Synthesis 4 - Webquest

My webquest, "From the Great Depression to the Current Recession," addresses the important things teachers need to do to help students prepare for the future several ways. First, it asks them to analyze information and then create their own foreign and economic policy. It also hones their research skills by requiring multiple sources and ample notes, evaluating each source. Both of these skills will be required in high school and college, and even in the workplace. The webquest also asks students to collaborate with one another, as working in groups is an important life skill. Finally, the webquest has students do internet searching and create and upload a video of their project. Thy will also be uploading their notes to wikispaces. There will be no physical paper involved in the project at all. As life becomes more and more electronic, the need for school projects to be digital will grow immensely.

The webquest directly relates to social justice themes by having students really address the issues facing citizens during the Great Depression as well as this current recession. Obviously, the main concern during the Great Depression was poverty, but unemployment is a huge factor in poverty, and is the main focus of this current recession. The students will be able to relate both economic events and will look at the quality of human life, and how it might be alleviated some in this current recession. The core values of responsible, ethical, logical, perseverant, and resourceful would all be addressed in this project as they attempt to find aid for the poor and unemployed today.

Finally, my webquest relates to NCSS standards 8 and 9 several ways. NCSS Standard 8 is met by having students examine the similarities and differences between The Great Depression and today. I also have the students look at farming developments and various other technological changes around the Great Depression and just afteward during recovery. I address NCSS Standard 9 by having students suggest domestic and foreign economic policy to help both American citizens and citizens of the world during difficult economic times. Students will be suggesting foreign policy assistance as well.

Synthesis 3 - In the year 2025

In the year 2025, I'd really like to see schools that do more interdisciplinary work and cooperation between the subjects. Additionally, I'd like to see more hands-on projects. So many students throughout history up to today spend too much time hearing direct instruction and doing quiet work at their desks. Too often, students don't even get a chance to interact with a peer group or their communities. They have to be quiet and sit in their desks and do their work. I'd hope that in fifteen years, we could move further from that. For awhile now, the student-centered classroom has been more in vogue. Let's take it a step further.

The ideas put forth in Teaching to Change the World, by Jeannie Oakes and Martin Lipton, help support the trends in education policies through American history. At one time, schools were seen as factories, when cities were seeing mass industrialization. Later, they were seen as corporations, then markets. Today, schools are also seen as instruments of equity and social justice. "Even as policymakers have looked to assembly-line production, corporate management, and free markets for ideas to guide their efforts to make schools more effective and efficient, they have also sought to ensure that schools are fair and democratic (437)." Students need to be learning about proper behavior and their responsibilities to their communities and the world. There need to be more projects that students can do together, divise themselves, and learn to implement in their communities. Perhaps an 8th or 12th grade civics/government class could design and plan a service project to do for the community. Students need to be given the tools to empower themselves in their own communities. As technology improves and changes all the time, students will have access to more and more advanced machines. They will learn important job skills while they learn how to create.

Students should also be working in an interdisciplinary fashion. When a social studies class is learning about the Great Depression, English classes should be reading The Grapes of Wrath or Of Mice and Men. Lessons should make sense to students, and should flow seamlessly from class to class. As in the video 10 Big Ideas for Better Classrooms, students shouldn't have huge breaks between their classes, and teachers need to all work together on curriculum.

Both of these ideas should be an easy sell to administrators and other powers that be. Community involvement is incredibly important. Think of how many people don't currently vote. How different could that be if in school students got involved in their communities? Further, as has been discussed in Nine Shift by William A. Draves and Julie Coates, life has changed dramatically in even just 100 years. It is now changing exponentially quickly. Being able to implement technologically advanced projects will give students a leg up in the real world. Having classes flow together and make sense will allow teachers to become more of a community, even interdepartmentally. It will help projects span several subjects, and it will help teachers to understand student work load. It will foster respect between teachers of all subjects, and will help the students truly get into whatever subject they are learning.

A few small changes would really vastly improve student involvement and learning. With a little innovation, new technology, and teachers and administrators who aren't afraid of change, the entire educational system could be revamped and revolutionized.

Synthesis 2 - In the Year 2025

The year 2025, while not very far away, will likely bring some very real changes. However, I doubt the overall responsibility of the schools will change too much. I think the biggest changes will include a responsibility to educate students about new technologies. Today, schools often fail to teach sufficient technology classes, and do not make them mandatory. In the year 2025, schools should absolutely be teaching mandatory technology classes for every student. Students should graduate from high school with a strong foundation in computers and other technologies so that they are as prepared for life in college or a career as possible.

Just like today, however, it is a school's responsibility to teach its students about citizenship, and to educate them as much as possible about life in a democracy. Having an informed populace is extremely important to the functionality of a democracy, and schools must educate with citizenship ideals in mind.

Teachers need to make sure they are always varying instruction to engage students in learning. As mentioned previously, schools need to be teaching technology, and core teachers need to be using it as well. So many students today respond positively to using laptops, producing podcasts, and so forth, and I know it will just increase in popularity in the next fifteen years. Teachers need to give students choices and options to do projects that really engage their interests. Teachers need to make sure they're not just standing up in front of the class and droning on with lecture. Students need several different types of instruction (group work, debates, webquests, etc.) to keep them engaged.

Teachers also need to be sensitive to individual students. If students are underperforming, the teacher needs to make sure he or she is meeting with the student to assess the problem. Just like today, teachers will need to have an arsenal of tactics to make classrooms engaging, but will want to put an emphasis on technology in education.

The Federal Art Project

To me, one of the most interesting periods of American history is the Great Depression. Though one of the darkest times in American history, there is so much triumph in the time period. From the presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who helped put a nation back to work, to the emergence of the active First Lady in Eleanor Roosevelt, to the stories of migration, and back again. I am most fascinated by the Federal Art Project. The Works Progress Administration didn't just send people to build schools and bridges, it also put thousands of artists and writers back to work. According to the linked site, History Matters, "New Deal arts projects were guided by two novel assumptions: artists were workers and art was cultural labor worthy of government support."

So instead of going without work or being sent to do work that artists weren't skilled in or capable of doing, the government commissioned thousands of artists to do what they did best. Several notable artists, including Jackson Pollock were supported by this program.

I've included a few of my favorite paintings from the time in this post. I love seeing how differently they were used. Some were public service announcements, others were even about tourism. Several were about public health concerns, which seems particularly ideal. What I love about the individual pieces is how different they are. While the subject was pre-prescribed for them, the artists are allowed to let their own style shine through. I would absolutely love to see these in an exhibit some day.

Synthesis 1 - In the year 2025

In the year 2025, content knowledge will be extremely important. In a time when knowledge will be continuously available to students, there will be no excuse not to know it. Students should be able to easily master the subject content knowledge and be able to move onto higher order thinking that uses that content knowledge. The content knowledge I will be teaching (social studies) is extremely important to make well-rounded citizens. One cannot understand the modern world without a background in history. A democratic society would not be possible without history. Some of the United States' greatest influences came from Ancient Greece. Without history providing a record of them and their contributions, the United States would have had a more difficult time forging ahead. History is the seed from which the rest of the social studies grow. And society is built of social studies. Without a proper content knowledge, the students of 2025 will be incapable of being effective citizens. In 2025, as in all times, content knowledge will be one of the most important things for students to learn.

As teachers, we must be masters of the content knowledge. First of all, we cannot ask our students to do anything that we ourselves wouldn't do. Second, we must serve as a resource and guide for our students at all times. We must be close to walking encyclopedias of knowledge for our students. It will quickly become obvious to our students if we are not experts.

In order to be productive, students will need to master technology. They will need to understand how to access information via the Internet, and how to evaluate information. They will also really need to know how to write. As more companies and offices do an increasing amount of business over e-mail, we will need our adults of tomorrow to be as well versed in the written word as possible. The book Nine Shift also acknowledges this coming phenomenon. No longer can a social studies teacher claim, "I'm not an English teacher. I don't grade on grammar." Not teaching and not demanding quality writing will do our students a disservice.

As teachers, we must be aware of the new technological advances all the time. We must keep up with it almost like a hobby, so that we are aware of what our students use for fun and for school. We need to command the language of both technology and English for our students. We need to employ proper writing, diction, grammar, spelling and punctuation. We need to lead by example and be aware that students are always watching us.

In some ways, the year 2025 will not be that different from the year 2011. The role of content knowledge should not change, nor should the importance of proper language. However, as technology advances so will the way our students access and interact with information. We will need to learn to keep up with a fast-paced and changing world together.

Thinking about Billy Joel's history classic

I've loved the song "We Didn't Start the Fire" since I was in high school. I memorized the words of my own accord (no teacher made me) and looked up the significance of the terms I didn't know. As a teenager, it made me curious. It made me want to study more about modern history.

As an adult, I've often wondered why some things were covered, and in what order. Is it just to fill music? For instance, why did Joel choose to include "Peyton Place?" Sure, it was a popular novel and subsequently a tv show, but is it really important? What about the fact that he ended the song with "Cola Wars." Was the rivalry between Coke and Pepsi really the straw that broke the camel's back, forcing Billy Joel to declare, "I can't take it anymore?"

In any case, it's a great song, and there are lots of interesting factoids in it. What do you think about what was and wasn't included?

Hello, History Lovers!

If you love history as much as I do, you'll love this blog! I'm a pre-service teacher at GMU, and I'm extremely enthusiastic about history, social studies, and teaching secondary students. Join me as I explore educational techniques, technology, and of course my favorite subject--American history. Feel free to browse my blog and side gadgets. I have linked the blogs of my classmates as well as some useful history and research links. I also have included my Twitter feed, where I will post "This Day in History" updates and other fun history facts in just 140 characters.