Tag: teaching

TWTW

The Week That Was In 234

When I think of teaching the Early Republic, I think about political parties, presidential decisions, and how those decisions shaped the federal government. I think about how the first five presidents kept us out of wars, expanded federal power, and navigated political tensions. I think about how political parties influenced those choices and how the nation evolved under their leadership. But this damn textbook has other plans.

Instead of keeping the focus on political parties, foreign policy, and domestic growth, it randomly throws in sectionalism, the Missouri Compromise, the Industrial Revolution, and some random westward expansion facts—all jammed into two weeks. It’s way too much, and it makes no sense. This is the Early Republic, not a scattershot of everything that happened between 1800 and 1825.

Then Friday rolled around, and we hit the common assessment from the textbook—a test that somehow completely ignores the Monroe Doctrine but includes a question asking students to identify three battles from the War of 1812. Who cares?! It’s not even an important part of the unit.

But I digress.

So, with all that, we kicked off Monday learning about growing sectionalism after the War of 1812. SMH.

Monday – War of 1812 Rack and Stack

Tuesday – Industrial Revolution

Monday

We kicked off Monday with a Content Compactor that acted as a quick review of the causes of the War of 1812. This got students thinking about the political, economic, and regional tensions that led to the war while allowing them to summarize key ideas concisely—an essential skill as we transitioned into the concept of sectionalism.

Frayer Model: Defining Sectionalism

Next, we tackled sectionalism with a Frayer Model. Students defined the term, provided examples and non-examples, and listed key characteristics. The goal was to help students see sectionalism not just as a word, but as a major force that would shape U.S. history for decades. This activity ensured that students grasped the economic, political, and social divisions developing between regions of the country.

Thin Slides: Visualizing Sectionalism

Once students had a working definition, they moved into a Thin Slides activity. Using a short reading on sectionalism, they selected two words and two images that best represented how sectionalism grew after the War of 1812. In the speaker notes, they explained their choices, addressing:

  • Why did the North oppose the war?
  • Why did the South support it?
  • How did economic and political differences lead to sectionalism?

This was a quick, low-stakes way for students to process how sectional tensions formed and why they mattered.

Sketch & Tell: Answering Essential Questions

Students then tackled three essential questions through a Sketch & Tell activity:
1️⃣ How did the North and South develop differently after the war?
2️⃣ How did these differences contribute to sectionalism?
3️⃣ How did the War of 1812 reveal sectionalism in the U.S.?

They created two labeled sketches that visually represented their answers, reinforcing how regional differences in economy, industry, and policy contributed to rising sectional tensions.

Class Companion: Writing About Sectionalism

To wrap it up, students used Class Companion to answer the question:
💡 How did the War of 1812 reveal sectionalism after the war?

This allowed students to take their thoughts from their sketches and turn them into a structured response with real-time AI feedback. Since some students needed more time to refine their writing, we carried this over into Tuesday, giving them an opportunity to perfect their responses and ensure they fully understood sectionalism’s impact.

Why This Works
  • Content Compactor helped students refresh prior knowledge in a concise, engaging way.
  • Frayer Model ensured students developed a strong conceptual foundation before moving forward.
  • Thin Slides encouraged visual learning and synthesis of ideas.
  • Sketch & Tell helped students explain complex historical trends in a creative, student-centered way.
  • Class Companion allowed students to organize their thoughts in writing with immediate, personalized feedback.

Instead of just reading about sectionalism, students were building their understanding step by step, using visual, discussion-based, and writing activities to make the concept stick.

Tuesday & Wednesday

We started Tuesday by finishing up Class Companion responses from Monday on how the War of 1812 revealed sectionalism. Once students submitted their final responses, we pivoted to the Industrial Revolution—a topic that the unit test oddly prioritizes with fill-in-the-blank questions on patents, corporations, and capitalism, but barely acknowledges the Monroe Doctrine or foreign policy under the early presidents. Because that makes total sense.

Gimkit Fast & Curious: Industrial Revolution Vocab

Since the test focuses so much on random economic terms, we ran a Gimkit Fast & Curious with key Industrial Revolution vocabulary—words like patent, corporation, free enterprise, and capitalism. First round: class averages were pretty bad. After giving a quick mini-lesson on the most-missed words, we ran the Gimkit again, and scores jumped up significantly.

To lock in the most commonly missed terms, we followed up with Frayer Models for:
🔹 Patent
🔹 Corporation
🔹 Free Enterprise

Reading, Videos & Thick Slides

After breaking down the vocabulary, students read about key innovations of the Industrial Revolution—factories, mechanization, interchangeable parts, and yes, the cotton gin (because clearly, that fits into an Early Republic unit 🤦‍♂️).

To help process the reading, students worked on Thick Slides focused on four ways the Industrial Revolution transformed America. They had to:
✅ List four key impacts
✅ Find an image to represent industrialization
✅ Compare the North and South’s role in industrialization

Why This Works
  • Gimkit Fast & Curious ensured students got multiple reps with essential vocabulary.
  • Thick Slides helped synthesize and apply learning, rather than just memorizing random terms.
  • Multiple formats (reading, videos, notes, discussion, and visuals) ensured everyone had a way to engage with the content.

Even though this topic was awkwardly shoved into the unit, we made it work in a way that actually helped students understand and retain the material—instead of just cramming information for a test.

Thursday

With the unit test coming up, I wanted to make sure students had multiple opportunities to review key concepts in an engaging and structured way. Enter Brain, Book, Buddy, Boss—one of my favorite review strategies because it reinforces retrieval practice, collaboration, and teacher-guided clarification all in one lesson.

Step 1: Brain (Independent Recall)

Students received the review sheet (matching terms, short answer questions, and key concepts from The Early Republic). Before looking at any resources, they went through the entire review sheet independently, answering as many questions as they could from memory.

The goal? Get a sense of what they already know.

Some students flew through it, while others stared blankly at the paper. That’s the beauty of this step—it exposes strengths and gaps immediately.

Step 2: Book (Reference-Based Learning)

Next, students used their notes, textbooks, and classwork to fill in missing answers and correct any mistakes. This phase is where light bulbs start going off as students piece together information they’ve seen throughout the unit.

Of course, this is also where they discover just how terribly worded some of these test questions are.

For example, here’s an actual test question:
“What were some effects of the Alien and Sedition Acts?”

A. The policy of nullification became largely discredited.
B. The French stopped attacking U.S. ships.
C. Fewer people immigrated to the United States from Europe.
D. The principle of states’ rights gained public support.

This question assumes a level of vocabulary knowledge that most 8th graders simply don’t have. The wording is vague enough to confuse even students who understand the Alien and Sedition Acts. What 8th grader uses discredited in conversation?

Step 3: Buddy (Peer Discussion & Comparison)

After self-correcting with their books, students paired up to compare answers and discuss any remaining gaps. If they disagreed on an answer, they had to explain their reasoning to each other.

These conversations were gold—students challenging each other, correcting mistakes, and realizing where they were off-track. They got into heated debates over Federalist vs. Republican beliefs and the importance of Marbury v. Madison. This step solidified a lot of key concepts.

Step 4: Boss (Teacher Q&A)

For the final step, I opened the floor for questions. Students could ask me about anything still unclear—but with a catch:

They only had 8 minutes.

Once the timer hit zero, I was done answering. This forces students to prioritize their questions and keeps the review focused and efficient.

Why This Works
  • Brain (independent recall) activates retrieval practice.
  • Book helps reinforce accuracy and self-correction.
  • Buddy provides peer discussion and clarification.
  • Boss allows for focused teacher intervention in a structured way.

By the end of class, students had worked through misconceptions, clarified their understanding, and felt more confident about the material. It was one of the best review strategies for this test, and it reinforced just how flawed some of the test’s wording really was.

Friday: Test Day

Friday was test day, and I had everything set up on Class Companion for the short answer questions, while using McGraw Hill’s testing program for the multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank sections.

One of the fill-in-the-blank questions asked about the beliefs of Democratic-Republicans. Most students simply typed “Republicans”, which is a reasonable answer considering the textbook even calls them that at times.

But McGraw Hill marked it wrong because they didn’t type the answer exactly as programmed: “Democratic-Republicans, Republicans”. I wish I were making this up.

So now, instead of assessing whether students actually understood the beliefs of the party, we were stuck in a battle of formatting.

Class Companion: At Least It Scored Correctly

For the short answer responses, Class Companion scored and provided feedback, but students only had one attempt—no revisions, just one shot. At least it evaluated their responses based on content rather than formatting nonsense.

I need a damn drink.

TWTW

The Week That Was In 234

This week in 8th-grade social studies, we brought history to life with engaging EduProtocols that helped students dive deep into the Early Republic and key moments like the Whiskey Rebellion. From Sketch and Tell-O activities that broke down complex ideas to Progressive Sketch and Tell timelines that visualized historical events, we kept creativity at the forefront. Class Companion added an exciting layer of AI-driven writing feedback, while Fast and Curious Gimkits and CyberSandwiches reinforced foundational knowledge and sparked meaningful discussions. These protocols not only engaged students but also helped them build connections, improve comprehension, and master essential skills.

Tuesday – Lesson Intro CyberSandwich

Wednesday – Cabinet and Neutrality

Thursday and Friday – Hamilton and Whiskey Rebellion, Whiskey Story

Class Companion – AI Writing Feedback

Tuesday: Kicking Off the Early Republic

This week, we dove into a new unit on the Early Republic, which will culminate in a common assessment. Starting with a pre-assessment right out of the textbook, I had students tackle 20 of the most challenging, oddly worded questions filled with difficult vocabulary. The pre-assessment was designed to gauge their baseline knowledge and took about 10–15 minutes. Predictably, it was tough, but it gave me a sense of where they stood as we started the unit.

Introducing the Unit with a CyberSandwich

One thing I like about the textbook’s first lesson in this unit is how it revisits key foundational topics that lead into the Early Republic. It highlights the weaknesses and problems in America before the Constitution—like taxation without representation, the Articles of Confederation, Shays’ Rebellion, and foreign and domestic disputes—and positions the Constitution as the solution.

The irony? The textbook doesn’t explicitly connect these issues to the Early Republic or explain how the first five presidents put the Constitution to work and expanded federal power. So, I decided to bridge the gap myself using a CyberSandwich EduProtocol.

Here’s how it went:

  1. Simplified Reading: Instead of fumbling with the textbook or logging into the website, I printed out the reading directly from the online textbook. Paper copies are quick, easy, and let students highlight and annotate as they read.
  2. Guiding Questions: Students spent 12 minutes reading and answering five guiding questions that I generated with AI to focus their attention on key details.
  3. Partner Discussion: After reading, students listed two problems and one solution from the text and discussed their findings with a partner, comparing ideas.
  4. Fixing a Paragraph: To practice critical thinking and writing, I gave them a poorly written paragraph (also AI-generated) about the topic and gave them 10 minutes to improve it.

Wrapping Up with Gimkit

We ended the class with a Gimkit featuring nine questions I pulled from the summative assessment for this unit. The scores showed where we have room to grow:

  • 57%, 47%, 39%, and 42%.

While the scores were low, it was a good baseline and a chance to familiarize students with the material they’ll need to master.

Wednesday: George Washington Takes Office

We jumped into Lesson 2: George Washington Takes Office, diving into how Washington and Congress worked to strengthen the federal government. While the textbook suggests this lesson could take two days, I find that assumption wildly unrealistic. It’s packed with readings, activities, writing tasks, and reviews that assume students have extensive social studies background knowledge—something many students simply don’t have due to the limited time spent on the subject in earlier grades. The disconnect between textbook expectations and real classroom realities is frustrating.

Quick Notes: Setting the Stage

To start the lesson, I introduced key topics through a short lecture. These quick notes laid out the big ideas students would encounter in the lesson:

  • Washington’s leadership style.
  • The establishment of key government structures.
  • The significance of neutrality and Jay’s Treaty.

The goal was to give students a foundation before diving into deeper activities.

Archetype Foursquare: Connecting History to Stories

Next, I introduced archetypes—a fun and engaging way to connect historical figures to familiar characters. Students brainstormed archetypes in their favorite movies, TV shows, or books and discussed how every character fits an archetype (e.g., hero, mentor, trickster).

We followed this with an EdPuzzle on George Washington, a 4-minute video highlighting his leadership and challenges. While watching, students thought about which archetype best described Washington.

Afterward, students spent 8 minutes completing an Archetype Foursquare for Washington. They:

  • Identified an archetype for him (e.g., “hero” or “sage”).
  • Provided evidence from the video to support their choice.
  • Connected George Washington to someone else.
  • Compared their archetype ideas with a partner in a quick discussion.

Sketch and Tell-O: Strengthening the Federal Government

We then transitioned into the textbook’s reading on how Washington and Congress strengthened the federal government. Using a Sketch and Tell-O template, students sketched visuals to represent key ideas, such as:

  • The creation of executive departments.
  • The establishment of the federal court system.

This visual and creative approach helped break down the dense content into manageable chunks.

SWBST Sketch and Tell: Neutrality and Jay’s Treaty

Next, we tackled Washington’s foreign policy and Jay’s Treaty using a Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then (SWBST) Sketch and Tell template. Students read about the challenges of maintaining neutrality during international conflicts and how Jay’s Treaty attempted to resolve tensions with Britain.

The SWBST activity allowed students to:

  • Summarize the main ideas.
  • Use both words and pictures to represent what they learned.
    This strategy is always a hit because it combines comprehension with creativity, making abstract concepts more concrete.

Wrapping Up with Fast and Curious

To close out the lesson, we ran a Fast and Curious Gimkit round focused on key vocabulary and ideas from the day.

  • Students played for 3 minutes.
  • I provided immediate feedback on commonly missed questions, reinforcing learning.

Thursday: Hamilton’s Plan

Thursday was all about diving into Hamilton’s financial plan, though I initially hoped to also cover Washington’s domestic issues like the Whiskey Rebellion. My ambition outpaced reality, and we only made it through Hamilton’s plan. That said, the day was packed with meaningful activities that helped students grasp these foundational concepts.

Quick Notes: The Foundation of Hamilton’s Plan

We began class with quick notes to outline Hamilton’s financial plan, focusing on:

  • Assuming state debts to strengthen the national government.
  • Establishing a national bank to regulate finances.
  • Implementing tariffs to protect American industry.

These notes took about 10 minutes and provided the background knowledge students needed for the activities that followed.

Archetype Activity: Understanding Hamilton

To make Hamilton more relatable, I used the brief biography from the textbook to introduce him as a historical figure. Then, we revisited the archetype activity from Wednesday, applying it to Hamilton. Students identified archetypes like “visionary,” “strategist,” or even “rebel,” depending on their interpretations.

This activity was quicker than Wednesday’s, but still sparked great discussion as students shared their archetype choices with partners and justified their reasoning.

Reading, Questions, and Sketch and Tell-O

We transitioned to a reading about Hamilton’s financial plan, using a combination of structured questions, creative visualizations, and a connections summary. Here’s how it worked:

  1. Read and Respond: Students answered comprehension questions about Hamilton’s plan, focusing on why he wanted to assume state debts, how the national bank would work, and the purpose of tariffs.
  2. Sketch and Tell-O: Students used a Sketch and Tell-O template to represent key ideas from Hamilton’s plan. For example:
    • A chain symbolizing the unification of state debts under the federal government.
    • A vault or dollar sign representing the national bank.
  3. Connections Summary: To wrap up, students found an emoji or picture that connected with their answers and explained why they chose it.

I originally planned to use Class Companion, an AI feedback tool, to give students immediate feedback on their summaries. Unfortunately, it was blocked! I emailed the IT department to get it unblocked, but for now, we relied on peer discussions and my feedback instead.

Wrapping Up with Gimkit

We ended class with another Gimkit to reinforce the material. This time, the averages showed improvement:

  • 80%, 74%, 68%, and 70%.

Friday: The Whiskey Rebellion and Government Strength

On Friday, I wrestled with whether to skip the Whiskey Rebellion and dive straight into political parties, but I decided against it. The Whiskey Rebellion perfectly ties back to our first lesson: the Constitution made the government stronger, and putting down the rebellion proved that strength. This connection was too important to pass up, so we dedicated the day to exploring the Whiskey Rebellion in-depth.

Progressive Sketch and Tell: Unpacking the Story

Inspired by Jake Carr and Justin Unruh, we used a Progressive Sketch and Tell to break the rebellion into digestible chunks. I used AI to divide the Whiskey Rebellion story into five parts, making it manageable and engaging for students.

  1. Setup: Each student received a paper with five Sketch and Tell boxes.
  2. Round 1: I handed out the first part of the story, giving students 3 minutes to read and sketch a visual representation of what they’d read. They then discussed their sketches with a partner.
  3. Rounds 2–5: For each subsequent part, students repeated the process—read, sketch, discuss. This structure kept the class moving while building a deeper understanding of the rebellion.

By the end, students had created a complete visual timeline of the Whiskey Rebellion.

Introducing Class Companion for Writing Feedback

After completing their comics, students used Class Companion, an AI feedback tool, to summarize their Whiskey Rebellion comics in writing. This was my first time successfully using Class Companion after IT unblocked it, and it was a game-changer.

Here’s how it worked:

  • I set up the assignment by feeding information about the Whiskey Rebellion from our reading into Class Companion.
  • Students typed their summaries into the platform, receiving real-time feedback and scores on their writing.
  • They had three attempts to improve their summaries, with each attempt allowing them to act on AI-generated suggestions.

The feedback was eye-opening for many students. It pointed out areas for improvement in clarity, structure, and grammar, and the rubric generated by the AI made expectations crystal clear. Some students became competitive, determined to get the highest score possible by their third attempt.

The results were amazing. Students were engaged in improving their writing and motivated by the detailed feedback. The data Class Companion provided was also incredibly helpful for me to track progress.

Wrapping Up with Gimkit

We ended the day with a Gimkit review on Lesson 2. The class averages were impressive:

  • 91%, 80%, 88%, and 85%.

And just like that – a suggested 2 day lesson took 3 days and probably could have taken another day to do the lesson justice.

TWTW

The Week That Was In 234

Last week, I kicked off my social studies unit with a pre-assessment using a citizenship test. The goal for my students was to answer six or more questions correctly. Out of the 89 students I teach across four periods, only six met that benchmark.

Faced with a tight timeline, I knew I had to make every lesson count. By the end of the week, after incorporating engaging EduProtocols, 70 out of 89 students achieved a score of six or higher on the same test. The growth was incredible and a testament to how these strategies support both understanding and retention.

Monday – Sketch and Tell-O Branches

Tuesday – Checks and Balances

Wednesday – Federalism

Thursday/Friday – Supreme Court Cases

Monday: Separation of Powers

Focusing on all seven principles of the Constitution is overwhelming for 8th graders, so I start by introducing separation of powers as the foundation of understanding how the government works. My goal is to connect the concept to the branches of government and their basic functions, creating a clear starting point for students.

Tug of War: Introducing Separation of Powers

When students entered the classroom, they were met with a tug of war rope stretched across the room. The curiosity was instant—”Are we playing tug of war?” they asked. Instead of answering directly, I invited them to imagine the floor surrounding the rope represented tyranny, greed, corruption, and despotism.

I asked, “Should a government be surrounded by these negative forces?” Of course, the answer was “no.”

  • Round 1: One volunteer attempted to lift the rope out of the “corruption.” The catch? They couldn’t bunch it up or stretch it too far—it had to stay taut. Predictably, it didn’t work.
  • Round 2: A second volunteer joined, but the rope still couldn’t be lifted properly.
  • Round 3: With three volunteers, the rope was successfully lifted out of the corruption.

I explained that this is why we have separation of powers—no single branch can do it alone. By dividing power, we prevent tyranny and ensure the government operates effectively.

Quick Notes and Fast and Curious

Next, I introduced the three branches of government—executive, legislative, and judicial—through a brief set of notes. These quick notes provided an overview of the branches and their basic responsibilities.

We followed this up with a Fast and Curious Gimkit round, focusing on vocabulary and key concepts like the branches and their roles. Students played for 3 minutes, and I reviewed the most-missed questions afterward to clarify misunderstandings.

Sketch and Tell-O: Exploring the Branches

Using an article from iCivics, students explored each branch in more depth through a Sketch and Tell-O activity. For each branch, they:

  • Sketched a visual representation of the branch’s role (e.g., a gavel for judicial).
  • Wrote a brief description summarizing its main function.

This activity helped students connect abstract ideas to tangible visuals and concise explanations.

Fast and Curious: Reinforcing Understanding

After the Sketch and Tell-O, we returned to Gimkit for two more Fast and Curious rounds, each lasting 3 minutes. The goal was to reinforce what students had just learned about the branches of government. Scores improved noticeably, and the repetition solidified their understanding of the material.

Sneaker Sketch and Tell: Creative Connections

To wrap up the day, we used a Dominic Helmstetter Sketch and Tell Sneaker activity. Students designed a sneaker to represent one branch of government and wrote a brief summary explaining their design.

Tuesday: Checks and Balances

Continuing with the principles of the Constitution, Tuesday’s focus was checks and balances. This lesson aimed to go beyond the basics and help students connect vocabulary, real-world applications, and creative thinking to demonstrate their understanding.

Quick Notes: Setting the Stage

To begin class, I gave a brief lecture introducing checks and balances, focusing on key terms like impeach, override, and veto. I also provided basic examples:

  • The president can veto a bill passed by Congress.
  • Congress can override a veto with a two-thirds majority.
  • The judiciary can rule laws unconstitutional.

These quick notes established foundational knowledge for the activities that followed.

Scenario-Based Analysis

Each student received a detailed checks and balances chart, categorizing the actions of each branch and how they could be checked by another branch. Students worked through three simple scenarios requiring them to infer how checks and balances worked in practice.

For example:

  • “A potential bill was vetoed.”
    • Students identified that the executive branch (president) has the power to veto a bill.
    • Then, they determined that the legislative branch (Congress) could check this action by overriding the veto.

These scenarios required students to apply their understanding of the chart and start thinking critically about the system.

Annotate and Tell: Real-World Examples

Next, students examined three AI-generated short stories based on recent events tied to checks and balances:

  1. Trump’s impeachment.
  2. Obama’s executive orders on gun control.
  3. Biden’s exploration of student debt cancellation.

For each story, students:

  • Annotated key actions by the executive branch.
  • Answered analysis questions, such as:
    • How did the legislative branch check the president in this example?
    • What role did the judiciary play (if any)?

This activity added context and relevance, showing students how checks and balances function in modern government.

Sketch and Tell Comic: Bringing Stories to Life

To wrap up, students used the Sketch and Tell comic format paired with the SWBST (Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then) storyboarding technique. Students had two options:

  1. Create an original scenario that demonstrated checks and balances in action.
  2. Illustrate one of the AI-generated stories from earlier in class.

Each comic needed to show how multiple branches interacted, with annotations explaining the characters’ roles and the checks and balances applied.

As students shared their creations, they articulated detailed descriptions of the interactions between branches. For example, one student illustrated Congress overriding a veto with a vivid depiction of lawmakers “lifting” a veto stamp off a bill, while another highlighted a Supreme Court decision striking down an executive order.

Wednesday: Federalism

For my federalism lesson this year, I decided to switch things up while keeping the core elements that have worked well in the past. The focus was on making the concept of federalism relatable and interactive, while emphasizing key ideas like enumerated, reserved, and concurrent powers.

Thin Slides: Federalism in Context

The lesson began with Thin Slides, which provided a quick and creative way for students to process information.

  1. For the first slide, students read a brief description of federalism and chose:
    • One word to represent federalism.
    • One picture that symbolized the idea.
    • They then explained their choices, sharing insights like “I chose ‘shared’ because both the state and national government share responsibilities.”
  2. The second Thin Slide focused on real-world examples of federalism. Students looked up the legal driving age in Ohio and compared it to other states. We discussed who sets these laws (state governments) and why they vary.

This activity transitioned into another research task: students looked up the minimum wage in Kentucky, Ohio, and California, noting how state laws differ and how federalism allows for this variation.

Sketch and Tell: Breaking Down Federalism

Students used a Sketch and Tell template to dive deeper into the structure of federalism.

  • Using an infographic or a modified textbook reading, students visualized expressed powers, state powers, and concurrent powers.
  • They created drawings or used icons to represent examples, like a scale for concurrent powers (taxation) or a dollar sign for state powers (setting minimum wage).

This activity helped students connect abstract terms to concrete examples, reinforcing the distinctions between the different types of powers.

Thick Slide: Synthesizing Learning

To wrap up the lesson, students completed a Thick Slide, which allowed them to reflect and synthesize their learning. On their slides, they included:

  • Three things they learned about federalism.
  • Examples of enumerated, reserved, and concurrent powers.
  • A picture that represented federalism.
  • A correction task, where they fixed an incorrect statement about federalism to make it true.

Thursday: Upgrading Bill of Rights Knowledge

The Bill of Rights can be tricky for 8th graders to memorize and understand, so Thursday was all about making the amendments memorable, engaging, and accessible. I kicked off class with a 10-question Quizizz to assess students’ baseline knowledge. As expected, most students remembered the 1st and 2nd Amendments but struggled with the rest. Class averages reflected this, coming in at 34%, 33%, 41%, and 34%. It was clear we needed a creative strategy to make these amendments stick.

Sketch and Tell-O: Prepping for Memory Aids

I handed out a Sketch and Tell-O template with 10 empty circles, one for each amendment. Students would use this to jot down sketches or notes based on the memory aids I shared during the lesson.

Memorable Mnemonics: Learning from Dave Burgess

For each amendment, I used a fun, engaging strategy inspired by Dave Burgess to help students connect the concept to something they could easily recall.

  • 3rd Amendment: I told the story of Goldilocks making herself at home in the Three Bears’ house, linking it to the prohibition of soldiers being “quartered” in homes without consent.
  • 6th Amendment: I showed a clip of an NFL player’s quick “pick six” interception to emphasize the idea of a speedy trial.

The students were laughing, engaged, and eagerly sketching the memory aids into their templates. They loved the zany connections and seemed to absorb the material effortlessly.

Assessing Growth with Quizizz

After finishing the activity, I had students tuck away their sketches and notes. Then we launched the same Quizizz again to check for growth. The results were encouraging:

  • Class averages jumped to 74%, 77%, 68%, and 77%.

While the scores were slightly lower than last year’s averages, the improvement from the first round showed the power of these memory tricks. I’ll tweak a few things next time to fine-tune the approach, but overall, this was a win.

Friday: Applying the Bill of Rights

With the foundational knowledge of the Bill of Rights in place, Friday was all about applying that learning to real-world Supreme Court cases. The goal was to help students see how the amendments are interpreted and used in real-life scenarios—especially those that resonate with their own experiences as 8th graders.

Starting with EdPuzzle

Class began with an EdPuzzle video explaining the Supreme Court and how cases make their way to the highest court in the land. This gave students a framework to understand the cases they’d be analyzing later in the lesson.

Landmark Supreme Court Cases: An Interactive Experience

I curated a selection of Supreme Court cases that focused on issues students could relate to, such as:

  • The Pledge of Allegiance in schools.
  • Social media speech.
  • School punishment policies.
  • Prayer in schools.

Each case summary was printed onto cards and placed in envelopes around the room. To add an extra layer of engagement, one envelope included a bonus Bill of Rights Quizizz (which the students were now averaging 75–80% on—a huge improvement!).

The Activity

Students were divided into small groups and given 25 minutes to circulate through the envelopes and analyze as many cases as possible. For each case, their tasks were to:

  1. Guess which Constitutional amendment was in question.
  2. Predict how the Supreme Court ruled on the case.

The students did a great job identifying the relevant amendments, but the real excitement came when I shared the actual rulings. Many of the decisions surprised them or conflicted with their personal opinions, sparking lively discussions about how amendments are interpreted and applied.

Citizenship Test: Wrapping Up the Week

To end class, we returned to the same citizenship test we started with earlier in the week. The results were remarkable:

  • At the beginning of the week, only six out of 89 students scored six or higher.
  • By Friday, after incorporating engaging lessons and EduProtocols, 70 out of 89 students achieved that benchmark.
TWTW

The Week That Was In 234

Coming back from winter break, we hit the ground running with the principles of the Constitution. The transition wasn’t easy—snow delays and uneven class times on Wednesday threw off our rhythm, and the textbook’s overwhelming vocabulary and dense content didn’t help. After some reflection and collaboration with a trusted colleague, I decided to adjust my approach.

This week, I focused on balancing structured teaching with interactive activities. By combining brief lectures, discussions, and EduProtocols, I aimed to make the principles of the Constitution accessible, engaging, and meaningful for my students. Here’s how the first two days unfolded.

Wednesday

After a snow-filled delay, Wednesday marked our first day back from winter break—and what a chaotic return it was. With a 2-hour delay, my classes were unevenly shortened to 30–46 minutes, and the pressure to cram an entire week’s worth of lessons into a limited timeframe only added to the frustration.

Teaching the principles of the Constitution is one of my favorite units, but the constraints of the textbook and deadlines imposed by common assessments make it hard to teach the way I know my students need. The textbook oversimplifies and overcomplicates at the same time—cramming seven principles into one chapter, with little focus on building foundational knowledge like understanding the branches of government or their roles. Cognitive load theory is completely ignored, and it’s clear the materials weren’t designed with middle school learners in mind.

Despite the challenges, I’m determined to make this unit engaging and meaningful for my students. Teaching shouldn’t feel like a race against a textbook or an arbitrary deadline—it should be about meeting students where they are and guiding them to where they need to be.

Starting with a Pre-Assessment

Given the shortened day and the need for a strong foundation, I kicked off the unit with a pre-assessment using questions from the U.S. citizenship test. I chose 10–11 questions that were directly tied to the principles of the Constitution. To keep the focus on critical thinking, I didn’t include answer choices—students had to come up with their responses based on their prior knowledge.

Here’s how the activity worked:

  1. Read Aloud: I read each question aloud, giving students time to think and respond.
  2. Trade and Grade: Students swapped papers with a partner to grade each other’s responses.
  3. Discussion: We went over each question as a class, discussing the correct answers and why they mattered.
Why It Worked

This activity served as both a pre-assessment and an opportunity to spark curiosity. Students were engaged in the discussion, and it gave me a sense of where they stood in terms of their knowledge of the Constitution’s principles. It also set the stage for deeper dives into each principle later in the week.

Reflection

It wasn’t the most exciting day, but it was an important one. The citizenship test questions provided a low-stakes way to ease back into learning while laying the groundwork for the unit. With the time crunch and external pressures, it’s not the start I wanted, but I’m determined to make the most of the days I have.

This week will be about finding ways to engage my students, break down complex ideas, and show them why the principles of the Constitution still matter today—despite the challenges of the snow, the textbook, and the ticking clock.

Thursday

After reflecting on Wednesday and discussing with my colleague Drew Skeeler, I decided to adjust my approach to teaching the principles of the Constitution. While I typically avoid lecturing, it became clear that short, focused direct instruction was what my students needed to build foundational knowledge. The plan was simple: 5–10 minutes of direct teaching, followed by turn-and-talks, and then an activity that built on the lecture using EduProtocols.

This shift felt necessary. Even though it’s not my preferred teaching style, it aligns with what will help my students engage with and understand the content right now.

The Lesson Plan

1. Lecture and Turn-and-Talks
I started with a 10-minute lecture introducing the seven principles of the Constitution:

  • Popular Sovereignty
  • Limited Government
  • Separation of Powers
  • Checks and Balances
  • Federalism
  • Republicanism
  • Individual Rights

The goal was to provide a high-level overview with examples to make each principle relatable. For example, I explained checks and balances by describing how the president can veto a law passed by Congress, but Congress can override that veto.

After the lecture, students turned to a partner to discuss two questions:

  • Which principle seems the most straightforward to you?
  • Which principle do you think will be the hardest to understand?

These quick discussions helped students process the information and gave them a chance to voice initial thoughts or questions.

2. Fast and Curious Gimkit
Next, we jumped into a Fast and Curious Gimkit to reinforce the principles. The game included vocabulary and short explanations related to each principle.

  • Students played for 3 minutes.
  • I provided feedback on commonly missed questions.
  • We ran the Gimkit again to improve accuracy.

3. Worksheet and Activity
I pulled a worksheet from the textbook, but as usual, the vocabulary and phrasing were too complex for my 8th graders. To make it accessible:

  • I simplified the questions to focus on key ideas like Why is separation of powers important?
  • On the back, I added a Sketch and Tell-O activity where students drew a symbol for one of the principles and explained their choice.
  • I also included a reflection question: Which principle do you think is the most important? Why?

4. Closing with Fast and Curious
We ended the lesson with one more round of the Gimkit to lock in what they’d learned. By the third round, scores were improving, and I could see the growth in their confidence.

Reflection

This lesson was a blend of compromise and creativity. The short lecture laid a clear foundation, the turn-and-talks helped students process the information, and the combination of EduProtocols and a modified worksheet gave them multiple ways to engage with the content.

While lecturing isn’t my favorite approach, it felt like the right choice today. Pairing it with interactive and creative activities made the lesson balanced and effective. Watching my students improve through the Fast and Curious Gimkit rounds and seeing their creativity in the Sketch and Tell-O reminded me that sometimes, adapting is the best way to meet students where they are.

TWTW

The Week That Was In 234

Introduction

The past few weeks have been challenging—probably some of the toughest I’ve faced as a teacher. Being sick on and off for nearly a month has left me drained, both physically and mentally. Adjusting to a new school setting, new students, and trying to figure out what works has added to the weight. This year has forced me to stray from some of my core teaching philosophies. I’ve had to rely on strategies like extra credit, guided notes, and even the textbook more than I’d like.

I’m not relying on the textbook entirely, but it’s jam-packed with far too much information for 8th graders to process effectively. Pair that with vocabulary that feels overwhelming—words like negotiate, stimulate trade, inland, and emerged—and it’s clear the textbook isn’t a practical tool for building understanding. The challenge of teaching Tier 1 and Tier 2 vocabulary alongside complex historical concepts often feels insurmountable. When a student recently asked me, “What’s a stencil?” (I’m serious), I realized just how wide the gap can be.

The workload is also a challenge. There’s so much material to cover, and balancing meaningful activities with manageable workloads has been a constant juggling act. It’s hard not to feel like everything is just too much—for my students and for me.

I love writing in this blog; it’s a space to reflect and process. But lately, it’s felt like one more thing I can’t always keep up with. From here on, I’ll write when I can and focus on sharing what feels meaningful.

This week, though, I had three big wins. These are moments where my students were engaged, excited, and learning—and that’s what keeps me going.

Finish the Drawing Template

1. Gimanji: Gamified Review

What It Is:
Gimanji is a competitive review activity created by Alexis Turnbull that combines Gimkit, Blooket, Quizizz, Kahoot, or any mix of platforms. It’s a hit with students because it’s fast-paced, fun, and team-based.

How to Run It:

  1. Start with a Gimkit
    • Create a short, themed quiz. For example, I made a holiday-themed Gimkit with 12 questions about winter holidays.
    • Run the game for about 5 minutes and let the top 4 or 5 finishers choose their teams.
  2. Switch to a Blooket
    • Pick a mode that keeps the energy high. For our holiday version, I chose Santa’s Workshop, which is based on speed and luck.
    • Award points to the top 5 finishers—5 points each worked well for us.
  3. Add a Kahoot
    • Create a Kahoot quiz based on a fun theme. Ours was holiday songs represented by emojis. Students earn points based on accuracy and speed.
    • Keep it short—5 to 8 minutes is perfect.
  4. End with Quizizz
    • Finish with another short quiz. We did a round on holiday cookies.
    • Again, the top 5 finishers earned points for their team.

Why It Worked:
The variety of platforms kept students engaged, and the team-based competition added an extra layer of excitement. By rotating through different tools, you can cater to a range of learning styles and keep the activity fresh. Gimanji is flexible—you can adapt it to any subject or theme.

2. WeWillWrite: Gamified Writing

What It Is:
WeWillWrite is a platform that turns writing into a gamified activity. Students respond to creative prompts in secret teams, assess their peers’ writing, and compete for points.

How to Run It:

  1. Sign Up and Create a Session
    • Log in to WeWillWrite and create a session. The platform has premade prompts for all grade levels.
  2. Introduce the Activity
    • Students join with a code, similar to Gimkit or Blooket.
    • The platform automatically places them into secret teams.
  3. Write and Assess
    • Display the first prompt (e.g., “Convince your grandma her cringe gift is perfect”).
    • Students write for 3 minutes—there’s no submit button, so they’re encouraged to write the entire time.
    • After writing, students self-assess and read the work of their teammates.
  4. Vote and Award Points
    • Teams vote on the best, funniest, or most thoughtful piece.
    • Winning entries are displayed, and AI highlights literary elements like metaphors, adjectives, and personification.
  5. Repeat for Additional Rounds
    • Continue with new prompts, tracking team scores along the way.

Why It Worked:
The prompts were fun and accessible, encouraging even reluctant writers to participate. The anonymity of secret teams removed the fear of judgment, and the AI feedback added a layer of validation and learning. It was exciting to see students so invested in writing, and the self-assessment piece encouraged reflection on their work.

3. Finish the Drawing

What It Is:
This activity, inspired by Howson History, combines creativity with content. Students complete partially drawn images based on prompts tied to your curriculum.

How to Run It:

  1. Prepare the Drawings
    • Create a sheet with 9 unfinished drawings—simple shapes or partial designs that students can build upon.
    • Provide space under each box for labels.
  2. Randomize and Assign Prompts
    • Have students randomly number the boxes on their sheet.
    • Call out prompts one at a time. For example:
      • “How would King George react to the Declaration of Independence?”
      • “Illustrate mercantilism in action.”
      • “What worried Anti-Federalists about the Constitution?”
  3. Drawing and Labeling
    • Give students 3 minutes to complete their drawing and label it with key terms or ideas.
  4. Repeat and Discuss
    • Continue with new prompts, encouraging students to share and explain their drawings as time allows.

Why It Worked:
This activity made abstract concepts more tangible. Students who might struggle with writing or vocabulary could still demonstrate understanding through visuals. It sparked great discussions and could easily transition into a Sketch and Tell or Sketch and Tell-O.

Final Thoughts

This week reminded me why I love teaching, even during tough seasons. These activities—Gimanji, WeWillWrite, and Finish the Drawing—brought energy and engagement back into my classroom. They provided ways to work around vocabulary gaps while keeping students focused and excited.

If you’re looking for ways to shake up your lessons and get your students excited, I highly recommend trying these strategies. They’re flexible, fun, and effective—proving that a little creativity can make a big difference!

AI and EduProtocols

Ohio EduProtocols Roadshow: A Game-Changer for Teachers

The Ohio EduProtocols Roadshow on October 25, 2024, at the Northern Buckeye Education Council’s headquarters brought together educators from Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and West Virginia for an unforgettable day of learning, collaboration, and inspiration. This transformative professional development event showcased the power of EduProtocols to revolutionize teaching, engage students, and create lasting impacts in classrooms, schools, and districts.

EduProtocols in Action

The day featured a lineup of authors and hotshots who modeled EduProtocols in real time, helping attendees see how these strategies could transform their classrooms:

Jon Corippo, co-founder of EduProtocols, energized the room with his dynamic presentations on Fast and Curious and Random Emoji Paragraph. Teachers saw how these strategies transform formative assessments into interactive, game-like experiences and writing tasks into creative, student-centered activities.

Adam Moler, co-author of the EduProtocols Field Guide Social Studies Edition, engaged participants with his session on Sketch and Tell-O. He demonstrated how blending visual storytelling with core content gives students meaningful opportunities to express understanding in innovative ways while building their creativity and engagement.

Dominic Helmstetter, a national presenter and EduProtocols hotshot, wowed attendees with his session on Thin Slides. He showed how students could synthesize information and develop presentation skills in under five minutes, sparking both creativity and confidence while making learning dynamic and efficient.

Dr. Randall Sampson, an EduProtocols champion, brought a unique perspective to the event by offering CEUs for participants and sharing compelling student growth data tied to EduProtocols. Randall highlighted how these strategies have led to measurable improvements in academic achievement, engagement, and classroom efficiency. His session inspired educators to think critically about how EduProtocols can foster long-term growth and success for their students.

Real-Time Insights: Addressing Educator Challenges

One of the most valuable aspects of the Roadshow was its emphasis on addressing real-world classroom challenges with practical solutions. At the end of the Roadshow, a Padlet board was set up and used for participants to ask questions and have them answered in real time. Key questions raised during the sessions highlighted the adaptability and effectiveness of EduProtocols in diverse settings:

  1. Grading Simplified Yet Impactful
    A recurring question from attendees was: “How do I grade these activities?” Presenters emphasized keeping it simple. Most EduProtocols are designed for formative assessment during the week, relying on pass/fail or completion checks. Summative assessments, like final Thin Slides or Sketch and Tell-O presentations, can involve clear, rubric-based grading. For example, participation-based grading (e.g., completing 80% of Gimkit or Sketch tasks) or letter grades for final synthesis projects ensures accountability while reducing teacher workload.

“EduProtocols aren’t about piling on work for teachers or students—they’re about making learning visible and simplifying assessment in meaningful ways.”

  1. Tools That Support Engagement and Collaboration
    Participants were curious about the best tools to use with EduProtocols. Presenters highlighted versatile platforms like Google Slides for Thin Slides, Padlet for Iron Chef-style collaboration, and Curipod for interactive, AI-driven lessons. These platforms make it easy for students to share, engage, and collaborate, fostering a classroom environment where every voice matters.

“The right tools make EduProtocols seamless and accessible. It’s about finding what works best for your students and classroom needs.”

  1. Creating a Safe, Collaborative Classroom Culture
    A significant topic was how to foster a safe space where students feel confident sharing their work. Strategies included:

Using anonymous tools like Curipod for responses to avoid popularity bias.
Keeping activities fast-paced and light to reduce anxiety.
Reinforcing classroom norms and shutting down negativity quickly.
“EduProtocols build confidence because they focus on the process, not perfection. Students feel safe to try, share, and grow.”

  1. Balancing Engagement with Accountability
    Educators asked: “What about students who only work if it’s graded?” The experts reassured them that the engagement built into EduProtocols—like the competition in Fast and Curious or the creativity in Sketch and Tell-O—naturally motivates students. For those who still struggle, incorporating visible progress, like tracking Gimkit scores or showcasing Thin Slides, can provide the accountability they need.

“When students see their progress in real time and know their work matters, engagement follows.”

A Teacher’s Perspective

The collaborative, solution-driven nature of the event resonated with educators. Angie Behnfeldt, a teacher from Stryker Schools, shared:

“I attended alone since EduProtocols are not yet widely known in my district, but now I can’t wait to share what I’ve learned. The testimonies, anecdotes, and data shared throughout the day were incredible. You’ve inspired all of us to roll up our sleeves and start teaching better while working less!”

Transform Your Teaching

The Ohio EduProtocols Roadshow wasn’t just another professional development session—it was a movement. Teachers left with practical tools, actionable strategies, and a renewed sense of purpose. The modeling of EduProtocols in real time showed how these tools can be adapted to any subject or grade level, creating classrooms where students are engaged, teachers are energized, and learning is visible.

“Watching educators light up as they realized how these tools could transform their classrooms reminded me why I love this work.” – Dominic Helmstetter

Don’t miss your chance to experience the EduProtocols Roadshow and join a growing community of educators transforming teaching and learning. Visit the EduProtocols Plus site and mark your calendar for the next event and prepare to unlock the full potential of your classroom!

TWTW

The Week That Was In 234

This week, we dug into the foundations of the United States government and explored how early laws shaped the country’s growth. EduProtocols were front and center as we kept students engaged and active in their learning:

📊 Monday: Introduced The Tier List to rank government systems and used Iron Chef with Padlet to analyze types of governments.
🍬 Tuesday: Gummy bears turned abstract government concepts into tangible representations, followed by another Tier List ranking activity.
📖 Wednesday: Students tackled the Articles of Confederation with a Frayer Model, Justin Unruh’s template for Cause and Effect with Shays’ Rebellion, and a Sketch and Tell Comic.
🖥️ Thursday: Used Curipod to clarify the Articles and Shays’ Rebellion, helping students refine their Frayers and comics.
📜 Friday: Explored the Land Ordinance of 1785 and Northwest Ordinance of 1787 with Number Mania, connecting details to a key statement.

EduProtocols made this week dynamic and interactive, helping students dive deeper into complex topics while keeping them engaged and excited to learn!

Monday

Today, we began our new unit on the Constitutional Convention, which will cover topics like the Articles of Confederation, Shays’ Rebellion, the Northwest Ordinance, key compromises, and Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists. To set the stage, I introduced the concept of different government systems—some familiar, some new—and used a mix of EduProtocols to keep students engaged and thinking critically.

Starting with Gimkit: Activating Prior Knowledge

We started class with a quick 2-minute Gimkit on types of governments, focusing on basic terms and concepts. After the first round, I gave immediate feedback, clarifying any misunderstandings, and then we jumped into a second round. Repetition and feedback in short bursts like this are a great way to activate prior knowledge and boost confidence, especially as we dive into new material.

Introducing the Tier List: A Fun New Protocol

Next, I introduced a new EduProtocol: The Tier List (created by Eric Curts). Many students were already familiar with it, which made for a seamless introduction. We began by ranking fast food chains using the S-F ranking system. Students had three minutes to place their rankings, with the flexibility to leave tiers blank or include multiple restaurants in the same tier.

The real value of the Tier List came in the next steps:

  1. Partner Discussions: Students paired up to compare rankings and explain their reasoning, fostering meaningful discussions about personal preferences and decision-making.
  2. Live Class Results: As students submitted their rankings through a Google Form, the live results appeared on the board. This led to a fun, interactive class discussion about trends and outliers in the rankings.

This warm-up not only got students talking but also built their familiarity with the Tier List format, which we’ll use again for academic topics later in the unit.

Diving into Government Systems with Iron Chef

For the main activity, we used an Iron Chef format paired with Padlet to explore six government systems: direct democracy, monarchy, republic, authoritarian, anarchy, and confederation (I left out theocracy this time). Here’s how it went:

  1. Distributing Readings: Students received a half-page reading about their assigned government system.
  2. Padlet Contributions: Each group shared:
    • A definition of their government system
    • Two characteristics of that system
    • Potential problems or limitations
    • An AI-generated symbolic image to represent it

This collaborative activity gave students ownership over their topic and ensured a wide range of perspectives for the class to learn from.

Sketch and Tell-O: Processing and Synthesizing

To reinforce what they learned, students moved into a Sketch and Tell-O Notes activity. As they reviewed each Padlet post, they sketched a quick picture, wrote a definition, and jotted down key facts for each government style. This protocol helps students process information visually and create a set of notes they can reference throughout the unit.

Wrapping Up with Gimkit

We ran out of time, but I squeezed in a final 3-minute Gimkit to reinforce what we’d covered. Quick reviews like this are an excellent way to close a packed lesson and leave students feeling confident in their understanding.

Reflection

Today’s mix of protocols and activities was all about building foundational knowledge in an engaging and interactive way. The Tier List added a fun twist to class discussions, while Iron Chef and Sketch and Tell-O helped students dive deeper into the nuances of different government systems. Although we ran out of time, the energy and focus in the room made for a strong start to this new unit.

Tuesday

Lesson Link

Today, I realized we needed to shake things up. After starting class with a Gimkit on government systems, I noticed the results were still stagnant—students weren’t making the progress I’d hoped for. If they were struggling with basic questions, how could they effectively rank and discuss the systems on a Tier List? Time to try something different.

Gummy Bear Representations

Enter the gummy bears. I handed each student a pack of individually wrapped Haribo gummy bears and set up a Padlet. Their task: review monarchy, confederation, and republic styles of government by creating gummy bear representations of each system.

Students got creative:

  • For monarchy, some built a single gummy bear “king” surrounded by loyal “subjects.”
  • For confederation, students grouped bears into loose alliances, showing independence but some cooperation.
  • For republic, gummy bears voted or worked together as equals.

They took pictures of their creations, uploaded them to Padlet, and explained how their setups represented each government style. The energy in the room was fantastic, and students were highly engaged. This hands-on approach turned what could’ve been a dry review into something fun and memorable.

Revisiting Gimkit

After 20 minutes of gummy bear creations, we revisited the Gimkit. The results were much better this time—students had a clearer grasp of the government systems and were able to apply what they’d just reviewed in a meaningful way.

Ranking Governments with the Tier List

Next, we transitioned into the Tier List EduProtocol. This time, students ranked the styles of government we’ve studied so far. After completing their Tier List rankings, they paired up to discuss their choices and submitted their final results through a Google Form.

Wrapping Up with Class Discussion

We ended with a class discussion based on the live Google Form results, comparing trends and outliers. Students defended their rankings, debated the merits of each system, and reflected on what makes some systems more effective than others.

Reflection

Today’s gummy bear activity was a game-changer. It transformed abstract concepts into something tangible, making it easier for students to connect with and understand the material. The improved Gimkit scores showed that this hands-on, creative approach worked, and the Tier List discussion added depth to their understanding. Sometimes, all you need to reinvigorate learning is a little creativity—and a pack of gummy bears. 🍬

Wednesday

While I wasn’t in class today, I left a structured, engaging set of activities to introduce the Articles of Confederation and its connection to Shays’ Rebellion. The plan aimed to build foundational knowledge through vocabulary, visuals, and synthesis tasks, though I anticipated needing Thursday to review and reinforce some of the concepts.

Vocabulary Practice with Gimkit

The lesson began with a Gimkit focused on vocabulary terms related to the Articles of Confederation. This provided a quick, interactive way for students to familiarize themselves with key terms they’d encounter in the reading and activities.

Edpuzzle: Visual and Audio Support

Next, students watched a six-minute Edpuzzle video on the Articles of Confederation. The video served as a concise visual and auditory primer, helping students understand the context and purpose of the Articles while highlighting its strengths and weaknesses.

Frayer Model: Breaking Down the Articles

Students then completed a Frayer model on the Articles of Confederation, paired with a reading. The prompts encouraged them to:

  • Define the Articles of Confederation.
  • Explain one reason why the government was intentionally made weak.
  • List three powers Congress had under the Articles.
  • Identify four weaknesses of the government.

This activity pushed students to engage with the text critically and organize their understanding in a structured way.

Exploring Shays’ Rebellion

To connect the Articles to its historical impact, I included a Justin Unruh template focused on Shays’ Rebellion. Students identified:

  • The cause of the rebellion.
  • The who, what, when, and where of the event.
  • The effect Shays’ Rebellion had on the call for a stronger federal government.

This task linked abstract governmental weaknesses to a real-world crisis, helping students see how the Articles’ limitations played out in history.

Sketch and Tell Comic: Synthesis

The final activity was a Sketch and Tell comic. Students were tasked with synthesizing the day’s learning by illustrating:

  1. What the Articles of Confederation were.
  2. Two weaknesses of the Articles.
  3. Shays’ Rebellion.
  4. One success under the Articles.

This activity combined creativity and critical thinking, but as expected, many students didn’t finish this part. We’ll use Thursday to revisit and complete it.

Reflection

Today’s plan blended a variety of tools—Gimkit, Edpuzzle, Frayer models, and a Sketch and Tell comic—to help students engage with foundational ideas about early American government. While I wasn’t there to guide them, the scaffolding allowed for independent exploration. Still, Thursday will be key for addressing gaps and ensuring everyone synthesizes these concepts fully. Sometimes, lessons like these are reminders of the importance of follow-up, especially when tackling big, interconnected topics like these.

Thursday

Today was all about getting everyone on the same page with the Articles of Confederation and Shays’ Rebellion. After Wednesday’s independent work, I decided that a more guided and interactive approach was needed to fill gaps and ensure everyone had a clear understanding. Enter Curipod, an AI-powered tool similar to Pear Deck and Nearpod, which helped make today’s lesson engaging and collaborative.

Using Curipod to Guide the Lesson

If you haven’t tried Curipod, let me just say—it’s a game changer! I asked Curipod to generate a lesson for 8th graders about the Articles of Confederation and Shays’ Rebellion. It created a structured lesson with key topics like:

  • Successes and Weaknesses of the Articles
  • The Structure of Government
  • Cause and Effect
  • Shays’ Rebellion

What makes Curipod especially great are the interactive pieces. For example, it included prompts like:

  • “Why do you think the founding fathers didn’t create an executive branch with a president?”
  • “Why do you think they created a central government that couldn’t levy taxes?”

Students had three minutes to respond, thanks to the built-in timer (adjustable if needed). Once time was up, students could read and vote on the most relevant responses—anonymously! This feature is a huge win because it encourages honest, thoughtful answers without turning into a popularity contest.

Curipod also lets you add, edit, or delete information on the slides, making it highly adaptable to fit your classroom needs. The free version alone is incredibly robust, and I loved how it seamlessly tied into today’s goals.

Revisiting and Fixing Frayers and Comics

To start, students opened the Frayer models they had worked on Wednesday. Using the Curipod lesson as a guide, they reviewed and updated their definitions, weaknesses, successes, and other key details about the Articles of Confederation. This ensured they had accurate, complete information while reinforcing what we’d already covered.

Next, we transitioned to their Sketch and Tell comic slides, where students synthesized:

  1. The Articles of Confederation
  2. Two weaknesses of the Articles
  3. Shays’ Rebellion
  4. One success under the Articles

With time to refine their work, the students made meaningful improvements to their comics, bringing together everything they’d learned so far.

Wrapping Up with Gimkit

We ended class with a quick round of Gimkit to reinforce the key terms and ideas. By now, students’ scores were improving steadily, showing their growing confidence with the material.

Reflection

Curipod was the perfect tool for today’s lesson—it brought clarity, engagement, and interactivity to topics that could otherwise feel dry or overwhelming. The anonymous response feature encouraged thoughtful participation, while the guided format helped students fix any misunderstandings from Wednesday’s lesson. Tying everything together with the Frayers, comics, and Gimkit made for a well-rounded day of learning and reflection. If you haven’t tried Curipod yet, I highly recommend it—it’s an absolute game changer for collaborative lessons!

Friday

Lesson Link

Today’s focus was on two key pieces of legislation: the Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. These laws laid the groundwork for organizing and settling the Northwest Territory, so our lesson emphasized understanding how land was divided and states were established.

Starting with Gimkit

We kicked off with a 10-question Gimkit that combined review from Thursday’s lesson with new questions about today’s content. This mix kept students on their toes while reinforcing prior learning and previewing key ideas.

Reading and Proving a Statement

Next, we read an article on the Land Ordinance and Northwest Ordinance. I explained how townships were set up, breaking down the system of squares, sections, and their purposes. To apply their learning, I gave students the statement:

“The United States created an organized system to divide land and establish new states in the Northwest Territory.”

Their task was to prove the statement true using four numbers from the readings. This Number Mania activity helped them connect specific details to a broader understanding, encouraging them to think critically and organize evidence to support a claim.

Wrapping Up Early

I originally planned to include more activities, but by the time we finished the Number Mania and ran a second round of Gimkit, I decided that was enough for the day. It’s Friday, Thanksgiving break is around the corner, and the students had been working hard all week. Sometimes, it’s just as important to recognize when they need a break as it is to keep pushing forward.

Reflection

Today’s lesson was a perfect balance of review, new content, and synthesis. The Number Mania helped students focus on key details, while the Gimkit kept them engaged and reinforced their learning. Wrapping up a bit early felt like the right call—it gave students a breather after a week of hard work and set a positive tone heading into the weekend. Sometimes less really is more.

TWTW

The Week That Was in 234

This week, we wrapped up the Revolutionary War and began transitioning into the formation of a new nation. From major battles to the Treaty of Paris, and the contributions of marginalized groups to the local impact of Revolutionary War veterans, the focus was on tying big ideas to personal connections.

EduProtocols were front and center, with Sketch and Tell-O taking the lead as students visualized key concepts across the unit. We also used Wicked Hydra to spark curiosity, Number Mania to connect history to local stories, and Brain, Book, Buddy, Boss to strengthen review and collaboration. It’s been a week of reflection, practice, and making history come alive through active, creative engagement.

Monday – Sketch and Tell with CER, Reading

Tuesday – Treaty of Paris Reading and 2xPOV, Sketch and Tell-O

Wednesday – Marginalized Voices lesson

Thursday – Brain, Book, Buddy

Friday – Number Mania, Reading

Monday: Revolutionary War Battles

Today, we focused on Revolutionary War battles, diving into the “big five” that shaped the war’s outcome: Lexington and Concord, Bunker Hill, Trenton, Saratoga, and Yorktown. While battles aren’t my favorite part of this unit (and I’m ready to wrap it up by the week’s end), I aimed to make the lesson purposeful and engaging for my students while also pushing their thinking beyond surface-level details.

Starting with Curiosity and Context

To kick off, I posed a simple but thought-provoking question: How many battles do you think were fought during the Revolutionary War? As expected, the responses ranged from “10” to “1 million” (middle schoolers never disappoint). I shared the surprising fact that there were over 1,000 battles and skirmishes, but we’d focus on five key battles. This helped set the stage for students to see the broader context before zooming in on the most impactful moments.

Building Knowledge with Gimkit and Padlet

We started with a 3-minute Gimkit to review core terms and concepts from the Revolutionary War. This quick burst of activity keeps engagement high and helps solidify foundational knowledge. Next, I had students dive deeper by becoming “battle experts.” Each student researched one battle, focusing on:

  • When it happened
  • Where it happened
  • Two major events
  • Why it was important to the war’s outcome

To share their findings, I set up a Padlet divided into five sections—one for each battle. I provided directions, maps, and a prompt to guide their work. Students also used the “I Can’t Draw” AI tool to create images representing their battle, adding a creative touch. Once the Padlet was complete, students read through the shared information and mapped out each battle location along with three key facts per battle.

Pushing into Evaluation and Synthesis

After gathering information, I challenged students to evaluate: Of the five battles, which three were the most important? They struggled with this—evaluating and ranking require a shift to DOK 2 thinking, and it’s an area we’re still building. Students sketched a quick image for each of their top three battles, which helped them synthesize their ideas visually.

To extend their thinking further, we moved into a CER (Claim, Evidence, Reasoning) exercise: Which battle was the most important overall? Writing a strong claim with evidence and reasoning remains a work in progress for many of my students, but these moments of struggle are necessary steps in their growth. While the CERs weren’t perfect, they showed effort and emerging skills, and I see improvement as we continue practicing.

Wrapping Up with Retrieval

To close, we circled back to a 3-minute Gimkit, reinforcing what we’d learned and giving students a sense of progress by ending with something familiar and fast-paced.

Reflection: A Mix of Wins and Areas for Growth

My students excelled at the DOK 1 tasks—reviewing, gathering information, and sharing details—but evaluating and ranking battles (DOK 2) proved more challenging. CER writing continues to be a struggle, as expected, but it’s something we’ll keep practicing. The process of grappling with these higher-order tasks is just as important as the end result. Overall, the day offered a mix of engagement, content-building, and opportunities for growth, which is exactly what I want as we head toward the end of the unit.

Tuesday: Treaty of Paris of 1783

Today was all about the Treaty of Paris of 1783, and we explored its impact through visuals, questioning, and perspective-taking. This pivotal moment in history not only marked the end of the Revolutionary War but also set the stage for a newly independent United States. My goal was to hook students with curiosity, guide them through the key agreements, and challenge them to think critically about the treaty’s outcomes.

Starting with Wicked Hydra: Hooking Curiosity

We began with Benjamin West’s famous unfinished painting of American diplomats at the Treaty of Paris. Using the Wicked Hydra protocol, students generated questions about the painting. Predictably, many asked whether Benjamin Franklin was in the painting and why parts of it were blank or cloudy. Wicked Hydra is one of my favorite ways to start a lesson because it taps into students’ natural curiosity and frames their questions as an integral part of the learning process. I deliberately designed the lesson to answer many of their questions, creating a sense of anticipation and connection as the day progressed.

Treaty Reading, Sketch and Tell-O, and Summarizing

Next, students read a one-page summary of the Treaty of Paris. I used a concise reading to make the content manageable, focusing on three key agreements of the treaty. To reinforce comprehension, students sketched out each agreement using a Sketch and Tell-O, pairing visuals with concise explanations. Sketch and Tell-O not only keeps students engaged but also helps them process information in a way that sticks. After sketching, students wrote a brief summary, which encouraged them to synthesize what they’d learned and translate it into their own words.

Mapping Boundaries: Visualizing the Treaty’s Impact

To make the treaty’s outcomes more concrete, we turned to a map showing the boundaries established by the agreement. Students read three short descriptions outlining the boundaries for Spain, the United States, and Britain, then colored the map accordingly. This activity was an eye-opener—it highlighted just how challenging spatial reasoning and interpreting written directions can be for middle schoolers. Even with labeled sections on the map, many struggled. While it wasn’t smooth sailing, it was excellent practice for connecting textual information with geographic visuals, a skill they’ll continue to develop.

Ending with Perspective: A 2xPOV Activity

To wrap up, we revisited the painting and engaged in a 2xPOV protocol. Students wrote from the perspective of the American diplomats in the painting, reflecting on the significance of the treaty and their feelings about independence. Then, they switched to the perspective of the absent British negotiators, imagining their thoughts on the loss of the war and the new boundaries. This exercise pushed students to consider the treaty from multiple viewpoints, fostering empathy and critical thinking about the complexities of peace negotiations.

Reflection: A Mix of Wins and Growth Opportunities

The Wicked Hydra and Sketch and Tell-O were clear wins—their questions and sketches showed curiosity and a solid grasp of the treaty’s major points. The mapping activity, while a struggle, was valuable practice in connecting abstract agreements to tangible visuals. The 2xPOV activity challenged students to think beyond surface-level facts and put themselves in the shoes of the historical figures involved, a skill that’s key to understanding history as more than just events and dates.

Wednesday: The Contributions and Paradox of Marginalized Groups in the Revolutionary War

Today’s lesson was about bringing the voices of marginalized groups into the narrative of the Revolutionary War, a story that often centers on the contributions of white men while sidelining others who played critical roles. Ohio’s standards emphasize the importance of teaching how different groups—enslaved people, women, and Native Americans—contributed to the war’s outcome. However, our textbook provides only a brief mention of women and an even smaller nod to enslaved people, leaving an enormous gap to fill.

Introducing the Paradox: Fighting for Freedom

As I prepared for this lesson, I wanted students to grapple with a critical paradox: How did these marginalized groups help secure freedom during the Revolutionary War, only to be denied that freedom in the new nation they helped create? It’s a difficult, uncomfortable truth, but it’s also an opportunity to make history more inclusive and meaningful. My goal was to push students to think about this contradiction and see history as more than just dates and events—it’s a collection of human stories, struggles, and injustices.

Building Context with a Frayer Model: Defining “Marginalized”

We began by unpacking the term marginalized using a Frayer model. Defining the word gave students the vocabulary to frame the lesson and helped anchor their understanding of how these groups were treated during and after the war. Adding examples and characteristics brought the abstract concept to life, setting the stage for our deeper exploration.

Sketch and Tell-O: Contributions and Denial of Freedom

Next, students read a passage I created by combining textbook excerpts and additional information generated with AI. I asked AI to fill in the gaps, highlighting both the contributions of marginalized groups and the freedoms they were denied after the war. The students then completed a Sketch and Tell-O, choosing one group to illustrate both their contributions to the war and an example of the freedoms they were denied afterward. This activity gave students a way to process the information visually and reflect on the paradox of fighting for freedom while being excluded from it.

Engaging Perspectives: Interviewing Historical Figures with AI

To take things further, I introduced a Frayer model activity where students “interviewed” a historical figure. Using Claude AI and Magic School Chatbot, I created personas for James Lafayette, Abigail Adams, Deborah Sampson, and members of the Oneida. While I’m cautious about using AI for marginalized perspectives due to potential bias, I carefully tailored the instructions to avoid harmful stereotypes and ensure the responses were appropriate for 8th graders.

Students chose a figure, conducted interviews, and completed the Frayer model, answering questions about the figure’s contributions to the war, their treatment during and after the war, and their legacy. This interactive component allowed students to step into the shoes of these individuals and gain a deeper understanding of their experiences.

Closing with Reflection: Living the Paradox

To conclude, I asked students to reflect on what it might have been like to fight for freedom yet be denied it in the new nation they helped create. We discussed examples such as being forced back into slavery, having one’s land taken away, or being excluded from voting. This reflection aimed to connect students emotionally to the historical content, fostering empathy and critical thinking about the inequities that shaped early America.

Reflection: Teaching Beyond the Textbook

Today’s lesson was a powerful reminder of the importance of teaching history as a collection of diverse stories. While the textbook offers a narrow view, using AI and creative protocols like Sketch and Tell-O and historical interviews allowed me to broaden the narrative and engage students in meaningful ways. Grappling with the paradox of marginalized groups is challenging, but it’s a necessary step in helping students understand history’s complexities and injustices. I’m hopeful that today’s lesson planted seeds for deeper thinking and more inclusive perspectives in our classroom conversations.

Here’s the updated blog post for Thursday:

Thursday: Reviewing with Brain, Book, Buddy, Boss

Today was a review day, and we used one of my favorite protocols: Brain, Book, Buddy, Boss. This time, we approached it through multiple-choice questions to reinforce key content from the Revolutionary War unit while encouraging collaboration, self-reflection, and deeper understanding.

Setting Up the Process: Brain, Book, Buddy

Students began by dividing their paper into three columns. I provided 16 multiple-choice questions, covering everything from Revolutionary War battles to the Treaty of Paris. Here’s how the protocol unfolded:

  1. Brain: In the first column, students answered the questions independently without any help. This initial attempt was purely from memory, and I asked them to highlight or star any questions they were unsure of as they worked through the set.
  2. Book: Next, students used their notes, sketches, and completed EduProtocols to review the questions they’d flagged. In column two, they wrote down the updated answers they found using these resources. This step not only reinforced their retrieval skills but also encouraged them to connect back to the activities and materials we’ve worked on throughout the unit.
  3. Buddy: Finally, students compared their answers with a partner, writing their final answers in column three. Any discrepancies between their answers sparked a discussion, requiring students to explain their reasoning and come to an agreement. These discussions were phenomenal—students were engaged, asking each other questions, and even revisiting their notes to back up their arguments. The teamwork was inspiring and exactly what I hoped to see.
Grading and Analyzing Progress

At the end of the activity, I revealed the correct answers and had students grade themselves for each column. The goal was to reflect on what they knew independently (Brain), how much they improved with resources (Book), and whether collaborating helped them refine their understanding (Buddy). For most students, the progression showed clear improvement, but there were a few surprises—some students actually scored lower as the columns progressed! I chalk it up to the unpredictability of middle school thinking; sometimes overthinking or misunderstanding during the Buddy phase can derail what they initially got right.

Wrapping Up with Gimkit

To close the day, we played a Gimkit to reinforce the content we’d reviewed. The class averages—83%, 86%, 86%, and 90%—showed strong growth and confidence. Gimkit remains a favorite because it blends competition and repetition, making review both effective and fun.

Reflection: Balancing Independence and Collaboration

Today highlighted the balance between independent thinking and collaborative learning. Students showed strong effort in the Brain and Book phases, and the Buddy discussions pushed them to explain their reasoning and build consensus. Even when some students scored lower after collaborating, the discussions were valuable in fostering deeper thinking and reinforcing the importance of justifying answers.

The self-grading piece was especially powerful, giving students immediate insight into their progress and areas for improvement. Middle school is a mix of surprising growth and moments of “What just happened?” but that’s what makes it such a rewarding process. Overall, today was a win for reflection, review, and meaningful teamwork.

Friday: Assessment and Connecting the Revolutionary War to Local History

Today was a mix of assessment and transition, as we wrapped up the Revolutionary War unit and began looking ahead to the creation of a new country. With ties to local history, the lesson aimed to connect the broader narrative of the war to something more personal and tangible for my students.

Assessment: Gimkit and Short Answer

We started the day with a dual-format assessment. I set up a Gimkit assignment with 17 questions that stopped automatically when students completed it, giving them a focused goal. Alongside the Gimkit, I included two short-answer questions on paper, asking students to synthesize key ideas from the Revolutionary War unit. They had 20 minutes to finish both tasks, balancing their time between the two formats. After collecting their papers and recording scores, we transitioned to the second part of the day.

Number Mania: Local Connections to Revolutionary Veterans

For our next activity, we explored a transitional topic: Revolutionary War veterans settling in Ohio. I found a fantastic article from the Clermont Sun newspaper detailing how land in Clermont County and surrounding areas, including Hamilton and Brown counties, was granted to veterans as payment for their service. This topic is personal for me because my family has farmed Revolutionary War land in Clermont County since it was granted to my ancestors. Sharing this personal connection brought a human element to the lesson and helped students see how national history ties directly to their local area.

Like all Number Mania activities, I began with a statement for students to prove:
“Clermont County became a significant settlement area for Revolutionary War veterans, who were paid in various ways for their service.”

We read the article together, and students highlighted four numbers and corresponding facts that supported the statement. Using these numbers, they designed slides that visualized the information in a clear and compelling way. This task combined reading comprehension, critical thinking, and design skills, making it a great way to bridge content areas.

Wrapping Up with Insights

With five minutes left, I revealed eight possible numbers that could have supported the statement, giving students a chance to compare their choices with other possibilities. This final step sparked discussion about what makes evidence strong and how different pieces of information can support the same claim.

Reflection: Bringing History Home

Today’s activities were a meaningful way to connect national history to local significance. The assessment gave students a chance to show what they’ve learned, while the Number Mania tied the Revolutionary War to their own community’s roots. The personal connection—especially sharing my family’s Revolutionary War land story—added a layer of authenticity and relevance that helped students see how history shapes the places we live today. As we move forward into the new country’s formation, I hope this connection inspires them to think critically about how the past continues to impact the present.

TWTW

The Week That Was In 234

This week focused on building a strong base for our Revolutionary War unit through EduProtocols and engaging activities. We used Gimkit rounds to reinforce key vocabulary, Thick Slides to explore foundational ideas like government’s role, and Brain-Book-Buddy-Boss for structured retrieval practice. Midweek, students independently analyzed the Declaration of Independence, paraphrasing and summarizing key passages.

By Friday, we launched into the war itself, pairing Sketch and Tell-O with a Choose Your Own Adventure as Continental soldiers and a creative Funko Pop project. These varied protocols helped make complex history accessible and memorable, laying the groundwork for deeper exploration of the Revolutionary era.

Monday

DOI Parafly Link, Thick Slide Link

This week, we continued our journey into the Declaration of Independence, working to break down complex ideas and bring clarity to an iconic but challenging text. The goal was to keep the Declaration manageable, balancing cognitive load with targeted analysis. I aimed to help students connect with the key concepts through consistency, vocabulary focus, and engaging paraphrasing work. Here’s a look at how it unfolded.

Breaking Down the Declaration

We picked up with the Declaration, focusing on why it was created, who was involved, and what it outlined for the future of governance. Knowing the text can be overwhelming, I broke it down into digestible sections—five key excerpts, starting with its description of government’s role. This approach allowed students to work with smaller, manageable parts and helped me pace the class to keep focus high.

We kicked off with a Gimkit review of core vocabulary from the Declaration—terms like political bands, unalienable, endowed, self-evident, usurpations, and tyranny. Running Gimkit in short rounds gave students a fast-paced vocabulary review; after three minutes, I provided quick feedback and immediately launched another round to reinforce retention.

Parafly: Paraphrasing with Scaffolding

Moving into the Parafly activity, I used Socrative to facilitate the paraphrasing practice. To get students warmed up, we started with random trivia and fun animal facts, adding some lighthearted engagement before diving into the Declaration’s text. I then introduced the five excerpts, inviting students to either paraphrase the original or work from a simpler translation if needed—an approach inspired by my special education background to support all learners. I pointed out the relevant vocab terms as we went along, helping to connect meaning and context in real time.

The Parafly took a bit longer than expected, with students getting involved in the layers of meaning within each excerpt. Although I aimed for a fast pace, I found it rewarding to see their focus as they grappled with language and intent.

Wrapping Up with Vocabulary Reinforcement

With time running out, we returned to Gimkit for a third and final round. It reinforced our vocabulary in a quick and dynamic way, although we didn’t quite make it to the Thick Slide summary I’d planned to close with. Still, seeing their engagement and progress with the Declaration was a win.

The week’s start has been a balance of repetition and exploration, and the students are beginning to see the Declaration not just as words but as ideas that shaped history. EduProtocols like Gimkit and Parafly have helped make the content accessible, and I’m looking forward to building on this foundation in the days ahead.

Tuesday

While I presented at an AI conference, my students worked independently on two key areas: wrapping up our exploration of the Declaration of Independence and diving into a basic introduction to the Electoral College for Election Day. With both activities, my focus was on reinforcing their understanding of purpose and process in government while also beginning the slow shift away from traditional worksheets.

Thick Slide: Synthesis and Locke’s Influence

For the Declaration, I left a Thick Slide assignment designed to help students synthesize what they’ve learned. They were tasked with listing three facts about the Declaration, explaining why it was written, and defining the purpose of government. To add a layer of historical analysis, I had them find a quote reflecting John Locke’s influence and select an image that could show King George’s reaction to the Declaration. It was an opportunity for them to connect the ideas we’ve been exploring and to bring a bit of creativity into the mix.

Election Day Connection: Electoral College Intro

Given the significance of Election Day, I added a brief lesson on the Electoral College. I provided a simple reading, a set of questions, and an Edpuzzle video to introduce the basics. While I’m gradually moving away from basic worksheets, I recognize that some students are accustomed to this format and often gravitate toward it. The goal is to phase out these simpler resources without overwhelming them—a gradual balance of cognitive load and new skills.

Most students completed the Electoral College worksheet, but the Thick Slide remained unfinished for many. I’d hoped they’d prioritize the slide, but I understand that their inclination toward worksheets is simply a comfort zone I’m working to expand. Since the Thick Slide is key to consolidating their learning on the Declaration, we’ll wrap it up together on Wednesday.

The day was a reminder that gradual shifts in learning habits take time. As we move forward, I’ll keep guiding students toward deeper reflection and away from surface-level tasks. It’s a process, but it’s encouraging to see their growing confidence with more complex activities like the Thick Slide.

Wednesday

Brain-Book-Buddy-Boss Link

With the end of our unit in sight, Wednesday was dedicated to solidifying knowledge and preparing for what’s next. We began with a Gimkit review covering British taxes, colonial protests, and the Declaration of Independence—an all-in-one refresher to activate students’ memory of the unit’s main ideas. Following that, students completed the Thick Slide they’d started on Tuesday, giving them 12 focused minutes to synthesize their understanding before moving into our big review activity: Brain-Book-Buddy-Boss.

Brain-Book-Buddy-Boss: A Layered Approach to Review

This review approach remains one of my favorites because it gives students multiple ways to retrieve information, collaborate, and clarify. Each part of the protocol has a unique focus:

  • Brain: Students started with 10 minutes of solo retrieval, jotting down everything they could remember from the unit. It’s a powerful way to see what truly “stuck” from the lessons.
  • Book: Using the EduProtocols we completed, students had 12-15 minutes to revisit their notes and review resources. This stage encourages them to reflect on what we covered together and reinforces their recall with structured material.
  • Buddy: Partnering up, students spent 8-10 minutes discussing and cross-checking their answers. This peer support helps bridge gaps in understanding and often leads to those “Aha!” moments.
  • Boss: Finally, students could ask me questions for eight minutes. I set a timer and told them that when the timer was up, so was the Q&A—creating a sense of urgency and encouraging focused, meaningful questions.
Reflections on Class Differences

It’s always intriguing to see how each class performs during Brain-Book-Buddy-Boss. Some groups had extensive recall during the Brain phase, while others needed more time with their notes. These variations make me think critically about my own teaching—was something presented differently, or did attendance play a role? Each class brings its own dynamic, and this reflection helps me adapt and refine my approach for next time.

Overall, today’s review reminded me of the power of structured retrieval and peer collaboration. By giving students a framework to recall, reflect, and refine, I saw their confidence grow as they connected the dots across the unit. It’s a gratifying way to close a chapter and prepare for what’s ahead.

Thursday

Thick Slide Link

Today, I was out of the classroom, but I set up a dual assessment to gauge students’ understanding of our unit on colonial unrest and independence. Knowing that my students were well-prepared after multiple reviews and practice with the material, I felt confident leaving them with activities that encouraged both quick recall and deeper analysis.

Self-Paced Gimkit Review

I kicked off their assessment with a Gimkit assignment set to complete when students answered 20 questions correctly. I like this self-paced approach because it adapts to students’ mastery levels—those who know the content can finish quickly, while others get more repetitions to reinforce their learning. The class averages came in at 83%, 80%, 74%, and 86%. The 74% average in one class stood out to me, given the number of review sessions we’ve done. It’s something I’ll need to revisit to ensure we’re addressing any lingering gaps.

Thick Slide: Independent Analysis

For the second part of the assessment, I left a Thick Slide assignment designed to capture various levels of understanding (DOK 1, DOK 2, and DOK 3). On the Thick Slide, students had to:

  1. Create a title and subtitle.
  2. Find an image illustrating the colonists’ desire for independence and explain it in a caption.
  3. Compare Loyalists to the Sons of Liberty.
  4. Identify and describe two British taxes.
  5. Select a quote from the Declaration of Independence that reflects Enlightenment influence.

This mix of tasks allowed them to showcase both foundational knowledge and analytical skills. Despite my absence, 83% of students were able to complete the Thick Slide, which was encouraging. It’s rewarding to see them synthesize information independently and apply key concepts we’ve covered.

Today’s self-paced setup allowed for some great insight into both their grasp of the material and areas where we might need to focus more in future lessons. The combination of Gimkit for quick recall and the Thick Slide for deeper analysis created a balanced assessment that catered to different learning strengths.

Friday

Life As A Soldier Link, Sketch and Tell-O with Reading

Today marked the beginning of our Revolutionary War unit, and I used a blend of strategies to introduce core vocabulary, guide focused reading, and foster creative engagement with historical content. From targeted vocabulary practice to a Choose Your Own Adventure activity, each step was designed to give students multiple entry points into understanding the complexities of the Continental and British armies.

Gimkit Vocabulary Practice and Strategic Reading

We started with a Gimkit focused on essential terms like minutemen, Continental Army, and Redcoats—words they’ll see repeatedly as we dive deeper into this period. After running through the questions, I reviewed the most commonly missed terms, helping to solidify their understanding. I then had students skim the reading to locate these terms in context, connecting vocabulary to real content.

For the reading, I handed out a streamlined, one-page document that highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of both armies. (Our textbook dedicated three pages to this, but I find that a more concise approach keeps students focused and reduces cognitive load.) I prompted them with, “How long should it take to read this?” Responses varied from 5 to 10 minutes, so I set a 4-minute timer to add a sense of urgency and purpose. Their goal: highlight one strength and one weakness under each heading, keeping their focus clear and purposeful. By giving them a structured task with a set time frame, I aimed to improve both their reading efficiency and comprehension.

Sketch and Tell-O: Visualizing Key Points

With their highlights in hand, students moved on to a Sketch and Tell-O, where they created four quick sketches representing the key points they’d just highlighted—one for each strength and weakness. Importantly, they did this without looking back at the reading, challenging them to recall and process the information in a new way. After sketching, they discussed their drawings with a partner, building verbal communication skills and reinforcing the content through peer-to-peer explanation. This was followed by a summary writing task, helping them consolidate their understanding in their own words.

Immersive Learning with Choose Your Own Adventure & Funko Pop Creation

To cap off the day, we turned to an engaging, interactive Choose Your Own Adventure experience inspired by Mike Meehan (@MrMeehanHistory). Students stepped into the shoes of a Continental or minuteman soldier, making choices to navigate the realities and hardships of Revolutionary War life. This approach gave students a more personal connection to the material, encouraging empathy and a deeper grasp of the soldiers’ experiences.

As a creative wrap-up, students crafted their own Funko Pop soldier. They incorporated the strengths, weaknesses, and lifestyle aspects they’d learned throughout the lesson, transforming the facts into a personalized, imaginative artifact. This final activity allowed them to express their understanding in a tangible, visual way and capped off the lesson with a memorable project.

Each part of the lesson was carefully structured to balance cognitive load and engagement. The use of concise readings, strategic highlights, timed tasks, peer discussion, and hands-on creativity gave students multiple modes to interact with the content, making the start of our Revolutionary War unit both educational and memorable.

TWTW

The Week That Was In 234

This week was all about keeping engagement high and adapting to student needs with a strong lineup of EduProtocols. We started by wrapping up our government voice inquiry with a Thick Slide summary and fast Gimkit reviews, then dived into Sketch and Tell-o on Loyalist perspectives and Enlightenment ideas with Parafly paraphrasing exercises. Thursday’s Halloween twist saw students using Number Mania for the Declaration of Independence, while Friday’s low attendance turned into a lively Gimkit Draw session and creative Retell in Rhyme exercise on Disney movies and daily topics. EduProtocols once again carried the week!

Monday

Lesson Link, Thick Slide

Monday Reality Check

After missing Friday, I came back on Monday to discover that my inquiry lesson on the importance of having a voice in government hadn’t gone as planned. I had used AI to simplify the primary sources into 7th-grade-friendly readings, hoping this would keep students engaged and make the sources more accessible. But when I checked Google Classroom, only a handful of students had completed the work. The inquiry went deeper than expected, and without support, the substitute likely couldn’t guide students through the challenge.

Regrouping with Purpose

Rather than diving into low scores or assigning blame, I chose a reset. I’m not one to pass off low marks without offering students a real chance to understand. So, we tackled the primary sources together, discussing the background and importance of each source and connecting them back to our essential question: Why is it important to have a voice in government? We used this discussion to explore representation, power, and fairness—all critical ideas that lay the groundwork for the events leading to the American Revolution.

Thick Slides to Synthesize Learning

For our wrap-up, I had students create a Thick Slide summary on what they’d learned. Thick Slides have proven incredibly effective in helping students distill complex concepts into concise, visual representations, and the students did a fantastic job as usual. The content breakdown clearly helped, and it was rewarding to see them engage with and articulate these foundational concepts in such a clear way.

Reinforcing with Gimkit

We wrapped up with a Gimkit Fast and Curious to reinforce everything we’ve covered, from British taxes to the French and Indian War and the growing tensions with Britain. Class averages hit between 80% and 90%, showing that sometimes all we need is a little extra time to reset and regroup. It was a solid reminder of the power of building understanding, even when things don’t go as planned.

Tuesday

Sketch and Tell-O, Digital Inquiry Group Loyalists

With classes reduced to around 45 minutes, I knew our lesson had to be both quick and effective. This made the Loyalist primary source lesson from the Digital Inquiry group a perfect choice. I adapted the sources with AI, preserving the primary source feel but bringing the language down to a level that worked for 8th graders. My goal was to shift focus and challenge students to consider an often-overlooked question: Why would some colonists choose to stay loyal to Britain, despite rising revolutionary sentiments?

Setting the Scene with Inquiry and Quick Retrieval

We started with an inquiry warm-up: “We’ve been discussing how the Sons of Liberty protested British rule. What do you think might cause someone to stay loyal to King George instead?” After sharing some predictions, we moved into a Gimkit for a brief but focused review of vocabulary like Loyalist, Patriot, and other terms they’d encounter in the readings. I wanted to ensure they had the basics down before diving deeper.

Document Analysis in Action

Students then moved to Document 1, where they filled out an organizer, closely reading the text, sourcing the information, and contextualizing it in terms of its historical moment. We repeated the process with Document 2, helping students see the range of reasons people might remain loyal. Finally, we had them corroborate the two sources to find connections, patterns, and any differences in Loyalist reasoning. This built their analytical skills and brought out critical thinking as they explored motivations and biases.

Wrapping It Up with Sketch and Tell-o

For our final task, students engaged in a Sketch and Tell-o activity, visualizing three reasons for Loyalist loyalty and summarizing each one. This combination of analysis and creativity is really where their understanding shines—they don’t just read; they actively process and illustrate their learning.

We ended with a quick Gimkit for further retrieval, although the class averages varied, thanks to the adjusted schedule and excitement of a different day. The students really took to this shift in perspective and showed curiosity about how Loyalists made their choices. Even in a shorter time, they walked away with a new layer of insight into the diversity of colonial perspectives.

Wednesday

Lesson Link (Frayers, Parafly, and Sketch and Tell-O)

With a return to our usual schedule, we jumped right into two big topics: The Enlightenment and the Declaration of Independence. These foundational ideas helped shape American ideals, and I wanted to make them accessible and memorable for the students using some targeted EduProtocols.

Starting Strong with Fast and Curious

We started class with a Gimkit Fast and Curious, tackling key Enlightenment terms and early concepts from the Declaration of Independence. I kept this session short—just three minutes—and then gave feedback to help clarify terms. It was a quick but effective primer, setting the stage for the day’s deeper dive.

Frayer Fun: Enlightenment and John Locke

Then, we turned to the Frayer Model for the term “Enlightenment.” Students rewrote a definition in their own words, listed characteristics, and found a symbolic image. This helped break down the big concept, and I could tell from their summaries that they were getting it.

Next, we moved into a Frayer on John Locke. While I usually would bring in the Archetypes protocol to help link Locke’s ideas with Enlightenment ideals, I decided to keep it simple this time. Instead, students listed his beliefs, noted his influence, and added an image to represent him. This exercise anchored Locke as a key influencer on American revolutionary thought.

Parafly Protocol: Making Paraphrasing Fun

Then came Parafly, an EduProtocol that introduces students to paraphrasing in a super engaging way. I used Socrative to share fun sentences about topics like Halloween, quirky facts, and even SpongeBob, to warm them up to the idea. After reviewing strategies like using synonyms, simplifying, and rearranging sentences, I gave them two minutes to submit their paraphrases. Then, we voted on each round, and I provided feedback. The excitement and engagement levels were high. At one point, a student even said, “This is fun. Can we keep doing this?” They were totally absorbed—in paraphrasing, of all things!

We wrapped up Parafly by shifting focus to key terms like “Enlightenment,” “Natural Rights,” and “Social Contract.” Students paraphrased each term and then brought in some creative flair by using Emoji Kitchen to design custom emojis representing their ideas on a Sketch and Tell slide.

Wrapping with Another Fast and Curious

To end the day, we circled back to the Gimkit Fast and Curious from earlier, this time to see growth after our review of the terms. Seeing their scores rise was the perfect way to close out the lesson, with students clearly connecting to these revolutionary ideas.

This mix of creative, structured, and interactive protocols turned some abstract concepts into tangible understandings, with Parafly paraphrasing emerging as the highlight of the day.

Thursday

  1. Halloween Costume Meme (EMC2Learning)
  2. Number Mania with Reading

Halloween and an observation on the same day? No problem—EduProtocols to the rescue! Two weeks back, I’d casually agreed to a Thursday observation without realizing it fell on Halloween. Despite potential holiday distractions, I knew the structured and interactive protocols would keep us on track and meet the standards for my evaluation.

Kicking Off with a Fast and Curious on Independence

We began with a Gimkit Fast and Curious on the Declaration of Independence. This activity set the stage, refreshing students on key terms and events as we eased into the historical focus of the day. With classes in good spirits, I projected a Google Maps Street View image of Independence Hall to add some context. Seeing the actual site where the Declaration was signed gave everyone a sense of place, grounding our conversation in the moment of 1776 and shifting attention from Halloween to history.

Halloween Twist: A “Declaration Signer” Meme

Keeping things festive, I introduced an activity that blended Halloween fun with historical context. Students created a Halloween costume meme (EMC2Learning) for a “Declaration signer.” We talked through some “accessories” these costumes might need—powdered wigs, quills, maybe even parchment or lanterns. This meme-building activity was a hit! It allowed students to engage with historical figures through a lighthearted lens and provided a creative outlet that still tied back to the Declaration. The students brought some great ideas, and our meme creations lasted about 15 minutes.

Main Event: Number Mania on the Declaration of Independence

With focus re-centered, we dove into our main EduProtocol for the day: Number Mania. I started by sharing the quote: “The Declaration of Independence showed how the American colonists were willing to risk everything to create a new government that protected people’s rights. They carefully planned a way to explain why they wanted to be free and what they believed about human rights.”

Students read through our text, highlighting four specific numbers or statistics that supported the ideas within the quote. They then designed a visual infographic. Having practiced Number Mania with the Boston Tea Party, students were ready to go and applied themselves well—this time the numbers came together even faster.

Wrapping Up with Fast and Curious

Finally, we circled back to another Gimkit Fast and Curious for a quick review. Students’ Gimkit averages were up across the board—our rounds in the morning paid off with solid comprehension by day’s end. Between Gimkit, our “costume” meme, and Number Mania, EduProtocols helped guide the class from start to finish and make my observation a success. Nothing like a combination of creativity and rigor to wrap up Halloween with history and high engagement!

Friday

With attendance looking rough the day after Halloween, I knew diving deep into the Declaration of Independence wouldn’t hit the mark, so I pivoted to something lighter and more interactive. The goal was to keep students engaged without overwhelming them—sometimes you just have to read the room and adapt.

Gimkit Draw Mode: American Revolution Edition

We kicked things off with a crowd-pleaser—Gimkit Draw mode. This random-student-draws, classmates-guess format brought the energy up immediately. To keep it connected to our content, I had AI generate a list of simple, Revolution-related terms for students to draw, like “stamp,” “tax,” and “musket.” The guessing was quick, and even the less artistic students loved the challenge. This activity was perfect for the post-Halloween lull and reminded everyone that history doesn’t always have to be a quiet read-through.

Rhyming Games with Disney and Rhyme Scheme

Next, we switched gears to a quick exercise on rhyme schemes with a Disney twist. Using rhyming couplets about Disney movie plots (thanks again, AI!), we turned it into a guessing game. This light activity led to a discussion about rhyme schemes and couplets, and everyone had fun trying to guess the movie based on the rhyme.

Retell in Rhyme: The Challenge of Writing in Pairs

Inspired by our Disney activity, I introduced Retell in Rhyme. Students chose a favorite Disney movie and worked in pairs to craft a summary in rhyme with six couplets. Some classes took to it and got really creative; other classes found the rhyming tougher than expected, and I could feel the energy dip. For those groups, I pivoted: instead of summarizing a movie, I had them write couplets about everyday topics like “morning routine,” “making a sandwich,” or “rainy days.” This tweak gave students a familiar foundation and helped them find their flow again.