Category Archives: Mitch Ward

How many words…

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About 6 million words

What could be more exciting than learning about the causes of the Great Depression? This is a question our best historians and economists are still pondering. It is an important question because today’s economy is edging closer to several of the tipping points that caused the Great Depression.

After giving my marvelous introduction to this research project I asked for questions. The first question was, “How many words does it have to be?” Before I could answer, another student replied, “Word count doesn’t matter. You need a robust answer.” This was my answer to another word count question a few weeks ago. Students loved the word “robust” and repeated it around the room. We discussed things like fully answering the question, impressing peer reviewers, and making the writer feel proud. Students actually remembered the discussion and repeated back these parameters.

The original questioner then asked, “So does that mean about 500 words?” There were groans from many classmates. My response was, “If you are doing a good job, you will not be able to stop at 500 words.”

The word count person is one of my students who has learned to believe that meeting a minimum word count should result in an “A” paper. It is the same student that can’t understand how a hundred or so extra words will not automatically result in an “A” paper, especially when a neighboring student got an “A” for a shorter essay. This is one of my students who has difficulty distinguishing quality from quantity. This same student thinks all paragraphs must be five sentences long and that a two page response to a question does not require paragraphs so long as it is answering the question with however many claims are included.

I must admit that I still often provide minimum word counts. I would like to get away from it, but, when I do, students like the one above want me to explain why I believe their 150 words did not fully answer a question like, “What were the causes of the Great Depression?” This is something I really do not have time to debate. It does make me ask, however, why so many students are focused on quantity rather than quality.

Is this a problem for anyone else? Have you found solutions? Have you found ways, like using the word “robust,” to make the quality v quantity differentiation stick?

DEI and CRT Are Poison

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 It’s time for a confession. I love watching PragerU videos. Imagine Fox News with evidence and logic instead of ranting and raving. They make me pause and question. They make me realize there are some pretty smart people out there who are not on my side of the fence. There are so many lessons I could open with a viewing of a PragerU video.

Watch the video, “Miseducated: The Decline of America’s Schools.” Here are some essential questions posed by PragerU. After watching the video, how might you answer each of these questions? 


“Why are schools obsessed with race and gender issues? Why are children learning revisionist history? Why are America’s schools teaching children to hate America — and each other?”

Your answers might come in handy the next time a parent or neighbor asks the same questions.


Nature Abhors A Vacuum

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“Nature abhors a vacuum.” was first theorized by Aristotle. This theory was brought into doubt in the 1600’s when experiments were conducted that appear to prove creating a total vacuum is possible. I don’t see why the possibility of there being a vacuum does not mean that nature abhors one. I thought about this when I was contemplating on how to get people to seriously consider what must be done to save the world. It seems that people abhor the thought of destroying the world, but can’t stop doing it. There are some people who live a “green” life, so we know, like a vacuum, it can be accomplished. Unfortunately, the vast majority of people continue to buy, sell, and destroy the environment with abandon. We know this must stop, but what are we doing to stop it? Are we even capable of making ourselves stop it, or are we just resigned to going down in a firestorm of global warming?

The final project in Economics is about saving the world. The students are enthusiastic about the project. They get it. Humans are destroying the world. But what are they doing about it? Only one of my first period students posted something on social media about saving the world. This is not going to cut it. So much more needs to be done. Beyond learning, my lessons must include a call to action.

I do hear snippets from my students that others are teaching about this same subject. Maybe it is a video in biology class, a book in English class or using recycled materials in art class. Things are being done. I would like to know what everyone else is doing and how we can make a coordinated effort to educate our students about the magnitude of this problem and about what can be done to alter our path to one that makes sustainability possible. Wouldn’t it be great to have some calls to action on a school-wide basis, backed by what we are learning in class? That would be project based learning at its best.

Speaking of a vacuum reminds me of the Pink Floyd song “Is There Anybody Out There.” If you are out there and read this, do you also believe it is time to translate our thoughts into actions? Our students, their children and grandchildren deserve nothing less.

Racism Revealed

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My U.S. History class just finished our unit on civil rights. I began the unit with a wonderful two period long lecture enhanced with a slide show and  punctuated with stimulating questions to be discussed and written about in team breakout rooms. We covered everything from the first American slave to Black Lives Matter. Thought-provoking ideas abounded. The discussion breaks evoked many questions from the students. So much information was delivered with such great success. I was so proud of how well I pulled off this “sage on the stage” extravaganza. 

Our second assignment was about racism today. Each student from each team was required to select a topic from a list including such topics as de facto segregation and racism in education. No teammate could select the same subject. Each teammate would then, jigsaw fashion, create a Flipgrid video about their subject and present it to their team. The best video, as chosen by the teammates, for each team was shared with the whole class. My only role in this assignment was to be a “guide on the side,” answering questions and providing encouragement. 

After completing the unit I assigned my standard feedback questions.

  • What did you like or find most interesting? Be specific. Select one thing.
  • What did you least like or understand? Be specific. Select one thing.
  • What questions or random thoughts came to mind while you were studying this unit?

Overwhelmingly students liked the student created videos. They told about all the interesting things they learned and how surprised they were by information they did not know. There were many questions about the content of the videos. A few students even mentioned my lecture, but it was a far second to the comments about the student-created videos. That’s where the learning took place; not my slideshow extravaganza.

This experience confirms once again that even my best direct instruction does not equal student driven learning. Finding information for themselves is so much more powerful and memorable than my telling them. Student research is foundational for a successful lesson. The product can be an essay, a video, a discussion or a presentation. These help students cement their learning, but student centered research is the key. I now see my main job as teaching students how to conduct their own research on topics that converge their interests with the topics I am teaching. The reporting is essential but the research is foundational. Even though this is not a new theory, it continues to amaze me with its success in building skills and as a vehicle for long term learning. Students will not soon forget what they and their classmates discovered about racism as it exists today. And how about that first slave, John Punch? A month from now, students will have no clue.

Teaming and Grades

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 One of my second semester Economics students just asked me to put her on a different team because two of her teammates were on her team last semester in another class. She said the students were lazy and she had to do all the work in order to get a good grade. When I began using teams several years ago this was a familiar refrain. Since I began using teams I have grappled with the question, “How can students receive all the benefits of teaming without being dependent on their teammates for a good grade?” 

The benefits of teaming are great, especially in this blended learning environment. Students get to spend time together. The research, the discussions, the debates, and the problem solving are great vehicles for students to interact with each other. Students also learn much from each other, especially when they see the benefits of working together. What once were freeloaders often become facilitators in the learning process. Everyone benefits when team members decide to work together. One key is the way grading is handled.

Giving team grades does not solve the grading problem. The grading problem is solved by jigsawing and making each student responsible for her own grade. Each student gets a piece of the puzzle to solve. Each student is graded on her piece of the puzzle. This breaks ties of interdependent grading and allows students to sink or swim on their own. Here are a few examples to show how this works.

My Economics students were given the assignment of defining the meaning of the word “economy.” The teammates got together and decided which part of the definition each teammate would take. For example, one member might choose supply and demand. Another might choose opportunity cost. Once every team member had her topic, she wrote a definition and provided an example. With four to six members in each team, we got some pretty robust definitions. With five to six teams, there was some repetition, but that just reinforced the overall definition. To keep everyone listening, each student had to record at least one fact that was not in her team’s definition and one fact the presenting team missed. I graded all the presentations as they were being given and the fact sheets after class. No student was dependent on any other student for a grade. And no student wanted to be embarrassed by not being able to present her part of the presentation.

Projects in my U.S. History class always begin with research. A current research project essential question asks how Japan went from being our friend in 1912, when it gifted the United States over 3000 cherry trees, to being our enemy in 1941, when it bombed Pearl Harbor. Each team was given a piece of the puzzle, events that led to the schism. Each team member had to provide three unique annotated sources to help explain her team’s piece of the puzzle. This gave each team twelve to eighteen shared sources. We then had a full class socratic (Hot Seat) discussion to determine the relative value of each puzzle piece. Students then individually wrote about a puzzle piece presented by another  team explaining where and why that piece found its place in the ranking.

My students love working in teams. Jigsaw lessons both solve the grading problem and give students choice, which they also love. Teaming gives students an opportunity to work together. I am also able to cover more material in less time. With some planning, teaming is awesome.


Saving The World

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 “So many climate and health calamities are colliding at once. It’s not just the pandemic that keeps people inside. It’s poor air quality,” Biden said of one of the many effects of climate change. “Folks, we’re in a crisis. Just like we need a unified national response to covid-19, we need a unified national response to climate change.” (Washington Post)

Now that our government is on board, what better time to begin a school wide capstone project focused on saving the world?

For the past several years my capstone project in Economics has been “Saving The World.” Economics, specifically consumer capitalism, has been destroying the world since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Humans have the ability to make endless amounts of stuff. For example, last year humans made 23 billion pairs of shoes. That’s three pairs of shoes for every living human on earth. Who needs three new pairs of shoes every year? This is just one example of how our insatiable desire for stuff is gobbling up all the resources our earth has to offer.

Another example of how rich a saving the world topic can be; a group of my students decided that moving to electric cars would greatly reduce the amount of air pollution. But then they began looking into how much energy it takes to make batteries, and the environmental cost of making batteries. It also takes quite a bit of energy and raw materials to make any car. Are electric cars really that much better? Maybe people should use fewer cars. Mass transportation is a possible solution. So is working at home instead of going to the office. Students were spinning off with ideas in all directions. One student even presented a report on the possibility of piezoelectric cars. Where did that come from? It’s real. Experiments are being done. Look it up.

More and more my students tell me they are studying similar topics in science classes, in religion classes in HPERD classes and in English classes. I don’t know about math class, but there are plenty of numbers to crunch in finding ways to save the world. So, why don’t we all get together and make saving the world our CHS capstone project?

Every department at CHS can find a way to get students seriously involved in saving the world projects. Students are really into it. They have been for years. To quote one student, “It’s totally drip.” And saving the world is a real thing. Our president elect said it is real. We know that presidents always tell us the truth. So it must be a real thing. Maybe we should save that last idea about truthful presidents for a different blog. But, about saving the world, what do you think? It’s going to be a problem of survival for future generations. What could be more important than the survival of future generations?


What Do We Teach?

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 I just read this article, Does America’s Math Curriculum Add Up? It says we should teach more “data analysis and problem solving; and linear equations.” This made me think of my freshman year in high school in 1961. The teacher told us we were only taking algebra to get into college. Most of us would never put algebra to any practical use, but all of us would benefit from going to college. I obviously remembered that conversation from nearly 60 years ago. Sounds like it is still true today. The article goes on to tell how difficult it is to get the public and many colleges to accept this new math reality. They want algebra and geometry, just like they had in high school.

This made me think about other subjects, like history. There are so many historical names, places, and dates that every students should know. Would any U.S. History course be complete without a unit on the great Wobblies movement, founded in 1905, or the Battle of Bunker Hill, Korean War, 1952. How embarrassing to not know these names and dates. 

There is so much historical information available now that it is mind boggling. Robert Caro spent ten years researching for his 3000 page magnum opus The Years of Lyndon Johnson. If students need to learn data analysis in math, they certainly need to learn research skills in their history classes. This boils down to data analysis. Math deals mostly with numbers. History deals mostly with events. But, when it comes down to it, both are trying to make sense of data. In both cases it is not the data that needs to be learned, it is the crunching of the data. 

I am no math expert, but I do know that it is impossible to cover the California history content standards in the time allotted, especially if we take seriously the need for research and analysis. We have only so much time available. This year, it seems like so much less time. How do we spend this time? How do we divide the covering of information with the deep dives that involve real research and analysis. How much time do we spend remembering, and how much time do we spend understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating? This is such a basic question. Why is it so far from being resolved?


Chunking

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The word “chunking” makes me think of what might follow a night of hard partying. This thought reminds me of a favorite Princess Bride quote, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” When I first heard the word chunking I truly did not grasp the meaning of it. After reading Small Teaching Online: Applying Learning Science in Online Classes, I have a definition that works for me. 

Initially chunking made me think of a bunch of small independent lessons. Currently we are teaching about the 1920’s in U.S. History. An example of chunking with this definition would mean teaching a lesson on prohibition, another on consumerism, then women’s rights, and maybe one on religious fundamentalism. At the end of these lessons students will know what happened during the 1920’s, but have no idea about why it happened or the relationship between these chunks. Even so, the ground was covered and it will be time to move on to the 1930’s. 
 

Before we leave the 1920’s, let’s try chunking again, but after we apply some backwards design. We open the lesson this time with an essential question. For example, “How did various socioeconomic groups react to the prosperity of the 1920’s?” This raises more questions, like who were these groups and why did they react so differently? Soon we have a list of the above-mentioned groups. But who has time to research all these groups? 


This is where we do some jigsaw chunking. Every team takes a topic and researches the topic while always focusing on the essential question. Before beginning the activities the teacher tells the class that each team will convey what they have learned to the rest of the class. When that part is completed, each person will write a reflection that explains why each of the socioeconomic groups reacted so differently. Each team will become an expert in one piece of the puzzle. When the pieces are revealed, the whole puzzle, the essential question, will be revealed to everyone. 


More chunking comes with the research and delivery. Each teammate will find one or more pieces of unique evidence for the team’s topic. This will be put on a Google doc shared with teammates. Included will be a MLA citation, a quote or paraphrase, and a reflection of the meaning and usefulness of the information, pretty much like evidence for a DBQ. Teammates will then decide how they will turn the information into a presentation, a video, a website, or whatever delivery method works best. Each teammate will be responsible for a chunk of the delivery, and will put their name on their chunk. One benefit of this chunking with names is that it allows the teacher to see the contribution of each student. It makes formative and summative assessments so much easier. 


Finally, when all the pieces of the puzzle have been assembled and delivered, it is time for the summative assessment. The essential question will be answered by each student using examples from each piece of the puzzle. For this assignment, if the teacher has done his or her job, students will realize the Roaring 1920’s had more to it besides partying and throwing chunks. 

How do you know if you are being a successful teacher?

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Spending this first month of the school year doing distance learning has made it hard for me to evaluate my own teaching. The measurable data I had from class interactions previously, doesn’t exist anymore and this can lead to self doubt as a teacher. This can (and does) lead to taking every comment about our teaching as more valuable.

I recently had a conversation about one of the classes that I teach that I believe is going really well. Very well considering that it is via distance learning. The conversation didn’t include what I believed was happening. I discovered that the virtual world is more isolating and invisible than when someone could come into the class and see learning in action. What is visible to the outside world (those excluding the teacher and students) is a Schoology page. The conversations via zoom have been and gone, the laughs and “now I get it” moments have been left in the virtual realm. Sadly my impression to the outside world is minimal.

This week after hearing voices in my mind questioning whether I am a good teacher, I decided to do something about it. This isn’t new or revolutionary. In fact it’s a requirement as a teacher here at Carondelet. I did class surveys asking what items helped the students learn new concepts and what parts of my class have and haven’t been successful for learning (Schoology included). Simply I went to the source to find out whether my self doubt was accurate.

I know you’re wondering what my students said. Before I tell you I invite you to ask your students too. They see you every week and know all the hard work you’re doing. The responses that I received that were about all their classes expressed an appreciation that every teacher is truly doing his/her best.

So the results came in. Simply I can tell you that my students don’t see my as a non-effective teacher, one that is unclear about what he is teaching, or even as someone who doesn’t care. My most positive response was that they feel that I am approachable. That is huge for me. It has actually been my most positive evaluation from students in regards to helping them (in teaching and assessing) to be successful students. The written comments were positive, especially the ones that were specific to me. My favourite was “I really enjoy how you do distance learning.” Also a shout out to Ms. Orr, Mr. Ward and Mr. Buckles that students gave praise to on their online teaching. Basically my students expressed that they are happy, they are learning, and that what they do in class is valuable.

I finished teaching my last period on Friday and I’m thankful to have positive voices in my mind acknowledging that I am doing a good job in the classroom. I hope you take the time to hear from the students and take those same positive words to heart.

Formative Assessment Tools

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How do I know my students know what I want them to know? It can’t be because I taught them. That’s only the beginning. Students actually knowing and synthesizing what I taught them is an entirely different thing. There are  plenty of quick tests for recall, but these do not test for understanding or the other higher level thinking skills.  For example, I could make a multiple choice test to determine which facts students might know about Thomas Jefferson’s treatment of his slaves, but what if I want to discover how well my students really understand the hypocrisy of Thomas Jefferson’s words about slavery? I can learn more in a few moments of conversation with each student than I can with even the best multiple choice or short answer quiz.
To find the answer to the question in the example I would present a Thomas Jefferson quote on slavery like this one: “This abomination must have an end, and there is a superior bench reserved in heaven for those who hasten it.” Then I would ask each student to explain the hypocrisy of the quote using several examples of Jefferson’s treatment of his slaves. It would take me about one minute per student to find how well each student both remembers the content and can synthesize the information. But might there be a even better, more efficient and more evidentiary way to accomplish my goal?
There is. And more than one. The fastest and easiest is Voice Memos. Every student has a voice recorder and knows how to use it. The typical Voice Memos lesson for evaluating student understanding of my Thomas Jefferson question might include these steps:
1.     Ask the question. “How do Thomas Jefferson’s actions show the hypocrisy in his words, “This abomination must have…””
2.     Give the students 10 to 15 minutes to write a brief outline of what they will say.
3.     Give the students 5 minutes to record their answer which must be between one and two minutes long.
4.     Tell students if they cannot complete the answer in the allotted time, they don’t know it well enough and need to do some more studying.
5.     Everyone who finishes turns in her voice memo to Schoology.
6.     After class I listen to the recordings and take notes.
7.     When I am done I know who understands the concept and who needs help.
This method is efficient because all the students are completing the assignment at the same time. It is more evidentiary because I have a record that can be saved and used for remediation or for determining progress. It also provides a record of each student’s ability to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate the content of the lesson.
I also use Voice Memos for determining the level of empathy students have for others. One such lesson begins with a video of an actual firefight in Vietnam. Students must take the persona of one of the soldiers and create a voice recording of what happened and what thoughts might have been going through his or her head during the firefight. Some pretty intense recordings have been created from this assignment.
Even more information can be ascertained by using a video recording program such as Flipgrid. Seeing student faces adds another dimension. Facial expressions provide a wealth of additional information for assessing student understanding. One formative assessment I created using Flipgrid was based on this introduction, “You have just lost your home in the Subprime Mortgage Crisis. You followed all the rules. Who is to blame? Explain every level.” Once again, this tool demonstrates each student’s ability to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate the content of the lesson. It also allows the teacher to “see” the ease level of confidence with which each student gives her answer.
Both of these tools work well for distance learning. Just set the due date time on Schoology to the requisite due date and time. Students don’t have time to look up answers or message their friends. These assignments can only be completed well if the student already knows the answers. It is close to impossible to cheat on a test like this one. Even if you have multiple sections, you can just change the question a bit for each section.
Aside from using time more efficiently, another great advantage these tools have over live conversations is they provide a permanent record of progress. These records can be a valuable addition to portfolios of student work. Students can see how much better they do in subsequent recordings.
I use VoiceMemos for shorter formative assessments. I use Flipgrid for longer, more involved formative assessments. Both of these tools are readily accessible, easy to learn, and more fun for the students, than formal written assignments. They are great tools both for formative assessment and for providing an interesting alternative to writing.