Rejuvenating Education One Day At A Time
Teaching in the last year has been like riding out a hurricane in a treehouse. As seasoned educators, we tried to come prepared. We knew our student’s emotional needs would be our top priority, we strived to make school feel “normal”, but from the beginning, it was clear that the 2020 - 2021 year would... Continue Reading →
The American History Museum was a success. Given true agency in their education the students created their own hands on interactive museum in both a in person and virtual form. All students could learn American history through the work of their peers. After two days of touring the museum, playing, interacting and learning the group... Continue Reading →
The 8th grade students are tasked with creating an American History museum that will cover the 1800 - 1945. The idea is overwhelming at first. Full student autonomy, research, engagement, scaffolding, the initial project outline is missing the HOW. Students are used to being told how to work, what to design and when to design... Continue Reading →
150 years of content in five weeks? Yeah, no problem. The students were in charge. In a lightning speed brainstorm with the founder of L-EAF, Jeff Burstein, the way unit planning was typically done flipped on its side. Instead of spending weeks meticulously planning every movement and learning path in the classroom I developed one... Continue Reading →
With so much curriculum to cover, all of US History and Government, the question is often posed as to why we spend so much time sketchnoting and working through the Constitution line by line. Other teachers find that using summaries, moving through the document with game-like lessons, or graphic organizers work well for their students.... Continue Reading →
How reflection creates student agency. Game day was an overwhelming success. The students spent one day playing each others games and offering evaluations. Students then had time to review the feedback from their peers and make changes before their work was graded. Throughout the project students prototyped their games and collected data to make sure... Continue Reading →
As we round the circle at the end of our Constitution unit the room is buzzing with energy. Students are out of their seats, holding their laptops like busy waiters during dinner service while chatting away to their peers on zoom, and pulling through the junk drawer of creative supplies. The time to put all... Continue Reading →
Reading the U.S. Constitution is not a priority of my 8th grade students. At this point in the year their genuine interest has built about the Constitution, but the actual want to read a document written in 1787 is not on this "Must Do" list. This year we have the extra challenge of students transitioning... Continue Reading →
When this year started we all knew we were in for a once in a lifetime ride (hopefully). In South Florida our school year began with two weeks of virtual learning where everyone was home. Teachers and students worked from their homes struggling to get to know each other and breaking the expecations of what... Continue Reading →
SET THE STAGE One of the major skills I teach is argumentative writing. One would think that taking naturally argumentative pre-teens and harnessing that energy with be easy, unfortunately it is not. Students that can argue over grades, the pros and cons of wearing leggings at school and which football team will reach the Super... Continue Reading →
