whereas, a student whose character is a Democratic-Republican would praise Jefferson’s Louisiana Territory purchase.

I love this unit and the creativity that can be used and adapted to the individual quests (lessons). You can build Eduprotocols or resources from Emc2Learning into each quest. This entire unit I described is located here.

Monday – teacher workday

Tuesday – Introduction to the New Republic Unit and Splashed Vocabulary

Wednesday – Choice Board

Thursday – Choice Board and Character Creation

Friday – Snow Day!!!

Tuesday

Tuesday I came in unprepared, but with Eduprotocols, lesson planning is a bit easy. To begin the unit on the New Republic, students listen to 2 songs – “Hail Columbia” and “Fair and Free Elections.” Students listened to these 2 songs and completed a Thin Slide – 1 picture and 1 word to reflect the mood of each song. Then I had students share what they thought changed in an 11 year period between the songs (1789-1800). Here is an example.

Following our Thin Slide, we switched to a splashed vocabulary activity. What this means is vocabulary words are “splashed” around a paper (slides, doc). The first step is having students pair up and look for words they might know. Take 5 minutes and have students predict what some of the words might mean. The second step in the process is having students drawing lines between vocabulary words they think are connected. This is followed by a class discussion. After the splashed vocabulary, I had students Frayer the words Democratic Republican and Federalist to help us transition to our first Quest with the new unit.

Wednesday and Thursday

Wednesday I was better prepared to begin Quest 1 – Join the Party. This quest had students comparing the Federalists to Democratic Republicans (Hamilton vs. Jefferson). In past years, I had a couple of lessons put together which were good, but I’m always searching for better.

My focus this year is on differentiating more and better organizing my units. To stay with this focus, I created a choice board for this unit. The choice board can be found here. When I make these choice boards, I just don’t think of random activities and throw them anywhere on the board. I sit and think about which activities meet the needs of different student processing tendencies to place in a row. The activities in the choice board include:

1. Concept sort – hands on, manipulatives
2. CyberSandwich – a great Eduprotocol that allows students to work with each other and discuss the content.
3. EdPuzzle video with 3 different note taking strategies (venn diagram, sketchnotes, or bubble map).
4. Textbook – Read 2 sections and answer the questions for students who need more structure.
5. Frayer model – Frayer a historical figure based on a video about Democratic Republicans and Federalists.
6. Primary Sources – read 2 letters from Jefferson and Hamilton to get a sense of the differences between these two men.
7. Fast and Curious – Quizizz that students can take up to 3 times.
8. PearDeck – students paced Peardeck where students analyze Cabinet Battle #1 from the musical Hamilton.

Here are some student examples from the choice board:

Character Creation

After the choice board completion, students create their character. Some students reached this point in the lesson, while others had 1 activity left to complete from the choice board. In the past I would create a graphic organizer for students to create their character. However, I found the perfect activity from Emc2Learning for this – The Hero Builder.

To keep this short and simple – students got a Hero Builder paper. They decided their characters age, name, occupation, and political party. Then students wrote their beliefs around a web graph. The goal was for students to refer to their notes when writing out their beliefs. Then students rolled a 6 sided dice six times – 4-6 meant strong belief with a 1-3 a weaker belief. Students had to decide which numbers to apply to their beliefs. I tried to make the point that not all Republicans and Democrats carry the same beliefs. For example, not all republicans support the 2nd amendment. Not all democrats support the right to choose.

All in all, this Hero Builder was much more engaging and the students loved creating their character this way. Students were looking up common jobs from the late 1700’s, and common names from the late 1700’s and 1800’s. The creativity was awesome and can be endless with the Hero Builder and this New Republic Quest unit. Here is one students example from Thursday:

The next step in this quest is writing a blog. Students will create a Google Site and blog from their character’s perspective. I also added 2 more options this year – creating a Facebook profile or writing a Yelp review from their characters perspective. These options fall in line with my focus this year – improving my lessons with more differentiation for students.

My Room Messages

You can hear a pin drop in my room when students are reading and taking notes. Why? It’s the CyberSandwich (Here is a template). This year I have used this EduProtocol more than ever; even more than a Sketch and Tell. It’s efficient. It’s effective. It’s working. But, why is it working?

The main reason the CyberSandwich is working is consistency. I have many of the same students I had last year. As a result, I don’t have to waste time explaining or teaching the CyberSandwich process. They recognized the name and already know the process. This idea is similar to tennis instruction where I announce to a large group, “We are playing Rush and Crush,” and everyone in that group knows exactly how to play that game.

The other piece to consistency is trying to run the CyberSandwich 4-5 times per quarter. I’m pretty sure we have completed around 10 CyberSandwiches during the first semester of the 2021-2022 school year.

What is it?

The CyberSandwich is a teaching strategy where students will read and take notes for 10 minutes. Students then discuss their notes and what they’ve just read for 5 to 10 minutes (With Middle Schoolers I prefer 5 minutes). Then students use 10 minutes to write a summary or create something to show what they’ve learned. Here is a basic example.

In my example linked above, and in the slideshow, I established clear expectations with the note taking – type 6 or more important facts from the reading. When the 10 minute timer ended, I shared my notes with the students as a way to clarify misconceptions and do some direct instruction. For the summary part of the CyberSandwich, I set an expectation of 5 or more sentences for a summary. I would not give students 10 minutes to write 5 sentences – this is setting the bar extremely low and calling for disaster in a middle school classroom. I also provided sentence starters for all students. Even though some students may not need this help, I have the belief that what’s good for some is good for all.

Suggestions

First Time?

If you are doing a CyberSandwich for the first time, keep it simple. Don’t use content, or in-depth content, the first couple of uses. Find a simple, high interest article to teach the process. Do this a couple of times before using with regular content.

Timing

Establish time guidelines and stick to it. If you want a 10 minute timer, or a 15 minute timer for reading, it doesn’t matter. Just pick one and stay consistent.

Reading

The original CyberSandwich call for a comparison of 2 articles. For the longest time, I was caught up in trying to find 2 articles. Then I asked myself this, “Why? Why can’t students just read 1 article and discuss?” From that point on, students in my class read one article and discuss. This seems to work best for middle school students.

When it comes to a reading, try to find a quick, informative, one page reading. Sometimes I will write my own articles for students to make this work. As the school year goes on, I will gradually have longer readings, but no more than 2 pages in length.

Variations

If you use a CyberSandwich regularly, then these variations are great to add in for students.

Vocabulary

Before a CyberSandwich, have students skim a reading and find unknown words. Have students find 3 unknown words submit them to a Mentimeter Word Cloud. The words submitted the most will appear larger on the screen. Here is an example:

After all students submitted words, you can discuss as a class, run some of the words through a Frayer, or do a Sketch and Tell. This is a great way to build some background knowledge going into a reading.

Keyword Predictor

I wanted students working in small groups discussing the idea of popular sovereignty – even with no knowledge of the word. I found a piece of paper and wrote Popular Sovereignty in the middle. Around the word, I pulled out key phrases and words from the CyberSandwich article (I love this article because it hits on everything students should know about popular sovereignty). Students discussed and made connections with the main words and phrases from the article. This was to help build background knowledge before reading. Here is the CyberSandwich the students completed after the Keyword Predictor.

Notes

Mix up the notes that students take. You can leave this open ended such as this example:

You can even structure the notes with a main idea strategy seen here:

You can add the comprehension questions straight from the book as seen here:

The possibilities are endless with the CyberSandwich. Mixing it up can be a great way to keep students engaged throughout the school year.

Mix Up The End Summary

Sometimes it’s best to have students create rather than summarize. In the first example, I combined a Sketch and Tell with a Cyber Sandwich. Students created with Playdoh, Legos, or Google Shapes and wrote a summary.

In the next example, students completed a CyberSandwich comparing North vs. South before the Civil War. They created a map as their summary:

In the last example, students labeled a geographical picture as they summarized their learning.

No tech? Internet stopped working? No problem – CyberSandwich can easily transfer to paper.

Pair with a Fast and Curious

I love pairing CyberSandwich with a Fast and Curious Quizizz. When I pair these 2 together I have seen an average of 32% growth in one class period. Here’s how this works:

1. The first 5 minutes of class run a quiz related to the CyberSandwich reading. (Use Quizizz, Gimkit, or Blooket)
2. Give feedback to the students.
3. Have students complete the CyberSandwich.
4. Run the same quiz again.

I love this pairing for 2 reasons – it builds student confidence and increases student engagement. Students see the results and are excited. They attach this excitement and confidence to a CyberSandwich which helps with students engagement. Here is an example of the Popular Sovereignty results:

Give the CyberSandwich a try, but don’t start off too big. Keep it simple and gradually work your way toward some variations. Visit the EduProtocols site for a template.

The fastest semester of my life just ended. Let me add this – it’s amazing the amount of teachers that say their days go slow and weeks go slow, but say the semester went fast. That doesn’t make much sense to me. Anyhow, with EduProtocols and just having fun teaching, this truly was a semester that flew by.

The Units I Covered:

1. Unit 0 – Thinking Like Historians
2. Unit 1 – Exploration and Colonization of North America
3. Unit 2 – Road to the Revolution
4. Unit 3 – Constitutional Convention
5. Unit 4 – The Constitution

This semester I focused on cutting out the fluff so more focus could be placed on important events such as The Declaration of Independence, Constitutional Convention, and the Constitution. As a result, we spent about 8-9 days on the Declaration, 15 days on the Constitutional Convention, and 15 days on the Constitution. I cut out things like 3-4 days on Jamestown and Plymouth, 5 days on explorers, and 3-4 days on colonies. Will lives forever be changed focusing, or not focusing on these topics? No.

In this post I want to focus on Better and Could Be Better. I say to the students all the time, “There are no wrong answers, right answers, good answers, or bad answers – just better answers. Find better every day.”

Better

Vocabulary

Vocabulary. I know it’s important, but it’s something I have neglected the past few years. I dedicated myself to finding good research based practices to use with vocabulary. I easily could tell students to copy down definitions and draw a little symbol, but that’s not effective. I love reading and I love podcasts, and as a result, I tried some good vocabulary strategies.

1. Vocabulary Assessment – give students a list of important words from the unit. Let them quickly go through and assess their knowledge of the word – Know It, Not Sure, Don’t Know It. If the students Know it, then they can write a definition quickly, without Googling up the word. If the students are Not Sure, they have seen the word, but don’t know how to write a definition. If the students Don’t Know It, they have never seen the word before. Throughout the unit, keep coming back to the vocabulary assessment. Here is an example.
2. Splashed Vocabulary – splash random vocabulary words around a Google Slide or write them on paper. Make copies and hand out to students. Have students work in pairs and discuss what they think the words mean. Have a class discussion about the words. Then have students draw lines between words they think are connected. Then have a class discussion as to why they think those words are connected. Pair this with a Frayer model or a Sketch and Tell. Here is an example.
3. Skim a Reading – before starting a Cyber Sandwich, I like to have students skim the reading and look for unknown words. Students underline their unknown words and submit them to a Mentimeter Word Cloud. The words in the word cloud get bigger the more often they are submitted. We take the 3 largest words and Frayer them before starting a CyberSandwich. I like to use this before readings that I know will give students trouble – articles on religion or articles on government.

CyberSandwich

The CyberSandwich is becoming my new favorite EduProtocol. So far for this semester, I have used the CyberSandwich ten times – a mixture of paper and online. I have been adding note taking strategies to the notes slides as well. For example, I used a main idea note taking strategy where students read an informational article or textbook excerpt (try to keep it to one page) and answer the who, what, where, when, why questions. I added in some essential reading questions. I have also used some organizers for note taking strategies. One final strategy I used for note taking was a reading strategy. Students 1 read the article as student 2 took notes. Then students 2 read the same article as student 1 took notes. I try to keep this reading and note taking to 10 minutes. When it’s finished, I like to model the notes I took to help the students fill in any missing information.

The discussion piece of the CyberSandwich is super important. Keep the discussion and notes comparison to 5 minutes. It came to my attention this is important when I tried an experiment with my 7th bell with our popular sovereignty lesson. I decided to go from note taking to summarizing with no discussion. They only raised their class average from 55% to 75%, which was the lowest percentage raise on the day. Some teachers might feel if students aren’t discussing a topic for a full 5 minutes, they aren’t engaged. Not true. I bet if my 7th period discussed popular sovereignty for 30 seconds, the class average would have been higher.

Here is an example of a CyberSandwich with a Main Idea strategy.

At the conclusion of a CyberSandwich have students summarize or complete another activity. If I want students to write a summary I will provide sentence stems for guidance. Sometimes I will have students complete a Sketch and Tell for their summary (An example is here). Other times I will have students create something such a newspaper article for a summary (An example of this is here). Mix it up from time to time for student engagement.

CyberSandwich with Fast and Curious

If you are running a CyberSandwich by itself, stop it, and try pairing it with a Fast and Curious. Create a Blooket, Gimkit, or Quizizz based on the reading you are using. Then run a Fast and Curious the first 5 minutes of class. Begin your CyberSandwich – 10 minute read and note taking, 5 minute discuss, 10 minute summary. Then finish the last 5 minutes of class with the same Fast and Curious. I have seen an average of 28% growth in one class period. Plus, when you pair the CyberSandwich with a Fast and Curious and students see their scores increase – you build confidence and build excitement and student engagement with the CyberSandwich.

Choice Boards

Differentiating is a huge part of the 505 classroom. My message to teachers is simple – you differentiate all the time, you just don’t realize how much you differentiate. You can differentiate based on student proficiency. You can differentiate based on student processing styles. I choose the latter to drive my differentiation strategies. Check out Doable Differentiation by Jane Kise. This is an amazing book that gave me a new perspective on students and instruction.

Due to this great book, I have placed a more intentional use of choice boards. I just don’t throw choice boards together and say, “Here you go. Choose 3 things.” The activities and lessons within the choice board intentional based on students processing styles. I focus on creating activities for students who need structure, students who question things, students who need movement, and students who create ideas in their ind and explore. The student engagement with the choice boards I have used this year was incredible. Here 2 examples of my choice boards:

1. Federalists vs. AntiFederalists
2. Separation of Powers

I also used choice boards with assessment strategies as a choice. Two examples include a choice summative assessment at the end of the Constitutional Convention Unit. The other option was a choice formative assessment at the end of the checks and balance lesson. My approach for the assessments was addressing different processing styles. Here are those examples:

1. Constitutional Convention Summative Assessment
2. Checks and Balances Formative Assessments

Hexagonal Learning

I’m a huge fan of Hexagonal Learning and I have committed to using it more often this year. So far this semester we have used Hexagonal Learning twice. If you are unfamiliar with hexagonal learning, students make connections between concepts written/typed on hexagons. Any time hexagons touch there has to be some type of connection.

I love how it can be used as a hands on activity for groups of students. It can be used as an online tool as well. I used hexagonal learning in the American Revolution unit in class. I also used this strategy for remote learning during the Constitutional Convention Unit. As you can see it’s versatile and easily adaptable. I’m glad I have used it twice and I would like to use it a few more times in the new year.

Could Be Better

Thinking ahead – what could be better? Honestly, everything. As a perfectionist. As a tennis player who grew up constantly being criticized. It all could be better. I had a conversation with 2 educational consultants the other day and they asked me, “How did you get your classroom to this point? The fast and curious. The CyberSandwich. The student engagement. It’s incredible.” To which I replied, “I honestly think I suck at what I do. That’s what drives me – not sucking at what I do. I seek better for me and the students.” That is truly my mindset – I suck. I don’t do enough.

As a result of this, I read and listen to podcasts. I know it’s impossible, but I strive to improve every aspect of my teaching – formative assessment, summative assessment, instructional strategies, student engagement, classroom management, differentiation, UDL, and the list can go on and on. However these are the things that could be better going into the 2nd semester:

1. Parent communication – I’m awful at this. I tried to send 2 positive emails a day the first quarter and I was successful, but I haven’t done this in 3 months.
2. Feedback – I need to improve giving timely feedback. Last semester had some flashes of good “in the moment” feedback, but I need to find ways of doing this more often.
3. Gamified Unit – I want to create a gamified unit. Possibly with the New Republic unit. This is my goal over winter break – sit down and think of a story and create a gamified unit with the first 5 presidents. I created a Quest for this unit, but I think it needs to be more.
4. Consistency – sometimes I wonder if I need to be more consistent with vocabulary strategies, reading strategies, or note taking strategies. However, I like to mix things up. Maybe I mix it up too much – I don’t know, I”m just thinking out loud.
5. Emc2Learning – I need to incorporate more ideas from www.emc2Learning.com. This is a great site that could give me ideas for a gamified unit next year. One thing I love from this site is the Resource Rumble and the 12 topic Stitch up. However, I need to use more.
6. Self Care – I’m worn the hell out. I need to take better care of myself. That is all.

My Final Message

Cool Moments

A parent sent me a text with a picture of an acrostic poem I wrote before a tennis match. She found this poem in her daughter’s coat pocket….

I wrote that poem 3 years ago. You never know what sticks with someone. Take a chance. Be a positive light in someone’s life.

I shared a Google form with students so they could write a teacher shoutout. I told them from the start, “This is not for me. Please give another teacher a shoutout.” However, here are 2 shoutouts written to me:

Once again, you never know what impact you might have on a students. Maybe it’s a lesson, a poem, a high five, anything.

Last but not least, this was super cool as I was checking out the Eduprotocols Worldwide Conference 3 (sign up here):

One of my goals since college was to write a book. Soon I will be achieving that goal.

This is the first time I felt this way all school year – what a loooooooong week. The infamous week before winter break. We used this week to finish our unit on the Constitution. I was hoping to cover more content – how a bill becomes a law and electoral college stuff, but I never made it that far. As a result, I focused on covering the basics really well. By basics, I mean: popular sovereignty, federalism, individual rights, separation of powers, checks and balances, and judicial review.

My plan for this week was to have everything finished by Thursday. The reason for this being that Friday is a crazy day with a potential for many absent students. Three weeks ago when we started this unit, I started with a citizenship test. The goal with the citizenship test is to answer 12 out of 20 questions correctly. When we began the unit a grand total of 4 students received a 12 or higher. I looked to Thursday as the day to finish the unit with the citizenship test and hoped more than 4 students would get a 12 or higher.

Monday – Finish separation of powers superheroes and/or begin checks and balances.

Tuesday – Finish checks and balances.

Wednesday – Finish checks and balances, review for citizenship test.

Thursday – Citizenship test.

Friday – A day for missing assignments and games.

Monday

When I begin most weeks, I kind of, maybe sort of, have an idea of what to do. I have some things ready to go, but I let the day begin, get a read on the room, adjust, and adapt from there. Today was a perfect day to finish the separation of powers superheroes and possibly begin the checks and balances choice board.

I’ve had many people ask me for directions on the branches of government superheroes. The directions are simple:

1. Choose a branch of government (Legislative, Executive, or Judicial).
2. If your branch of government was a superhero – what would it look like? What powers would it have?
   • Give your superhero a name
   • Include 3-4 symbols to represent the power.
   • Label those powers. 
   • Write a brief paragraph explaining your superhero and the powers they have.

That’s it. I kept it simple to let students show some creativity and these students knocked it out of the park this year! Amazing, creative work compared to past years. I think the major difference was making the superheroes assignment an application activity after students went through a choice board. They went into the project with good, solid background knowledge on the branches of government and their powers. Another great thing from this year was the mix of government branches. Students did a great job of balancing out their branch choices. In past years I would get a TON of the executive branch. However, not this year. I got a lot of legislative and judicial branches. Here are some awesome examples:

Tuesday

Naturally, checks and balances should come after the separation of powers. When I introduce checks and balances I do two things:

1. We have a rock, paper, scissors tournament. I follow this up with an explanation of how that game relates to checks and balances.
2. I also explain to the students that checks and balances is related to the superheroes using their powers to prevent or help other superheros from doing their jobs.

These ideas seem to help students connect with the abstract idea of checks and balances. This year I put together a choice board for checks and balances. Instead of students choosing how to obtain background knowledge (separation of powers), they could choose their assessment. I gave each student this graphic organizer showing the directions of checks and balances. Students could choose to read, watch, or study checks and balances to help them fill out the organizer.

For the assessment choices, students had 4 options:

1. Sketch and tell.
2. Rewrite a song about checks and balances.
3. Find a news article and create a Thick Slide.
4. Walk around the classroom, read checks and balances scenarios, and decided which branches are involved.

Most students chose a sketch and tell because this is what they are familiar with. The second most popular option was walking around the classroom and reading scenarios. Here is some of the work submitted by students:

Wednesday

Wednesday was a day to finish the checks and balances choice board and do some review for the Citizenship test. With some students finished and some students still doing checks and balances, the best solution is the Fishtopia Gimkit. This mode works best in this scenario because Fishtopia is better when it runs for 30 or more minutes. This amount of time gives students a chance to finish checks and balances and still join the game for review. Plus, the Fishtopia game mode is super engaging. However, beware of the law of diminishing returns – students will get tired of it if you do it too much. After doing some review the class averages from Gimkit were as follows: 72%, 75%, 75%, 80%, 71%.

Thursday

Today was the big day of the Citizenship test. The goal was to answer 12 out of 20 questions correctly. I ask the 20 questions out loud and students write their responses on a piece of paper.

The first time we did this test 4 total students answered the necessary 12 questions to pass the test. I asked them if they knew it and they all responded with, “I’m a good guesser.” Here are the results from the first time:

As you can see the class averages ranged from 20 to 30% and as I stated before, 4 students passed. After 3 weeks of Eduprotocols, choice boards, and hands on activities, we were ready for the test again. Here are the results:

The class averages ranged from 63% to 85% and this time 70 students passed with 12 or more correct answers. Here is a quick breakdown:

1. 20 students answered 19 to 20 questions correctly.
2. 12 students answered 17 to 18 questions correctly.
3. 11 students answered 11 questions correctly and obviously missed 12 correct questions by 1.
4. Ultimately, 70% of my students passed compared to 4% the first time.

Going from 4 students passing to 70 students passing is a significant increase. However, I don’t know if this is good compared to how students should do on tests.

Friday

Honestly, there is no sense in talking about Friday. I will offer up this advice – have games in your room. Invest in simple games such as:

1. Uno
2. Jenga
3. Bananagrams (my favorite)
4. Operation
5. Apples to Apples

The best days are the game days. Put away chromebooks. Interact with other humans. Have fun.

Happy Holidays.

My Messages for the Week

Every day is not perfect. Every day isn’t a great day. The tweets I see and the tweets I post make it seem otherworldly. But it’s not. These tweets never tell the whole story.

I have a lot of great days. My weeks move quickly. But this is why it works for me….most days – I care about the success and happiness of the students who come into room 505.

What does this look like?

1. It starts with me saying, “I don’t care about social studies. It’s secondary in here.”
2. Starting most class periods by saying every students’ name and asking them how they are doing.
3. Writing a new message on the board every day.
4. Occasionally discussing these ideas: trust, respect, empathy, and finding better.

It seems a bit odd to say to students that I don’t care about social studies. But, I truly mean it. What are they going to remember 5 years from now? They certainly won’t remember the Whiskey Rebellion, the Era of Good Feelings, or the Oregon Trail. Rather, students will remember how they felt day after day, minute after minute in 505.

It’s no coincidence that Starbucks says your name out loud after they complete your drink. Hearing your name kind of perks you up a bit. I try to speak every student at least twice in a class period.

I was inspired by Monte Syrie’s room message tweets and started writing my own messages. Most days I arrive at school by 6:00 AM and the first thing I do is put a marker to the board and start writing. I don’t know where the marker, or my mind, will take me. I just start writing. At times I have wondered if students read them. They do. Reading my messages are an important part of their day.

My class is based around trust and respect. I trust students to do the right thing. I don’t treat students like little kids and they know that. They respect that. For me, this is why it works in 505. This is what’s missing from the tweets. This is what it’s all about.

– Moler