Helping student SEE process

This is something that's been "stewing" around for a bit now...
I guess I've been sitting on it because I think it needs to be better to post.

Well, decided to just jump in...

It all started with this video clip.
https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/using-clickers-in-classroom
Part of the Talking About Teaching with Jim Knight Series

I had a WOW type experience while watching this teacher and then listening to her and Mr. Knight discuss the classroom dynamic.

My WOW was when Mr. Knight suggested teacher Carrie Hochgrebe create a learning map (graphic organizer) as a means to integrate the components of the unit within the map. 

Every day begins with "let's review where we were and by the end of the class, let's look where we've ended" that by the end of the unit, students have looked at the map so many times, they SEE the connections, VISUALIZE the concepts, READ the structure.

I got to thinking about the HS students who were beginning a hugh project for an Introduction to Composition class - creating a parody of a scene from The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier.

In every educational career, we experience moments in teaching we just know went well.  The following video describes how we applied the above concept with this class of students.

 

 

On the first day, student received strips of paper with each process step listed.  Their job was to put the "steps" (paper slips) in order. Visuals of each step were also aligned with the strips, so everyone would have the same "piece" associated with the same "piece".  This also provided common language for everyone to use. Next, members in the class shared their sequencing ideas and collectively decided on a logical "order".  All of the components were then taped to a huge piece of brown paper that we came back to at the beginning and end of class.  The "steps" were also used as talking points when conferencing with students as to where THEY were in the process.

 

And finally, I asked permission to share one of the projects created using GoAnimate.

 

Special thanks to Tai for allowing us to post.

 



GoAnimate.com: The+Chocolate+War+Parody by 2500550

Our flipped journey

Starting with a link to the introductory prezi created for the School Board presentation on Jan. 21, 2013.

Where the Rubber Meets the Road:  Tools for Student Learning

Literary project infographic

Hi everyone,
For the final project in Mrs. Rasmus' Contemporary Man Language Arts class, we asked the students to complete a three pronged assignment.  Students had selected a book to read during the 4th marking period.  The due date to finish reading their selection fell in mid-May.  The first component of the assignment asked students to identify with a character from the book and complete a character analysis.  The second component involved writing a book review.  The final component was to create an infographic that exemplified aspects of the story or characters central to the book.

For those of you familiar with Infographic design, you will notice that we took great liberty with the concept for this project.  We may have even used the term incorrectly in the grand scheme...oh well...

Our goal was to give the students a framework to work within, but not limit their creativity.  All ideas were welcome and vetted.  What I found interesting is that many students were uncomfortable with the notion that they had true license to come up with what on the surface seemed "simple", but in actuality required them to carefully consider their content.  "Less" required more reflection, than "more" in this instance.  We did not prescribe any particular medium.  Students were free to use paper, glogs, Wordle, Tagxedo, or other tool such as pic.collage shown in the example below.

As a culminating activity, students shared / presented (defended) their Infographic design (visual representations) with the entire class. The central point was for the students to carefully consider which words, images, color, symbols would convey meaning central to their understanding and use this creation to entice others to "see" their meaning, both visually and via verbal descriptions.  Part of their presentation was to describe rationale for any images, words, color, placement, or design element and to answer any clarifying questions from "the audience".

Since this was our first time "out-of-the-gate", Mrs. Rasmus and I were not quite sure what to expect.  We found ourselves in awe of the unique "packages" presented on the finals day.  It is difficult to explain, but because we did not measure the message within one "tool" but rather by substance, student strengths emerged in quite remarkable ways.

One presentation in particular will remain memorable.  The truth is that we would have never "seen" this had we confined our expectations.  This particular student read a piece of historical fiction about the yellow fever plague set in the 1800s.   He was a quiet young man, always had a book open and reading, to the point where we wondered if he was "listening".  During our conferencing sessions about the visual representation, it appeared his initial idea was somewhat "elementary" in nature.  His vision and artistic ability reminded me of a folk art drawing, rather simplistic.  We discussed the importance of  selecting visual pieces to include, words that would best "sum-up" the message / meaning of the story.  Quite frankly, early on, I considered his content to be even a bit "boring"..., as-if he were missing some grand point.  (Sorry...).

When it came time for him to present his infographic, the visual he presented was drawn by hand on simple, construction-like paper.  On this one sheet, he created the time, place, and situation.  Through his words and actions, he conveyed the emotion and significance central to understanding the depth of this story.  It was riveting.  I was mesmerized, as were many in the class.  I felt in the presence of true, raw talent.  And what's more, by his very nature, he would have easily moved through any final project, earning a respectable grade, without much more notice.

His "final" reminded me of how important it is to remember that we are not all that much different...we (students and teachers) both learn, we both grow through our experiences.  I'm not sure he realized how "good" he actually was, the impact he had on those in the room.  I'm grateful he (and all students in Spring 2012 Contemporary Man class) had a forum  in which to "be", to "solve", to "reach others" with their ideas, and to "teach us".  That's the intent of school...really.  Some days are just more magical...

In closing, many, many students presented projects worthy of recognition.  Unfortunately, the school year came to a close so soon after the project, that we did not reflect early enough to gather too many to share. 

One young lady though, Katie A., a  was one of our "early" adopters to the concept of presenting her story using visuals.  From the beginning, she sent her ideas to Mrs. Rasmus via a web link to the site / tool she selected as her presentation medium (http://pic-collage.com).  She has kindly given permission for me to display her work here.  Katie was quite comfortable with the idea...

I wonder, does this visual entice you to want to know more?
It did for us...
Mrs. E.

Trouble-shooting tips

Thanks to the wonderful staff at Ephrata High School for their help in developing this idea...

Your video will be live at: http://youtu.be/0FcZ77OBvI8

Trettin Times 2012 - Sports - Cars - Entertainment

CONCUSSED? BY BRYAN
In the average football season, 150 high school football players will face the effects of a concussion. This number is from players who were wearing helmets during their football games.  Many people will say it’s the game that is causing these injuries and saying that the sport is too rough. Although I found out that with the mass production of helmets, there are errors in the production of the equipment, and I also found that sometimes the person who is hit maybe unable to handle the pressure and velocity of the linebacker tackling them at their maximum speed. The average hit from a charging defender may be up to 300 times the weight of gravity. Some of the injuries in football are concussions from whiplash caused by certain hits. One way proven to prevent concussions is to have a mouth guard because the clash of your jaw causes energy to travel to the brain. Some ways to diagnose a concussion is to look for the following symptoms, dazed look immediately after the hit, lack of balance, slurred speech, blurred vision, even with some  of these symptoms some will recover 100% though many may be more vulnerable to more concussions. Though football is a tough sport the injuries a player will receive are not life threatening to the football player or his career. So to conclude i found out that the sport of football is not the issue it’s the carelessness of how the equipment is made.


Ford Mustang Shelby GT640 Golden Snake    written by lee

Have you ever heard of the Ford Mustang Shelby GT640 Golden Snake? If not, you might like what this car has in store for you. 

The ford mustang Shelby GT640 Golden Snake is an amazing car from many different people’s perspectives. This car can go from 0- 100km/h in 3.7 seconds.  It has 640 horsepower.  This car has a pricey value to it but it is worth the cost.  It costs 113,724 dollars and 76 cents.

Many people have said that this is an amazing car. They absolutely love the sheer speed and handling of this car.

Pink Floyd Concert Experience by Greg
The thousands of peopleand the bright lights. The concert started off with Rodger waters coming out with children.  They were all singing. During the whole concert the stage crews build up a wall and on the wall there were pictures and videos. This is what I saw when I saw Rodger Waters live. In 1996 Pink Floyd was inducted to the rock n roll hall of fame. Still to this day people listen to and love the band. If you’ve never listen to them do it NOW!
Rodger Water still tours and does The Wall Live. 

Trettin Times 2012 - Friendship

Friendships?

What is a good or bad friendship? Need advice on friends?

This is the place to be!!!  Offered to you by JACI

Are you in high school and having issues and problems with friends? Do you need advice but don’t know who to turn to? Well this is the place to be! Hopefully this advice will be helpful to you and your friends and maybe even save a couple friendships. Enjoy!

1.) What do you do when your parents hate your friends?
I’ve had lots of experience on this situation, sadly. I’ve found that when your parents don’t like your friends, sometimes it’s for a good reason, but sometimes, it just nonsense. In my opinion, you need to sit down your parents and the friend and talk to them about what your parents don’t like and what you don’t like and what can and can’t change. This can either make a friendship stronger or destroy so it all depends on how you go about doing this.  Communication is definitely a key factor to solving this problem.
2.) What can I do to try to hold together a friendship?
Being in high school and having true friendships are hard. I’m going to be blunt about this.
Many people in high school, mainly girls are twofaced, drama starters, liars, and boyfriend/crush stealers.
No matter the situation it’s important to always stay true to yourself. Don’t let others bring you down and make you feel better. It’s important to always try to stay positive, be honest, Respect yourself and others, and stick to your morals.  A TRUE friendship will always stick together no matter what High school is also a test to find who your true friends are.
3.) What if I like my friends but don’t like what they’re doing?
My friends smoke/do drugs/go to wild parties/date way to many guys/have a bad reputation and do things I know isn’t right but they’re my friends and of course i love them, so what should I do?
I’ve been in this place to and giving up friends is rough and telling your friends what you’re really thinking is even harder because you’re afraid of what they might say or think; you don’t want to be judged. Honestly, this is a respect issue. If your friends are doing things you know are wrong and don’t want to be associated with then you need to confront them and see what changes can be made (if any). If talking to them and getting the situation solved then maybe they’re not your real friends and you need to think twice about this relationship and if it’s really worth staying in. Just be honest and speak your mind.
4.) What is important in a true friendship?
Honesty, respect, loyalness, able to have fun, able to be yourself, trust, and just too able to be a super amazing friend! J
Growing up through the teenage years is rough and cause many issues. Friendships are good but sometimes cause drama and may cause you to want to give up on a friendship. In many circumstances that may be the case but other friendships you can save. I hope my advice was helpful to you and your friends. J

What Kind of Friend are you?  - Article presented by Alondra

There are 8 types of friendships; Associates, Useful Contacts, Favor Friends, Fun Friends, Helpmates, Comforters, Confidants and Soulmates.

Associates are friends who may share a hobby or a sport and can also have things in common.

Useful Contacts are like Associates, but they also share information and advice typically related to their work.

Favor Friends are people who helped each other out in a functional but not emotional manner.

Fun Friends are people who can socialize together but don’t provide each other with deep emotional support.

Comforters are the other type of friend who are the opposite of “Fun Friends.” They are the kind of people who provide emotional support whenever you need it.

Helpmates socialize together and help each other. Like a combination of favor and fun friends.

Confidants share personal information, enjoys each other’s company but can’t always help each other because they live far away.

Soulmates are a mix of all of the other kinds of friends. And those are the 8 different types of friendships.

Schade Times 2012 - Summer Issue

NEW TRENDS FOR THE SUMMER BY JULISA

Imagine that you go to the mall and you don’t know what to get because you don’t know what’s in fashion?

Well, I am going to tell you about it.

Ruffles are back. They are used everywhere to decorate dresses, tops, swimwear, bags and even shoes to make them look fresh and flirty.  They can be also be used different places on the clothes.  For example, some people use them for a lovely detail on collars, sleeves, hems and waists. Other people like John Galliano have the ruffles at areas that a modest woman would cover. They can be even be used for the red carpet, which makes them sophisticated and luxurious. How do you wear ruffles? First, when you choose to wear them, make sure you don’t overdo your look. Next, merge them with other spring trends like pastel colors, and don’t stick to simple looks with ruffles.  Just go stand out!

1) Maxi Dresses  They come in colorful prints and other ones that go with contrast colors.  These are normally good for tall people because there long. Prints that people picked were leopard and polka dots.

2) Mini Dresses  This is for women who want to show more of their bodies that is why this dress will help them. People also made a variety of different colors and designs just like they do for the maxi dresses. If you don’t like the airy dress then this is perfect for you.

3) Mid-Length Dress  This dress is good for women who dislike maxi dresses and are too shy to wear mini dresses. These look good on women of all ages and can be good for most occasions.  They will also make you feel gorgeous everywhere you go, like the red carpet, for example.

4) Glittering Dress  If you want all attention centered on you, just go for one of the glittery dresses designers provide. You should try to wear silver or gold if not that try to find a bolder color in green, red or blue.

5) Asymmetrical Hemlines  They are not only on dresses but also on various tops and coats some can be to the side as well.

6) Floral Printed  They look feminine and very beautiful some even combine different floral prints together.

7) Lace Dresses  These are delicate. It doesn’t lose its popularity.

8) White Dresses  These come in different fabrics and styles, and they always look lovely.

9) Peplums  These have become bigger and bolder and now come on both and casual and evening. They are also long and flat and some are puffy.

10) Frills  While some look neat and classy other than huge and eye-catching