January 29, 2018--Have I Lost My Mind?

January 29, 2018
I recently decided to begin a unit with my English II class that relinquished control of almost every aspect of the unit-designing-phase to my students. I wanted to take Matt Bertasso’s advice and teach my students how to fish as opposed to giving them the fish. So I set out to deconstruct my unit planning, determine what I absolutely must have control over, and identify a pitch or my students. Much easier said than done. Within the first few hours of making this decision, I was already planning the unit I wanted to see done instead of focusing on the problem/project question; I was looking for the literature I wanted them to use instead of focusing on just the literature I knew couldn’t be left out. I was struggling to give up control. I believe teachers must have this innate desire to have control over every aspect of their classrooms. We struggle to let go and leave the students to their own devices, many times out of fear that the students won’t accomplish what we set out for them to do. I admit, this is something I have struggled with and will continue to struggle with, but I need to look out for the best in my students. How best do I learn? Am I learning best in a canned situation with every step planned out for me? No. I learn best when I can jump in headfirst, sometimes not knowing exactly where I’m going, plan along the way, and see where my journey leads me. I want to provide my students with as many of those authentic opportunities as possible because I believe that is how they will remember what they’ve studied and be proud of what they’ve studied.

So what am I planning to do with my English II class? I’m not 100% certain, but I know that it will revolve around a research question, perhaps of my own creation or perhaps something they devise. I know I want them to use primary sources. I know I want them to address something about American Colonialism--its impact on Native Americans or American geography; gender roles during American Colonialism; struggles and hardships faced by American Colonists. I know they have a limited time to complete this--two weeks. I know that I need/want to teach Patrick Henry’s speech to the Virginia Convention and probably need to address the Declaration of Independence and Constitution; however, those are always so dry, and I don’t want to waste valuable classtime boring my students.

So many unknowns at this moment. I’m not sure where I’m going. I’m just hoping I don’t fall flat on my face.

January 27, 2018--Reflection on the beginning of the semester + Matt Bertasso's call to action

January 27, 2018
Course 3 Blog Post: Reflect on the beginning of your semester and any PBL units implemented; optional: In a recent blog post for New Tech, Matt Bertasso, Director of Compass Academy asks us as educators are we giving students fish or are we teaching students to fish for a lifetime? After reading his article below, reflect on your current unit of instruction and consider how you are structuring your content. Are you providing opportunities for students to discover through their own reading, writing, thinking, questioning essential understandings or are we providing it to them? What areas are strengths? Where can we grow and improve our practice?

https://newtechnetwork.org/resources/secrets-great-teaching/?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=newtechnetwork&utm_content=The%20Secrets%20to%20Great%20Teaching%20-%20New%20Tech%20Network
Bear with me...this is a long post (as mine tend to be...it's the writer in me). The first two paragraphs are an update, the next two paragraphs are my response to Matt Bertasso's article, but the last paragraph is the Call to Action for me--how I want to utilize what I gleaned from Bertasso's article. Skip to that if you'd like. I won't be offended.

Once again, we begin a semester with the weather throwing a curveball at us. Last semester it was total eclipses and hurricanes; this semester it’s fake ice storms and real snow storms (which I was reluctant to believe would come up until the second I looked out my window at a blanket of beautiful white snow covering the ground and rooftops). These curveballs have me scrambling to make sure I can get through each of the PBL units I’ve planned before the end of the school year. Their first nine weeks is packed full with nonfiction- and community-based PBL, and I want to get them to the second nine weeks fiction and media-based PBL units rolling around in my mind.

We jumped head-first into a getting-to-know-you PBL (unit title pending) with the students writing personal narratives and opinion essays, conducting classmate interviews, and designing a class website. Some students are more excited than others (mostly because we’re in the writing phase of the unit as opposed to the designing phase), but I’m hoping they will all come around the further along we get. My biggest obstacle so far has been student absences--one student has been absent all but one school day, another has missed the last four school days, a third has missed every other day this past week. Once these three students return, I will need to find numerous opportunities to catch them up to the rest of the class without keeping them from making up work in other classes.

I designed this unit to ease the students into the idea of using projects to learn various skills--creating websites, interviewing people, solving problems in the community; however, after reading Matt Bertasso’s “The Secrets to Great Teaching,” I’m wondering if I’m providing the fish too much as opposed to teaching them how to fish. I’ve located the sample personal narratives and opinion essays to read and examine for style, albeit mostly because the students cannot access Teen Ink on our network; I’ve stipulated the required elements for the website instead of letting them throw out ideas for what should be included. Granted, I’ve struggled to get them to answer my questions about what the writer is doing, but I wonder if I could eventually get them to answer more if I continue to expect it instead of settling back into the habit of giving them all the answers.

I also wonder if I’ll get better reactions if I give my students the rod instead of holding it myself. Bertasso says “When students have ownership over their learning, they aren’t learning for the teacher, the grade, or for their parents, they are learning for themselves and deeper learning happens. Students, at this point, are truly fishing.” I want them to fish for themselves. Every semester, my students receive a letter that describes my role in the classroom: “My goal is for you to emerge from this year as eager learners—always looking for the next big idea and indulging your curiosities. I am here to facilitate and monitor you on your educational journey.” I’m a facilitator--my job is to make the learning easier, but I’m not doing that by giving them the fish, answering the questions for them. They will never learn to catch fish on their own if my hands are always on the fishing rod or I’m always giving them the fish.

That brings me to my next thought, and it scares me: What if I involved them in the planning of the unit? Completely throw out every bit of my plan other than a chunk of time during the semester and let my students design the unit with my guidance? I’d give the students a problem, theme, or essential question and see what they create. At its core, this is Genius Hour but full-time. Can I give up that much control in my classroom? I might have to flesh out the unit to ensure it’s not fluff and my students are truly learning the standards, but part of me believes they will be fine. I’m not sure I’m ready to do that just yet with my CP students; perhaps I will after these first few units. However, I’m about to begin the first true unit of my English II American Literature class after we wrap up our summer reading writing unit next week. I’ve been toying with the idea of having them research life in Colonial America and creating a presentation to sell the idea to those still living in England at the times. What if I tossed them the question “What was it like to live in American during Colonial times?” Would that be too open-ended? Would I get high quality products? Would they access the primary sources I would like them to use or would they create a project that could be completed by simply doing a Google search? How do I fit in all the literature I don’t want to leave out--Edwards’ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” Bradford’s Plymouth Plantation, Henry’s speech to the Virginia Convention? I’m scared, but I want to give it a shot. Am I crazy? A quote from one of my favorite movies keeps running through brain: “You’re daft, lady!” I think I’d rather be daft like Jack, though, than play it safe and limit my students’ potentials.