While I was working with the grade eight and nine Social Studies IRP documents this semester, I noticed something that was slightly worrying. While plenty of attention is paid to specific content areas, ensuring students will have plenty of facts, communication skills were virtually unrepresented. The only PLOs that require students to actually say anything are here:
    plan, revise, and deliver written and oral presentations Grade 8
    plan, revise, and deliver formal oral and written presentations Grade 9

There is no requirement to work in collaboratively, in groups or partnerships, no debate, or even just basic public speaking skills. I feel like an important part of learning Social Studies is being able to effectively communicate an idea, and despite the possibly pervasive influence of the Blogosphere, face to face communication is still the most effective way to this.

What do you think? Has my dramatic bias been exposed? Is it more important to stick to the cold hard facts, or is the medium the message?

Video Review

Lawrence
super 8 review.egg on Aviary.

Top secret documents, in MY classroom?

I wanted to write a post on Wikileaks, basically, how a Social Studies teacher should deal with such a controversial set of documents... what would be the best approach?  I want to work with these documents because I feel like there are many opportunities for genuine learning experiences that could arise from working with such exciting material.

That was my initial reaction.

This last week, the Orwellian response of the US government has given me pause, in terms of what I would be comfortable teaching in my classroom, and what I would be comfortable saying online. Students at some US universities got emails last week recommending that they “DO NOT post links to these documents nor make comments on social media sites such as Facebook or through Twitter. Engaging in these activities would call into question your ability to deal with confidential information, which is part of most positions with the federal government.” I have decided that, given the current climate, a better question might be:  what is the best way a Social Studies teacher can hide these documents from their students?

Some suggestions:

Ignore the documents? 

Threaten them?

Teach the students how to orchestrate a DoS attack? 

All good options.

I thought that overt government censorship went out with McCarthy. Was there this sort of a clampdown when the Watergate documents were released? What else is hidden within these documents? Over 3 million people had access to them, so they weren’t exactly secure to begin with.

My question to you, my colleagues is:

If you were currently teaching a class, would you feel comfortable bringing the Wikileaks documents to school, for your students to analyze?

WeTransfer

Its been a while since I posted an online tool, and given today's discussion about the perils of transferring and storing files, I thought WeTransfer would be an appropriate site to highlight. WeTransfer allows you to send big files (up to 2 gigs) to as many as 20 different people- without having to register. 

The file stays on WeTransfer's server for 2 weeks, and anyone who is on the email list can access the file at any time during that period. I think this service is a great way of sending a large file to a large group - but it also might be a good backup for those who fear that their USB may get lost or corrupted, and feel more secure with another method of accessing their files. It takes a bit of time to upload the file - at least it does on my sub-standard computer- but other than that, this is a very useful tool.

Reflections on reflection – or the barber shop effect

“Simply being encouraged to reflect is likely to be as meaningful as a lecture on cooperative

group work.” - J. John Loughran

         All joking aside, everyone knows the value of reflection. When you look at anyone who is at the top of their field, you see someone who has learned the value of reflecting on their decisions. This is a personal and varied process, which will depend on what it is you are reflecting on.

         In our program we are encouraged to be reflective, through these blog posts, the e-portfolios, and through various assignments with a variety of word counts. In theory – great! We will be able to examine our practice and become better practitioners. But wait. We aren’t practicing yet. Once we get into classrooms, the ability to be reflective practitioners will be an important part of our professional development, but right now it is feels like a hoop we have to jump through.    

         I am not saying that reflection is useless, but it is a shame that we don’t have more classroom experiences to reflect upon. We can reflect vicariously about classes we have observed, but we are reflecting on other peoples practice, not our own. We need an opportunity to get our hands dirty – to make mistakes. This is where learning happens and where reflection would be at its most useful.

        For example, at the University of Scarborough’s teacher education program, in addition to the 5 week and 8 week practicum, pre service teachers will have 45 or so extra days “to observe school communities and gradually become involved in tutoring, student-teaching, and research-based inquiry experiences.”

           Also, there used to be an internship based teacher education program at Uvic – school work was done during the summer, and they would spend the full school year in the classroom – but this is obviously no longer offered.

           What do you guys think? Would you be encouraged to reflect by having more practical experience?

Remembrance

Yesterday I travelled downtown to observe one of our countries most solemn ceremonies: Remembrance Day. In years past I have either sat through an assembly in school or simply watched on TV - but this year, I thought I would put my social studies teacher hat on and take a look at how the official parliament hill version shaped up.

As I was walking up to the parliament buildings, I followed a young family headed to the ceremony.  By this time, they had started firing off the big guns, and the morning was punctuated by periodic blasts. I noticed that the children in front of me were getting more and more excited, as we walked up the street and the source of the blasts grew nearer. They weren’t alone. Many small children were riled up by the noise, and many parents had to remind them of the solemn nature of the event.

A question that rose to my mind was: who or what are these blasts for? Are they to remind us of the storm and clash of battle? Are they to let those who haven’t experienced combat get a little taste? Are they designed to bring tears to the eyes of elderly veterans?

At any rate, the ceremony proceeded, interrupted by the occasional blast: “And now from Victoria city council, Mrs *BOOM* will present a wreath,” or “and now a few words from our *BOOM* Dean Fortin.”

One more thing. I respect the military, and the role that it has historically played. World Wars One and Two, though senseless, were both pivotal turning points in history, and Canadians should be proud of the role they played.  However, the general feeling I have always felt at Remembrance Day is ‘never again.’ I am glad that our forebears had the courage to sacrifice what they did, but I hope that no future generation has to suffer as they did.

So when I hear the media, and announcers at the event itself, try to link the Remembrance Day tradition to our ‘modern heroes’ I have a bit of trouble.  Aside from the fact that our national security is not threatened by tribal militias in Afghanistan, besides the fact that many believe it is an unjust war likely to spark more conflict… our modern military is made up of volunteers, not conscripts. Yesterday I remembered the casualties of war. Not the innumerable civilian casualties of the great wars, but those who suffer to this day as a result of military intervention.

Never again, right?

An Alternative Experience

Hello everyone!

  When I learned that I was going to be placed in an alternative school, I’ll admit, I was a bit unsettled. I had bags of biases. I remembered the ‘alternative kids’ from my own school experience, as well as various stereotypes from movies and popular culture. Basically I was expecting trouble – from students and teachers both.

  I was greeted by an administrator, who immediately made me feel at ease – she was polite, welcoming and she went out of her way to make all of us feel like we were a part of the team. She explained that there were actually three schools within the one: an alternative education program, a learn at home program, and a continuing education program. My teachable areas are social studies and theatre. There are no social studies classes in the continuing education program, and the learn at home students were, well, at home, so that left me with the alternative kids. The alternative program was where I would be spending most of my time, and I was admittedly unsettled. These are supposedly the ‘worst of the worst,’ kids who teachers have nightmares about, but they provided me a huge eye opener. They were funny, generally polite, and definitely considerate. Sure, there were issues, but nothing dramatic, and truthfully, nothing more than you would expect to find in a group of “regular” students.

   Looking around the alternative program, kids are aiming to graduate, not to gain skills. They want out of the system, and not much else. Anything that teachers present that is extraneous or even supplementary to this goal is treated as a problem to be overcome, or to run away from.  That being said, there was no specific class dealing with computers in the alternative program. In fact, despite having computers in almost every room, access to the internet is generally restricted, because of the ample distraction it provides. There are semi-mythical Keyboarding 11, Business Computer Applications 11, Data Management 12 and Business Information Management 12 classes. These classes were offered to continuing education students, subject to demand. They are intended to provide increased employment opportunities to adults who are, for one reason or another, having a hard time getting work. I don’t believe they will be offered until next semester.