Thompson Debuts e-Book Lending Library

March 10th, 2013 by Diane Lauer 2 comments »

Thompson Overdrive

Thompson sees the future and it consists of a student, a mobile device, and a world of books in the palm of her hands! 

 

This March, Thompson debuts its new e-library system, a collection of over 300 digital books made accessible to students on smartphones, tablets and e-readers.

Why is it important to extend our library to the digital world?

An e-library never closes and can be accessed anywhere there is an Internet connection. As more library services become digital, students will have an easier time gaining access to library research materials and learning to do academic research. Each year, we will add to our district’s digital book collection.

Thompson subscribes to its virtual library services via a company called OverDrive. OverDrive has long been a source of digital material for public libraries to loan to their patrons, but now these same services are offered to school libraries as well.

Check out your e-book today!

Beginning this week, with the help of their school media librarians, students will be able to check out titles 24/7, and read or listen offline on PC or Mac® computers, iPads, smartphones, MP3 players, and eBook readers including Sony® Reader and Kindle®.  Access to Thompson’s digital library is year round. This means that students will be able to check out books all summer long, and never have to worry about turning them back in.

Research is clear. The more kids read, the greater their achievement. And the better they read, the more they will achieve. If students have their devices to accommodate e-book reading, they are one step closer to anytime/anywhere learning.

Thompson’s Curriculum & Instruction’s Media Services department has been considering the integration of OverDrive for the last several years and believes more students now have the devices to make use of it. The e-book trend has demonstrated staying power in our society. Across the US, e-book sales have shown exceptional growth while physical book sales have suffered.

A strong digital library makes good economic sense.

Digital e-books can be accessed by any child, enrolled at any school.  With our ability to monitor our student book checkouts across the system, we will be able to adjust our expenditures to maximize financial stewardship as well as respond to the learning needs of our students.

The implementation has been paid for through the district’s general library funds.  Thompson’s Curriculum & Instruction’s Media Services department will continue to support both print and digital books in all our libraries.

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Great Resources to Support Great Teaching about Veteran’s Day

November 11th, 2012 by Diane Lauer No comments »

On the 11th day of the 11th month, we honor all of those who served America in uniform. This Monday, we have an opportunity to share with our students the important role our men and women in service play in our country. Veterans have earned  honor and respect from us all. As educators, we can help students to gain a complete historical understanding of this day, as well what it means to us today.

Veteran’s Affairs Department

The US Department of Veteran’s Affairs have put together a fantastic resource for teachers in their 2012 Teacher’s Guide to Veteran’s Day. Within the guide, teachers can access information detailing the origins Veteran’s Day, the difference between Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day, student scholarships, essay contests, and activities suitable for different grade levels.

Also from the Veteran’s Affairs, are the Presidential Proclamation, a detailed description of the history of Veteran’s Day, an archive of official Veteran’s Day Posters, and information on how to volunteer for the Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

For younger students, teachers should turn to the VA Kids website. The K-5  VA Kids site hosts developmentally appropriate games, text, and information about our nation’s veterans. The 6-12 VA Kids site  hosts information about the VA, the American Flag, VA Scholarship and Volunteering activities, and information about veterans.

Veteran’s History Project

Curated by the Library of Congress, the Veteran’s History Project is an incredible program that has made accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that today’s and future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war.

The 85,000 personal narratives of veterans experiences, individuals, organisations and communities across the nation have made this archive the largest oral history project in the country.  Via this digital library, students can see and hear veterans from WWI through the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The History Channel’s Tribute to Veteran’s Day

A collection of historical and modern videos about Veteran’s Day can be found at the History Channel’s website. Choose from a wide variety of great video clips like:

Brain Pop Resources

Brain Pop has several good videos that can support teaching and learning about veterans.  First, is their clip on our Armed Forces. Also appropriate are their clips on War and Terrorism. Within their social studies site, students can also access informational short videos on the Vietnam War, World War II, World War I, and the 9/11 attack.

Education World Resources

There are always great links for teachers at Education World, and they did a great job organizing for Veteran’s Day as well. A detailed list of blackline printouts, puzzles, games and text are listed for younger students, as well as patriotic crafts, memory books, flag awareness, free clip art, and other lesson ideas. Links to teaching about citizenship are also shared.

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Next Generation Literacy Assessments – Are You Ready Middle Grades?

November 2nd, 2012 by Diane Lauer No comments »

Over the past year, educators in Colorado have been fine tuning their curriculum and instruction to the new literacy standards published by the Common Core State Standards initiative (CCSS) which were adopted by our Colorado Department of Education. Academic specialists have identified 6 Pedagogical Shifts demanded by the Common Core State Standards in Literacy.

6 Pedagogical Shifts

Click on the image to enlarge.

These six shifts generalize the overall differences between our old set of learning expectations, and the new learning expectations for students.  The chart above was captured from EngageNY, a New York State side dedicated to assisting educators with the transition to the Common Core and the new Educator Effectiveness agenda.

Viewing the Common Core in PARCC’s Eyes

Now, we have another resource to align our schema, the Model Content Frameworks created by the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC).  In August, our state department of education announced that we would use the next generation literacy and math assessments created by the PARCC consortia beginning most likely during the 2014-15 school year. The PARCC Model Content Frameworks provide an exceptional overview of what middle level students need to know, understand, and be able to do.

Try this:

Open the grade level document of your choice in either 6th, 7th or 8th grade. While reading, and underline passages within the PARCC Model Content Frameworks that indicate evidence for one or more of the six pedagogical shifts. For example, while reading the 6th Grade Model Content Frameworks, I underlined this portion of text, “The balance of student writing at this level is 70 percent analytical (35 percent argument and 35 percent to explain/inform) and 30 percent narrative, with a mix of on-demand and review-and-revision writing assignments.”  I believe this statement is an example of Shift 1, balancing informational and literary texts.

What do you notice about the learning expectations in the grade level you examined? Did you identify areas where increased text complexity is expected? Did you see evidence of the importance of academic vocabulary? Did you notice how students will need to use text based evidence to support their thinking?

Infusing Best Practices from the Literacy Design Collaborative

Several Colorado districts have been integrating the strategies developed by the Literacy Design Collaborative.  These strategies are posted on an emerging resource curated by ASCD called EduCore.  The funding for our training was acquired by the Colorado Legacy Foundation. In 2011, the Colorado Legacy Foundation won a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant to implement the Literacy Design Collaborative training in select districts to support their efforts in our state’s educator effectiveness agenda.

Watch this Video on Rethinking Literacy

Click on the image to go to the EduCore site to watch this video

The LDC work is many faceted

The scope of the LDC work is the Module.  A module is a specific unit of learning designed around targeted Common Core standards.  Teachers of English Language Arts, Social Studies, Science and Other Technical Subjects are taught how to center their instruction around an outcome expectation called a Performance Task.

The heart of the LDC Module is the Performance Task. The LDC has created a simple formula to assist teachers in designing strategically aligned performance tasks with the Common Core literacy standards, most especially in the areas of accessing grade level appropriate text and producing products of thinking/writing in the areas of argument, information, and narrative.  They have created a menu of Performance Task Templates that can be modified and used in multiple situations in all types of content areas.  Let’s look at the Argumentation Template Tasks to get an idea of what how the templates work. 

A Template Task for Argumentation

Click on the image to enlarge  The LDC Performance Template Tasks provide a structure so that teachers can easily create their own tasks aligned to different student learning expectations. Notice the blanks, those were intentionally created to allow flexibility for teacher design.  These template can be used in multiple situations in different content areas. The LDC has designed:

  • 10 different Template Tasks  to support the Argumentation expectations 
  • 15 different Template Tasks to support Explanatory/Informational expectations
  • 4 Template Tasks to support the Narrative expectations.

They have also created rubrics aligned with each of the three types of tasks: Argument, Explanatory/Informational, and Narrative.

To access all of the LDC Performance Template Tasks and Rubrics click here.
To watch videos to learn how to use the LDC Performance Template Tasks, click here.
To review sample teaching  Modules in Argumentation, click here.

Are you Ready for the Next Generation Assessments?

Likely, you are more ready than you thought.  But, to continue your preparation:

  1. Take some time to review the 6 Pedagogical Shifts and begin making the shift in your own teaching
  2. Review the LDC Template Tasks, and use them as a skeleton for your own student task development
  3. Seek out additional support from the multitude of sources online and experts in your own vicinity.

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Great Teaching Resources for the Election Season

October 13th, 2012 by Diane Lauer No comments »

Though it has been years since I have taught social studies, I still get excited about election season.  This is one of the best times to really connect students authentically to the content they are learning whether it is about the electoral process and democratic government or the multitude of topics that are covered like economics, health care, education, business, and foreign/domestic policy.  For those who support language arts, the plethora of visual media, commercials, debates and speeches provide ample opportunity for exploration of argument, personal narrative, style and story.  And let’s not forget about math! The election season provide a rich opportunity for students to engage in real world math problem solving.

BrainPop & BrainPop Jr. Resources

Access to the BrainPoP is new to our district this year. They have gathered together all their best election content in the BrainPop Spotlight Section on Elections.  Jumping off from this point, teachers and students can engage in mini-lessons on the branches of government, voting processes, and democracy.  Also hosted on this site are situational games like Budget Hero: Election Edition and Win the White House.  For our primary learners, BrainPop Jr. is a better match developmentally.  Their BrainPop Jr. Spotlight on Election covers the presidency, the branches of government, and local and state governments.

NBC Election Math

Election Math is a new collection of activities by NBC Learn that highlight the mathematics of presidential elections. The tools integrate the Cognitive Tutor® software  in order to practice election math problem solving.  Topics covered range from Voter Math and Statistics to Campaign Math and Statistics to Predicting Winners through Polls and Sampling.  For example, the statistics in campaigns and elections — polling results, campaign spending, voting trends, election results — are often collected and presented in visual form: graphs, charts and scatter plots. Teachers can prompt students to view videos in this section, then click on links in their Activity drawers for related interactive Cognitive Tutor® problems on constructing and understanding different data displays.

Scholastic News and Time for Kids Magazines

The publishers of Scholastic Magazine  and Time for Kids have been developing age-appropriate resources for students for decades. Each election season, teachers can count on Scholastic to provide articles, videos, and info graphics detailing the debates, the vocabulary, and the candidates themselves.  At the Scholastic site, students can even create their own campaign poster.  At the Time for Kids Election site, students can access articles covering the major campaign issues like the Economy & Jobs, Education, Taxes, Health Care, and Defense.

The Learning Network Election Lesson Plans

The Learning Network of the New York Times culls well designed lessons accompanied with up-to-date articles, primary sources, and other documents. Their section on the 2012 Election houses sample unit plans as well as teaching ideas.

Their overall approach for inquiry this year is:

  • What if the voting age were lowered to 13?
  • How would the candidates try to appeal to younger voters?
  • How would the issues change as more teenagers gained the right to vote?
  • Would young people get more engaged in our democratic system?

Visual and Media Literacy

Visual Loop has archived a number of election infographics on their Pinterest Page for US Elections. The review of Election Infographics can support learning in our graphics design and art classes as well as our math, language arts and social studies classes.  These are important skills and are illuminated in the new Common Core literacy standards:

  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.7 Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.6 Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author’s point of view or purpose (e.g., loaded language, inclusion or avoidance of particular facts)
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.5 Describe how a text presents information (e.g., sequentially, comparatively, causally).

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Celebrating Constitution Day – Monday, September 17

September 11th, 2012 by Diane Lauer No comments »


The United States officially recognizes September 17 as Constitution and Citizenship Day in commemoration of the September 17, 1787, signing of the U.S. Constitution.

Constitution Day is a time for reflection and learning that focuses upon the legacy left by our forefathers who constructed the most influential document in American history. As educators, Constitution Day provides an opportunity to develop the habits of good citizenship, democracy, and responsible leadership in our upcoming generation.

Constitution Day is for Every Student

In honor of Constitution Day, all educational institutions receiving federal funding are required to hold an educational program pertaining to the U.S. Constitution.  All students in the Thompson School District will engage in teacher-developed lessons addressing grade-level appropriate concepts aligned with civic education, our government framework, and the historical and current implications of our nation’s Constitution.

There are a many great resources available to students to learn about the Constitution in our school and classroom libraries.  However, some of the most engaging resources are found on the Internet as developed by national foundations dedicated to this cause.

The National Constitution Day Center

The National Constitution Center is the first and only nonprofit, nonpartisan institution devoted to the U.S. Constitution and its legacy of freedom. Located two blocks from Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell in Historic Philadelphia, the Center illuminates constitutional ideals and inspires active citizenship as a state-of-the-art museum, a civic education hub and a national town hall. A wide range of resources are available to both teachers and students at the elementary, middle and high school level. Students can take turns taking the quiz, Which Founder are You? and see which founder they are most like. Or, students can take a sample Naturalization Test and learn what it takes to become an American citizen. Fun and educationally strong games can be accessed at the National Constitution Day Center as well. The Bill of Rights Game engages elementary-aged students in a simulation to reconstruct the Bill of Rights and find the missing freedoms.  Interactive videos like the Constitution Hall Pass engage students in deepening their understanding of United State’s great “experiment with democracy” After interacting with the video, students are prompted to discuss the following questions:

  1. How is the United States “an experiment in democracy?” How is it like a swinging pendulum?
  2. What’s the meaning of “No taxation without representation,” and why did the colonists feel so strongly about it?
  3. Who was the Father of the Constitution? How did he help shape the Presidency? Who else helped shape the Presidency?
  4. What is the Electoral College, and why does it exist? How does it work?
  5. Can you name some famous Presidents from history who had an impact on the office?

The Center for Civic Education

The Center for Civic Education is a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational organization dedicated to fostering the development of informed, responsible participation in civic life by citizens committed to the values and principles fundamental to American constitutional democracy. The Center offers a wide range of curricular materials, teacher trainings, community-based programs, and other free resources including the National Standards for Civics & Government.

Their website hosts various lesson plans developmentally appropriate for Kindergarten through High School students. The Matching Game introduces kindergarten students to the Constitution. Students participate and learn what the Constitution is and what it does for them. They learn key images related to the Constitution and its history. In their lesson, What Basic Ideas about Government Are Included in the Preamble to the Constitution, is appropriate for 5th and 6th grade students.  This lesson explores some of the ideas in the Preamble to the Constitution. Students read the Preamble and develop definitions for the six key phrases in the document. Finally, To Amend or Not to Amend, That’s Been the Question is a lesson designed for 9th and 10th grade students. This lesson asks students to examine recent proposed amendments to the U.S. Constitution, analyze them for public policy triggering mechanisms, and compare and contrast them to amendments that have been ratified.

Colorado Libraries Support Constitution Day

Free Constitution Day resources have been assembled by certified teacher librarians and hosted on the Colorado Department of Education.

We hope these prove valuable to librarians, teachers, faculty and the general public, any group creating an exciting commemoration. Some of the materials are bookmarks, lesson plans, links to the Bill of Rights and Constitution, games for youngsters, bibliographies, and lots more. Visit the pages below for free materials for you to download and copy as well as links to additional items.

Included are reading lists appropriate for adults and children. Constitution Day coloring books, toolkits, bookmarks, and word puzzles.

Other Great Resources

The Library of Congress has created a collection of Teaching with Primary Sources that targets Constitution Day as well as an additional resource bank for Constitution Day.

And, as you may also know, all educational institutions that receive federal funding from the US Department of Education are required to honor this key historical event with educational program pertaining to the Constitution.

The official, federal Constitution Day! website is packed with resources as well. This resource bank was compiled by the National Constitution Center.  The National Archives has also compiled a resource bank of excellent materials.

I really like what the State of California has compiled for their Constitution Day resource bank. They have a good collection of resources developmentally appropriate materials by grade K-12. They link to a copy of the Constitution written in Spanish that is helpful.

Especially for Elementary Students

Would love to learn from you – What resources do you use in your classroom to support Constitution Day?

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Edmondson Asks: What does it mean to be a STEM school?

August 20th, 2012 by Diane Lauer 1 comment »

Lab coats? Check!
Beakers and Solutions? Check!
Hands-on learning? Check!
A Day of Thoughtful Inquiry? Check!

As all teachers return across our Thompson district and prepare for the upcoming school year, today marked an occasion for the staff at Laurene Edmondson Elementary School to reflect upon the question, “What does it mean to be a STEM school?”

A National Effort

A national effort to dramatically improve education in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) is underway. Five schools in the Thompson School District have selected to fine-tune their their school mission and vision towards an emphasis in science, technology, engineering, and/or math. These schools are: Berthoud High School, Turner Middle School, Ivy Stockwell Elementary, Laurene Edmondson Elementary and Big Thompson Elementary. Conrad Ball Middle School is embarking on a comprehensive Technology focus, and Mountain View High School hosts our district’s largest pre-engineering course selections.

Last spring, the faculty and school accountability committee at Laurene Edmondson unanimously voted in favor of  becoming a STEM focus school. 

The Power of STEM

STEM education focus schools use science and math as core content throughout the school day. They endeavor to deliver enriched learning experiences that captivate the curious minds of learners through carefully planned units of inquiry.  Students are empowered to ask questions, solve problems, and seek innovative solutions.

STEM schools strive to create a culture of collaboration, confidence, and critical thinking.  The power of technology is harnessed to activate and explore 21st Century applications through data analysis, design process, and programming.

Local & Regional Collaboration

The faculty at Laurene Edmondson worked closely with their colleagues at Ivy Stockwell Elementary, as both schools are kicking off a STEM focus this year.  Together, these schools have sought to extend their knowledge by partnering with two schools in the Adams 12 Five Star Schools that began their STEM focus a year in advance. Through this regional collaboration, Thompson educators have learned strategies what pitfalls to avoid in the implementation process, and what strategies to prioritize.

Throughout the year we will be sharing information about our STEM focus schools to illuminate the power of STEM education and how it helps us reach our mission of empowering students to learn, challenging them to achieve, and inspiring them to excel.

For more information about Laurene Edmondson’s STEM focus, contact their principal, Trish Malik at 613-6300.

 

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Conrad Ball Teachers Prepare for 1:1 iPad Implementation

August 14th, 2012 by Diane Lauer No comments »

On September 20, 650 sixth, seventh and eighth grade Conrad Ball Middle School students will bring home an iPad for their personal use at home and school.  But today, 30 of their teachers spent hours preparing to transform their instruction to incorporate this innovative, mobile technology.

iPads are not new to the Conrad Ball staff. In fact, several ConBall teachers have had experience designing inquiry-based learning activities that harness the iPad’s learning potential during the last two school years.  In the Thompson School District, all of the social studies classrooms in our 5 middle schools are equipped with 15 iPads that were purchased instead of traditional textbooks.  Two years ago, this was a novel approach to an instructional materials adoption, but the results after one year saw student and teacher access and integration of technology double.  Since that time, the iPad has been the fastest growing technology device being added to our district infrastructure.

Principal, Scott Elias, has been preparing for the Conrad Ball Middle School 1:1 iPad Project for most of the summer.  Early June, members of the local Erion Foundation approached the Thompson School District with the idea of transforming the way we educate our students through the integration of iPad mobile devices.  The generous funding from the Erion Foundation, $250,000 over five years, will provide every enrolled student at Conrad Ball Middle School with a district-owned iPad to use at school and take home during the school year.

On August 1, the Thompson School Board voted unanimously to approve the purchase of 650 iPads for this project.

The training was kicked off with the collegial facilitation of Lisette Casey, Instructional Technologist at Manitou Springs School District. Manitou began a 1:1 iPad project in their 5th-8th grade middle school last school year. It is important for ConBall to reach out to other schools and learn from their mistakes as well as their successes.

A lot of district support was on hand throughout the day as well.  District support will continue to be active and present to ensure a positive and powerful implementation.  Val Downing, Thompson Tech Integration Coordinator, Don Cochran, Apple Technology Specialist, and Marci Cochran, Elementary Music Teacher and Technology Innovator intend to provide a deep network of continued support throughout the school year.  It is our intention as a district to learn from this innovative project and look for opportunities to transform learning across the district. Conrad Ball Instructional Technologist, Mike Dubas will provide much of the day-to-day onsite school support for the staff and students.

 

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We’re Looking for Great Professional Development Classes!

July 31st, 2012 by Diane Lauer No comments »
Do you like to teach adults? Do you have a topic in mind that you feel others want and need to learn? 

The Thompson Curriculum & Instruction Department is now accepting Thompson Incentive Credit Professional Development Course applications.

The audiences for these classes would be for educators and non-educators.

We are looking specifically for technology integration classes on the following topics:
  • Microsoft Word for Beginners
  • Microsoft Word for Advanced Users
  • Blogging with Word Press
  • Using the Promethean Board
  • Using Google Apps
  • PowerPoint & Prezi
  • Podcasting with Garage Band
  • Excel for Beginners
  • Excel for Advanced Users
  • Gamifying your Classroom
  • iBook Authoring
We are also looking to offer classes in the following areas:
  • Balanced Literacy
  • Developing Mathematic Ideas
  • Acuity Boot Camp
  • Kathy Richardson’s Assessment for Mathematical Practice
  • Interactive Science Notebooks
  • Close Reading
  • BrainPop & BrainPop Jr.
  • Love & Logic
  • Cognitive Coaching

If you are interested in teaching adults  - for any of these or other topics – contact Diane Lauer and/or fill out a TIC application form.

 

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Colorado Integration Project Teachers Collaborate at National Gates Foundation Convening

June 30th, 2012 by Diane Lauer 1 comment »

It was hot when we left Denver on June 18, but is was hot and sticky when we arrived in Atlanta with minutes to spare prior to the opening of the My Group Genius National Convening at the Marriott Marquis.  Approximately 20 Thompson educators, administrators and Superintendent Ron Cabrera made the trek to Atlanta funded by our philanthropic grantors, the Colorado Legacy Foundation. This was an exciting pilgrimage for our group as it was an opportunity to collaborate and learn from other participants engaged in work of systematically integrating the Common Core State Standards in Math and English Language Arts, Science and Social Studies.

During the intensive three day convening, Thompson educators along with members of the Colorado Integration Project districts and educators from New York, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Ohio, and Florida engaged in a dynamic gathering of people from diverse backgrounds dedicated to changing lives through changing education practice. The conversations focused on what was working for the districts that were using the Math Design Collaborative and Literacy Design Collaborative tools, and what wasn’t. Our opportunity to engage in these conversations was critical, as many of the participants were a year ahead of us in their implementation.  Colorado, being in the second wave of pilot states engaging in this national work, was able to learn from others and bring our own learning to the table as well.

The Math Design Collaborative (#mathcollab on Twitter) is a network of teachers using sets of Formative Assessment Lessons developed by the Shell Center for Mathematical Education. All the tools developed and piloted will eventually be available to all educators, around the globe, for free.  This open source idea is mirrored in the work of the Literacy Design Collaborative (#litcollab on Twitter), which supports teachers as they learn to design powerfully engaging and rigorous modules of instruction based on the new Common Core standards in literacy.

The Common Core State Standards were designed to “provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them. The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers” (CCSS, 2012). The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has set an ambitious K-12 education goal: to graduate all students college-ready. Currently, only a third of American students graduate on-time with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed beyond high school.  Gates has strategically focused on effective teaching, strong standards, curriculum and assessments as the path to raise the level of learning in our schools.

Furthermore, the Gates foundation believes in providing high level support to the school and district leaders who are tasked with the responsibility of making this work flourish in their professional communities.  And so, during the convening while there were breakout collaboration sessions for the math and literacy teachers, there were also interactive sessions for the administrators. In order to support teachers, administrators need a strong understanding of world class instruction, formative assessment, and engaging curriculum design as well as the organizational structures they must support to make this happen.

In November, 2011 the Colorado Legacy Foundation named Thompson School District an integration partner and provided $1.7 million in monies to support Colorado’s Educator Effectiveness goals. “With American students fully prepared for the future, our communities will be best positioned to compete successfully in the global economy” (CCSS, 2012).  With Thompson students prepared for their future, we fulfill the duty to our community as public school educators.

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Because we didn’t buy textbooks – the sequel

May 20th, 2012 by Diane Lauer 4 comments »

Over a year ago in January 2011, I wrote a blog post titled Because we didn’t buy textbooks.  The purpose of this post was to describe a significant change that was about to happen in our district with regards to the selection of instructional materials.

This time we did something different.

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We entered our social studies curriculum adoption cycle and we made a departure from our past practice.  We decided to spend a year focusing on instructional pedagogy before we started looking at all the materials various publishers have to offer.

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We immersed ourselves in learning about powerful pedagogy that stimulates student engagement, instruction that evokes critical thinking, and learning structures that support authentic problem solving and exploratory learning and deep understanding and excitement and passion and fun.

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And when our state adopted new social studies standards we reviewed them with a critical eye and we still held off looking at materials and we thought about how we wanted to teach to impact student learning. And when we read the research and reviewed the literature, we decided to look at various materials from various publishers and we thought…we’d rather not buy textbooks this time.

We didn’t buy textbooks

We bought technology to help increase student engagement and access to real-time information, primary source documents, a host of archived digital media aligned with the social studies and historical content we teach, and tools to help students research, analyze, and communicate their opinions, arguments, and synthesis of information in a myriad of ways.

What we did buy

Where the most significant change in standards existed, we provided the most resources.  Middle school social studies classrooms in grades 6-8 received 15 iPads each, a projector, a document camera, $35 in apps for each iPad, and a couple of iPod Touches (we bought first generation iPads that didn’t have video/cameras so we purchased the iPods to allow for that).  This expenditure equaled approximately $80 per student – less than the cost of a typical middle school social studies textbook.

At the high school level, we saw less change in content and so we budged less funds – $20 per student.  This was an agonizing decision, as we have a history of framing our thinking around an even-Steven mindset.  I was impressed with our teachers on our social studies design task force who made this decision based on needs. We were working with significant budget constraints.  Our district curriculum budget at the time was nearly 50% of what it had been in the recent past.

In my blog post, Developing a Needs-Based Mindset for Curriculum Funding, I explored the shift in thinking that we were immersed in at the time.  Using our official student enrollment count, we divided the funds between each high school, and our Board of Education approved an expenditure based on building needs.  The social studies departments made their own collaborative decisions and purchased a variety of technology including laptops, projectors, interactive white boards, document cameras, mobile tech devices like iPads, iPods, and software.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What we discovered

Both our high school and middle school social studies teachers are using technology more frequently to facilitate instruction.  In our program evaluation survey, 78% of middle school teachers and 81% of high school teachers are using technology daily to facilitate learning.

In the same survey, high school teachers reveal that:

  • 38% of high school students use technology on a daily basis, and
  • 38% of high school students use technology on a weekly basis

Similarly, middle school teachers share share that:

  • 33% of middle school students use technology on a daily basis, and
  • 54%  of middle school students use technology on a weekly basis

Lack of access to conduct research was a critical deficit prior to our recent adoption.  21st century learners must have access to information technology and the skills to conduct searches, identify bias, analyze credibility, and synthesize details from various sources.  Since our recent tech-infused social studies adoption, a dramatic increase in student research has been noted.

Approximately 69% of our high school students and 67% of our middle school students are engaging in social studies based research now on a weekly basis.  Previous to the adoption, the majority of the students engaged in social studies research on a monthly basis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are pleased with the results of our secondary social studies adoption. We feel that we have not only been good stewards of our curriculum dollars, but also innovators able to meet the needs of our learners and positively impact their ability to access information through 21st century tools.  As we progress with our new instructional materials we anticipate increasing student critical thinking, engagement and opportunities for authentic learning and hope to share data relative to those goals in the future.

 

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