Multi-faceted Refractions

• Relaxing after a long day. Working on two new blog posts, after our visit from Greg Mortenson yesterday. #
• A great visual, most teachers and students wearing the uniform (sneakers, blue jeans, white shirt) of physics teacher who is retiring #

[Warning - a long post describing an exhilarating process]

The Background

I have the pleasure of working with our AP US History teacher, Kevin Randolph, and the students on their final project of the year. I am really excited about this process because it will allow Kevin and I to model and participate in an experience which I believe highlights the tenants and philosophies of what a 21st Century classroom should look like. This experience will allow Kevin, the students, and I to collaborate and share our knowledge as we construct an artifact which is a culminating examination as historians. Kevin and I will be participating as guides and mentors, as well as participants in the learning exchange which is being undertaken. More than simple gathering of facts, we will research, analyze, construct, and share our findings with the world.

The basis of a 21st Century learning experience is a solid essential question. Kevin, a master history teacher, excels in creating essential questions which cut to the kernel and essence of the matter. This year, the essential question for the group to determine for this project is, what are the 11 days  that had the most profound impact on shaping this country? 

As Kevin states, the rationale of the project is that

Contingency is the backbone of the study of history. Every student of history has to contemplate the what might have been phenomenon, regardless of the period or event under investigation. Are events random in nature, or are the logical outgrowth of the decisions and actions people take and the consequences that follow? Do people set out to make history or does history make them?

Our final project for the year will require you to use your research, analytical, reporting and presentation skills. The project has both an individual and a collective component and will be the final grade for the class and serve as your final exam

 The First Steps

The first step of the project was for students to individually develop their own list. Once created, they would post them in a discussion forum and then narrow the list to the final 11 which would be selected.

Whenever I assist one of our student groups, it always gets me thinking about what I would choose on my own list. So I sat down last evening and created my own list. When I shared this with Kevin, he asked me to share my list with the group. My list was the following selections:

1. September 13, 1788 - Ratification of Constitution
2. May 2, 1803 - Louisana Purchase - began the countries expansion to the west
3. September 10, 1813 - Battle of Lake Erie - establishment of US Navy
4. December 23,1860 - South Carolina adopts the “Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union”
5. May 10, 1869 - Driving of Golden Spike - connected east and west and created railroad right of ways which have been used by communications (telegraph, telephone, Internet to drive business
6. Haymarket Riot - May 4, 1886 leading to rise of unions and other work actions
7. May 15, 1911 - Department of Justice versus Standard Oil decision, breaking up monopoly that allowed others to get into the market to fuel the economy
8. January 11, 1949 - WDTV (KDKA) becomes first networked television station on the DuMont network. This allowed for the creation of common culture.
9. Voters Act 1965 ? - Allowed all the opportunity to vote
10. May 25, 1961 - Kennedy promises to put a man on moon, which lead to creation of Internet via shared computers, and led a resurgence in math, science and technology
11. June 23, 1972 - Title IX passed stating No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance

Upon sharing my list, the group began to try to determine how they were going to narrow their individual lists down to the final 11 days. While in class, I asked if the class would mind if I became part of the process and be assigned a date. I feel that it is important to model and work with students on interesting projects such as this. The interactions and mentoring on both sides is fascinating. I also asked Kevin, in class, without previous conversation, whether he would accept the challenge and be willing to research and create the 13th day. Graciously, he accepted the challenge, mainly for the same reasons as I did.

The group had developed the following list of events from which they were going to narrow down their list:

1. Columbus Reaching New World (Oct 12, 1492)
2. Founding of Jamestown (May 14, 1607)
3. Stamp Act (Mar 22, 1765)
4. Declaration of Independence (Jul 4, 1776)
5. Battle of Saratoga (Oct 7, 1777)
6. Shays Rebellion (Jan 25, 1787)
7. Opening of Constitutional Convention (May 25, 1787)
8. Northwest Ordinance (Jul 13, 1787)
9. Ratification of Constitution (Sep 13, 1788)
10. Great Compromise (Jul 16, 1787)
11. Eli Whitney invents Cotton Gin (Mar 14, 1794)
12. Washington steps down (Mar 4, 1797)
13. Inauguration of Thomas Jefferson (Mar 4, 1801)
14. Louisiana Purchase (Apr 30, 1803)
15. Lewis and Clark (May 14, 1804)
16. Monroe Doctrine (Dec 2, 1823)
17. Indian Removal Act (May 28, 1830)
18. Discovery of Gold in California (Jan 24, 1848)
19. Fugitive Slave Law (Sep 18, 1850)
20. Dred Scott Decision (Mar 6, 1857)
21. Nomination of Lincoln (May 10, 1860)
22. Election of Lincoln (May 6,1860)
23. South Carolina adopts Declaration of Secession (Dec 23, 1860)
24. Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln (Mar 4, 1861)
25. Fort Sumter (Apr 12, 1861)
26. Battle of Antietam (Sep 17, 1862)
27. Emancipation Proclamation (Sep 22, 1862)
28. Battle of Gettysburg (Jul 3, 1863)
29. Completion of Transcontinental Railroad (May 10, 1869)
30. Light Bulb demonstrated (Oct 22, 1879)
31. Public Demonstration of Light Bulb (Dec 31, 1879)
32. Haymarket Riot (May 4, 1886)
33. Census and closure of American Frontier (Jun 1, 1890)
34. Wounded Knee (Dec 29, 1890)
35. Homestead Strike (Jul 6, 1892)
36. Columbian Exposition (May 1, 1893)
37. Pullman Strike (May 11, 1894)
38. Invention of Model T (Sep 27, 1908)
39. Standard Oil Monopoly stuck down (May 15, 1911)
40. Assasination of Archduke Ferdinand (Jun 28, 1914)
41. Scopes Trial (May 5, 1925)
42. Black Friday (Oct 29, 1933)
43. Inauguration of Franklin Roosevelt (Mar 4, 1933)
44. Einstein-Szilard letter (Jul 16, 1939)
45. Pearl Harbor (Dec 7, 1941)
46. D-Day (Jun 6, 1944)
47. GI Bill (Jun 22, 1944)
48. V-E Day (May 7, 1945)
49. Bombing of Hiroshima (Aug 6, 1945)
50. Creation of UN (Oct 24, 1945)
51. Truman Doctrine (Mar 12, 1947)
52. Building of Levvittown (May 7, 1947)
53. WDTV ((KDKA) becomes first networked television station (Jan 11, 1949)
54. Rosa Parks (Dec 1, 1955)
55. Elvis Debut Single (Jan 27, 1956)
56. Elvis on Ed Sullivan Show (Sep 9, 1956)
57. First Polio Vaccinations (Apr 24, 1960)
58. Kennedy promises to put man on moon (May 25, 1961)
59. Cuban Missile Crisis (Oct 28, 1962)
60. Assassination of Kennedy (Nov 22, 1962)
61. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (Aug 7, 1964)
62. Voters Right Act (Aug 6, 1965)
63. Thurgood Marshall appointed justice of Supreme Court (Jun 13, 1967)
64. Armstrong walks on Moon (Jul 21, 1969)
65. Woodstock (Aug 15, 1969)
66. Watergate Scandal (Jun 17, 1972)
67. Title IX passed (Jun 23, 1972)
68. Nixon Resignation (Aug 19, 1974)
69. World Trade Center (Sep 11, 2001)
70. Invasion of Iraq (Mar 20, 2003)

Creating Group Consensus - Creating the Final List

The group began to debate how they were going to narrow this list down. Should it be a vote? Should items be grouped? In the end, it was determined that everyone would go to the whiteboard and write down the 2-3 events that they thought were most significant from their list.

From that exercise, the following list was generated:

1.  Transcontinental Railroad
2. Cotton Gin
3. Gulf of Tonkin
4. First Polio Vaccination
5. Light Bulb
6. Hiroshima
7. Founding of Levittown
8. VE Day
9. Wounded Knee
10. Model T Ford
11. Great Compromise
12. Brown v Brown
13. End of Revolutionary War
14. Shays Rebellion
15. Dred Scott
16. Census of 1890
17. Stock Mark Crash
18. Rosa Parks
19. Lincoln Election
20. Pearl Harbor
21. Civil Rights Act 1964
22. Pearl Harbor
23. Louisiana Purchase
24. GI Bill
25. Truman Doctrine
26. Taking Down of Berlin Wall
27. Armstrong on Moon
28. Battle of Antinam
29. Jackie Robinson First Game
30. Battle of Saratoga
31. Golden Spike
32. Title IX
33. Ratification of Woodstock
34. Woodstock

At this point, there was discussion as to whether or not natural pairs should be grouped (Armstrong on Moon and Kennedy speech, Great Compromise and Ratification of Constitution, Pearl Harbor - Hiroshima, etc.) together. In the end, it was determined that the group was vote for whether they thought that the day was significant enough to make the cut. There were several events which were nearly unanimous and others which individuals had to defend for its inclusion. For me, this was a great example of the application of research aspect of history and the critical thinking and analysis which we all strive for.

Midway through the vote, it was determined that there were several events that were not included which needed further merit. One was Woman’s suffrage and a second was the resignation of Richard Nixon. They were added to the list and voted on.

What emerged were eight events which gained a majority of over 75% of the class, including Kevin and myself. Further discussions were held on those who were on the bubble, gaining only 50% of the groups support the first time around. A

The Final List

1. Ratification of Constitution
2. Louisiana Purchase
3. Lincoln’s Election
4. Golden Spike
5. Census of 1890
6. Model T Ford
7. Womens Suffrage
8. Hiroshima
9. Jackie Robinson’s First Game
10. Brown vs Board of Ed
11. Civil Rights Act of 1964
12. War Powers Act

(note: I am missing one because I did not take good enough notes at the end of the class. I believe it is putting the a man on the moon)

Reflection on the Process

Looking back at the original list, which I had not seen until I seen until I compiled it for this post an hour ago, I think that the group did a great job of creating the list. In retrospect, I wish the group would have given more consideration to the Indian Removal Act and the assassination of John Kennedy which did not make the first cut. The debates and conversations were civil and it was great to see the passion that individuals displayed in defending a particular idea. I wish I had taken a video of the process to show this experience. You had to be there to fully appreciate it.

The Next Step

At the end of the class, each student decided which project they were going to work on. I ended up with Woman’s Suffrage. Now over the next week, each of us will be creating a 4-7 minute documentary which will explain the event, the ramifications, and justification for inclusion. Then the following week, we will be putting each of the documentaries in a VoiceThread and open it for the world to debate.

I am looking forward to sharing more reflections from this process, those which I experience helping students as well as mine creating my own part of the project. This will force me to become more knowledgeable about an area of history I don’t have much experience.

At the end of the day, I had a conversation with one student who commented that the issues which were published as a result of the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 were similar to those which were included in the Declaration of Independence. It is this sort of exchange of ideas and thoughts that I anticipate the most during this upcoming week. Having the students guide me through history while I help guide them through the technology requirements in creating their portion of the story will be invigorating. Stay tuned for further updates next week.

One of aspect of our school that we cherish is our sense of community. On Friday, May 16th, we had a wonderful example of how this manifests itself with the honoring of our physics teacher, Eric Skalinder, who will be retiring at the end of the year. Today was the last day that our seniors would be on campus before scattering off to complete their senior service projects and it was a fitting tribute.

Our dean of students and Biology teacher, Jeff Terwin, sent out an email last week asking all faculty to dress in the “Skalinder uniform”. This consists of athletic shoes, blue jeans, a white t-shirt (with printing that shows through), and a white dress shirt. It also includes three felt pens, red, blue, and green, placed in the pocket in the order of the spectrum from inside to outside. One student created a Facebook group and the network began to spread the word. Hundreds of us, me included, participated in the day. There were freshman who hadn’t even taken a class with him, faculty, staff, and even the head of school, who I have never seen in blue jeans, dressed for the day.

Eric then best sums it up best in an email he sent later in the day:

Thanks to all of you for your surprise this morning.

I was surprised when, after about five minutes, I realized that students in my first class were almost entirely dressed in white shirts and jeans. I thought, “How clever of B Block students to give me such an amusing tribute.” It gave me a real case of the goose bumps.

I should have realized that something more was up when the Director of Communications came into the room to take a few photos. When I had a brief break right after 9AM I was absolutely floored to discover that a stunning number of folks were running around the halls of the Upper School wearing white shirts and jeans.

It is truly an honor to receive the warm wishes inherent in this gesture and I love the amusing way in which it has been expressed! Thanks a million for the wonderful feelings this has brought to me on this beautiful spring day!

Below is a picture of the large number of participants.

One of the sidebar tools that I have enjoyed watching is my ClustrMap. It was awe inspiring to watch the dots, each representing a user somewhere in the world, populate the map over the year. I watched in disbelief that anyone would be interested in what I would have to say.

Last week, I received a notice that from ClustrMaps stating that they were going to archive my current map and start with a new blank slate. So this morning, while checking out my site, I saw the nearly blank map.

Instead of being sad, I take this as a challenge to reflect and come up with new ideas that inspire others to want to return to this blog. This way, I do not become complacent. This will be an interesting challenge.

Each year, Rives Collins, an associate professor at Northwestern and Master storyteller, and Julie Shannon, a composer, lyricist, and creator of the Christmas Schooner, arrive on campus to share their stories and songs with our Lower School students. As a school, we are steeped with a great tradition of motivating students to create stories. It is in May that we take the time to share the stories that we have created with others. Each of these events and projects t is deserving of reflection. Just this week, we had:

• Senior Government presentations about emergency procedures
• Senior Psychology class reflections on the journey through high school
• AP US History students who have determined the 13 Days that Have Changed American History and creating documentaries to support the selections
• French 4 students who are creating movies about Le Petit Prince
• Fifth Grade students who are creating documentaries about the Indian and Chinese neighborhoods of Chicago
• Third Grade students who have used VoiceThread to document their colonial studies
• A celebration on how Greg Mortenson has inspired individuals to take action, consistent with our school’s motto of Live and Serve
• Had Greg Mortenson himself inspire us with his stories and experiences.

Over the next week, it is my hope that I will have the stamina and energy to share reflections on several of these events. They are powerful examples of what students, when given an opportunity and a forum can create. And it is good