The start of this year has definitely been a blur as we have been battling heat; the first days of the school year have flown by! My 7th and 8th graders as well as the juniors and seniors started the year with a focus on learning the meaning behind the four C's: Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, and Critical Thinking. As I will actually assess their growth of these skills, we first established a baseline of their own perceptions of their skills; we will measure their future perceptions as well as their demonstrations of each as we continue our studies. We also spent time uncovering our learning styles and writing resumes in which they will use to create groups in which to collaborate with during the learning process. They have been patient as we set expectations, as they learn my teaching style, and as I learn their learning styles, and of course, their personalities!
Just this week we are beginning studying content... Finally! Because I follow the BIE's Project Based Learning Model, the students are actively engaged in the learning process; this is an adjustment for some. We also incorporate a lot of technology as the students each get a laptop and log in each and every day; this also is an adjustment for some students! Although we will have plenty of hands on learning opportunities, the course is set up on www.starmontss.weebly.com, and for junior American history and senior American government, we will also use the learning platform called Moodle. As many students are beginning to take online courses, it is paramount they begin to become familiar with this platform. Each class has begun their Entry Event of the respective units and will soon uncover their assigned Driving Question. Once we determine what we Need to Know in order to further discover the Driving Question, the students will embark on the inquiry process with my guidance and feedback from not only me, but from their critical friends (classsmates). We will further discuss the framework for giving feedback as we get closer to this aspect of the learning process. Our end goal of each unit is to create something new with our new understandings of the content; I hope to challenge the students to stimulate conversations, question set beliefs, and most importantly make connections with our understandings to applications in the real world.
My goal for the year is to push the students into an area of thinking and reading in which they may not have experienced; this often comes with discomfort and uneasiness. As I have assured the students, my classroom is a safe place in which to fail. FAIL for me stands for "First Attempt In Learning." I want them to be comfortable to share their opinions, try things they never have and to open up to new experiences and ideas. Social Studies is a subject that is alive everyday in our society; I am challenging my students to realize these connections and attempt to make a difference in our community, state, country, and heck, our world. They have amazing ideas if given the chance to reflect on their knowledge, and I can't wait to uncover what they have in store for me!
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