Negative Ghostrider, the pattern is full.

I'm all in the last part of this week.  I'm driving the learning of my students.  It's an investment in my future.

We are working on our first DBQ.  It's an adventure story about Cabeza de Vaca.  There's death, slavery, shipwrecks, surgery, long walks in the wilderness, and ultimately, survival.  Lucky for us, Mr. Cowhead(as I lovingly call him), wrote a book.  He was the rockstar of his time, both here in New Spain and Europe.  I don't know how many books he sold, but he left us an incredible gift in La Relacion.

A DBQ is a Document Based Question.  We give the students a question.  We give them primary source documents.  Most importantly, we give them time to consider the evidence and then require them to answer the question.

We get to see them think.  We get to see them discuss.  We get to see their thinking on paper.  Isn't that the true definition of learning?  I sure hope so because these days are what keep me going.

As the year progresses, we will ask questions about the Alamo, Civil Rights, Sam Houston, and the Dust Bowl.  Along with these questions will be ample documentation and time to consider and formulate  answers.

After these 3 or 4 days, the expectations will be established and the mold set.  I can't wait for our next DBQ and to watch our students wander off into History to witness it and then explain how it played out.  Most importantly, I hope they enjoy the ride.

Peace

"Nothing is impossible.  The word itself says, I'm Possible."

-Audrey Hepburn

It's A Great Day To Be A Raider

As we walked the hallways last Friday, I was reminded of all the great things my colleagues are doing for our kids across our campus.

We are a Title I campus with about 1000 kids, or students, or family.  It helps to think of our kids as family.  We have to love on them, be tough on them, guide them, and most of all, remember they are simply kids at heart.

It is a pleasure to work with my students.  Sure, there are days I wouldn't mind forgetting, but usually I can't wait to get home to get ready for the next day.  My students and colleagues keep me coming back.  They are kind and compassionate, challenging and diligent, inquisitive and studious.  It's a broad mix and our team is focused on bringing all our learners together.

Today, we watched a little video from CBS Sunday Morning about Mount Rushmore.  It wasn't earth shattering History, but I like to point out that there is something in History for everyone.  Maybe it won't be Mount Rushmore this day, but tomorrow will always bring some type of learning opportunity.

What does that famed monument have to do with Texas History.  Nothing, and everything.  It shows the spirit of our country and how immigrants from around the world came to create something special.  As we will see, Texans will take part in creating special pieces of American History.

We are just getting started.  America and Texas await.

Peace

"America was not built on fear.  America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand."

- Harry S. Truman

Everybody's working for the weekend.  Hey Hey.

At this, the end of our 3rd week of school, we are getting into our groove.  And that groove includes the anticipation created by the weekend.

We like to finish strong in Texas History.  These Fridays are our fun days where we wrap up the week, or we get ready for the next.  

As we discussed the pictographs found in Paint Rock, we also prepared ourselves for the Native Texans we encounter next week.

So many students can't imagine people from over 15,000 years ago, not to mention what people 15,000 years from now will think.  Therefore, the evidence we studied today, and then created, kinda gives us some perspective about the first people in Texas.

Today, I asked students how we figured out the meaning of the Egyptian hieroglyphics.  First answer:  Google.

Ask a 7th grader to imagine life without computers.  The shock and awe is well worth your time.

Next week, we'll consider the environment encountered by the earliest native tribes in these here parts.

How did they make fires?

I'm sure a student, or 5, will suggest they Googled the instructions.

Peace

"The inner fire is the most important thing mankind possesses.

-Edith Sodergran

Ever have one of THOSE days?

Today, we knocked out some serious work.  I mean, we got stuff done.

It's a good thing, because we are about done boring these students with all this Regions of Texas talk.  It's time to get onto the good stuff.

Tomorrow, we truly go time travelling, backwards.  15,000 years or so, to be precise.

It's hard to imagine, but we have evidence about humans roaming our great state around 13,500 BC.  

So, it's our job to take our students there.

We will start by discussing hieroglyphics, something they learned about last year(right, 6th grade teachers?) and then show pictographs from Paint Rock, TX.  These are very old, yet descriptive painting left by the earliest natives.  There is no language, just pictures of everyday existence.

And then, we'll challenge our students to create their own pictographic messages for archaeologists to decipher in, oh, 15,000 years.

So, if you are ever having one of those days....write about it.  Hide it in the nearest cave, and maybe just maybe, some 7th grader will read about it in their highly entertaining and fascinating History class.

What do you want the future to know about your life?

Peace

"The best way to predict your future is to create it."

-Abraham Lincoln

Struggles

As I sat down today during conference with my PLC, I had to admit to them that I struggle with matching our Learning Objectives to our Essential Questions.

This has been a struggle for some time now.  I'm not proud of it, but I felt a whole lot better by talking out this weakness.  It let us delve into the lesson planning with a lot more depth.  The questions definitely helped me formulate my thinking and craft the lesson writing.

We have a teacher new to our campus in my PLC, and he has told me about his struggles.  Sometimes, I have just assumed the teachers I work with are doing just fine, or simply know which side is up.  

So, our conversations this week have shown we both have our struggles, and I think we will work these things out together.

That, in a nutshell, is teamwork.  And that is how to handle your struggles.  Attack them early in the year while you can.  

As a result, I know this year is shaping up to be a good one.

Peace

"If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself."  

-Henry Ford

Time to Brag

Our Principal has been nominated for one of the top awards a principal can receive here in Texas.    Let's brag a bit here.

First, we are allowed to do our jobs here.  It's not rocket science to allow the people you hire to do their job.  Just make sure you hire the right people. It's a tricky balance each and every year.  This year alone, we have 16 new teachers on campus.  While our campus has challenges, and what campus doesn't, I firmly believe these 16 new teachers have what it takes.  Several of them have inspired me to be the best I can be.

Second, on our last day of in-service training, our principal laid it all out for us.  Essentially, he said he has 80 family members and over 1000 kids for the next 9 months.  These kids belong to us, and we need to bring them in and treat them like our own.  And if we don't, there is a door somewhere with the word 'exit' written above it. Pretty heady stuff, but our responsibilities to our kids go way, way beyond textbooks, desks, and test scores.

Finally, I know I have my moments, even entire days of  them.  It goes with the territory.  But, in those moments, there is that one student, that one kid who can break it all down for me.  I start my day with my over-achieving GT  kiddos, and end it with a mish-mash of abilities that need daily sorting.  But, that one kid somewhere during the day can simply smile, or fist-bump me, or make some silly error, and all the junk falls away.

I am thankful I was hired here by a leader with vision.  Our school isn't for the meek, and I love it here for the challenges, the crazies, and my wonderful colleagues.

Peace

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader."

-John Quincy Adams

PBL - aka Let the students create stuff

The light at the end of the summer training tunnel this summer was Project Based Learning.

I found a book at a district training that I really liked, so I bought my own copy.  Basically, it's a fun way to teach by giving choices to the students.  Right now, I'm only requiring my students choose 1 of 4 assignments.  Eventually, they will have to choose 2 of 6, or 4 of 8 projects.

While the book gives great ideas, the due dates are not always realistic for our pacing guide.  Literally, some projects take weeks.

Therefore, I give choices which take a day, maybe two at the most.

So far, the feedback from students has been very positive.  The artsy students relish the opportunities to create drawings and comic strips.  The writers love to tell a story, and the math aces enjoy creating maps and plans.

My takeaway for you:  give up a little control and give choices where possible.  You can really learn a lot about your students, and they will work hard to keep those choices coming.

Peace

"People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."  - Maya Angelou

So, I teach 7th grade Texas History. Let that sink in.
 Except for one year, I have taught it every year for the past 14. When I taught only 8th grade, I was the proverbially fish out of water.  One of the greatest gifts of my teaching career was being returned to 7th graders. Knowing your gifts and passions will allow you to find that niche subject if you are a teacher.  
More about me later.
I get to teach a History class, which for most of my students, is their very first exposure to the subject.  No offense 6th grade Geography teachers, but our 7th grade subject matter is much more specific, and to be honest, much more History-like.  Thanks to all of my 6th grade counterparts who got their students through Geography, only to have to take it again in 9th grade.
Every year, I meet parents who tell me one of two things.  Either, they loved History, and they still enjoy it.  Or, they hated History in middle school, and really love it now.  Therefore, my first statement to my students is:
There is something in History for EVERYONE.
I don't expect my 12 and 13 year old students to leave my classroom as some sort of know-it-all History expert.  But, I expect them to embrace our past, and appreciate what people have been through to get us to this point.  They may find these famous dead people to very boring, but their lives were usually anything but.
Sidenote:  expect to discuss currently alive, supposedly famous people.  This brings the dead ones to life.
Also,  while reading is an inherent part of our studies, I find the use of the words used by the dead folk to be the best for learning about them.  These Primary Source documents tend to bring History alive.
Peace.

"We are not makers of History.  We are made by History." - Martin Luther King, Jr.