Thursday, December 18, 2014

Serial in School - Episode 6

During class today, I told my students that I had reached out to Rabia Chaudry, and she had responded. Rabia wanted to know how I made the connection between Serial and History, and what questions my students had for her. After talking it over with students, I wrote my response:

Dear Rabia, 

Thank you so much for your kind response. I must say - you've raised my street cred with my students. They are very impressed that you responded to my message. 

Serial has been a huge hit in the classroom. I was listening to Serial while creating a unit for my history class. I was examining the standards I wanted to highlight (understanding bias, analyzing multiple sources, interpreting primary documents, evidence-based writing) and it came to me that Serial would be the perfect solution. I started out by creating Case Logs with my students where they have been using Google Docs to collaboratively keep track of the unfolding story. My students have created character maps to trace relationships, used charts to plot their changing opinions on Adnan’s guilt or innocence, and taken detailed notes on the call logs. 

I teach in a rural town academy in Maine. We are a private school contracted by the town to provide public education to the local students. We also have a thriving international boarding community at our school. These diverse groups of students have brought vibrancy to class discussions on this case.

I told my students that many of the listeners of the podcast are in the twenties to forties and that these listeners have been diligently tracking the case on reddit and other places. But I also told them that as teenagers, they have a valid voice in this discussion and may be able to think through the case with a different lens because they are close in age to Hae, Adnan, Jay, and others when the murder was committed. 

The primary responses I have heard over and over have been: “How can the justice system be so messed up?” and “We are only teenagers, and we could do a better job with this case.”

I asked my students what questions they have for you, and these were what we came up with:

  1. Why have we not hear Adnan’s testimony?
  2. Why do you believe so adamantly that Adnan is not guilty?
  3. Can you think of any reason why someone would want to set Adnan up?
  4. Why do you think Serial is so popular?
  5. Have you talked to Adnan during the Serial broadcast? If so, what about?
  6. While listening to the podcast, have you ever doubted?
  7. What would you want teenagers to learn from Serial?

Thank you again for responding! It means the world to me and my students. Keep fighting the good fight.

~ Hannah Walden

Here's the funny thing. Funny isn't the right word, but it'll do. I'm listening to Serial extensively with my classes, but we are only halfway through the series. I read the transcripts, do research, and put a lot of focus into each episode we listen to. But each week, I'm also listening to the current Serial episode. Sometimes it's hard for me to keep track of which information is covered in what episode, because I don't want to spoil anything for my students. However, I do feel like I benefit from the intense look at previous episodes before listening to the current episodes.

But back to Episode 6 - this episode focuses on the evidence against Adnan. The suspicious activity at Cathy's house, the Nisha Call, the Neighbor Boy... all is layed out here. My students plotted their opinions on Adnan's guilt throughout the episode. Every five or so minutes, I stopped the recording, and students evaluated the evidence to that point.


Most charts looked something like this. The general consensus was that the evidence was concerning, but then by the end of the episode, they felt like all was cast in doubt again. I wanted them to visually see how confusing all the evidence really is. Mission accomplished. 

Friday, December 12, 2014

Serial in School - Episode 5

This episode led to a passionate discussion. My students had a completely different reaction than I expected. For me, the cell phone records clearly demonstrate that such technology (particularly in 1999) is unreliable and inaccurate. It does not prove or disprove Adnan's case, but instead demonstrates yet another way the case was mishandled.  For my students, they shifted from wishy-washiness to polarization. He's guilty. He's innocent. Bam. Done.

When I challenged them on their opinions, most students seemed to feel like there was enough evidence to make Adnan's case settled. Guilty until proven innocent, indeed.

I couldn't let this rest - I felt like perhaps I misrepresented the facts and that's why students jumped to their conclusions. To combat this, I assigned a writing piece. I had my students read Rabia Chaudry's blog post: Serial Episode 5: Let's Talk About Cells Baby. Then I had them write a one page essay unpacking the new information they had learned from Rabia. Did this information change their opinions? It remains to be seen. Due to several snowdays, students are still working on their essays. I'm looking forward to reading them and looking at the episode freshly through teenage eyes.

By the way, I would love to set up a Skype/Facetime with Rabia Chaudry and my students. They have QUESTIONS!


Friday, December 5, 2014

Serial in School - Episode 4

My students and I had an interesting observation today. You can chart the closeness of a person's relationship to Adnan based on the pronunciation of his name. This is not 100% accurate, but close enough that it caught our interest.

For example:

1. Ahnon (with emphasis on the "non") - Adnan himself, Sarah Koenig, Saad & Rabia, Close friends & family
2. Ahdnon (similar to the first pronunciation, but quick "d" sound in the middle) - Friends, Close acquaintances
3. Ahdnon (emphasis on the "Ah") - Acquaintances. People who knew Adnan, but weren't particularly close.
4. Add-non (emphasis on the "Add") - Detectives, people unfamiliar with Adnan

What we found particularly noteworthy, was Christina Gutirrez's pronunciation. It's somewhere between #3 & #4. What does this say about her and her relationship with Adnan? Why could she not say his name right, after all the time they must have spent together?

Episode 4 focuses on the inconsistencies in Jay's testimony. Why does his story shift? Does Jenn's testimony cause Jay to change his? To map this out, the students took notes on a chart comparing the first taped interview with the second taped interview.



To quote one of my students:
"We are high school students! And we see the mess that this is. How could they trust Jay's testimony?"
 This episode swung many students back to Team Adnan. From a student journal:
At this point in the case, I'm definitely leaning towards Adnan being innocent. Hearing the small but very important details coming from Jay and Jenn, at the end of today's episode, I feel that the evidence of Adnan's guilt, is a stretch. At this point, there is more evidence and details that would make Jay a better suspect. His inability to keep his story straight makes him very suspicious and makes it easier to believe in Adnan's innocence.

Another journal:
Adnan is NOT guilty. The only 'evidence' that they have against him is Jay's story. Assumptions aren't always correct, so their prosecution of Adnan wasn't on the right terms. Jay's story has key details and that's very important. Asia McClain claims that she saw Adnan in the library at the time of the murder. Inez claims that she was the last one to see her and reports that Hae asked to make sure the bus didn't leave without her. She also says that Adnan was NOT in her car. There are all of these factors working against Adnans guilt. Yet the cops are certain that he's guilty. There was a camera in the library at the time, was it looked at? No. There was cellular evidence in the alcohol bottle in the park, was it looked at? No. I suspect that one of the cops was either prejudice or just had a grudge against Adnan.
 

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Serial in School - Episode 3

My diagram

The theories were fast and furious today - Mr. S. definitely threw a wrench into the mix. While listening, we stopped the episode many times to make comments and conjectures.

I physically demonstrated in the classroom the layout of the Leakin park burial site, to show how strange it was that Hae's body was on the stream side of the log. By the end of the episode, most students seemed to agree with Sarah Koenig that Mr. S. overheard about the location of the body and concocted his own story.

This episode is a brilliant part of the overarching narrative. I reminded my students that we must always consider that Koenig is telling a story. We do not know everything that she knows. What I like so much about this episode is the pacing. Koenig sets up this new character from left field who adds a new interest to the story. THEN, she waits until there are only six minutes left in the episode to spring the real kicker: he's a streaker! Talk about comic relief. Like I said - brilliant.

Students waffled again on their opinions of Adnan's guilt when I polled at the end of class. Their uncertainty is a testimony to Koenig's narrative.

To help my students keep track of everything, we visually mapped out their case logs today (I'll add pictures later when they are turned in). Students used the app PureFlow to map relationships. For each person of interest, they gave a keyword to help jog their memory, and then drew arrows to demonstrate connections. On these arrows, they wrote short phrases detailing those connections.

In addition, I had students write their first journal entry where they had to defend their poll vote. Why do they think Adnan is guilty or innocent? What evidence led to that decision?

Student Character Map