Failure

This is one of my reflections from my class, Leading Change: Go Beyond Gamification with Gameful Learning.

Most of my learners are afraid to fail. As high schoolers, they have been through school enough years to believe that failure is not an option. They don’t see failure as a way to learn from their mistakes, but instead they see failure as the end. There is no going back from it. Many classes will allow students to retake assessments or prove their knowledge in a different format, but only a small group of students take advantage of this opportunity. A lot of students have been beaten down throughout the years enough to believe that their efforts are not worth it. Sometimes they don’t see why it is worth it to learn a certain concept, and that stops them from trying again as well.

Most teachers allow retakes, but failure is still “tsk-ed” by some teachers. It’s often held over students’ heads as a stick (in the carrot-stick metaphor). I am not immune in this as well, and it is something that I absolutely have to work on. When it comes to parents, many parents are open to the changes that teachers are trying to make when it comes to flexible deadlines and retakes, but there are always community members who don’t quite understand why this can be better than sticking to hard deadlines and giving out zeros. More communication about the process could help to ease this tension.

I think that I need to be a support system for students and parents. I need to provide low-risk opportunities for students to fail, and give them helpful feedback that can help them fix their mistakes. Over time, as students begin to see that their “failures,” no matter how minor, help them to improve, they will be more willing to take more risks in the future to improve themselves.

Personalizing the Education Experience

This is one of my reflections from my class, Leading Change: Go Beyond Gamification with Gameful Learning.

There isn’t much personalization happening, at least in my classes. This is something that I want to work on. I do allow students to choose topics of interest to study and there are a lot of opportunities to do this within my Social Studies classes. For example, when completing a project about Progressive Era reform, students are given options of influential individuals to study. This allows some student choice on the matter.

I also allow students to choose the media in which they would like to complete their projects. Sometimes I will require that students create an infographic, but other times I will give them choices: poster, website, blog post, video, etc.

All choices are given by the instructor, which I think is necessary, especially when completing certain research projects. If I don’t give a list of influential individuals for students to choose from, someone might choose someone that doesn’t fit into the time period at all.

I think the learners’ autonomy can be increased by allowing choice more often throughout the year, but it is important for the teacher to provide the choices and avoid making all tasks too open-ended.

The Future of Learning Autonomy and Personalization

This is one of my reflections from my class, Leading Change: Go Beyond Gamification with Gameful Learning.

Prompt:
Imagine a future in your school (or other learning context) where learner autonomy and personalization are maximized.
Write a short reflection where you predict the future of this personalized learning in your school, both in the short term (5 years) and in the longer term (more than 10 years). How will teaching be different? How will the learners’ experiences be different?


Response:
High-achieving students will push back at first because they’ve learned how to play the “game of school” and probably won’t adjust right away. Soon though, students will get used to the new way that school works. They will realize that they have the independence to choose to learn about topics that most interest them, and they will be able to exhibit their learning in the way that best suits them.

In the long term, teachers will be able to devote more time to students who are struggling to meet their goals, as most students will be able to move toward their goals independently. Teachers will have more time to conference with students about how to meet their goals and set micro-goals instead of trying to convince students that the content is worth learning. With personal interest and stake in the content, students will be more likely to police themselves and complete the tasks that they need to complete in order to achieve their learning goals.

Self-Determination Theory: Motivating Students

This is one of my reflections from my class, Leading Change: Go Beyond Gamification with Gameful Learning.

Prompt:
Reflect on your own experiences as a learner, and think of a time when you felt extremely engaged. Use one or more of the motivation theories we described to decode and explain why this experience was so engaging for you.


Response:
One experience in which I felt extremely engaged was in my AP US Government and Politics class in high school. The teacher assigned a Supreme Court Case project, which I have adopted for use in my classroom and is still my favorite project to work through with my government students.

The Self-Determination Theory (appealing to students' Autonomy, Belonging, and Competence in order to engage them) thoroughly explains why I was so motivated to succeed during this activity.

Autonomy:

I was a junior that was already interested in government, so I was already intrinsically motivated to learn about the course content. The topic of our Supreme Court Case was a case about physician-assisted suicide, meaning the constitutionality of the “Death with Dignity Act.” The Supreme Court Case activity was structured in a way that there were three roles: lawyer, justice, or spectator/reporter. This provided students with a choice; which role would we take on for the activity? There could only be four lawyers and nine justices. All other students had to be spectators/reporters. Each role had different tasks to complete. The part that unnerved me the most as a high-achieving student was that each role had a certain grade threshold. For example, the lawyers, if meeting all requirements, could earn an A. Justices, if meeting all requirements, would earn a B. Justices could earn an A if they went greatly above and beyond. Spectators/Reporters could earn a C unless they went above and beyond. This scared me as a student because I was not chosen to be a lawyer and didn’t want a B - but this provided a challenge for me that I will describe when I discuss “competence.” This sort of “layered” approach to grading the activity also helped students see the grade that their effort would earn them.

Belonging:

In the Supreme Court Case activity, there was a sense of belonging because each student had a role to play. The lawyers needed to provide a brief and argue the case. The justices had to take notes and write an opinion once the case was over. The spectators/reporters had to write a newspaper article or create a newscast to describe the case and its importance. Each lawyer and justice also had to present their findings to the class, so there was accountability in that. The reporters did not present their findings, but their articles were peer-reviewed by other students.

Competence:

The Supreme Court Case activity gave all students an opportunity to be challenged. Even students who chose to be spectators (at the C-level) had an opportunity to earn an A, given that they challenged themselves to write a thought-provoking article. In my case, I was very engaged by the topic of the case and wrote a justice opinion that earned me an A on the project, instead of the B-level that would have been earned from just meeting the requirements. The challenge for me was writing a justice opinion that was backed up by facts, the U.S. Constitution, and prior cases that had been tried in other states. I had to do a great deal of external research to find information that would support my decision as a justice, and this created an opportunity for me to deliver a justice opinion that impressed my teacher.

Intrinsic Motivation

This is one of my reflections from my class, Leading Change: Go Beyond Gamification with Gameful Learning.

Prompt:
Think about your own work/teaching/leadership context; in what ways are you tapping into your learners' intrinsic motivations? Where are you (perhaps) demotivating your learners?

Response:
My students receive choices, though not as often as I would like. In teaching history, I focus on the skills more so than on specific facts. For example, when discussing the Civil Rights Movement, my students must discuss individuals such as MLK Jr., but I give them choices in other aspects to research (Fannie Lou Hamer, Claudette Colvin, etc.).

While completing a short research project, students are also given choices in the media that they use to create their project. They must use each project type at least once during the school year, but they choose the order in which they would like to complete them. For example, they have choices (documentary, podcast, poster, infographic, website, etc.) and they can only choose one media to use for each project. They can also only create a website once, so after they make that choice, they have to create a different type of project next time.

I realized this year in doing the National History Day project (which I have done before) that I have demotivated my learners in assigning too many weekly assignments. Many students are burned out, even the ones who were really excited about the project when we first started. I started too strong and next year I will pare down the number of assignments that students will have to do.

10 Principles of Gameful Learning

This is one of my reflections from my class, Leading Change: Go Beyond Gamification with Gameful Learning.

The first module of my class, Leading Change: Go Beyond Gamification with Gameful Learning, covered the 10 Principles of Gameful Learning. Essentially, the ten principles explain what video games have taught us about learning, and how we can apply these principles in schools to increase student engagement. Here are the 10 principles and my reflections on each one:

1. Clear Learning Goals
2. Identity Play
3. Embedded Assessment
4. Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation
5. Support Autonomy
6. Encouraging Belonging
7. Support Competence
8. Productive Failure
9. Encourage Exploration
10. Practice and Reinforcement

1. Clear Learning Goals

Imagine pressing "start" on a new game without knowing the goal of the game. You'd be questioning where you're supposed to go, what you're supposed to do, and whether this game is even something that interests you as a player. Clear goals are necessary for both gaming and education. Students need to know the goals of the class or lesson, otherwise, all efforts are meaningless. Like students in a classroom without clear goals, a player could end up wandering in circles, weaponless, for hours, not having a clue that they are supposed to find their sword inside of a hidden castle. Without the sword, the player cannot advance. In the same way, without the tools that they need to succeed, a student cannot meet educational goals.

2. Identity Play

When playing a game, even the game of school, there are three identities at play. All three identities need to be in harmony. First, there is a player. Second, there is a character within the game. Third, there is a combination of the player and the character. This can explain why a person feels upset when their character dies in a game. They might feel like they have let their character down. This melding of identities can serve as a motivator for some students.

3. Embedded Assessment

Games also do a great job of constantly giving the player feedback. Every time Mario collects a coin, there is a distinctive jingle. Every time a player catches a Pokemon, there is a distinctive jingle. Feedback in a classroom should be just like this in a sense; it should be as immediate as possible. Learners thrive on knowing what they have done right, as well as knowing the specifics about what they have to work on to improve their performance.

4. Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

The teachers of the course make it clear that intrinsic motivation (motivation that comes from inside of a person) is not necessarily better than extrinsic motivation (motivation that comes from rewards outside of a person). As teachers, we are told that too much extrinsic motivation can be a bad thing. This might be true, but in small doses, extrinsic motivation can be beneficial. Not every student will be intrinsically motivated to learn certain subjects. This is where extrinsic motivation comes in. Extrinsic motivation is used to encourage the development of intrinsic motivation. For example, a student that simply does not understand a math problem might think that it is meaningless and will not attempt to complete it. If the student is promised a cupcake if they can finish it correctly, they might be more likely to complete the task, even though this is extrinsic motivation. Once they complete the task and earn the cupcake, the teacher can build on their success by praising their perseverance and increased abilities. This might make the student more confident in their ability, and therefore more intrinsically motivated in the future.

5. Support Autonomy

In order to be properly motivated, students require choice. Understandably, there is not always room for choices, but almost everything that learners are required to do in school allows a reasonable opportunity for choice. Teachers must be careful to not leave all choices completely open-ended though; teachers should provide a small number of meaningful choices that will help students reach their educational goals but will also allow students to choose tasks that suit them individually as a learner.

6. Encouraging Belonging

Students should know that the teacher is there to help them reach their educational goals, not to punish them for missing problems on the homework. Creating a sense of safety within the classroom can help students feel at ease and can encourage risk-taking. Many games capitalize on a sense of belonging, such as online games. If a player feels isolated, they are likely to stop playing the game. This also applies to school. Encouraging belonging can be accomplished by team-building, giving feedback to students so they know that their teacher supports them, and by offering opportunities for peer feedback.

7. Support Competence

This principle is, in my opinion, one of the most important. Students need to remain in the "Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)." This is the zone where a student is adequately challenged. It can be difficult for a teacher to keep track of exactly where each of his or her 200+ students lie on a scale of mastery in each standard, but this is where student choice is helpful. Students will choose tasks that put them in the ZPD. Many pessimistic teachers might say that students will choose the easiest path, but more often than not, this is not the case, especially if you have game mechanics running in your classroom. If students choose the easy path, they will be bored. If the teacher makes engaging content or provides other incentives for students to try a challenge (or by not allowing students to slack off and watch YouTube videos), the students will choose a more challenging task. If students are challenged too much, they might become frustrated. This is where the teacher steps in to help provide the steps necessary for the student to succeed. In general, if teachers show that they are on the side of their students, students will be more comfortable taking a risk and challenging themselves.

8. Productive Failure

Many high-achieving students have NEVER FAILED. This is unproductive and can only set these students up for anxiety in their futures. We teachers need to provide students with opportunities to fail. We need to lower the risk of failure and encourage students to take risks. In video games, if the character dies, they return to the beginning of the level or a save spot and have a chance to try again. It isn't game over the first time that a character dies in a game. It also shouldn't be game over in our classrooms. In addition to helping students learn that failure is just another step on the road to success, we need to provide specific feedback that will help students succeed.

9. Encourage Exploration

Many gamers enjoy exploring each part of a level on their video game. There is always a possibility of finding easter eggs, and this is an exciting prospect for many players. We can also make exploration an exciting possibility for our students. For example, using lectures to provide students with all of the information that they need for the test is an easy way to trudge through class content, but there is no room for exploration. Provide students with a research question and see what they can come up with, or have them write their own research questions. Exploration is a great way for students to look into topics that pique their interest.

10. Practice and Reinforcement

Just like in a video game, practice improves a person's abilities. All learning activities and assignments should have the same goal; to improve abilities. All practice should be meaningful and should be scaffolded at first. Giving students an assignment to take home without the ability to consult a teacher can be a disaster if the students haven't practice the skill before. We teachers have to be cognizant of that and make sure that our student activities match their skill levels and provide a bit of a challenge. Such practice should also be reinforced with timely feedback.

Conclusion

In general, this module of the class was a great place to start. I can already see some principles that I have been neglecting, and some things that I need to work on. For example, I teach to the average a lot and don't offer a lot of opportunities for challenges. This will be my main focus moving on; differentiation is a way to help students who need more assistance to meet learning goals, but it should also provide an opportunity for high achievers to be challenged.

Leading Change: Go Beyond Gamification with Gameful Learning (Introduction)

This is one of my reflections from my class, Leading Change: Go Beyond Gamification with Gameful Learning.

Upon conclusion of my Legacies of WWI class, I have enrolled in a new class titled Leading Change: Go Beyond Gamification with Gameful Learning. This is a free course offered through MOOC.org.

I will be posting my reflections from this course here on my blog in hopes of organizing my thoughts a bit better! To start, here is my "why":


My name is Carlene Baurichter, but everyone calls me Carly. I teach 9-12 grade Social Studies in a small town in Wisconsin. We are a very small school district with only 300 students in grades 6-12. Currently I teach US History, World History, Economics, Psychology, and Sociology. I have been interested in gameful learning since I attended a conference three years ago. Michael Matera, a huge proponent of gamification, was the speaker. A colleague and I attending the session were inspired and decided to gamify our classes. This is my second year using gamification in all of my classes, 9-12. I’m interested in learning more about gameful learning and how I can integrate games and game mechanics into more of my coursework. Currently I award students experience points for behaviors, but I would like to integrate badges, modules, and create a more personalized learning experience for my students.

Legacies of WWI Module 4: The Soldier's Experience

Comparing the Experiences of Women and African American Soldiers During WWI

The Hello Girls and African American soldiers both experienced opportunity and faced adversity during the WWI era.

African American men had opportunities to serve in the military throughout American history, but they did not receive equal treatment whether in the service or on the homefront. There are many examples of this in the readings from Module 3, especially in The Crisis by W.E.B. Du Bois. Du Bois includes a document titled “Secret Information Concerning Black American Troops,” which essentially listed rules for how French soldiers should interact (or not interact) with African American troops. The document encourages the French to “prevent the rise of any pronounced degree of intimacy between French officers and black officers… We cannot deal with them on the same plane as with the white American officers… We must not eat with them, must not shake hands or seek to talk or meet with them outside of the requirements of military service…” The document also tells French troops that “...we French are not in our province if we undertake to discuss what some call ‘prejudice.’” In general, French troops were encouraged by this document to perpetuate discrimination against African Americans, though the French were much more accepting than Americans of all races within their country. It was later discovered that this document was created by Americans and was later destroyed by the French, but was likely circulated widely before it was destroyed.

Upon returning home after the war, African Americans did not receive a warm welcome. The United States was still unprepared to treat African Americans equally, regardless of their service in the war. Du Bois outlines this in The Crisis when he writes, “This country of ours, despite all its better souls have done and dreamed, is yet a shameful land. It lynches… It disenfranchises its own citizens… It encourages ignorance... It steals from us… It insults us… We return. We return from fighting. We return fighting.” Many African Americans returned to the states having fought for the freedom of others, and ready to fight for their own. 

For women, new opportunities were emerging during WWI. Elizabeth Cobbs writes about the Hello Girls, women who had experience serving in the military, in her book, The Hello Girls. Women were recruited to operate telephone switchboards because of their experience in doing so on the home front. It was more efficient to recruit women who knew the job and could do it quickly, rather than teach soldiers how to perform the same tasks. It was out of this necessity that new opportunities for women were created.

Though women performed essential tasks on the front lines, they were not quickly recognized for their contributions. In our webinar, Elizabeth Cobbs addressed the lack of recognition that women serving in WWI endured. For example, the British did not allow women to salute or be saluted, which is a way of recognizing rank. American women also did not receive military benefits, military burials, or pensions upon returning home after the war. Essentially, women performed dangerous jobs in the middle of a war zone and received no credit for it until many years had passed. Even tough recognition was not likely the reason women joined the war effort, these women deserved to be given the respect that other soldiers were given during and after the war. This was also the opinion of women such as Merle Eagan and Lindy Boggs, who fought for military benefits, military burials, and pensions for female members of the military. Eventually, just this year in 2018, the Hello Girls’ Congressional Gold Medal Act was passed, officially recognizing the efforts of the women who risked their lives to keep communications open during the war.

Overall, both women and African American men put their hearts and souls into the honor of serving their country, but both were not given credit for their efforts in a timely manner. Over time we have begun to realize the contributions of the two groups, but this was not the same America that women and African Americans re-entered after WWI. African Americans still faced lynching, discrimination, and segregation, and women still faced inequalities and had to continue to fight for their right to have a voice in American government, regardless of their sacrifices. Though there was great adversity, both groups continued to fight for equality and their efforts have led to great, yet gradual, changes.

Webinar

Legacies of WWI Module 3: African Americans in WWI

How World War I impacted African Americans:

Upon reading the excerpts from The Crisis (Du Bois) and The Vanguard of the New Negro (Williams), one can see the intense motivation to fight for democracy and equality in the United States rather than just fighting for democracy abroad.

African Americans were not going to just stand idly by and allow unfair treatment to continue back home in the United States; especially not after many gave their lives for the freedom of others.

African Americans volunteered and were drafted to fight during WWI and they fought just as valiantly as other soldiers. Despite this, African American soldiers were treated as inferior by not only American military personnel, but the personnel from other nations as well. I was appalled by reading the excerpts from the French memo that was included in Du Bois’s compilation.

It amazed me that the French military would encourage their personnel to treat African Americans as inferior, simply because it might make white Americans upset if African Americans were treated fairly.

French personnel were also encouraged not to challenge the treatment of African Americans by white American military personnel, as Americans had made up their mind on the matter and it did “not admit of any discussion.” (“We must not eat with them, must not shake hands or seek to talk or meet with them outside of the requirements of military service…”) Another document mentions that African American military officers were to eat in the mess hall, but white officers had an option to have a meal brought to their quarters.

In addition, the French memo warned French officers to be careful of commending African American troops too highly. (“We must not commend too highly the black American troops…”) Despite this, some African American soldiers (like those of the 93rd, mentioned in Williams’s Vanguard of the New Negro) were commended for their work by the French during WWI.

Unfair treatment such as this was prevalent during WWI and only served to convince African Americans that something had to change upon completion of the war. African Americans that risked their lives to fight for democracy abroad were certainly not going to let unfair treatment (and violent treatment such as lynching) continue back in the United States. As was written in The Crisis (Du Bois), “We return. We return from fighting. We return fighting.”

Class Activity:

I would begin the class by introducing the thesis statement that we would be focusing on for the day:

“The modern civil rights movement began after World War I.”

Task: Students analyze sources to find relevant historical evidence to support AND refute the given thesis. A T-chart might help them organize their findings.

While analyzing, students will also practice the HIPP strategy.

HIPP Strategy:

• Historical Context
• Intended Audience
• Purpose
• Point of View

Documents will include sources that discuss African American involvement in…

• The American Revolution (and civil rights movements following)
• The Civil War (and civil rights movements following)
• WWI (and civil rights movements following)
• The 1960s Civil Rights Movement

Students will compile evidence and synthesize their argument using information from various points in American history.

Assessment - Evaluate: To what extent is this thesis statement true? “The modern civil rights movement began after World War I.” Use specific historical evidence to support your argument.

Discussion Response to Another Participant

Purpose: Pose a Question / Share an activity

[Written to another participant who shared her activity: WWI Ends... Now What?]

Your response is very thought-provoking. I really like the idea of focusing on the experiences that various individuals encountered upon the end of WWI.

My question is this: Is the provided question "Now what?" or do you provide other questions for students to answer?

Also, can you share the primary source by W.E.B. Du Bois that you use? I am curious to read how various perspectives are presented by him. I think it could be beneficial as well to provide some other primary sources to help students who might struggle to produce a narrative from each particular perspective. I find that sometimes students have difficulty imagining themselves in a historical time period, especially because many younger students imagine historical events as "inevitable" and historical people as just "going with the flow" rather than as actors who made conscious decisions to influence the events unfolding around them. (This makes sense in my head, but I'm having difficulty writing out exactly what I mean... Let me know if I'm not making sense!)

I also have a go-to activity in which I group students and give each group a piece of poster paper with a primary source taped in the middle. This source can be an image or can be a written source. I have students annotate the document right on the poster paper. Each student is required to write something. Students can write what has surprised them, what their emotions/reactions are, and how they might have felt if they were in the position of the person writing the document (or the person in the photo). They are also encouraged to HIPP the document (explain the historical context, intended audience, purpose, and point of view). Once all students have annotated one source, each group of students moves to the next table and they annotate the next source. This seems very similar to the paper plate idea of yours that I really like. The paper plate activity requires students to use their own emotions to put themselves into the shoes of a historical person and the annotation activity provides primary sources to do something a bit similar.

In general, I think both activities allow students to think deeply and imagine what it would have been like to have experienced the end of WWI.

Webinar

Legacies of WWI Module 2: Women in WWI

Here is my reflection for Module 2 of the Legacies of WWI class:

The selection from Jailed for Freedom really struck me. [Excerpts were provided for the students of the class, so I cannot post the selections here. I did find a copy of the book on Google Scholar, which you can find here.] I think that students would be interested to hear how suffragists were treated when they were jailed for fighting for the right to vote. The selections describe how women were forced to eat food that had worms in it, how they were beaten, as well as the dirty conditions that they had to endure (not being able to shower regularly, wearing dirty clothes, sleeping on soiled sheets). We talk about how women fought for the vote, but these selections offer a more gritty view on the subject. (This excerpt could also be used in a discussion of the 8th Amendment and treatment of prisoners throughout history.)

Certain portions of Jailed for Freedom struck heavy blows to President Wilson. For example, the author took his words (“We have forgotten the very principle of our origin if we have forgotten how to object, how to resist, how to agitate, how to pull down and build up, even to the extent of revolutionary practices if it be necessary to readjust matters.”) and used them to their advantage, making a case for the need to protest and fight for woman suffrage.

Letters such as the one referenced above, as well as persistent picket lines, applied constant pressure to Wilson’s administration.

In connecting this selection to WWI, my class and I would do some digging to answer the following questions:

“How did the pleas of jailed suffragists, as well as the people that published their stories, help to earn the vote for all American women, and what impact did WWI have on the process of passing the 19th Amendment?”

It was argued in the selection that the 19th Amendment (i.e., woman suffrage) would free up the American government--and President Wilson--to worry about other pressing issues, such as the war. (“It is my duty to win the war and to ask you to remove every obstacle that stands in the way of winning it.”) My class would discuss how this might be so.

After reading through these selections and discussing the arguments given for woman suffrage within it, I would discuss the selections from the Diary of Berthe Hunt with my students.

We would discuss the efforts of women in the military, as well as how these efforts might have had an impact on the decision of the American government to extend suffrage to women. We could also move into a discussion on continuity and change over time with the inclusion of a selection from One Woman's Army: A Black Officer Remembers the WAC as well as connecting it to women in the military now, if time allowed.

As we read, we would focus on the HIPP strategy. This is something that I do with all primary sources in my classes, as it is great practice for thoroughly understanding historical sources. We would discuss the historical context of both selections (WWI, women are fighting for suffrage, Wilson is president, etc.), intended audience (the American government/President Wilson, etc.), purpose (to convince people to fight or vote for woman suffrage, or to write down events for posterity), and point of view (Who is Mrs. Virginia Bovee, and what does she believe? Who is Berthe Hunt?) We would HIPP one source together and students would HIPP the other on their own.

Response to Another Student:

In our online discussions, we were given the opportunity to have conversations with other students (teachers) in the class. Here is one of my comments, responding to someone who was wondering about how to approach teaching about women in WWI in a World History class:

Purpose: Share a resource

I was intrigued by the idea of teaching WWI, women's roles, and woman suffrage in a World History class as well. This is my fifth year teaching US History and only my second teaching World History, and as someone who is more accustomed to US History, I am always struggling to find more resources and ideas for my World History class.

I decided to search to see if I could find something related to British women in WWI and quickly came across the source from the British Library. I think it would be a great place for students to get a little more background information about British women during WWI, who, just like American women, were in their own battle to win suffrage.

The page focuses on British women (though does mention Australia, Russia, and some others) and their depiction in WWI propaganda and covers the topics below (and then some):

• Mobilization and Duty (this section focuses on suffrage, though briefly)
• National Symbols
• Victims of Violence (disclaimer for this section; the contents might be disturbing to some students, so know your audience)
• The "New Woman"

The page has a great number of primary source images that can be used to introduce or help supplement discussions on any of the topics above.

It would be possible to tie the documents in this module to the use of the primary sources on this website, as there are many parallels between what British and American women were experiencing during WWI.

Webinar

The webinar for Module 2 is posted below.

Legacies of WWI Module 1: The Why of WWI

Module One of the Legacies of WWI class covered the "Why of WWI." Here is my introduction of myself and my reflection for the first module:

Introduction

Hi everyone,

I am a passionate High School Social Studies teacher in a rural area of western Wisconsin, very close to the Mississippi River. I just moved to a new district but I spent four years teaching a variety of different classes at my last district (7th Grade Geography, 8th Grade Early American History, 10th Grade World History, 11th Grade US History, 12th Grade Government, AP US History, and AP American Government and Politics). 3 years ago I revived the NHD program in my prior district and I am happy to say that they are continuing the NHD program with the 8th and 11th graders in that district. In my new district, I will be teaching only high school classes: US History, World History, Economics, Psychology, and Sociology. This district has been doing NHD for a while, so I am happy to be continuing that tradition. I never had any exposure to NHD until I was in college when I volunteered as a judge for UW-Stevens Point's NHD contest. I loved the program since then and was excited to implement it with my students.

In addition, I have coached and coordinated Odyssey of the Mind (a creative problem-solving extracurricular activity), advised High School Student Council, and served as a member of the building's Leadership Team and PBIS Team.

Personally, I greatly enjoy photography. I just bought a new camera and a couple of new lenses that have reignited my interest in taking photographs. I am also an animal lover and an avid traveler. My goal is to visit all 50 states, and I have currently visited 38/50. All of the states that I haven’t visited (except Alaska) are in the northeastern part of the United States. I got married this summer as well, and my husband Clint and I went on a Caribbean cruise. We had an amazing time and I have some amazing photographs from the trip!

I’m really looking forward to learning more deeply about WWI through this class as well.

Classroom Application

The "event" that I want to focus on with my students is imperialism as a whole. Though not one particular event, imperialism is a theme that is weaved throughout world history and which reveals a great deal about the development of a nation, whether it is the empire or the territory.

To approach the concept of imperialism, I would work with my students on interpreting both perspectives and analyzing primary sources from both sides of the story. It is also important to understand the dichotomy between the drive to conquer and the drive to be autonomous, and connect past events to those occurring in the world today.

I have an activity from my American History class that I could adapt to help students understand different perspectives on imperialism leading up to WWI. In this activity, students, in groups, research a nation and the nation that has "conquered" it. The students must create one analogy to describe how the empire views its territory and another analogy to describe how the territory views the empire. Some students have come up with the analogy that the empire is the parent and the territory is the teenager. To the territory (teen), the empire (parent) is overbearing and takes away their freedom. To the empire (parent), they are trying to do what is best for the territory (teen), and the territory does not appreciate the empire's efforts. This is an interesting way for students to delve deep into primary sources to determine how each side feels about the situation. Once students understand both perspectives, they can make a determination for themselves not only about whom to empathize with, but they can also determine the impact of such imperialism.

Webinar

The webinar for Module 1 is posted below.

Legacies of WWI - National History Day Class (in conjunction with the U.S. WWI Centennial Commission)

This semester I took part in a class offered by National History Day (partnered with the U.S. World War One Centennial Commission) titled, Legacies of WWI. I heard about the opportunity through an NHD newsletter, where I also learned that there was a scholarship available. I was one of 114 teachers in the United States to earn the scholarship and I am so glad I decided to take the class! (Read more about the scholarship and the first module of the class here.)

I learned a great deal about how to teach WWI. Even though I left with more questions than I had going in, the experience was so valuable in showing me that there is a lot more to learn than I had originally thought, and the new questions have motivated me to continue to pursue new knowledge about WWI especially.

The class consisted of primary and secondary source readings, online discussions, and incredible webinars with historians/professors/authors.

Over the next few posts I am going to share the reflections that I posted in the online class. The learning that I experienced is so valuable that I feel the need to share it!

Here are links to the blog posts that cover my reflections while taking this class:

Legacies of WWI: Causes of WWI
Legacies of WWI Module 1: The Why of WWI
Legacies of WWI Module 2: Women in WWI
Legacies of WWI Module 3: African Americans in WWI
Legacies of WWI Module 4: The Soldier's Experience

Day 5: Classroom Tour and Flexible Seating

On Day 5 my history classes talked about National History Day and social media, but I will discuss both of those in a different post.

Classroom Tour

Before we started any content I wanted to make sure that my students knew where to find things that they would need in our classroom.

I tried really hard this year to make the room feel less like a sterile environment and more like a homey living room. I compiled various decorations over the course of the summer that I thought fit a theme well and were warm, inviting colors.

The room is mainly blue and brown. There are touches of black, but I made sure to avoid using colors that were overwhelming. The blues, for example, are small touches of teal and mostly navy blue. I avoided primary colors like royal blue because they can be overwhelming in large quantities and I knew I would be using a lot of blue in the room. I haven't completely finished, as I am making curtains to cover up my exposed bookshelves. Right now it just looks cluttered and navy blue curtains can make it look more polished and homey.

My Magnet Collection

Most of the decorations consist of leftover wedding decorations, as I got married this last summer and didn't really know what to do with the decor afterward! I decided that the pallets could be places to display fun notes or student work, and I think that they really make a statement on an otherwise plain wall.

I put a few personal touches in the room as well, to show my personality and interests. I found that this helps start conversations with students and also just makes the room more personal and inviting.

I collect antique cameras, so they are all over the room.

"Due Dates" Display

In the past, I have also used picture frames with colorful backgrounds to post learning targets and the activity of the day, but that proved to be a lot of work every morning. Plus I was already posting the exact same thing on Google Classroom on a daily basis. I switched it up this year and instead kept the learning targets and activity of the day solely on Google Classroom and decided to post upcoming due dates on the wall as well as online. Using some sketchnoting skills that I learned this summer, I put together this board to display due dates. I used a chalk pen which doesn't wipe off unless you use water, so it stays very well when I erase other things on the board.

Coffee/Tea/Hot Chocolate Station

I also have a coffee station where students can use their GP (gold points in our class game) to purchase coffee, tea, or hot chocolate. I've found that this is a great incentive to earn XP in class, and due to a student's suggestion, I have decided to provide snacks for sale (only GP can buy them) as well.

Coffee Mugs - I don't let students use their own
or take these out of the room.
They can earn 5 GP back if they
wash the mug when they are finished.

Snacks for Sale!

I will post more about our classroom game in the future to further explain the point system.

Besides the classroom decor and showing students where to check on due dates, I showed them the inbox/outbox station and supply station.

There is one bin for each class.

Each label has the class and period.

Each of my classes has an inbox bin and outbox bin. I normally don't pass back papers, as students generally volunteer to earn XP. This frees me up to answer other questions, take attendance, etc. Each bin is labeled with the class name and period of the day so students know exactly where to turn in their work. I do not take work from students if they hand it to me. Instead, I point them to the inbox. This helps them get into the habit of turning items straight into the inbox. It also decreases the number of assignments that get misplaced, put into the wrong class folder, etc.

Supply Station (I haven't had time to finish printing my labels!)

The supply station is a table full of materials that are at my students' disposal. I allow them to use anything on the table, so they know where to look if they need supplies, and other supplies around the room are not used. I remind students to return items when they are done, as they are not to leave the room. This has eased up on student questions of "Can I borrow (item)?", as they know right where to find it and return it when done.

Flexible Seating

I also offer flexible seating options in my classroom. I only have 24 desks, though I have up to 28 students in one of my classes. I found a small kitchen table with four chairs at a rummage sale this summer and picked it up right away. The chair seats were all stained and dirty, but I recovered them with some fabric from a pair of curtains that I found at Goodwill.

This counter is for students
who want to work quietly
and invidually.

Comfy corner!

I also bought 5 stools from IKEA that I put under a counter on the edge of my classroom. I told my students that the only non-negotiable rule was that if a student is sitting at the counter, they are to remain silent, and no one is to talk to them. Basically, the counter is where students can sit when they want to work individually and focus on their work. Students don't use this option every day, but I have had a few students use it and other students were respectful of their wishes to work alone.

Lastly, I have a carpet on the floor and a bunch of pillows that students can use to sit comfortably on the floor. I also provided a bunch of clipboards and lap desks so students can write while sitting on the floor. Many students use this option and it really helps some of them focus.

Clipboards are available for students
who are not sitting in desks.

Pillows make sitting on the floor more comfy.
I also have lap desks available.

In the future, I would like to get some more seating options to make the space a bit more dynamic.


Curious about the other activities that I did in the First Week of School?

• Day 1: Teacher Quiz and Student-Made Class Guidelines
• Day 2: Movie Marquees and Google Classroom
• Day 3: Play-Doh, Classcraft, and Student Questionnaire
• Day 4: Marshmallow Team-Building
• Day 5: Classroom Tour and Flexible Seating

Day 4: Marshmallow Team-Building

Marshmallow Team-Building Activity

On Day 4 we did another teamwork activity that I found in Activities that Teach. This time, students were with their Classcraft teams again. We went outside, as I knew this was going to be a rowdy activity.

Here's how I ran the activity:

• Each team received 10 toothpicks and 10 mini-marshmallows. I used multi-colored ones because it made the second half of the activity more difficult.
• I told them to create a 2D design with their materials. As I have high schoolers, I found out pretty quick that I had to remind them to create a design that is school-appropriate.
• While the teams were working, I set a pile of materials (toothpicks and marshmallows) in a new area (one pile of materials per team).
• Also while teams were working I walked around and assigned each person a role. My teams had 3-4 people and there were 3 roles.
• Messenger
• Explainer
• Builder (if I had a group of four, I designated two builders)
• Once all teams were done designing, I explained the next portion of the activity. I told the builders to move to another area and sit next to a pile of materials that I set out while they were working.
• I then explained what I wanted the other two to do.
• I told each team that they would be moving to another team's design.
• The messenger's job was to tell the builder how to replicate the new design, but there's a catch: the messenger cannot look at the new design and also cannot look at what the builder is building. They must relay messages but not look at either design.
• The explainer's job was to tell the messenger what to say to the builder.
• Basically, the explainer was describing what the design looked like, the messenger told the builder, and the builder replicated it.
• I added a twist as well: the replicated design had to have the exact same colors as the original and in the same exact positions. This made the activity much harder, but I found it wasn't necessary for the purpose of the activity to sink in.
• I did find out after assigning roles that I made a colorblind student into an explainer... their team didn't do so well, but they didn't mention it to me until halfway through! They were good sports about it, but I suppose it doesn't hurt to make sure that colorblind students are the messengers and not builders or explainers!
• I also told my students that they would be earning XP in our game, depending on how much the replicated design mirrored the first one. I gave them a score out of 100.

Essentially, the purpose of the activity is to impress upon the students the importance of accurate communication, both in class and in social groups.

Students figured out pretty quick that this activity was hard, but if you had a good explainer and a messenger who listened well, the replicated design turned out pretty well in the end.

We had a short discussion afterward about the importance of communication (the questions in the book Activities that Teach were excellent for our discussion) and then I had my students answer the following questions on Google Classroom:

• What happened during the activity?
• How did your team do?
• What was easy?
• What was difficult?
• What did you learn about communication from this activity?

They were able to earn up to 200 XP for answering the questions in complete sentences.

Here were some of their reflections:

"We had to go outside and make a 2d structure with our team and have another team try to communicate how to build our structure. Our team didn't do as good as some of the other teams but I thought we did pretty good. It was easy for me because I was the explainer so I just had to look at the structure and explain how it was built. It was difficult for the messenger to remember what I had explained and it was difficult for the builder to build what was explained to them. I learned that it is important to be able to communicate well with people around you to help you get things done."

"The activity was fun but it was very challenging. Our team did okay but I think we could have done better if we moved a little quicker and spoke directly. The easy part of this activity was building our own design because we could make whatever we wanted. The difficult part was trying to remake a different group’s design. I learned that communication is very important during group activities. If you say the wrong thing or are not very direct, the entire situation falls apart. I also learned that it’s not about talking fast but giving the right information even if it’s a little slower and takes more time."

"During the activity we had to build and initial 2-d structure out of marshmallows and tooth picks and the. We had to switch with another group and build it blind folded to the best mirror image we could. Our team did pretty well building a hard to copy shape but then we didn’t do so good at re making someone else’s. The easy part of the game was building the first shape and making it hard to copy. The difficulty came when we had to make someone else’s blindfolded. I learned that you have to be patient and work well with others to have good communication."

"In our teams, we were assigned to build a 2-D shape out of marshmallows and tooth picks. Once that was done, our team was assigned the position of either the builder, the messenger, or the explainer. We then shifted over to a different groups shape and the explainer had to explain to the messenger what the shape was without the messenger looking and then the messenger had to explain to the builder what to build. You also had to use the same colored marshmallows as the originals. I would say I team did fairly well considering the amalgamation of a shape we were given. The easy parts of this project were creating your own shape and telling the builder what they needed to build.
The difficult parts of the project were trying to explain the shape without causing mass confusion and also trying to sprinkle in the information of what color the marshmallows were without that also causing more confusion. I learned that communication is very difficult if you aren’t given the correct information or aren’t given the full picture of the subject."

Curious about the other activities that I did in the First Week of School?

• Day 1: Teacher Quiz and Student-Made Class Guidelines
• Day 2: Movie Marquees and Google Classroom
• Day 3: Play-Doh, Classcraft, and Student Questionnaire
• Day 4: Marshmallow Team-Building
• Day 5: Classroom Tour and Flexible Seating

Day 3: Play-Doh, Classcraft, and Student Questionnaire

Play-Doh Conversation-Starter Activity

After the Movie Marquee activity, I told students which teams they would be in for our gamified class. They sat in their teams and were given Play-Doh and a pile of get-to-know-you questions. I found all of the questions on a webpage titled "200 Questions to Get to Know Someone."

I told students to take turns. One person picks a question and answers it. The next person picks a different question and answers it, and so on. I gave them an option for using the Play-Doh: they could just mold it with their hands while talking, as many people just need something to do with their hands while talking, or they could mold their answer using the Play-Doh.

While they were doing this I imported students from Google Classroom into Classcraft and put them into teams.

Classcraft Introduction

After students were placed in teams on Classcraft, I introduced the game to them. I talked through the following...

• Character Types
• Warrior
• Healer
• Mage
• Points
• XP - Experience Points (how to earn them by meeting or exceeding expectations)
• AP - Action Points (how to use powers to eat in class, choose music, use notes on quizzes)
• HP - Health Points (how health points can be lost by not following expectations)
• GP - Gold Points (how to use GP to buy armor or prizes in the classroom like snacks or hot chocolate)

I will write some posts in the future about how I structure my gamified class, so stay tuned for that!

After I introduced the game (and answered about a million awesome questions from my excited students!), students had the opportunity to create their characters, choose their team crests, and check out the platform.

That night I gave each student the XP that they earned fro the Teacher Quiz on Day 1.

Student Questionnaire

Before students left the room I gave them a questionnaire so I could learn more about each of them. I adapted my questionnaire from a student survey that Pernille Ripp put together. Students were to finish it that night and bring it back the next day. I gave XP to each student who brought their survey back completed the next day.

I learned a lot about their personalities by reading these!

Curious about the other activities that I did in the First Week of School?

• Day 1: Teacher Quiz and Student-Made Class Guidelines
• Day 2: Movie Marquees and Google Classroom
• Day 3: Play-Doh, Classcraft, and Student Questionnaire
• Day 4: Marshmallow Team-Building
• Day 5: Classroom Tour and Flexible Seating

Day 2: Movie Marquees and Google Classroom

Movie Marquee Activity

We started day two with an adaptation of an activity that I found in Activities That Teach by Tom Jackson. This activity requires students to draw, which can be painful for some students, but all students participated in the activity and had fun. This activity could also be an icebreaker, but I stuck to one of my goals: never use the word "icebreaker." It scares students away immediately!

Any guesses? Armageddon is my absolute favorite movie!

I started the activity by asking my students to think about their favorite movie but to keep it a secret from their classmates. Then, on a blank piece of paper that I provided, they had to draw at least three images that were either from the movie or that symbolized the movie. They also had to write the year in which their movie was released. A couple of students couldn't think of a favorite movie so I allowed them to draw their favorite TV show instead. I showed them an example of my favorite movie, which I drew that morning. I didn’t take too much time on it, as I didn’t want students to be nervous about drawing if they didn’t feel like artists. I encouraged the class to guess the movie and at least one person in each class was able to guess, even though my favorite movie was from 1998!

After students had a chance to draw out their favorite movies, they had to make a timeline with their movies. Once in the line students were encouraged to guess the movies of those around them. I then asked volunteers if they wanted to share their drawings with the whole class to see if others in the class could guess it. Quite a few people volunteered to share and we had a lot of fun with guessing!

This was another excellent opportunity for me to get to know my students on a more personal level, as someone's favorite movie can reveal a lot about a person. After the activity I allowed students to keep, recycle, or display their drawings. Many opted to hang theirs up on the walls. This was excellent, as they might not have realized it, but my students were already creating a positive culture. Laughing with each other, complimenting others' artwork, and creating a space where others were confident in sharing their drawings was a great start to the school year. Even some students that seemed nervous decided to post their drawing up in the classroom without hesitation.

Google Classroom

We only had a few minutes after the Movie Marquee activity, so I had students use that time to join the Google Classroom class that I invited them to earlier in the day.

I walked through Google Classroom with them--what is the stream, where to find classwork, etc.--and verified that everyone had joined the class before they left for the day.

Curious about the other activities that I did in the First Week of School?

• Day 1: Teacher Quiz and Student-Made Class Guidelines
• Day 2: Movie Marquees and Google Classroom
• Day 3: Play-Doh, Classcraft, and Student Questionnaire
• Day 4: Marshmallow Team-Building
• Day 5: Classroom Tour and Flexible Seating