Moler's Musings

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.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton