Summer Plans

This summer I am again teaching an enrichment program at Illinois Central College like I did last year. I am looking forward to continuing teaching throughout the summer.  I also plan on continuing to write my thesis and catching up on some reading that I was not able to get to during the school year.  The enrichment classes I teach are Strategy Survival, CSI: Dallas (in which we study the Kennedy assassination) and Great Debates.  This year I am planning on making some adjustments to my debate class.  Last year we carried out research and had five relatively formal debates about topics students voted on over the two week period.  This year, I am going to plan various types of debates that will seek to increase student engagement.  Debates are wonderfully productive because they can help students develop research skills, critical thinking skills as they analyze arguments, and also speaking and listening skills.  I plan debates within my own social studies classroom quite often.

It is important to remember when planning and moderating a debate is that all students need to be involved.  This can be quite tricky because during a well managed debate only one persons should be speaking at a time and half of an entire class of students would make a rather large debate team.  One technique I use to increase participation is to have students researching various debate questions related to the topic we are studying.  When a team is acting as the audience for a debate they have not researched they are asked to develop and ask questions of the debaters.  Additionally, I am very specific about the roles each person plays on the debate teams themselves.  There is always a lead speaker who presents the initial argument, a person responsible for the rebuttals, a lead researcher for the argument, and a counter argument specialist.  The job of the counter argument specialist is to predict potential point the other side will raise and think about counterarguments to make when and if these arguments arise.  At some point I encourage students to take on each of these roles throughout the school year.

I also help students develop debate skills by planning informal debate activities.  One activity that allows students to practice their public speaking skills is the one-minute monologue.  Students come to the front of the room and improvise a one minute speech about an assigned topic.  While students are speaking this allows we to monitor and remind students in the audience about listening expectations during debates.  Next, line debates include all students and allow students to argue multiple perspectives with a variety of partners.  Students line up in two lines facing each other.  One line is assigned the affirmative and one side the negative.  I usually allow one minute back and forth for four minutes.  Since arguments were assigned, at the conclusion of this activity we then vote on our perspectives on the topic.  It is important to remind students when they complete this activity that they need to use a normal speaking voice as many people will be talking in the classroom at once and others need to be able to hear.  Also, since as a teacher I am often not able to monitor each debate that his happening simultaneously, I remind students to be supportive of one another and that proper debate etiquette demands respect for ones opponent.

To get students moving and motivated I often use four corner debates as well, which require students to move around the room depending on their perspective.  Not only does this force students to all get involved, it also allows students to get a feel for how popular various perspectives are.   Finally balloon debates, which are set up somewhat like a fishbowl, allow students to argue for multiple perspectives.  For instance, my students sometimes complete balloon debates about the most important news story they learned about at the end of the week.  Each student with a different perspective argues their point.  The audience then votes to decide which is the least important and that person is "parachutes out of the balloon" and joins the audience.   The debate then continues until there are only two people left in the balloon and the results are decided.  Since this activity has the potential to get rather competitive, again it is important to explain to students they must be respectful.  Rounds of applause are appropriate for people exiting the balloon and sometimes I remind sensitive students that they should not take it personally if their topic is voted out because it is not personal.  Assigning students to topics or asking students to argue against their own perspective on occasion can reduce this concern.

Overall debates are fun and effective ways to learn a great deal of content.  They promote active learning and there are many versatile ways to manage them within the classroom.  I am definitely looking forward to taking my classes this summer and implementing these debate ideas into my Great Debates enrichment class.

Teaching Reading

         Good social studies teachers have a responsibility to require students to read and help them develop their reading skills.  Such skills are particularly important in the study of history, because when history is taught as the process it is, it requires students to read and interpret historical sources to reach their own conclusions and syntheses. 

         Many teachers, in all subject areas, face the challenge of teaching students who may not be reading at grade level.  This however is not an excuse to attempt to teach students without requiring them to read.  When students are not reading at grade level, teachers must simply differentiate reading assignments so students are challenged appropriately and also learn content knowledge.

         When I first began my training as a teacher, I must admit that I did not recognize how complex the reading process is.  Being an avid reader since I was quite young, I took the process for granted.  Not only must students rely on stored information and experience to interpret what they are reading, they must also read strategically and fluently to be able to comprehend what they are reading.  Recently I was re-reading Uncle Tom's Cabin, and I found that reading the unfamiliar dialect used in the novel gave me some idea of how difficult it is for struggling readers to not only read, but also understand the meaning of what they are reading.  Some of the dialect I read aloud to better understand it.  Know what strategy to use to understand what I was reading made me realize the importance of teaching these strategies to students.  

         Teachers must also provide students with motivation or a purpose for reading.  Reading is an active experience, which is what makes it so fulfilling.  One can learn a lot from passively watching an educational video, but reading leads a sense of accomplishment because it requires complex thought processes.  Most importantly, reading is an essential life skill that students will undoubtedly use for the rest of their lives.  It is important for teachers to show students their own commitment to finding more effective and efficient reading strategies themselves. 

         So teaching reading is important.  The question is, what is the best way to teach reading skills?  I believe the techniques that have the most potential for success are those that help students understand what they are reading and make connections to content based on their own knowledge.  Students will become more involved in reading when they can relate it to their everyday life or form their own opinions about it.  I often have students connect course content to newspaper articles.  I believe it is important to have students read newspapers, because they are an example of reading material that many people voluntarily read everyday.  I believe this sets a good example to students who are unmotivated readers and only read what they are required to.

         Activating background knowledge is also a fundamental way to get students interested in reading.  Asking open-ended questions that relate to a reading helps get students focused on why they are reading.  Having a reason for reading elevates students' confidence when faced with a difficult text.  Even if they are unsure whether they will understand what they read, they at least know what they are looking for.  

         Here are some reading strategies I have used within my own classroom:

• Vocabulary Concept cards - these include the vocabulary work, definition, characteristics/features of the concept, and example from the text, and an original sentence.
• Photographed vocabulary - this requires students to illustrate or sometime act out vocabulary terms.
• Previewing words in context - as a class we discuss difficult words prior to reading.  I often use think-aloud strategies or ask students to explain how they used the context to determine the meaning.
• Anticipation guides - Prior to reading, students respond whether they agree or disagree with statements and conclusions from the text.  During the reading, students underline sections of text relating to these statements.  After the reading, student use text references to support their earlier opinion, or justify why they changed their mind.
• Flow charts - Outline causation explained within a reading.
• KWL Charts - Know/Want to Know/Learned
• Previewing - Students look at the layout of the text, how it is structured, its features, and determine the best strategies to locate answers to various questions.
• Inquiry reading - Reading to answer a question
• Say something - Students read with the knowledge they will be expected to say something about what they read.  They can summarize a section of the reading, talk about the main argument, supporting points, or even ask a question concerning the text.
• Two-column notes - One side of notes has headings/Other column has main ideas
• Group Summarizing - Students are asked to summarize a text and then meet with a partner to revise their summary collaboratively.  I often pair students across ability levels during this exercise so that more skilled readers can help those who have more difficulty recognizing main ideas in a reading.
• SOAP - Students identify the speaker, occasion, audience, and purpose of a text.  This is a good activity for primary source documents.

Integrating Technology in the Classroom

            I believe being comfortable integrating technology within the classroom and keeping up to date with technological developments is essential in education.  Using technology in the classroom can first of all encourage student engagement.  When designing a lesson on the importance of leadership during World War II, I planned a project where students designed mock Facebook pages for various political leaders.  The lesson was successful because of the incorporation of technology.  It is also important in understand technology because it significantly influences the lives of students.  Being familiar with the technologies students use can help educators relate to students more easily. 

            Technology also offers a wide variety of tools to carry out teaching responsibilities more efficiently.  Maintaining a class website is an efficient way of reminding students about assignments and providing information to students who have missed class.  Electronic grade books are also invaluable for tracking student progress and recording student information.  Technology also makes facilitates communication for educators.  Email is an incredibly convenient way to communicate with colleagues, parents, and students.   Most importantly understanding technology and being able to show students how to use technology is essential because students will need to master technology-related skills themselves to be successful in a wide variety of careers. 

            The technology-related skills I have mastered include the use of MS Office applications.  I have experience designing and maintaining a classroom Blackboard site.  I am also familiar with the electronic grade book – Teacher Access Center.  I have worked with a Smartboard, and continue to learn about Smartboard applications as a member of the Smartboard Revolution website.  I have found with the use of responders, Smartboards offer great opportunities for efficient electronic assessment of students.  I am also familiar with assistive technology software such as Kurzweil.  I also look forward to continue learning about new technologies as they develop.   

Motivating Students

            I have found many effective ways to motivate students toward high academic achievement.  I believe the most successful lessons first of all ensure that all students get involved with the activity.  Planning reinforcement activities is also essential.  Planning a variety of open-ended activities is also important because it allows students with different skills to demonstrate their abilities.  I also motivate students by making the learning process fun.  In my classes students often plan and present skits, write and perform poetry or raps, play educational games, debate and discuss dilemmas, and often have the opportunity to collaborate with one another.   I also familiarize myself with television programs and music students are interested in so I can use the structure of some of these programs or song lyrics to create a class activity that more readily engages my students. 

If I see that a student is struggling, I also am sure to discreetly convey my concern to the student and offer to meet with them to provide extra instruction.  I have found that conveying my sincere interest in the progress of unmotivated students has helped them understand the importance of applying themselves in my class.  A final method I use to motivate students is incorporating technology into my lessons as much as possible.  I have found that students are much more interested in writing an essay or researching a topic if they are able to use the computer to do so.  I have also designed assignments that require the use of technology.  For example, I planned a lesson on the importance of World War II leaders where students had to create mock Facebook pages for these leaders.  Allowing students to use technology were familiar with was successful in motivating them to do their best.  Almost all of my students went above and beyond the requirements for the assignment because they were interested in technology and also because the assignment was open-ended.  Students had the opportunity to demonstrate their creativity and demonstrate their high academic achievement.