Serial in School - Update

When I first started this unit on the Serial Podcast, I hoped my students would be engaged. I hoped they would be troubled by the injustice. I hoped they would take away a greater understanding of how the court system works. 

This week, we finished up Episode 12. It's been a wild ride following the ups and downs of Adnan Syed's case. Serial in School: Episodes 1-6 are detailed here on the blog (Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5, Episode 6). Here's a quick update on how we covered the remaining episodes: 

Episode 7: (The Opposite of the Prosecution) Students took detailed notes in their Case Logs. We stopped the podcast regularly to discuss Deidre Enright and The Innocence Project. 

Episode 8: (The Deal with Jay) Students doodled on large pieces of paper while listening to this episode. Each subsequent class added more doodles. I had one student who was convinced Adnan was guilty. After this episode, he definitively changed his mind. 

Episode 9:  (To Be Suspected) Students took Case Log notes for this episode, as it contained a lot of very detailed information. We paused it many times to talk about the judicial system. Most of my students only knew what they had seen on TV (ok, I'm in this group, too - I learned a lot from this podcast and following Rabia Chaudry). For example, we had never thought about the utter mundaneness of court proceedings How you could be sitting there for hours, days, weeks - and not be able to defend yourself against outrageous charges. How you would need to maintain an air of decorum, because even a sigh could be misinterpreted. 

Episode 10:  (The Best Defense is a Good Defense) THIS episode was killer. My students were livid with Christina Gutierrez. They were angry at Kevin Uric. They were shocked at the negligence of Adnan's defense. They were disheartened by the news that the mistrial could have been the difference between Adnan's acquittal and conviction. Again, the students took picture notes. 

Episode 11: (Rumors) While this episode was light on any actual information pertinent to the case, it was a good discussion starter. We paused to talk about "Besmirch" and how very powerful words can be in racial perception. Perhaps what angered my students the most was the way the prosecutor talked about Adnan as a Pakistani, rather than as an American. These insights give me hope for the next generation. 

Episode 12: (What We Know) I told students that they were getting a listening quiz on this episode, because I wanted to ensure good notes. Students went back to their Case Logs and added information for Don, Josh, and Deirdre Enright. Some of my classes listened to this episode on January 13th - the anniversary of Hae Min Lee's tragic death. This led to discussions about the reality of this series - Serial is not simply an engaging story, but a true saga with real people. We talked about journalistic integrity, and Sarah Koenig's professionalism throughout this process (especially when contrasted with The Intercept's interviews). 

Midterms are up next. I have exciting plans, but I don't want to share too much in case my curious students find this blog post before exams! After exams are over, I will share more about how I incorporated Serial into the History midterm. 

To conclude: After listening to the podcasts and discussing recent developments, my students are 100% convinced that Adnan should not have been convicted for the murder of Hae Min Lee.  

One more thing before I finish - BIG NEWS!!! Rabia Chaudry responded to my email, and we are trying to work out a time for her to Skype or Hangout with one of my classes. I think this will add another level of reality for my students. What an amazing opportunity! Thank you, Rabia. 

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. 

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!

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.

 

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

Serial in School - Episode 2

Class started with a review of the case facts. We covered suspects and witnesses. We also discussed Sarah Koenig's interpretation of the evidence, and how we must be on the lookout for bias. Many of the students referenced Koenig's description of Adnan's "dairy cow" brown eyes during this discussion.

Then we listened to Episode 2. There was much giggling during the reading of Hae's diary. This again highlights how accessible this story is to today's high schoolers. They understand Hae. They understand Adnan. They understand the hot and cold of teenage love.

Following Episode 2, student took a listening quiz. To answer the questions, students started with a position statement and then backed that up with evidence. The quiz was open notes. I created the quiz in a Google Form and set the character minimum to 200 to encourage students to write more than one sentence answers. Overall, the students did well and I was encouraged to see no "I think" or "I feel" answers. All answers were solidly based on fact.

To close out the class, I again polled students on Adnan's guilt. It's interesting to note the swing. For my 7th period class who was solidly in the "no" camp after episode 1, 9 people jumped into the "maybe" camp and 2 people moved into the "yes" camp. On the other hand, 8th period felt like Episode 2 solidified Adnan's innocence, and more moved into the "no" camp.

Of note: Students came into class excited to listen to the next episode. They were brimming with questions and suspicions. During class, students continued to fill out their case logs. One student took over four pages of notes. I couldn't have designed a higher-interest unit for this quarter.

Student theories: So far, most believe that Jay was involved in some sort of cover-up.

Serial in School - Episode 1

Serial Bulletin Board - we will be adding much, much more here.

Class started with me asking students to remember where there were and what they were doing a week ago. A few people could give details, but not many. Then we went back six weeks. The details were even sketchier. Those who could describe their activities mirrored Sarah Koenig's observation that major events can help anchor the mundane.

Interest levels were high when I introduced the unit. None of the students were aware of the podcast, but they were drawn in by the accessible nature of the story. 

I paired students up in teams with a shared Google Doc to use as a Case Log. Students took notes while listening to the first episode.

My favorite moment in class was near the beginning of the podcast when the details of the case were plainly laid out. The closing statements of the prosecution included something to the fact that Adnan was obviously guilty because he was leading a duplicitous life - acting as a different person at home than at school. Several of my students raised both their hands in shock and yelled out, "By that logic, we'd all be guilty of murder!" They get it. 

My plan is to poll the students at the end of each class. Yesterday, one class believed entirely in Adnan's innocence. 

Is Adnan guilty?

Another class had a mixed reaction, with many of them in the "maybe" category. They found Asia Mcclain's story fishy. One student commented that he thought Asia redacted her initial statement because the real killer started threatening her. 

I've had some people ask how this unit fits into an academic setting. Last week, I was looking through the Common Core standards to see how well I was aligning (we are not required at my school). So many of the recommendations for 10th grade social studies will be covered in this unit - everything from analyzing non-fiction, building arguments with credible evidence, and unearthing bias. Slam dunk. 

Serial Unit

Over the course of the next few weeks, my college prep History students will be listening to Serial, the podcast that has swept the nation. We will be analyzing documents, discussing bias, and honing debate skills. I plan for this unit to heavily feature discussion and writing as students learn to back up their opinions with hard evidence. Students will keep a case log as we listen to the story, adding their own thoughts as we unpack the crime drama. I plan to daily poll the students to see if they have changed their initial thoughts on Adnan Syed's guilt or innocence. 

If you're not familiar with Serial - stop. Go listen! Sarah Koenig has ignited the podcast world with brilliant storytelling that episodically investigates a murder mystery from 1999. 

Techielit Updates

I have moved to Pittsfield, Maine where I will be teaching Humanities History at Maine Central Institute. Talk about a big change! Although I have taught English for the past 4+ years, my true love is History, and it's good to return to what I was originally trained to teach. We moved up to Maine for several reasons, the biggest of which is being closer to family. I couldn't be happier with my new teaching position. I'm always ready for a new challenge.

I will be teaching six sections in a block schedule - five sections of Humanities History and one section of Personal Finance. I plan to continue using 3DGameLab with one class, which as you know is something I feel passionate about using, particularly with students who need individualized instruction. We will be traveling through 20th century America, collecting clues and solving mysteries.

I am trying a holistic approach to my grading this year. Instead of grading each individual assignment, I am giving three grades to each student per week.

From my syllabus:

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Weekly Grades: Students will receive three weekly grades: effort, content mastery, and communication skills. 

Effort - Students are expected to participate in classes. iPads will be used in every class. Failure to bring an iPad to class will result in the loss of points. Students will earn points by taking part in class activities and completing assignments on time.  25 points

Content Mastery - Students will demonstrate content mastery in a myriad of ways. In any given class you might see students directing short films, crafting comic strips, creating eBooks, writing essays, or giving presentations. Grades are determined by students showing that they have correctly learned the objectives. Homework, when assigned, would also fall into this category. 50 points

Communication Skills - It is essential, particularly in the Humanities, that students work to improve their communication skills: writing and speaking. These grades reflect the success students have made in communicating their ideas and learning to others. 25 points

For example: Let’s say you spent a week researching the fashion of the 1920’s and presented your findings to the class in a creative video. If you goofed around during class and did not wisely use your time, you would lose effort points. However, if the content of your video was accurate and well-researched, you would receive full content mastery points. In addition, if your video communicated your topic well, you would receive full communication skills points. 

** It’s important to note that you will only receive 1 content mastery grade per week, no matter how many assignments are completed in-class or at home (aside from tests and large projects). The content mastery grade is an average of your weekly performance. However, you will receive feedback on each individual assignment. 

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Keeping track of the weekly grades will be a challenge, but my goal is to better reflect student learning in the way grades are reported. I am using ClassDojo again to track participation. 

I'm having a bit of an identity crisis with my website/twitter name: techielit. I no longer teach literature! Should I change the name, or keep it? What do you think? 

Changes to the Quest Based Program for Quarter 3

My students have one week left in the second quarter, and then they immersed in midterms. I've been thinking about what changes I want to make to the Quest program for the third quarter. For starters, I want to make it completely self-paced. Up to this point, students have had to meet certain requirements every two weeks. They could choose which quests to complete on different days, but they had to complete those quests by the end of the two weeks.

Now that my students are used to the structure of the class and the different types of quests I typically assign, I'm ready to set them loose. What might this mean? One student might fly through a year's worth of grammar in a month, and then focus on vocab. Another might dabble in literature for a couple of weeks, then address vocab and grammar together.

I think I will conference with every student to set up goals every few weeks. This will allow me to give them individualized feedback, which will translate in progress grades. I am looking for mastery of material, which is going to look different for different students.

What I particularly like about this setup is the ability for students to truly "win" the class before the end of the year. I have several students who are ready to be set loose to fly. They don't want to be reigned in! If they reach the end early, I can supplement with enrichment material, which will be particularly helpful for those students who wish to transfer out of the Quest program, back to the regular classroom.

I imagine the biggest challenge will be getting students to work through those quests which are necessary but not appealing. I will have to work twice as hard to create quests that engage students in essay writing for the SATs in a meaningful, authentic way.

Game on!

Reading Bingo Challenge 2014

A coworker brought to my attention Random House's Reading Bingo Challenge this week. Immediately the wheels in my head started turning, and I put together a classroom edition. I printed out squares with all of the categories and taped them on to my board. I'm allowing all students to participate. As they complete their books, they can fill out a small sticky note with their name and the book title and then put it on the appropriate square. 

For each square that students complete, they earn points. I will keep an updated leaderboard to motivate students. I've only had the game up on the board for a few hours now, and students are already borrowing books from my classroom library to complete the challenge. Fun!

Here are the rules:

• Each book must be a new read
• All books must be read in 2014
• Each book can only count for one category
• Books must be of an appropriate length

1 point - each square
5 points - each completed row
20 points - completed square


I'm looking forward to completing this challenge myself - and seeing what books my students read. Ideally, I'd like to buy a book of his or her choice for each student who completes the full challenge, but I don't think I'll have the funds!

My Classroom Edition:

Quest for Rivendell

My Basic Skills Quest 11th & 12th grade students just finished Book 1 of The Fellowship of the Ring, where Frodo makes it to Rivendell by the skin of his teeth (and some help from the elves!). To help my students understand how perilous this journey was, we jumped into Lord of the Rings Online for a class field trip.

We met together in Hobbiton to start the journey - I with my level 34 elf, Aelthren, and the rest of the class with their low level hobbits, men, and elves. The goal: reach Rivendell!

At first, the journey was much like a hobbit walking party. We followed the path the hobbits took through the back country, ending up at Farmer Maggot's. After a quick hello to Maggot's dogs, Grip and Fang, we were off again. I instructed the class to stay together, but regularly one would stray to take down a mosquito or a bobcat (and often required my assistance just to stay alive after their bravado proved insufficient to assist in some kills).

The problems really began when we hit the Old Forest through a gap in the hedge near Crick Hollow. Just as in the book, the Old Forest is disorienting and somewhat scary - especially for low level characters. I was constantly herding the class down safe avenues, one-shotting any enemies that popped up. You could see the difference in student heart rates between the journey through the Shire and the Old Forest. It was easy for my students to connect with the fear and frustration of the hobbits they read about.

After the Old Forest, we attempted a short jaunt through the Barrow Downs, but things quickly fell apart. A few students again thought that they could handle things themselves, but were proved wrong when they had to revive a fair distance away. Others were terrified when we dropped into a barrow and they saw the wights and severed hands. Yes!! Another connection with the terror Frodo felt.

We somehow emerged safely through the Barrow Downs into Bree. I took the students into the Prancing Pony where they met Strider for the first time. They were so excited to finally see a character from the book. Huzzah! We left the Prancing Pony through the back door, and took a cross-country jaunt through the Chetwood and the Midgewater Marshes.

Things again picked up at the Lone Lands. I instructed my students to stay close with me - we attempted a run for Weathertop. I told students to ignore all orcs and ravens... it was Weathertop or bust! Amazingly, we made it on the first try without losing too many students to foolish side adventures. However, my screen decided to freeze on the very top of Weathertop, and when it finally unfroze, I apparently had taken a fatal cliff dive which gave my students great joy.

After Weathertop, it was another sprint to the Last Bridge before the deadly Trollshaws. I lectured my students on staying with me - the Trollshaws are no place for a hobbit walking party. Unfortunately, I seem to have a pile of Pippins in my class. No sooner had we left the bridge then a few of them decided to test their metal against a forest creature. They... didn't make it three steps before they had to revive.

Flash forward to today: we are now attempting to regroup and make the final run for Rivendell. Instead of sticking together, I've turned over the strategizing to the students. Some of them want to make a solo attempt, others want me to continue acting as guide. We will see who is able to make it in the end. I know solo attempts are possible - I have made the chicken run myself from Michel Delving in the Shire to Rivendell as a Level 1 chicken.

I have loved this "field trip" so far, because it has helped my students understand the peril of the journey and the great distance Frodo and company had to travel. Later my students will transfer this learning into an essay where they compare Frodo's experiences as a literary hero with their own in-game and IRL (in real life) experiences. In the mean time, we will keep questing for Rivendell... and win the quest!

Educational RPG

Last night, I participated in the weekly #GBLchat on Twitter. The instructions were simple: choose a character, race, and a special power.

We were then told to add verbal irony to our story, and favorite any tweets which showed verbal irony.

 

And then... we were off! 

We bantered back and forth for around 40 minutes, inserting as much verbal irony as possible. It was hilarious, and didn't feel like work at all. When there was around 10 minutes of the chat left, we stepped back from the story to reflect on the learning.

This was such an excellent way to assess students on verbal irony. I'm full of ideas!

I plan to replicate this with my British Literature students next month when we study different literary elements in poetry. I think instead of Twitter, I will conduct the RPG on a Google Doc, assigning each student a different color (I only have 13 students in that class). Then, I will have students underline examples of the literary elements as they appear in the Doc, and have discussions in the comment section off to the side. Should be fun!

Full transcript of the chat:

Teacher Training Wishlist

Many student teachers are starting their final placement this week. It's an exciting time - fresh perspectives, eager learners, new opportunities... but it's also a time for reflection from seasoned teachers. Here's what I wish my teacher preparation included:

1. Practical edtech training - I graduated with my M.Ed in 2009. I had not one single edtech course. I know things have changed for the better, but I still hear from current education students that the classes are not enough. Believe it or not, there are still professors out there in teacher education giving courses on setting up Powerpoint presentations. Is that not something we now expect third graders to be able to do on their own? Instead, edtech training should focus on practical things: troubleshooting technology problems, using an AppleTV or Chromecast, and managing a classroom set of devices.

2. An introduction to social networking -  Today's teachers cannot operate within a bubble. It's not me, myself, and my filing cabinet. Instead, we are expected to collaborate and learn from and with our peers. It's imperative that today's teachers can navigate Twitter, Google+, Facebook, blogs, and Hangouts. We are better together.

3. Independent projects focused on individual strengths and weaknesses - Wouldn't it be wonderful if before student teaching, education students had an opportunity to assess and improve their strengths and weaknesses? For example, one of my strengths is classroom design. I would have loved to develop a project researching classroom design and coming up with my own models. One of my weaknesses is time management. I am a habitual procrastinator. It would have been helpful for me to create a project where I broke down my planning process and created checklists to insure well-designed units.

What do you wish your teacher training had included?

Adding Students to Canvas without Email Addresses

If your students don't have email addresses, it can be a challenge to use certain web apps. I use Canvas as my LMS. Up to this point, I've always required my students to have an email address for logging into Canvas. There is an alternative though, and this will be the way I have my students sign up for courses in the future.

After you have signed up for Canvas and created your own course, you are ready to invite students to participate.

Start by clicking "Settings" in the left sidebar.

 

Then click "Edit Course Details" near the bottom of the screen.

Choose "More Options", again at the bottom of the screen. 

 

Select the first choice: "Let students self-enroll by sharing with them a secret URL or code".

Update your settings, and use should see new information appear at the bottom of your Course Details. Canvas provides you with a direct link for students to create their own username/password to login to the course. Alternatively, students can sign up at https://canvas.instructure.com/register and use the code provided to join the class. 

This feature makes Canvas more appealing to teachers of upper elementary and middle school levels, where sometimes there are issues with creating student email accounts.

Brit Lit Curriculum Re-imagined

This year, I completely revamped my British Literature Honors curriculum. After years of wrestling with students to read books that were of no interest to them, I decided to take a step back and evaluate what is really important - what are the main objectives of my curriculum? How could those be met in a way that is more engaging to students? My curriculum was already project-based and tech-heavy. What more could I do?

I began by removing the unfirom required reading and expanding upon a popular past project. I chose fifteen authors from the British Literature genre, valued for their many contributions to the literary canon.

J.R.R Tolkien - The Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King, The Silmarilian
Charles Dickens - David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, Tale of Two Cities, Our Mutual Friend, Bleak House
Jane Austen - Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, Emma, Persuasion, Mansfield Park
Thomas Hardy - Tess of the D’Urbervilles, The Return of the Native, The Woodlanders, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Jude the Obscure
Bronte Sisters - Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Agnes Grey, Villete, Tenant of Wildfell Hall
CS Lewis - Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, Space Trilogy, Till We Have Faces
George Eliot - The Mill on the Floss, Daniel Deronda, Silas Marner, Middlemarch, Adam Bede
Robert Louis Stevenson - Kidnapped, Treasure Island, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
PG Wodehouse - Jeeves & Wooster series, Blandings Castle series
EM Forster - A Room with a View, Where Angels Fear to Tread, Passage to India, Howard’s End, The Longest Journey
C.S. Forester - Hornblower saga, The African Queen
Elizabeth Gaskell - Cranford, Wives & Daughters, North & South, Ruth, Mary Barton
HG Wells - The Invisible Man, The Island of Doctor Moreau, The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The First Men in the Moon
Arthur Conan Doyle - The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Return of Sherlock Holmes
Roald Dahl - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, Fantastic Mr. Fox

The first week of school, Brit Lit students researched and then took turns picking authors. No two students had the same author. Students were assigned to read 900+ pages of their author's works before the end of January. Then, we jumped into our schedule: 

Mondays - Journal
Tuesdays - Discussion
Wednesdays - Work Day
Thursdays - Work Day
Fridays - Discussion

Homework:
Reading Logs - Report on 50+ pages of your reading. Give a rating (1-5) and en explanation for that rating. (due every Friday)
Vocab Logs - Find three challenging words from your reading. Give the definition, the sentence from your book where the word is used, and your own sentence. (due every Tuesday)

On Mondays, students journal roughly 200-300 words on various topics related to their books. Each journal entry starts with a one paragraph summary of the student's reading, and then ends with a one paragraph discussion of a literary topic, using examples from their books. Students have blogged on flat vs round characters, foils, and archetypes. All journaling takes place on student blogs. I've had my student's work quoted on other respected blogs - how's that for rigorous, authentic writing! 

Tuesdays and Fridays we have class discussions. On these days, I will propose a topic and students respond, giving examples from the books they are currently reading. Using this method, all of my students are exposed to a wide variety of books and authors. Students passionately defend their authors and become the classroom experts on their author's point of view. One of my favorite discussions involved the class attempting to rank the literary value of the books they were currently reading. Here's the diagram they finally settled upon by the end of the class. 

Wednesdays and Thursdays are class work days. Students use these days for on-going work projects, due at the end of most months.  

September: Author Biography Presentations: Students created and presented a four-minute Ignite-style presentation on the author.  
October: 10 page research papers: Students chose a critical lens and examined their author's work critically.
November/December: Author Skits: Students work in small groups, collaboratively writing a skit in Google Drive. Skits are memorized, presented, and filmed mid-December. Each student pretends to be their author.
January: 10 page short stories. Students write a short story, as if they are their chosen author. They mimic the author's style and point of view, writing a believable story that could pass as belonging to their author.

Feedback
We are two months into the school year, and in my opinion this was the right move to make for the British Literature students. Students truly have become experts on their chosen author. The discussions are informed and it's obvious that students are reading (without any need for standard tests). 

Sample Student Work:

Author Biography Slides

Critical Lens Research Paper:


Student Blog Post
Author Skits (coming soon)

Short Stories (coming soon)

The Connected Teacher

A student teacher recently asked me how I stay informed about trends in educational technology. It seemed overwhelming to this student to keep up with the latest apps and edtech news.

Here's what I check almost daily. It doesn't have to take a long time - ten minutes a day is a good place to start.

Feedly still feels a bit strange to me. I was an avid Google Reader user before that service was axed. However,  Feedly is clean, modern, and user-friendly. I can check in on all the blogs I subscribe to, save interesting articles, and quickly share things I like with my colleagues. I strongly suggest following a variety of blogs, not just edtech blogs.

Google+ is in many ways an extension of Twitter for me. I follow many of the same people on both apps, but with Google+, there's opportunity for richer engagement. Google+ is excellent for conversations about technology and questions about its usage. Google+ houses many of the communities that I belong to, from STEAM initiatives to using MMOs in schools. Every time I check in on Google+, I'm reminded how much I like it and wish more educators used it to its greatest potential.

If you only have five or ten minutes a day to keep up with your personal learning network, head to Twitter. Need a resource for that math class you're teaching in an hour? Ask on Twitter. Want to follow what's happening at a conference you can't attend? Follow the conference hashtag on Twitter. Twitter can feel hectic, but I love how quick and easy it is to chat and build relationships. This is where today's connected teachers network.

Zite is a magazine app that pulls together interesting articles from all over the web. After you set up your interests, Zite mines the recesses of the Internet for current articles that you might enjoy reading. I love browsing through Zite because I encounter new blogs to follow. Zite is also where I get a lot of my tech news, because I don't limit myself to "educational" topics on Zite. The articles I share on Twitter and Google+ often come from browsing Zite. Check it out!

Problem Solving through Gaming

This morning, two of my students jumped into Pirate101 to complete a quest for class. I overheard them working together while trying to solve a problem. One student would brainstorm a possible solution, they would try it together, evaluate the outcome, and then adjust and try again. Over. And. Over. Until... success! Epic win!

THIS is why we game in class. THIS is what I want my students to understand - because this is how we learn.

The Mulitiplayer Classroom

What if school was like a video game? What if instead of earning grades, you collected XP and leveled up? What if badges replaced report cards?

3DGameLab makes these ideas reality. Students progress through the class by choosing engaging quests. Teachers reward mastery with experience points.

I have been using 3DGameLab for two months with four English classes. The most time-consuming part is the set-up. I spend about five hours every other week building new quests, using a combination of tools to plan out each module.

I start by brainstorming all the quests I want to include in a given module. For this particular module, I wanted students to balance time spent in Grammar, Vocab, Literature, and in-game. Students in my 7-8th grade class play Pirate101 alongside reading Treasure Island. The literacy value of gaming is not to be discounted!

After determining the point value for each quest, I then plan out the progression using an iPad app called PureFlow. It is crucial to map before building quests in 3DGameLab, because when the quests are built, you need to set the prerequisites to unlock new quests.

 

The final step is to build the actual quests in 3DGameLab. 

 

A fully designed quest looks like this:

Once students have turned in all of their quests, different badges are awarded, which in turn unlock the new set of quests. Every module (2 weeks) students are graded on their progress in Grammar, Vocabulary, and Reading & Writing. The grades are based on the badges students earn (which show mastery) and effort. 

Most of my literature-based quests involve using some type of digital tool. On any given day students can be found updating their blogs, creating comics, recording Tellagamis, annotating literature on an iPad, or making character maps.  Students regularly hop into the game world to compare the world of the game with the world of their book.

I find that using 3DGameLab keeps my students motivated and engaged. In the words of my students 3DGameLab is: "Interesting!" "Fun!" and "Amazing!"