Guest Blogger Charlie Harcourt's Take on Project-Based Learning!

Hello Everyone,

I hope you all are finishing the year strong in anticipation of that nice long winter break coming up in about a week!  Take the time to rest up, see family and friends, and stop thinking about school for awhile.  You've earned that!  Once rejuvenated, however, you should take some time to reflect on what went well and what didn't go so well in the classroom.  I have three things for y'all to keep in mind as you think about how to improve your classroom.

1. Do I have enough rigor in the classroom?

When designing assessments, unit plans, and everyday lesson plans are you providing your students enough challenge?  Many times problems with classroom behavior stem from a lack of challenging, engaging, and standards-driven instructional activities.  Keep in mind that you don't want to give your students a task that they can't possibly complete or one that they can complete without your guidance.  Rather, you should plan lessons that work within your students' Zone of Proximal Development (tasks that students can do with teacher guidance).  "Rigor" means something different for each teacher's classroom, so we will be offering guidance what rigor could look like in your classroom with next quarter's professional development courses including  Understanding by Design.

2. Do my students have a voice in the classroom?

Are you allowing your students to present opinions and then justify them?  Are you asking open-ended questions, questions with no definite answers, that allow your students to critically think?  Asking students identification and application (Depth of Knowledge level 1 and 2) questions is important in order for them to understand your content.  However, our students need to be asked their opinions on your subject matter so they can personally connect the content with their everyday lives.  Their will be PDs next quarter addressing how you can give your students' a voice through their writing, discussion, and projects.

3. Am I implementing culturally-responsive teaching in the classroom?

Culturally-responsive teaching is the idea that we understand our student's culture, the highlights (strong sense of family, church community, etc.) and low lights (racism, de facto segregation, etc.) of their environment.  Then, we incorporate that knowledge to make pertinent lesson plans that help our students celebrate their culture but also think critically about how the problems in their community.  Next quarter, TFA Humanities is going to be offering PDs on how to use culturally-responsive teaching in the classroom, so keep a lookout for those offerings in January.  Also, the PDs will address the question of why should I be teaching culturally-responsive teaching even if I do not consider myself part of my students' culture?

Charlie Harcourt, a seventh grade world history teacher at Solomon Middle School, has been doing some great things with project based learning in the classroom.  Charlie's project ideas could be used to provide a rigorous, culturally-responsive instruction in your own classroom that allows your students to have a voice.  Here's what Charlie has to say about project-based learning:

"I chose to write a post on project based learning in Social Studies classrooms because of the long lasting effect that it can have on the creative development of students. Project based methods can present the same information to satisfy  a content-based objective, but reach it in a way that gives students a sense of independence, allows them to utilize multiple senses and intelligences, and creates a more joyful learning environment for everyone. I want to stress three key points to sell the use of projects in Social Studies, and then address a few of the pushbacks and cautions that could exist.

The first point is the ability for content, presented or practiced in a project-based manner, to stay with students longer. If I were to make a list of the lessons/activities that I remember from school, all the way from Kindergarten to my last semester at Green Mountain College, I would not be able to list any objectives, recite any vocabulary, or summarize a lecture. I could easily describe the wigwam we built in Ms. Conway’s class, the origami that we did in Ms. Craig’s, the play about Medieval Life from Ms. Jentis, the live-action Odyssey game from Mr. Whitney, or the presentations and mock-trails from Mr. Ashley.  Those are the lessons that stand a decade or more later; those are the teachers that I remember; and those are the lessons and teachers that made me excited to learn.

Now that I am in my 2^nd year of teaching 7^th Grade Social Studies at Solomon Middle School in Greenville, MS, I see my students from last year whenever I walk down the 8^th grade hall. The first thing they usually ask is “are those 7^th graders worse than us?” But the second question is often about one of the few projects that I attempted to facilitate or assign last year. The students ask, “Did y’all mummify those apples?” “You gonna do that water thing with the straws again?” “They get to make the Social Studies boards?” This shows me what sticks out in their minds and what they carry with them to the next grade and onward are the projects we did together. This is part of what has motivated me to continue and expand my use of various projects, experiments, presentations, and research assignments in my class this year.

The second reason to try projects in any classroom is the opportunity for students to experience a sense of creativity, independence, and responsibility. I see so much of a student’s personality and individuality come out in the projects that he or she completes, since a sheet of notes doesn’t tell me any more about a student than the quality of his/her handwriting. When I read through the “Make Your Own Civilization” project packets from earlier this year, I felt like I was beginning to know my students through their work. For example, I saw that one student named his Starkville, with a white wolf on the flag, and he wrote “Winter’s Coming” in his made-up Stark language. I was then able to confront him in class and say, “great job on the project, stop watching “Game of Thrones”, you are way too young for that”.  Bringing projects and hands-on activities to the classroom also shows that you trust students enough to give them something that is less structured than guided notes. It shows students that you respect them enough to allow them to create something in your classroom. When we wrote Cuneiform in salt-dough, I had nightmares of balls of dough and handfuls of flour completely destroying my classroom. The maturity that hey displayed and the joy they had in completing the assignment showed me that they deserved the chance to be trusted and given responsibility to create something more meaningful and more individual.

The third point is the idea that projects bring rigor to a new height, whether judged by Bloom’s or any other rubric. I admit that many of the projects that I have facilitated in my classroom did not make a big jump in the rigor of my instruction. Playing with clay, pouring water into a cup, taping up a salty apple, or drawing a picture of a dream castle could honestly be done by some well-behaved preschoolers. The opportunity for rigor really comes in the projects that allow students to create something meaningful out of research that they have independently completed. For instance, rather than teach the “fall of Rome” in a PowerPoint, lesson could be a student led investigation of a great mystery, where students need to research and prove the true reason that the greatest of all civilizations came to an end. They could debate it, present it, write a defense for their findings, etc. This concept stretches a simple objective into a process of investigating, applying, analyzing, and creating.

 

The criticisms that I wanted to cover are time constraints, management, grading, and scaffolding.

Time Constraint: Welcome to the Humanities, you probably aren’t state tested so congratulations, you have some freedom. It’s okay to take a few days on a research project, stretch out an objective, make students write opinion pieces, or get a little hands-on and messy in the classroom. Pick something that you think is important and plan the time to stretch out an objective into a project in your unit plan. It won’t be a waste of time if it motivates and engages students.

Management: Behavior is probably the biggest reason why teachers stay away from in-class projects or hands-on activities. If you structure it in a way that allows the students to own the assignment, and still have very clear expectations of each step and every rule, then it will work out. Make sure groups are chosen by the teacher, problems are foreseen and planned for, and directions are very clear. This should iron out most issues, but if some water or clay ends up on the floor, it is sometimes just an unavoidable cost of doing something hands-on and different in your classroom.

Grading: Use a rubric that emphasizes the key information or expectations for the project, and use this to uniformly grade the assignments. Create this when you create the project and then share it with your students as part of the instructions. Students need to know how they are graded, and teachers need to know how they are grading before collecting and/or completing the assignment.

Scaffolding: Students need to have enough background content to complete a project and make it meaningful. If they don’t understand the “why?” behind the activity or project, then it is probably a waste of time. Projects can be used to start a unit if they are set up like a research investigation, or anticipatory activity. More likely this will be an alternative summative assignment done at the end of a lesson that brings all of the essential skills and content together in a creative manner. Make sure you pick out the key prerequisite knowledge, expectations, and skills as you create the project assignment and plan to teach these before you assign it.

 

Good luck to anyone trying projects in Humanities classrooms!"

 

 

 

Implementing Document Based Questions in the Classroom

Hey everyone,

I'm continuing the series on incorporating writing in the social studies classroom, because I think teaching writing is essential for our students to succeed with the upcoming Common Core standards and eventually for college.  In my opinion I think the emphasis on multiple choice standardized testing in Mississippi has created deficiencies  in our students' writing abilities.  This is detrimental because many of our students are not learning basic writing skills that are necessary at the collegiate level.

I think a great way for our students to practice writing is using DBQs . In my first year of teaching last year, I did not give my students any DBQs.  I was intimidated by the prospect of doing it, because I felt it would be too challenging for my seventh graders.  However, I realized that I can't spoon-feed my students with guided notes and worksheets all the time.  Students will have to be able to write essays in high school and college, so it makes sense to give them experience writing them now.  That being said, I have experienced early successes and failures implementing DBQs in the classroom.  The rest of this blog is dedicated to sharing those experiences with you.


Positives:

1.  I feel like I'm teaching my class a meaningful skill and my students haven't objected about it.  My initial fear would be students would complain and whine about how hard the writing is but that hasn't been the case at all.  Most of my students are on board with the idea of doing DBQs and those that aren't do not vociferously complain.  Now, can my students explain why DBQs are important?  I do not think so now so I'll have to message that to them more and more throughout the year.
2. The amount of teamwork I've seen from the writing process.  Many of my higher level students have be willing to assist my low students, including those with IEPS, throughout the writing process which is great to see.  First, it is good because these students are teaching the  content which will only further cement their knowledge on the content and in their own writing skills.  Second, the low students benefit because I do not have enough time to assist all my students in a single class period.  The only drawback is that I hope all of my students can eventually complete the writing process without having assistance, but for now the student teaching seems to be beneficial for all parties involved.
3. Once you've prepped your DBQ, then the actual daily lesson planning time is reduced drastically.  DBQs take a lot of work on the front end actually making them, but I've found that I do not have to plan on a nightly basis once the DBQ process is ongoing.  Usually, I'll do direct instruction, about 10 minutes, about a certain writing topic like using transitions and leave the rest of the time for my students to write.  This is great as I do not have to prepare a Powerpoint or other materials that you would use in a traditional lecture.

Challenges:

1. It is hard to do DBQs if students do not complete outside work on them.  I have a chronic issue with students not completing homework in my classroom.  Honestly, I could be doing more to motivate students to get homework done but regardless students aren't putting in the effort outside of school.  I gave my students time to work on every step of the process (answering the questions, creating an outline, working on rough draft) in class with the expectation they finish the rest at home.  Unfortunately, the vast majority of my students have not met this expectation.  That being said, I will just have to give more work time in class for them to complete the DBQ.  It makes no sense for me to simply fail them for the assignment but rather give them the time to produce a well-crafted product.
2. The lack of resources available for my subject matter.  I was fortunate enough to find one DBQ for my seventh grade content but have had enormous trouble finding other good DBQs without having to pay money for them .  I am currently making my second one from scratch which is time consuming.
3.  Grading and providing real-time feedback is challenging.  It is hard to grade twenty papers in fifty minutes.  In fact, it is impossible.  It is challenging to maintain a well-managed classroom while individually conferencing with students.  So far I've been able to conference with all of my students without my classes turning into complete circuses.  However, I can tell that certain students are using the time I conference with others to slack off and cause minor distractions in the classroom.  It a real juggling act trying to maintain class order while providing individual feedback to students in class.

Below is a quick step-by-step process of how I teach DBQs.

Step 1: Give the students a hook or grabber activity.  Just like your students should have a good hook to their introduction paragraph, providing your students a hook to the DBQ could get them excited in the activity.  An interesting activity that requires your students to think about the essay prompt will go far in keeping your students invested.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7TluIw2uWYFM0hycGRDZ3lGYmM/edit?usp=sharing

Step 2: Give students documents and have them answer questions about documents for 1-2 class periods.  I had my students do only three documents rather five or six for their first DBQ.

 

Step 3: Have students dissect the essay question and map out the thesis statement for the essay using bucketing and the chicken foot graphic organizer. Students would take one period.

Step 4: Students work on the outline for their essay. Students would take 1-2 class periods to finish outline.

Step 5: Students use their outline to write their rough draft.  Students take 1 period.

Step 6: Have students do norming activities on how to grade Document based questions.   Have students practice grading document based question essays.  1 class period

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0By6N-gE9NSKVMk5aZlRSZDV2S0U/edit?usp=sharing

Step 7: Have students revise rough drafts using the rubric.  Students show papers to teachers to receive feedback.  Students write their final drafts.  1-2 class periods.

Step 8: Teacher moves on to next unit/DBQ/topic but requires students to keep rewriting their DBQs until they score an 80% or higher on it.  Provide students multiple opportunities to pass the DBQ, so they understand that writing is a process.

If you have any ideas or suggestions on how to teach DBQs, please feel free to comment.  This is my first year to teach them so I'm still working my way through it.

Guest Blogger Chelsea Lewis Presents a Brilliantly Artistic Cave Painting Project!!!

Have you ever had that feeling watching someone else teach and saying to yourself, "Man, I want to do that in my classroom!"  Well, I had that feeling talking to Chelsea about her Old Stone Age Cave Painting project.  I'll let Chelsea explain the project in her own words below, but let me highlight three reasons why I think this project is wonderful.

1. It requires DOK 3-4 knowledge.  Students are not sitting in their sits merely applying knowledge, but are rather out of their seats constructing something authentic.  I think project is one of those projects where kids will remember for years after middle school, because it is unique and it required students to be creative.

2. This project builds student investment.  I wasn't there to witness it but based off the pictures, it seemed students were deeply invested in the project.  That is the beauty of giving kids hands-on projects and letting them use unusual things like charcoal.

3. Chelsea gives very explicit instructions on how to use the materials.  The danger of these kind of projects is that your kids will damage your materials, your classroom, or be hurtful to their classmates.  Chelsea writes very clear instructions here on how to use the charcoal, for example.  Also, make sure you emphasize teamwork and respectfulness when students work together.  Give examples and non-examples of what good teamwork looks like, so your students understand what you expect out of them.  And if they decide to break those expectations, then don't feel bad when you consequence them immediately.  Now, here is Chelsea's description of her project:

"

On Friday, September 27, 2013 the 7^th grade students at D.M. Smith Middle School traveled back in time to the Old Stone Age. My students learned that families found shelter in caves and created cave art. During our Old Stone Age Unit we discussed the discovery of Lascaux Cave in Montignac, France. Students learned that this cave was discovered in 1940 by four French teenagers and their dog Robot. The cave was filled with 17,000 year old cave art. Students finished the unit by creating their own cave art. They also learned that cave artists created the large paintings of wild animals as a form of religious practice.

 That Friday, I turned my room into a cave because I wanted students to feel the conditions of the cave and emphasize with cave artists. I darkened the windows by covering the glass with dark butcher paper and turned down the air conditioning to make the room very cold. Students worked in groups of three and each member had a role in creating the art: the leader, the artists, and the detailer. Students used charcoal, chalk, an original Lascaux paining, brown butcher paper, and much creativity to create the cave art. The students did a fantastic job and were engaged with the project. Project-based learning in essential in the classroom, I hope my students never forget this project, I know I will not. In every endeavor I am proud of my students, but on Friday my students blew me away.

 Kentarius Ramsey and Larry Tyler were partners in my 1^st period class, and together they created a painting of large horses. Kentarius said that “I enjoyed the hands on activity and creating cave art was fun.” When asked why cave art was created by Old Stone Age people he recited that “It is a form of prayer asking the higher powers for a successful hunt.”  I loved watching my students create the art and challenged them to reflect on what the cave artists might have been thinking and feeling. In closing, Friday was a fantastic day at D.M. Smith, and the 7^th grade World History students expressed their skills in team work and creativity.

 

 

Things that went well

Things to improve on

1.       I really played up the project; I was excited about it so they were excited about it. 2.       GIVE EXPLICIT INSTRUCTIONS, explain everything that they should not do! Examples: write on the wall or draw on another student 3.       Every group member having a specific role in the creation of the cave art. 4.       I turned on a virtual tour of Lascaux Cave while they were creating the art, and that added to the atmosphere of the classroom. 5.       Finally, constantly asking students “Be reflective, what do you think the cave artists were feeling? What do you think they were feeling deep inside the cave?”

6.       This was a very messy project so cover your floor with butcher paper or complete the project outside. 7.       Provide aprons or old t shirts for your students to wear because they will get the charcoal and the chalk on their clothes. 8.       Have wet bath cloths and wipes available at all times. 9.       Make sure the students are incredibly calm before you begin and explain the directions at least three times. BE VERY SPECIFC AND ORGANIZED.

  

 

Here are some rules, directions, and expectations I included

Today we will use charcoal and chalk

These two materials can be very messy

The following behaviors are prohibited during this activity.

1. Your hands will get dirty, do not touch another student!

2. Throwing charcoal and chalk at another student.

3. Drawing on another student or Miss Lewis’ classroom materials.

 

 

 

In your group please chose a role.

•          1. Leader-This person is in charge of the charcoal! They will outline the animals with the black charcoal. They are also in charge of making sure each person has written their name and signed their cave art paper. First, write the names on the back. Once the animals are outlined you will have direct the other team members!

•          2. Artist-This person is in charge of the chalk. They will use the colors to paint the animals. Pay close attention to the colors on your paper. Try to match the Lascaux painting exactly.

•          Detailer-This person will also use the chalk to make sure the painting is detailed. Your painting should exactly match the photo of the Lascaux painting. Last, take your finger and slightly smudge the chalk and charcoal, it will give it a worn look.

 

 

Directions

1. Chose a role
2. Distribute materials to the leaders. Include details
3. Tape up the paper, Lascaux cave painting, and write your names on the back of the paper.
4. Now, Leader come and get the black charcoal and begin outlining your animal.
5. Artist and detailer come get the chalk and begin creating your cave art.
6. In the last ten minutes we will begin cleaning up. When I say be at a voice level zero PLEASE DO IT because we have to clean up and prepare for the next class.

 

 

 

DO YOU HAVE ANY AWESOME IDEAS TO SHARE LIKE CHELSEA'S PROJECT?  IF YOU WANT TO GUEST BLOG AND SHARE YOUR IDEA, THEN COMMENT ON THIS BLOG POST OR SHOOT ME AN EMAIL AT patrickkeithnewton@gmail.com 

 

Creative Writing in Social Studies Classroom part 2

In my first creative writing post I offered steps of how to teach your students to write a five paragraph essay using a free writing prompt.  Now, I'll provide another example of how implementing writing in non-essay form.

My Essential Question: Why do people choose to live in civilizations?

Essential Understanding: Civilization shapes and transforms society and peoples' lives.

Objective. Students will be able to explain the significance of the Neolithic Revolution and how it has impacted our lives today.

Students will be able to compare and contrast the Paleolithic and Neolithic Ages by synthesizing information in a brochure.  Students must receive an 80% or higher on the brochure rubric in order to master the objective.


Step One: Introduce your students to the content with a short video and have your students write a graphic organizer about the content.  Do not introduce the writing project as you are solely focusing on DOK 1 knowledge.  You want your students to identify key vocabulary and concepts.

Have your students read the textbook and answer guided questions about the text using again a graphic organizer.

 

 

Step 2: The next day introduce the writing project to the students by having them complete a bell-ringer by analyzing diagrams and pictures in the textbook.

 

 

Step 3: Have students read your objective, essential question, enduring understandings, and key words on the board.

 

Step 4: Have students read the instruction of the activity.

 

 Step 5: Randomly choose students (draw sticks) into pairs of partners to work on the prewriting together using the images, text, and graphics of the textbook to find answers to each client question.  Or place your high achieving students with the lower achieving students to help the lower students.

Step 6: Review your partner work procedures

 

 

Step 7: Have pairs work on answering the questions found on the prewrite.

 

 

Day 2

 

 

Step 1: Have pairs finish answering questions found on prewrite.

 

Step 2: Have students begin working on rough draft using the template provided.

 



 

 

Step  3: Have students peer edit each other's brochures using the rubric.

 

Day 3

 

Step 1: Have students make their brochures using colored paper, colored makers, and colored pencils.

 

Step 2: Have students turn in brochure for homework tomorrow (whatever they did not finish in class).

 

Step 3: Students present their brochures while doing their best impression of a real estate agent trying to sell me a house.

 

If you need these materials, then check this link. https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B7TluIw2uWYFdGhwNEdIcmlPQWs&usp=sharing

 



Creative Writing in the Social Studies Classroom

As a social studies teacher we sometimes do not get the most respect from our administration, parents, or in general from the educational community.  As most of us are not teaching tested subjects, with the exception of high school U.S. history, it seems that we are relegated to minor importance while ELA and math are placed on a high pedestal.  However, there is a reason why so much emphasis is placed on reading, writing, and math.  Read the "High Performance in High Poverty Schools" attachment for more information on why placing an emphasis on reading, writing, and math are crucial to successful schools in high poverty school districts.

When teaching we should require our students to do a whole lot of reading and writing (and even math) to grasp essential understandings and answer essential questions about our world.  It is important that we do not merely teach our kids to memorize facts and have them take guided notes in class.  Classroom discussions, debates, and Q & A sessions are important, but actually having my kids read and write in the classroom is as important if not more.  My kids and I enjoy a good discussion about politics or about ancient Egyptians, but the reality is that my kids need to read and write about these subjects.

My students desperately need independent and guided practice with their reading strategies and especially their writing skills.  We need our kids to be reading and writing every day.  We need to help out our ELA teachers by providing our students supplementary instruction that aligns to their objectives.  It is definitely possible to teach your social studies objectives while also covering ELA objectives.  It is also possible to get your kids excited about writing and reading.

I  did one writing project in my classroom that my kids felt invested in, covered social studies objectives, and touched on skills/concepts taught in ELA.  The first example is a free writing exercise that I turned into a five paragraph essay.

Step 1.  Students do a free-write bell-ringer, where they write about a topic related to the day's objective.  In this example the objective was, "Students will be able to identify symbols on a map key and apply this knowledge on any real world map."



Step 2:

• Option A: have students take one or two days to create a map of their theme park using their map key
• Option B: have students share their map keys in class for five minutes and move on to instruction.
• Option C: have students write an essay about the free write.

For most my classes, I choose option B as I decided having my kids draw a map or do an essay about this free writing exercise did not warrant the time.  However, during my intervention hour, I had my kids write an essay about their free writes.  If you want your kids to write a good five paragraph essay then you'll need to provide plenty of scaffolding.  For example, teach your kids the structure of a 5 paragraph essay using Bing, Bang, and Bongo. See powerpoint attachment. Spend a day teaching your kids the structure of an essay

 Second, have your kids do a brainstorming graphic organizer  to organize their thoughts. Use an instructional day to have kids practice brainstorming.

Third, have your kids use their brainstorming graphic organizer to organize their ideas into sentence structure using another graphic organizer.  Make this a hw assignment.

Fourth, have your kids use this graphic organizer to write their first rough draft.

Fifth, have your kids peer edit and review each other rough drafts using a rubric.  This is the most difficult step in my opinion as you will have to norm yourself and your kids to the rubric.  It took my students and I about three days to understand what the difference is between a 5 and a 3 on the writing rubric.

Sixth, have students write their final drafts and turn them in.  Grade them using your rubric.

Tips: Be patient with your students as the writing process takes longer to teach than a week.  Give students continual practice writing, perhaps have your students write a series or shorter 1 to 2 paragraph responses before having them write a five paragraph essay.

Click the attachments for downloads are available at this link. https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B7TluIw2uWYFdGhwNEdIcmlPQWs&usp=sharing

Planning Upfront Saves a Lot of Stress in the Future

After I come home from a long day of work, the last thing I want to think about is planning future units.  Instead, I want to kick back, watch some Netflix, and eat popcorn.  A couple hours of pass and I come to grips with my situation...I need to plan tomorrow's lesson!  I know in my mind what I want to teach and usually plan a really engaging lesson, but I usually don't give myself enough time to plan long term for the unit.

It seems obvious to plan long term as we've all been taught that procrastination is a terrible thing (although some of us may have passively ignored that lesson for quite some time).  Personally, I am all for planning long term units, making classroom visions, and even attending professional developments on planning.  However, I've found the biggest challenge to unit planning is my perception that planning is of lesser importance to other more immediate needs.  Another challenge is that I perceive unit planning as too daunting of a task to complete.  Finally, I feel like I have no idea where to start when it comes to unit planning at times.

First, I make excuses to avoid unit planning.   I tell myself that grading papers, taking extra time to craft a really creative lesson for tomorrow, or taking the night off of work are more valuable uses of my time.  However, I've learned over time that just because you feel like something is more valuable, or more desirable for that matter, doesn't make it true.  Through experience tracking my data, I've found that the units I planned before I began teaching them actually resulted in positive outcomes for my students.   My students performed better on the summative assessments and qualitatively seemed to comprehend the underlying themes of the material much better than if I planned my lessons on a day to day basis.  My hypothesis is that my students do better on preplanned units, because I exactly pinpoint the concepts I want my students learn and intuitively focus on those concepts during instruction.  Without planning units I usually go on several different tangents during my instruction, and that information does not end up on the summative assessment.  Therefore, I test my students on knowledge that I neither adequately covered in instruction nor find of necessary importance.

Second, I've imagined in the past hours and hours of work when envisioning unit planning and consequently do not bother unit planning.   Unit planning is what you make of it.  I've learned that you can spend hours on a unit plan or make a decent outline in a hour and a half.  Unit planning is an ongoing process that can be modified, and probably should be, on a continual basis.  I've felt the pressure of having to complete a stellar, transformational unit plan before the unit begins, when in fact all I need is a good outline to build off on in the upcoming days.  Read your textbook, make some essential questions that you think your students should be able to answer at the end of the unit, and then make your summative assessment reflect those questions.  These steps are the bare bones of a good start to a unit plan.  Rather than overly concern yourselves with the intricate details of each lesson in the unit, focus on crafting a rigorous assessment that focuses on the most important concepts in your unit.  If you don't know how to generate good essential questions or make a rigorous assessment for a unit, then I recommend attending TFA's professional development class Understanding by Design.  It will give you a good framework on how to create these questions.

By generating these essential questions and crafting a rigorous summative assessment, you will have a sense of purpose in your unit.  You will have a starting point to build on with your day to day lessons.  Now as I've already written, unit planning can be easier said than done.  There are going to be road bumps along the way and you may feel that you still have no clue what you are doing when unit planning.  I've asked myself a thousand times: "Am I asking the right essential questions to my kids?", "Am I utilizing class time effectively by spending so much time on this unit?", "Is my planning actually leading to positive academic outcomes to my students?". I have, at times, let this uncertainty get the best of me and ditched solid unit planning.  Nevertheless, I advise you that unit plan as much as possible.

  It gives you a sense of purpose in your teaching.  It does not take as long as you think.  It really improves your students' academic outcomes.  So don't let perception get the best of you and ditch unit planning in favor of eating popcorn and watching Netflix.   In the end you'll be much happier with teaching your kids solid unit plans that you planned well in advance.

Saying "I'm a Bad Teacher" Isn't Going To Solve Anything

My kids won't listen. My kids are disrespectful and cannot be taught. My kids think history is so boring and don't care what I have to say.  My kids will never appreciate anything I do for them.  Have these thoughts ever crept up in your mind?  Consequently, do you feel like a terrible human being for feeling these thoughts?  Guess what...you're not a terrible human being.  Guess what...you're not a bad teacher.  These feeling are perfectly normal.  However, there is a difference between having these feelings these thoughts and actually letting them adversely affect your teaching.

For example, if you see little Johnny throw pencils at his classmate, then you cannot cast him away as a devil child.  If you give up on little Johnny, then little Johnny will certainly give up on you and your attempts to teach him something.  Listen, it's easier said than done.  I get understand that.  You all have that one kid that you think is the spawn of the Underworld, who is a destructive force in your classroom.  You all have that one kid that puts their head down on their desk no matter how many times you explain why they need to listen to you.  You all have those angel children that will work their butts off for you because they genuinely like you and want your approval.  Guess what?  You have to give UNCONDITIONAL LOVE to all your students.  Its one thing to have hateful feelings for a child but to act on those feelings will crush your students. Tracking data and test scores for "student achievement" don't mean squat if your kids perceive that you don't like them.  It also doesn't do you any good to hate yourself.

No matter how good or bad you think you are as a teacher, you are HERE.  Let me be more descriptive. You are here fighting every day to make sure your kids understand why they should care about being a citizen of their town, Mississippi, the United States, and of the world.  Currently, you may be facing what I call the Septober blues.  Let's face it, the initial high you got after completing Institute and now the first month of school had dissipated.  Now is the time where you are going to have to look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself, "Do I have what it takes to do this job?"  While I don't know you, I can soundly say YES YOU DO HAVE WHAT IT TAKES.

You were selected to Teach for America for a reason. You have a team of individuals, including myself, who think you have all the attributes and willpower to be the best damn teacher you can be.  You are an instrument of wisdom, intelligence, and strength.  Your principal hired you because of this fact.  If you don't believe me, then just ask yourself who would replace you if you quit your job?  Trust me; your principal is not going to find a as qualified, hardworking individual to replace you. NEVER discount yourself as an individual.  If you come to school with a mindset that you are a bad teacher, then you will be a bad teacher.  Check your psychology 101 textbook for a term called the "self-fulfilling prophecy" and you'll know what I'm talking about.

I hate when people use war metaphors to describe teaching, because I think comparing teaching to fighting a war sends a negative message about teaching.  However, it is tempting to feel like we are on the frontlines of a losing battle.  Maybe your administration has told you to your face that you suck at your job.  Maybe a student gave you the middle finger and told you to "fuck off."  Maybe you ate Sonic double cheeseburgers three days in a row last week, because you don't have the willpower to walk 30 feet to the kitchen to put a hot pocket in the microwave.  You haven't?  Oh, it must just be me then.

Guess what?  It's going to be alright.  Let me write again in my student's vernacular, "IT GONNA BE AIGHT."  Whenever I see one of my kids shove another kid in the hall, I tell myself, "IT GONNA BE AIGHT."  Whenever I see one of my kids write "I hate school." on their assignments, I tell myself, "IT GONNA BE AIGHT."  Whenever I look at myself in the mirror in the morning, I tell myself, "IT GONNA BE AIGHT."  You are not perfect.  I am not perfect.  We don't have to be perfect. 
 
We do have to put our best effort in our jobs and remind ourselves that we are teaching human beings that should be treated like human beings.  You have to be the bigger person when our kids disrespect us and use it as a teachable moment rather than an opportunity to wail on some kids.  Use humor, patience, and kindness in your solutions rather than mournfulness, intolerance, and hatred.  You have to love yourself and not beat yourself up.  If you beat yourself up, then you will not have the willpower to overcome the challenges at your job.  Being a successful teacher starts with having the right mindset about yourself and your kids.  If you get lost in the lesson-planning, grading, data tracking, and administrative bureaucracy, then you will be or already lost.  So, take time to tell yourself Monday morning that "IT GONNA BE AIGHT" and go fight for your kids   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmwue6Jq4KA