Cantu: Chapter 8

Elvis Costello

How are Historians Like Detectives?

I've been a fan of musician Elvis Costello since the early 80's, when I spent a summer playing with a group of percussionists all over Door County, Wisconsin.  One of my favorite songs, "Watching the Detectives" is the theme song to the PBS show History Detectives. The reading this week asked social studies educators to think about the skills students need to be equipped with before they embark on their journey through history.  The National Council of Teacher of English (NCTE) offers a definition of 21st Century Literacies that I believe is particularly important to pay attention to in light of the trend towards adopting the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies.

Adopted by the NCTE Executive Committee, February 15, 2008

Literacy has always been a collection of cultural and communicative practices shared among members of particular groups. As society and technology change, so does literacy. Because technology has increased the intensity and complexity of literate environments, the twenty-first century demands that a literate person possess a wide range of abilities and competencies, many literacies. These literacies—from reading online newspapers to participating in virtual classrooms—are multiple, dynamic, and malleable. As in the past, they are inextricably linked with particular histories, life possibilities and social trajectories of individuals and groups. Twenty-first century readers and writers need to

• Develop proficiency with the tools of technology
   
• Build relationships with others to pose and solve problems collaboratively and cross-culturally
   
• Design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes
   
• Manage, analyze and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information
   
• Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multi-media texts
   
• Attend to the ethical responsibilities required by these complex environments

Students engaging in historical thinking skills in today's social studies classrooms are hopefully being given the opportunity to meet these demands.  The Reading Like a Historian program offers a set of 75 free secondary school lessons in U.S. history.  The approach offers students a deeper understanding of content knowledge, learning to think like historians, and builds upon their reading comprehension.

Another area that all educators must now address in the classroom is the movement towards personalized learning.  In an article, "Fighting the Enemies of Personalized Learning" published February 29th, 2012 in Education Week, Joseph S. Renzulli argues: (True) "differentiation of content requires adding more depth and complexity to the curriculum rather than transmitting more or easier factual material."  Social studies curriculum is mentioned in the reading as being the most complex of any of the core subjects.  It naturally lends itself to English language arts, modern day literacy, and student differentiation.

An additional benefit of creating a foundation of historical inquiry in the classroom is that it may be the best way to engage children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and reading disabilities.  Suzanne Beilke of the Department of Graduate Studies in Education at Purdue University conducted a study comparing how children responded to and processed enhanced reading material.  Novel story conditions positively aided longer sustained attention and engagement in children.  Taking a peek into a 21st Century social studies classroom should be like watching the detectives.

Loewen: Chapter 6

The Most Dangerous Woman in America?

Mother Jones Lesson Plan

Mother Jones travelled throughout the United States agitating against companies that hired children and women to work in hazardous conditions. In 1903 she organized children working in mills and mines in the "Children's Crusade." In a march from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Oyster Bay, New York, Jones and her supporters ended up at the home of President Theodore Roosevelt with banners demanding "We want to go to School and not the mines!" Though Roosevelt refused to meet with them, the marchers brought the issue of child labor into public awareness.

Mother Jones magazine became a focus of the U.S. presidential campaign this week, when they released a secret videotape of GOP candidate Mitt Romney at a private fundraiser. As educators, we tell students to look for context clues in defining vocabulary.  So, again and again, I was surprised by how many people discussing this story seemed unable to connect the journal's name to any political labels because they didn't know who Mother Jones was.

Loewen's Lies My Teacher Told Me (Chapter 6: The Invisibility of Antiracism in American History Textbooks) shares that, "Most textbooks deprive us of our racial idealists."  I would correct that to "Most textbooks deprive us of our radical idealists."  Obviously, the term "radical" is a subjective term to both the author and the reader of textbooks.  Loewen has always too narrowly defined equalitarianism by race when he explains, "Our history textbooks...deprive students of potential role models to call upon as they try to bridge the new fault lines that will spread out in the future from the great rift in our past."

As the Chairperson of the first Human Rights Committee in my community, I found many politicians wished to define human rights by Loewen's philosophy, leaving too many citizens in need under served by representation and resources.

Not now, nor in the past was discrimination purely based on race.  Issues of scarcity and austerity have far more influenced ideologies and discriminatory practices - whether we are discussing John Brown and Abraham Lincoln or today.  New York Times columnist and journalism professor, Thomas Edsall makes these arguments in his book, The Age of Austerity: How Scarcity Will Remake American Politics:

America doesn’t only need to reconcile conflicting concrete interests; the nation faces a clash between highly moralized worldviews. And with every passing year of short-term economic pain, we grow less calm and rational as the bleak short-term outlook induces panic and confusion about the long-term. (Slate review)

"A lot of this has become more intense since the culture wars and the civil rights movement and the women's rights movement. There's been a real divide. And there is a different worldview held by liberals and Democrats from that held by conservatives and Republicans. They're not totally antithetical. They share many -- they're both human beings, but they put priorities on very different things."(PBS interview)

One day we’ll look back and find such polarizing language strange, given the broad consensus in favor of a mixed economy with some regulation and a social safety net. It is scarcity, Edsall contends, that turns modest policy differences into zero-sum showdowns between his “haves” and aspiring “have-nots.” (New York Times review)

Idealism is neither radical, nor is it based on race - for those of us committed to public service, the cause is humanity.

Cantu: Chapter 6/7

Is Technology Heading Public Education into the Perfect Storm?

A February 2012 report by leading global information company, Nielson, coined a new term - Generation C to describe children born after 1990 whose lives have been experienced “connected, communicating, content-centric, computerized, community-oriented and always clicking”.  There is no doubt that the technological consumption of children is changing society-at-large, but the questions to ask should be: “How does an educator respond to a classroom full of hyperkinetic minds?”  “Where does moral accountability fit when face-to-face contact has been replaced by gadgets?”

A 21^st century educator who raises concerns about information overload, interpersonal connectivity, and the timing of high stakes assessment risks being branded a Luddite or worse.  Rather than classify such critics, as anti technological, forward-looking administrators, parents, and citizens need to understand that all persons, including educators wish for students to develop proficiency with the tools of technology.  This is the first definition of 21^st century literacy adopted by the National Council of Teachers of English.  It is this goal, along with building relationships with others to pose and solve problems collaboratively and cross-culturally; designing and sharing information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes; managing, analyzing, and synthesizing multiple streams of simultaneous information; and creating, critiquing, analyzing, and evaluating multi-media texts that should be the focal point of study in any content area.  The balance in the age of technological determinism is found in the last definition: attend to the ethical responsibilities required by these complex environments.  It is this definition that most identifies my vision for technology in my classroom.

Four steps can be used to describe my short-term goals in regards to classroom technology: planning, preparing, implementing, and evaluating.  In my first year as an educator, the most important component will be my learning and applying the school/district policies on digital citizenship.  I have a strong background working in a variety of technological fields and have kept my skills up date with the ever-changing nature of digital media, software, and hardware.  It is important to me to not only understand the school’s overall vision of the deployment and use of technology in the classroom, but also to include parents into the larger conversation.

I have worked for many years on school community partnerships and know that any long-term change in education can only come about by clearly articulating information to the community and through a sustained conversation over time with engaged and invested parents.  A lifelong learner, I look forward to opportunities in my classroom where students can research and demonstrate new tools that explore, collaborate, create, record and present content.  In this age, where technology is progressing exponentially we can no longer imply that the instructor is the only source of knowledge.  Technology can no longer be compartmentalized from learning. 

I’ve spent the last semester investigating the transition from paper-based textbooks to eBooks for my children’s school.  Besides funding concerns, one of the most difficult hurdles is professional development.  This includes both training educators to utilize new equipment, as well as, making sure that digital applications meet required standards and comply with educational objectives.

Most technology planning and preparing during my first two years will be occurring amidst mobile device and web-based applications initiatives.  I was an early adopter of tablet computers and second the conclusion of 2005 Gallup poll showing reading by the American public has increased significantly (21% to 47% of the population) since the introduction of the Internet.  The availability, portability and interactivity of multimedia has expanded my ability to connect and learn from others. I believe the adoption of tablet devices to be inevitable in education and would like to be involved on the school/district project team to discuss subjects such as: on group device management (including constructing Acceptable Use Guidelines), the wireless network, structuring the physical environment of the classroom to accommodate the new work environment, and the procedures for application purchases and management.  My professional experiences in finance, insurance, marketing and sales will be an asset in pursuing funding.

Successful implementation means that once the physical infrastructure is in place, the intellectual and pedagogical goals of the classroom/school/district need to match the redefinition of the curriculum.  Not rethinking the curriculum and the classroom and simply thinking of a tablet computer as a supplement to pre-existing curriculum will lead to the device being no more than a glorified toy, such as interactive whiteboards often become expensive classroom projectors.

One of the most exciting aspects of adopting a device like the iPad is the capability to increase differentiation.  My background in the arts and familiarity with many audio/visual apps will allow me to create lessons and assign students projects that engage them in the highest level of Bloom’s taxonomy - creation.  I’m particularly interested in timeline creation, digital storytelling, and text/image composites.  As an advocate for all children, I will use my professional network and development opportunities to push for customizable textbooks that allow educators to automatically adjust the reading level and language of the text.

Technology can be a timesaver for educators.  I’ve used my portable devices for flipped classroom learning, RSS (automatic web feeds) educational journals, communication, and Ed Tech podcasts to learn new programs and applications for several years.  I use programs like Study Blue to prepare for exams, School Site’s RenWeb and SchoolReach to keep track of all aspects of my children’s schooling and am supportive of my local district’s adoption of the CyberBully Hotline so students can report incidents of bullying.  I was recently asked by creators of SchoolhouseTest to evaluate their latest test creation software and would most definitely choose to use a program like this to design custom exams.

I’m looking forward to testing apps that aid in calling on students at random, designing seating plans, and keeping track of classroom participation during my Novice teaching experience this fall.  In my roles as a private music instructor and robotics coach, I have created newsletters to parents as a successful communication strategy.  Depending upon the preference of my school/district, I would create some version of this “in the cloud” or through an email attachment for my classroom.

As I approach year four and five of my teaching experience, I would hope that I would be a part of a school district that offers ongoing professional learning opportunities that are collaborative, embedded in teacher practice and aimed at bridging the gaps in student achievement.  I would be evaluating the level of technical support for both my students and myself when implementing new technology in the classroom and crafting suggestions for improvement.  I would be available to parents to provide basic training on the use and care of mobile devices, applications, and Internet-based instruction.  I will need to have in place a strategy for recording and reporting incidents (e.g. repairs, damage) and tracking the amount of time students use specific technology in my classroom.  I will need to create an electronic portfolio and keep evidence of student learning for my administrator to evaluate school-wide initiatives and my instructional methods.  By year five, I would be interested in supporting online courses for the mainstream population.  This is another area of education I believe will grow exponentially as state and federal budgets continue to be underfunded and more flexible student schedules are expected to be available at the secondary level.

To paraphrase Jacques Ellul, “we cannot see the future, because the future does not exist.” Every day in schools across the country, hard working educators prepare students for an economy we can’t see.  Teaching is an art for exactly that reason.  I am an optimist and a futurist, but I’m concerned we are heading for the perfect storm in education.  Media multitasking is at an all-time high at the very moment high stakes testing will be used to rate teachers, separate schools, or fire principals and teachers.  Adding to this is a political movement hell bent on ending our nations investment in the next generation.  Public education is the greatest tool we have to maintaining a middle class, but children aren’t the only ones distracted.  Studies show that our information technologies are making us less able to comprehend words printed on pages, we’re remembering less, and less able to concentrate, and people who juggle many tasks are less creative and productive that those who do one thing at a time.  In short, to the saying “Google is making us stupid” we may be able to add poor and unemployed.  

Loewen: Chapter 5

Click to Learn about Race in Society, Science & History

How is Race an Ideology Rather Than a Biological Reality?

The newly released trailer for the movie Cloud Atlas (based on the 2004 book by David Mitchell), ends with the line: "Our lives are not our own, we are bound to others, past and present.  And by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future."  What is so striking about race in America is the criminal role scientists and scholars played in legitimizing social inequality.  American social studies teachers must unwind what that students know about race and provide context to the fact that slavery predated race.  The argument about who should have access to privilege, power, status, and wealth is not exclusive to the United States nor to modern times.  Consequently, a country committed to the ideals of liberty and equality (and therefore individualism and diversity), must emphasize values that are essential to participation in a democracy.

Middle school instructors, John and Ryan Prosser argue that, "A little controversy can be a good thing. While no teacher wants unnecessary drama, the controversy that arises from ethical debates provokes intellectually challenging discussions, presents novel ideas, and encourages students to develop and answer meaningful questions."  Teaching students that race is a modern idea and the ideas and definitions of race have changed over time is a way to cover issues of morality and ethics without teaching a specific set of beliefs.

I've mentioned before that Professor Loewen has also published a book called Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism.  One can visit the accompanying site and search the database for noted towns in each state, however, much of the evidence is anecdotal. 

Ten Things Everyone Should Know about Race*

1. Race is a modern idea.
2. Race has no genetic basis.
3. Human subspecies don’t exist.
4. Skin color really is only skin deep.
5. Most variation is within, not between, “races.”
6. Slavery predates race.
7. Race and freedom were born together.
8. Race justified social inequalities as natural.
9. Race isn’t biological, but racism is still real.
10. Colorblindness will not end racism.

*From the series: RACE—The Power of an Illusion  produced by California Newsreel in association with the Independent Television Service (ITVS).   ITVS was created by Congress to “increase the diversity of programs available to public television, and to serve under served audiences, in particular minorities and children.”

Cantu: Chapter 4

Is This Instructional Strategy Backed by Empirical Research?

In his 2007 book, Letters to a Young Teacher, social and educational critic Jonathan Kozol captures the growing role of business in educational reform:

"Childhood does not exist to serve the national economy.  In a healthy nation, it should be the other way around.  We have a major battle now ahead of us, not just about tone and style of a child's education, but about the purposes it should espouse and whether we, as teachers, need to go down on our knees before a brittle business-driven ethos that is not our own.  We need the teachers who are coming to our classrooms making up their minds before they even get here, which side they are on."

Debate between education lecturers/ researchers Robert Marzano and Alfie Kohn has made the deciphering of what educational strategies are effective even more convoluted.  How about solutions not sides?

Certainly, all good teachers should assess and address students' individual differences.

So how does a novice teacher implement the best practices in the classroom when many educational innovations have been created just for the sake of creation; in practice, many are misunderstood or ignored; and there lacks on-the-job coaching to ensure effective implementation?  As a pragmatist, I am drawn to strategies that are limited in steps and draw upon common sense.  Two approaches are listed below and both emphasize that they are grounded in empirical research.

Vocabulary

Comparing, contrasting, classifying, analogies, and metaphors

Summarizing and note-taking

Reinforcing effort and giving praise

Homework and practice

Non linguistic representation

Cooperative learning

Setting objectives and providing feedback

Generating and testing hypotheses

Cues, questions, and advanced organizers

http://education.nmsu.edu/sc2/documents/research_based_strategies.pdf

Begin a lesson with a short review of previous learning.
Present new material in small steps with student practice after each step.
Ask a large number of questions and check the responses of all students.
Provide models.
Guide student practice.
Check for student understanding.
Obtain a high success rate.
Provide scaffolds for difficult tasks.
Require and monitor independent practice.
Engage students in weekly and monthly review.

http://www.aft.org/pdfs/americaneducator/spring2012/Rosenshine.pdf 

Loewen: Chapter 4

America Through Native Eyes

"The concept of historical truth is a sticky and difficult one—which makes
it even more worthwhile to contemplate and discuss among teachers and students".
 Dr. Pulda, social studies teacher 


How Could Things Have Been Different?

Bob Charlo took the (above) image used in this five-part documentary that tells the story of pivotal moments in U.S. history from the Native American perspective.  Over the years, when asked what the photograph represented and how viewers should interpret the American flag above the teepee, Charlo said, "To me it represents that we - Native people - are still here and still vibrant.  We are NOT a conquered people.  We are a contributing people."

In a small way, I feel a part of that contributing nation.  My maternal great-grandfather was the child of a German immigrant and a Native woman from Pennsylvania.  Overtime, much has been lost about this story, but I remember the pride my mother placed on my high cheekbones and knew that my grandfather and uncles in Pennsylvania still hunted on family land.  As someone who has a personal interest in the history of discrimination and racism, I am always investigating what the tipping point was that led to the conflict between groups of people. The first part of the documentary called, After the Mayflower, ends by stating, "It's hard to see how conflict could have been avoided and how the outcome of that war (King Philip's War) could have been different. (But) looking at the generation before this war, there is at least a moment, where things were different".  So I ask, "Should we not say that the history of racism in this country began with the genocide of American Indians?"

In my current university course, we've talked about thematic units in social studies.  I have a high school curriculum from a NCSS conference that discusses the plight of Native Americans under the heading: Discrimination.  The essential question asked for the unit is: What is the responsibility of the government in ensuring equality for all citizens?  The lessons covered are as follows:

• Manifest Destiny
• Trail of Tears
• 13th/14th/15th Amendments
• Ku Klux Klan
• Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Rosa Parks
• Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Susan B. Anthony
• Gold Rush
• Battles of Wounded Knee
• Jim Crow Laws/Black Codes
• Brown v. Board of Education
• Malcolm X
• Little Rock, Arkansas (Central H.S.)
• 19th Amendment

This particular unit is one of the best examples of material that activates the Krathwohl's Taxonomy of Affective Domain.  The ideal social studies curriculum would be one that is thematically-based.  Not only are there wonderful primary sources to pull into these lessons, but the multi-media materials which aid comprehension and classroom activities allow the educator to be well organized and delve deeper.

Cantu: Chapter 3

Are your lessons activating the amygdala?

(NOT to be confused with Amidala!)

What Are the Uses of Taxonomies?

I'm currently reading a book by National Board Certified Teacher Rick Wormeli called Fair Isn't Always Equal: Assessing & Grading in the Differentiated Classroom.  Wormeli talks at length about the advances in cognitive psychology that have led to the changes in Bloom's taxonomy.  The practical application of Krathwohl and Anderson's 1995 revisions to the taxonomy's emphasis, terminology, and structure was to assist educators in understanding objectives, design valid assessments, and plan effective instruction.  The hope was that holistic educators, critical of the objectives-based movement as overly simplistic, would be more accepting of the separate knowledge dimension, as well as "understanding" being labeled as a primary cognitive process category.  It should be noted that current curriculum standards by both state and federal governments emphasize objectives.

Lee S. Shulman states, that the real use of taxonomies is that they "serve as a set of heuristics, as a stimulus for thinking about the design and evaluation of education, and as the basis for creative narratives about the learning process".  Link: Making Differences: A Table of Learning by Lee S. Shulman © 2007 The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Wormeli particularly likes Frank William's Taxonomy of Creative Thinking which along with the Maker model is used to differentiate instruction.  The Williams model has been a valuable tool in my working with gifted students throughout the years providing a framework for developing challenging questions and activities.  For a more in-depth discussion of how creative tasks push students to think I have included a link to a PowerPoint presentation by Wormeli and an article by Robert Sylwester called, "How Emotions Affect Learning." Emotion is particularly important to education because a stimulating and emotionally positive classroom environment keeps students' attention - driving learning, memory, and the overall health of both students and educators. 

Cantu: Chapter 2

Click to Unpack

What is Lost or Gained When Learning Outcomes

 are Narrowly Constructed?

National Public Radio (NPR) did a piece in July 2010 where they asked teachers the question:  As time marches forward, how do you make room for the new people and events that make up the recent past?

The Common Core State Standards Initiative sets the goal to deepen students' knowledge of content by having them think like historians and build their reading comprehension.  It aids in addressing the problem of an ever-growing past by shifting the focus to literacy skills and higher-level thinking.  I recognize that there are not only real educational concerns in adopting a national curriculum, but also a direct conflict of interest for many of its supporters.  These concerns can not be ignored, but neither can the political reality.  In line with my teaching philosophy, I would argue that the inquiry method of looking at social studies is the most natural and interesting way for students to unlock the past and make meaningful connections.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has been a strong supporter of the Literacy Design Collaborative which has created a template model linking secondary core content to the Common Core State Standards.  The teacher guidebook can be found via this link:

Literacy Design Collaborative

for the two-page brochure on how this method works click here:

Michelle M. Herczog, the history-social science consultant for the Los Angeles County Office of Education published an article in the September 2010 issue of Social Education.  In Using the NCSS National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies: A Framework for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment To Meet State Social Studies Standards she lists six steps which should help social studies educators "unpack" the tools they'll need to shift from the textbook to the common standards themes:

• Answer this Essential Question:  Why Teach Social Studies?
• Align Learning Expectations, Instruction and Assessment.
• Unpack you State Standards to identify the "Big Ideas" or "Enduring Understandings" for each course of study.
• Adopt the NCSS National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies: A Framework for Teaching, Learning and Assessment as a resource for designing instruction and assessment.
• Align your state standards, instruction and assessment with the questions, knowledge, processes and products suggested by the NCSS Standards.
• Reflect, Revisit, Revise.