Author: molersmusings

I’m currently sitting in Room 303 reflecting on the changes that have occurred this school year. According to George Couros in the Innovator’s Mindset, a 21st century classroom should have the following 8 things to inspire innovation:

1. Voice
2. Choice
3. Time for reflection
4. Opportunities for innovation
5. Critical thinking
6. Problem solvers
7. Self-Assessment
8. Connected Learning

If you walked into Room 303, would you find all of these things? No.  But this year has been about taking more risks, engaging students, building relationships, and implementing small cultural changes. For example, learners have a voice and choice through digital portfolios, collaborative projects, and a variety of tools to show me what they know (flipgrid, legos, infographics, creative writing, blogging, etc..).  After each unit, I build in time for reflection through a digital portfolio. My newest venture is having students grade their own blogs as a way to self-assess and reflect. To my surprise,  the students graded themselves honestly. I’m encouraging critical thinking by getting rid of worksheets and creating things that can’t be Googleable.

Despite some of these small changes, I have a long way to go. When the school year started, I was focused too much on tech and blended learning. I felt lost and the learners seemed lost and bored. My focus ultimately shifted to relationships and engaging lessons. Through reading, I have discovered a new world beyond engagement – empowerment. It’s going to take small steps, and big risks, but focusing on empowerment will allow me to provide problem solving (authentic learning), more opportunities for innovation, and ways to connect my learners to share ideas with each other and the world. 

Today a former student came down to job shadow me while upperclassmen were taking the ACT. I embraced this idea as a way to give back, share ideas, and possibly inspire a future social studies teacher. However, the day started off and I felt bad for this student because I had nothing for him to do. An uninspiring start to the day. In the end, I was the one who walked away inspired.

Currently, I’m in the middle of a Middle Ages blogging project and our current quest is on the Crusades. I like to pair a mini-lesson on Islam with the Crusades. This year, I wanted to avoid the typical notes and a boring discussion. Earlier in the week, I had the idea to create a Digital Breakout. I decided to see if my former student could help me.

I asked this particular student if he ever heard of, or participated in, a digital breakout. His reply was a simple, “No.” So, I explained the idea and showed him an example. Then I shared my vision and explained that I had most of the materials/clues ready to go for my Islam Digital Breakout.

Through some discussion, planning, and an explanation on Backwards Design Theory, here is what my former student ended up doing in 2 1/2 hours (still a work in progress):

1. Designed a website – click here for the site
2. Created a Google Form for breakout passwords, hints, and embedded the form.
3. Created Google Drawings with links and embedded on the site.
4. Created a Google Doc with multiple choice questions and embedded the doc.

This was so inspiring to me as he turned my vision into a reality. In the process, he learned more about Islam, learned how to problem solve, learned how to create with Google sites and apps as a way to educate, and learned what goes into creating and planning engaging lessons.  It was inspiring for me to see him take this Breakout vision head on, get innovative, be enthusiastic, and design something to help many future students.

Why is History cast aside as a worthless subject? History has a weird way of repeating itself, yet everyone seems so surprised with the events taking place in our world today.  The leaders of this world – governmental and educational – are so consumed with Math, Science, Engineering, and Tech. Don’t get me wrong, these subjects are important, but we can’t diminish history. We need History to help us understand the social changes and national events taking place in our world today.

My inspiration for this piece are the photos of students participating in peaceful walkouts across the United States, and the comments and negativity associated with those photos. As educators we find ways for students to have a voice, encourage students to change the world, and encourage students to take risks and “put themselves out there.” These peaceful protesters weren’t being compliant and staying in class. This gets educators, and outside observers, all hot and bothered. As educators, why is it necessary to get offended ultimately sending mixed signals? This is where History can help us understand the situation.

Take for example our Founding Fathers. We often glorify them and see them as a bunch of cool, old dudes that revolutionized this country. Not so fast…..do you know the ages of some of these revolutionaries? When the Declaration of Independence was signed July 4, 1776, here are the ages of some these founding fathers (courtesy of Business Insider):

• Andrew Jackson, 9 (at age 13 – wanted to fight for independence and was captured by the British)
• (Major) Thomas Young, 12
• Deborah Sampson, 15
• James Armistead, 15
• Sybil Ludington, 15
• Joseph Plumb Martin, 15
• Peter Salem, 16
• Peggy Shippen, 16
• Marquis de Lafayette, 18
• James Monroe, 18
• Charles Pinckney, 18
• Henry Lee III, 20
• Gilbert Stuart, 20
• John Trumbull, 20
• Aaron Burr, 20
• John Marshall, 20
• Nathan Hale, 21
• Banastre Tarleton, 21
• Alexander Hamilton, 21
• John Laurens, 21

What if someone told these guys to be compliant? Where would our country be today without the ideas of 15-21 year olds? These Founding Fathers are around the age of many student protestors who wish to change the world and make it a better place. Let students have a voice. Throw away your compliance mindset, and realize how history can help us understand the event as taking place in our world.

Today was an inspirational day. It was a day where I learned from my students. Currently, my 8th graders are in the middle of a blogging project in an effort for them to understand how decisions from our first 5 presidents affected people’s lives. Students finished blogging about John Adams, the XYZ Affair, and the Alien and Sedition Acts from the perspective of a Federalist or Democratic Republican. Today was the perfect day to take a risk and try something new.

It was the perfect day to have students reflect and self-assess. I had a discussion with my students about grading and reflecting on their own work. I created a rubric for them to follow and had them grade their blogs. At first I was nervous, but I quickly became impressed.

Not one student gave themselves a perfect score. I told them that it wasn’t my goal to make them feel as though they didn’t have quality work. Rather, my goal was to make them reflective and see learning as a constantly evolving process. Despite being impressed by their reflective abilities, what I learned today was alarming.

Today my students taught me that they have been trained that learning stops when they complete an assignment. The most common question learners asked me today was, “Am I allowed to fix my blog to make it better?” My response every time is, “Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, and Yes! That’s the whole point of of this self-assessment. Learning doesn’t stop!” It’s time to rethink education and allow students to constantly reflect, self-assess, improve, then repeat. This is not the students fault, nor is it a teacher’s fault. It’s common, as educators, to do what has always been done. We grew up learning with an old model – learn, assess, move on. This old model needs to change and led me to a new “what if” for education……

What if learning began and evolved with the learner?

Learning should not begin and end with the teacher. In an ideal setting, empowered students should begin and keep evolving their learning. Empowered learners should be creating and asking questions. Empowered learners should be involved with authentic learning experiences. I’m trying something in my room tomorrow with the Crusades. I’m going to have the students create a map showing the journeys of 4 Crusades. The mapping project gives them a little bit of information about the Crusades, but not every detail. Once the map is completed, I want the students to collaborate and create questions about the Crusades. The students will take their questions, use research skills, and blog about a Crusade they went on. My hope is this will create an experience where the learner will have a stake in their questions and own their learning.

What if teachers put themselves in their student’s shoes to create more engaging lessons.

When I sit through some educational presentations, I can’t help but think about how my students feel at times. Three surefire ways to lose my attention: 1) being unprepared, 2) presenting something that is irrelevant to me, 3) at the end of the presentation, I walk away with no more knowledge than when I started.  Maybe teachers can use situations like I’m currently in to craft more engaging lessons. How can we create better experiences in education? How can we create meaningful, individualized lessons to engage more students?

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Today was a rough day. It was the type of day I question what I do, why I do it, and if I’m in the right profession.  I read a couple of quotes that got me thinking:

1) “In some ways people have to be compliant.”

2) “I was never a perfect teacher. Not all of my students were empowered…”

In Room 303, I’m trying to put forth and teach a growth mindset. On the “compliant, engaged, empowered scale,” my class falls just to the left of engaged. I still have work to do on the engagement piece, but I’m working my way slowly to the empowered piece. In my mind, in order to create a growth mindset atmosphere, I’m trying to incorporate small changes in my room. For example, I’m having students grade and reflect on their own work. I’m having students offer peer reviews and evaluations on their work. Lastly, I’m trying to get away from simply setting due dates so I can get through material. In my mind, a due date says, “Learning ends on this specific day.” With a growth mindset, learning never ends.

With my lack of due dates, some students take advantage of this. Today was one of those days. With the risks and changes I’m taking and making this year, problems will happen. I’ll admit it, I can be inconsistent. But, I’m trying new things, and new things can be messy. At times, I feel that I’m taking the non-compliance and growth mindset too literally. As I was reading today, I read the quote, “In some ways people have to be compliant.” I liked this quote because it serves as a reminder that people need to follow due dates from time to time. However, learning should not stop after the due date.

This entire year has been about taking risks and changing the culture and experience in my classroom. I need to remind myself this is a messy process. There will be ups and downs, but I need to focus on what’s going well. The pictures below represent the positives that took place from my rough day.

What went well today?

1. Students helped me come up with a bracket for History Madness and reflected on a lot of past information they learned.
2. A student who hates typing his blog, said he would give it one more try – and did an awesome job today.
3. Finally, I’m still taking risks everyday. Add all of this up, and you have my “What ifs” for education.

What if all teachers took risks?

What if all teachers took risks? What would be the harm? On a daily basis, we ask students to take risks and put themselves out there. However, most teachers do not hold themselves to the same expectations. Perhaps we should modeling, and expecting, these same behaviors. Maybe learners would be willing to take more risks with critical thinking and creativity. Students would be filling to fail and learn from mistakes. I shared a thought today on Twitter: “failure = learning stops, failing = more learning is needed and will continue.”  Overall, teachers taking more risks with everyday lesson can have a huge impact on student growth and learning.

What if school were fun?

I have heard others say that school is not all fun and games. Why not? Teachers and students alike should want to be at school.Teachers should love coming to school. Students should want to be in your classrooms. Learning should be fun. When someone enjoys something, or has a passion for something, more learning and engagement takes place. What if teachers created more of these fun experiences?

Overall, it was a rough day. With my focus on engagement with hopes of providing empowerment, I need to remind myself, “I’m not the perfect teacher. Not all of my students were empowered”…….or engaged for that matter. I need to focus on the small wins that are taking place on a daily basis. It’s too easy to throw in the towel and do it the way it has always been done.

In 2016, my district rolled out a plan to incorporate blended learning strategies, and models, into classes. This was a new idea to most of us, and the reasonings behind it made sense. I love new ideas, new ways of thinking, and incorporating different strategies to reach all of my students. As I tried different models, something seemed off.

It seemed to me that student engagement was off. These blended models looked great, the technology looked great, and freed me up to work with all students (one on one or small group). Blended learning seemed like the student engagement “cure-all”. Informal assessment told me otherwise. Looking back on the last year, the students seemed lost in a Chromebook; their eyes in a daze as they were having information overload. I’ve been in that state before – the best way to explain it is a feeling of anxiety building and building until you want to lose your mind. When I reach this state, I simply shut the chromebook and go for a walk. It occurred to me, if I’m feeling this way, students are feeling the same way during their 400 minute school day.

Last year, it became evident to me that blended learning models with tech were not the student engagement cure-all. This year I dedicated to improving student engagement through “out of the box” ideas and building relationships. Students need more than tech. They need a teacher that cares. They need a teacher that goes above and beyond to hook them into a lesson.

Different hooks I incorporated this year include: dressing up as a french agent, using props, music, having students create skits, piecing technology into my lessons, legos, food, mystery bags, student choice, and the list goes on (see examples). Student engagement this year has increased significantly (less discipline, more quality responses and creations). I realized that building relationships, using hooks, connecting students to one another, pieced around blended learning models would increase student engagement. However, I read an interesting quote in Innovator’s Mindset that stated, “You can engage students with a conversation on how to change the world, but why not make them want to go out and change the world by empowering them.”

This quote has been on my mind all day, and the main reason  I’m writing this post. Engagement is is great, but empowerment is better. However, in my case I needed to understand the engagement piece first. The next step for me is to learn how to empower students. Some interesting topics have been on my mind lately: design thinking, genius hours, and project based learning. These are the items I would like to learn more about, and incorporate into my class in the coming years. These are the items that can empower students to solving problems.

Looking back on 2016, along with the introduction of blended learning, we should have been discussing ways to build relationships, ideas to engage students, ideas to connect students to one another to solve problems. Technology alone will not solve engagement issues. Understanding strategies for engagement is necessary to use blended learning. In the end, however, your students must be engaged to empower them to change the world.

One of the important pieces to education, for any teacher, is reflection. Reflection is necessary to understand the good and the bad for any lesson, and I find myself constantly thinking about my past and future lessons. In the car, after school, during my planning period, or waking up out of a dead sleep at 4 AM (which really sucks btw).  The critical questions listed in Chapter 2 of, Innovator’s Mindset, offers clarity for my reflections. These questions are worded in a way for ways I have often thought, but didn’t know how to put into words of my own. These questions are listed below:

Would I want to be a learner in my own classroom?

This question has crossed my mind several times as a reminder to put myself at a desk with my other students. I have such a love for history, that I want others to love it as much as I do. Everything I do, I think to myself, “Would I want to do that if I were a learner in Room 303?”

Last year, I would not have wanted to learn history in my room. It was a weird year, lots of different events taking place, and I lost focus. The tennis player in me doesn’t want to make the same mistake twice. This year I have been committed to changing, taking risks, and becoming more innovative. I have incorporated lego’s, Oreos, mystery bags, blogs, and it’s great when a students come into my room and ask me, “What craziness are we getting into today?” I love that they are excited about history and it drives me to be more and more innovative.

What is best for this student?

Every students learns differently. Compliance and every student doing the same worksheet or project is a thing of the past. It’s downright boring.(Plus, it’s awful grading the same thing over and over and over again). Every students is creative in their own way, and it’s up to us to help them unleash their creativity and knowledge. I have students showing me what they know through great tools such as Flipgrid, blogs, legos, creating art from Oreos. I recently discovered that Google Docs has a voice recorder, and this feature has helped so many students of mine who can articulate their thoughts better through speaking. An innovative educator will be open to students sharing their voice and knowledge multiple ways.

What is this student’s passion?

Understanding my students’ passions is an area I need to improve. I read a great idea from the book, Lead Like a PIRATE, of including a passion wall in your classroom. It’s a simple idea where students can share their interests with one another through images or simply writing. I have a great classroom with metal walls that I can write on with wet erase markers – this would be perfect to use for a passion wall!

I see the power of passion through Sustained Silent Reading. Every day during 5th period, my school has built in 10 minutes of SSR time. At the beginning of the year, I assumed I would have disciplinary issues during this time. BOY was I wrong! My students have used this time to their advantage and are into their books because THEY HAVE CHOSEN BOOKS THEY ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT! Now, I need to figure out how to put this into my teaching more often.

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What are some ways we can create a true learning community?

This is a panoramic shot of Room 303. I remember at the beginning of the year, a former student walked into my room and said, “WHOA! What happened to the rows? You have new rules. Everything is different….I like it.” This year I wanted to set up a community of learners. I moved the desks into groupings, I changed to my rules to show words like “we” and “us.” My wall now has a mission statement and a vision (not seen in the picture), but it states, “Work collaboratively, think critically, think creatively, and think historically.” The students know this what drives my class, and what I want them to do when they move on to bigger and better things. The learning curve for me, and the students, is steep, but we are starting to figure it out.

From day 1, I have been encouraging my students to work together, share ideas, and help one another out. If a student asks me a question, I will reply with, “Did you ask anyone in your group first?” Then we go from there. It has taken a while, but every now and then I stop and just watch, and it’s awesome when I see students showing each other how to use Google Sites, Google Slides, sharing deas, discussing history. This is what I wanted to create in Room 303, but I know there is more room for improvement.

How did this work for our students?

I’ll admit it, in the past I have avoided getting feedback from students because I was afraid of the criticism. I placed myself on a pedestal and wasn’t open to hearing criticism. Not this year. I hopped off of my pedestal and push it aside. I changed my mindset, it’s not about me, it’s all about them! This is their education. A way for students to become empowered and own their learning is through feedback. 

Several time this year, I have stopped and asked my students, “What going well? What’s not going well? What should I do more or less often?” At first I could tell they were afraid to say tongs, but after a couple of times they realized I wasn’t going to hold a grudge if they said something wasn’t working. One area I could improve in is allowing shy/quiet students an opportunity to share their voice. Maybe I can include a comment box or encourage using private comments through Google Classroom. 

Why are these questions important?

The questions listed above can help teachers shift from compliance and traditional education to innovative education. I have never understood how students can all work on the same worksheet or project and we expect all of them to be finished at the exact same time. We need to be more open to allowing students to be creative. We need to be more open to risk taking. We need to be open to the fact that education is messy, and it should be. Finally, we need to step down from our pedestal and be open to criticism because every student is entitled to a great education!

The purpose of education is a constantly evolving answer. It seemed when I was growing up, the purpose of education was to prepare students for college, comply, and be able to function in society. If this was the goal, looking at my life, the education system did its job.

As a teacher in my 4th year teaching social studies, I started with the approach I discussed from above. I remember my first and second years of teaching focusing too much on content – dates, names, events, etc… The typical history stuff. In the back of my mind I felt it was silly trying to rush through the material, but I never changed. I felt it would be frowned upon if I didn’t “cover” certain topics. The last 2 years, I have stopped and asked myself, “If I rush through the material, are they really getting it and going to remember it?” Why not slow down, incorporate new strategies, and cover the content in-depth and really well?

When I look at education through a 21st century lens, I see the purpose of education as preparing young adults for a fast changing future. Students need a variety of skills for whatever path they choose – college or work force. Students must be able to collaborate with other, adapt to problems/changes, think creatively and critically. This is where innovation and risk taking comes into play.

This school year (2017-2018) has been about risks, challenging myself, and creating a better experience with history for my students. It started with reading, Ditch that Textbook, Teach Like a Pirate, and now I find myself here with, The Innovator’s Mindset. To me, I am trying to innovate by creating a new and better experience through collaboration, thinking creatively, building relationships, and incorporating tech. My overall goal is to embrace and create change.

Today I found myself at school around 6:45 AM despite a two hour delay. In about 40 minutes, the tweet came out that school was closed. I decided to make the most out of the situation. This was the perfect time to reflect on my past unit titled, A New Republic. This unit involves the classic Hamilton/Jefferson battle, Washington/whiskey, Adams/alien, Jefferson/embargo, Madison/war, Monroe/doctrine, blah, blah, blah. Looking back on my past lessons, and researching other lessons from around the web, it’s the same standard delivery of information. I needed a spark.

Staring at my computer, 3 coffees deep, it hit me! I was going to create a quest! A quest for fun! I’m going to have fun, and your going to have fun, we’re all going to have so much…………..sorry, I love that movie. I created a quest (linked at the bottom of this post) where students will design a character who would be a merchant, banker, lawyer, or farmer from a northern or southern state. They would research the views of Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson and choose to be a Federalist or Democratic-Republican. Finally, the student will blog from the perspective of that character. They will blog about how Hamilton’s financial plan will affect their life, and why they agree with their chosen political party.

So students don’t feel lost in their quest, I built in 2 direct teaching lessons. One lesson involves a chef hook simulation to learn how Hamilton’s financial plan affected people. The second lesson is a creative hyperdoc guiding the students through the views of Federalists and Democratic-Republicans. Quest 1 will be followed by 5 other quests (not designed yet) where the students will continue to be their characters and reflect on the policies of our first 5 presidents. For example, how would a northern merchant, who is a Federalist, view the Whiskey Rebellion? Or, how would a Democratic Republican from the South view John Adams’ Alien and Sedition Act.

This is how I turned a snow day into a productive day. Future musings will be posted………

My Created Quest for 8th Grade

Welcome to my blog! My name is Adam Moler and I teach students and history in New Richmond, Ohio. Seven years ago, I started off as a special education teacher, earned a M.S. in Special Education. However, I made the switch to history 4 years ago. I created this blog for 2 reasons:

• Reflect on the learning and teaching taking place in 303.
  • Good teaching requires reflection.  This year I have been dedicated to improving every aspect of my classroom – expectations, a mission statement, creativity, engagement, and the list goes on. What could be improved? Did I do enough? Did the students learn something new? These questions often weigh on my mind, and this medium gives me a chance to type some answers.
• To improve my writing skills.
  • I used to write a lot in high school and through college. Somewhere along the way between tennis and searching for a job in education, I stopped. It’s a skill that requires practice, and this is my opportunity.