The Few. The Proud. The Marines

The Few. The Proud. The Marines is definitely a phrase that the Marines can own! We were impressed the whole time we were at Parris Island!! What an eye opening experience! It totally changed the way I view the military. They lead by example and never ask the recruits to do something that their superior wouldn't do. Isn't this an interesting concept? What if everytime we gave the kids an assignment to write a 5 page essay, we sat down and did it with them? They instil values and morals in their recruits. The drill instructor has the job of doing this. For me, when I heard the role of a drill instructor, I imagined the D.I. on the movie Full metal jacket. An actual D.I. is so far from this. They are really just amped up teachers! If you can get past the harshness and loudness of their voice, their words are quite moving. They let the new recruits know that they will never give up on them and even when they are ready to give the D.I. won't. We have lots of great stuff to share with everyone, along with videos and pictures but here's a link to a news broadcast that was done on our group. If you look close you can see us in our formation =)

http://your4state.com/fulltext?nxd_id=247322 

Successes and Failures in PBL

Last week I finished what is probably my most successful attempt to PBL this year.  I asked my Earth Science students to plan a senior trip.  The things that made this PBL successful were things I've learned from being around the Freshmen teachers:  A real-life event that can hook the students' imaginations, supportive scaffolding like a rubric, periodic checkpoints, and clarity about the scope of the project.  I used this PBL as a way to have students learn to use Google Earth and the many features available in that software.  (Did you know that with Google Earth you can swim with sharks, find sunken ships, or use a flight simulator?)  It was also my first attempt to use parents as graders.  All in all, I was happy with the PBL.  I think I can tweak it if I ever teach Earth Science again.  I learned a lot, and so did the students.  Some students learned they were more capable than they thought.  Others learned that they need to work harder. 

Since then I've embarked on another "PBL" and it's really flopping.  The "hook" isn't very good.  It wasn't well thought out.  It's just a poor copy of the other PBL, and both I and the students realize it. 

  I feel better about it when I watch this video where Diane Laufenberg explains that we learn by making mistakes.

"The Inquisition"

While our students have been researching various aspects of the Middle Ages to create a "KnightLine" news magazine show, Christina and I have been trying to find creative ways to "tease" them into discovering information. We've had them pretend they were British citizens after the death of King Edward the confessor who had no heirs, and they were to decide on the better choice for king. We also had them pretend they were King John and presented them with a variety of scenarios in which they had to decide what the King should do, leading to the signing of the Magna Carta.

Today, we decided to put them right in the middle of our version of "The Inquisition." Not long after each of our sessions began, while Mrs. Gouzd was in front of the room giving instructions for the day, Mrs. Barner entered quietly and began to interrogate Christina about her loyalty to North Marion. As the questioning escalated, I could see various responses by the students. Most of them were unable to look at the two in the front of the room, the accuser and the accused. Many of them looked at me with a "Why don't you do something?" plea in their eyes. When Mrs. Barner finally told Mrs. Gouzd that they needed to finish this in Mrs. DeVito's office and they left the classroom, I was left with an overwhelming outrage by the students. They were incensed first that Mrs. Gouzd would even be accused of being anything other than a loyal Husky. They were also agitated by Mrs. Barner's making very public accusations.

Only a few minutes after her departure for further questioning, Mrs. Gouzd returned to lead a very spirited discussion of the Spanish Inquisition with the students. Through this modern portrayal of false allegations and intense interrogation, the students experienced first-hand, and on a much smaller scale, what heretics endured during the Inquisition. I doubt that they will soon forget this dark period in history.

Student Voice

I surveyed my students by first discussing the concept of voice with them as a group and them giving them a survey to take home.  In the discussion, I made sure they understood that I wanted honest, thoughtful answers. I was fearful of getting either "this is what she wants to hear" responses or knee jerk complaints.  The students could respond to my questions in any way they chose: through an email to me, a written journal, or on our class blog.  Most students chose the journal and a couple emailed me. 

In my class specifically, students feel that they have a voice and that their opinions are valued.  

• We definitely have a voice in your classroom...you actually listen to our opinions.
• Some teachers are more willing to listen, but not give advice.  Some teachers will listen, and proceed to force feed their opinion down my throat.  You on the other hand actually listen and give advice that is helpful and that I can use.  
• I love your class because I can be my absolute self at all times and I feel no pressure to pretend to be something I'm not.  The classroom is such a relaxed environment. 
• When I walk into your class, it feels so much more comfortable because I know that I can be myself.  I think this shows how it can affect learning.  If you're comfortable, you aren't stressed, and if you're not stressed, you can focus and learn better.

The parts about my classroom made me happy, of course, but I was more interested in some of the other things they wrote about.  With just a couple exceptions, the students conveyed that they felt they had very little voice at the school level and with the administrators at North Marion:

• We're treated as little kids, and thus they feel we don't know anything.
• I do not feel that I can speak freely to administrators and be taken seriously.
• I feel like I can speak freely to administrators about issues in our building but I don't think they take students opinions into consideration when making decisions.
• This high school, I feel, looks at my peers and I as children, although I'm technically, and legally, an adult.  So, anything that we have a say in, I think they just brush off, or put in little effort into what I'm asking/inquiring about.
• In my respectful opinion, I feel that in school for me it is almost like being a ghost.  The most difficult thing for me to do is just to get the attention of an administrator.

Two students, though, discussed specific incidents in which they had to approach an administrator for help and had very favorable outcomes:

• Because we went to an administrator (in this situation), this won't happen next year.  That shows how much the administrators do car, and that made me want to try harder and be a better student for them.
• When having a problem with a teacher, my classmates and I felt comfortable approaching one of the administrators for advice, and he sat and listened to us and then followed up with us after he checked it out.
• I believe the students have a lot of control.  For example, during the sports seasons, if the student body wants to have a thuse to celebrate a team's achievements, we get to do that.

Students also addressed the institution of education rather than voice at the school or classroom level:

• It would be nice if our school and other institutions viewed us as adults more because some of us legally are....We are the next generation.
• I don't feel I have much voice in my own education or learning process.
• I feel like our education is very controlled and we cannot learn the things that we want and need to learn.  If we had a voice, we could change that....Yes there should be educational standards, but there is very little room to fit the credits that we actually want into our schedule.

Finally, I thought the students' perceptions of how having a voice affects their learning was interesting:

• When teachers care (by listening and allowing student voice), we care.  It shows respect....So, if you listen to us, we will listen to you.  And we'll learn more.
• I feel the learning process would improve if students had more voice.  People need to be heard, understood, and valued.  The school should treat us like we are people, not just pupils.
• I feel that student voice affects my learning capabilities a lot....last year, I felt that one of my teachers looked at us as children.  She threw work at us and didn't care what we had to say.  Although I made an A in the class, it was completely unenjoyable and I didn't learn much.