Great class the other night. Let me start with that. Why I sometimes enjoy this job so much is because I get an opportunity to reflect on my own practice by watching you teach. This group went out of thier way to take the strategy of lecture and fit it to a 21st Century adolecense audience. Here are a few questions I would like you consider as you respond:
As a "student" what kept you engaged in the lesson?
Schools indeed are a battleground for contending values. Once again if you chose to utilize some of Loewen arguments in our instruction we might run the risk of opposition from students or parents. How would you defend your choice to include these ideas to parents or a principal?
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I think the second group did a good job with their presentation. I was especially engaged in the lesson during the boxing match between the "Gorilla" and little Zachy; Zach sure did take a beating.
It was an interesting way to introduce opposing viewpoints to a class. The creativity was inspiring to me, because I plan to teach as actively and innovatively as they did. The movie that was shown also got my attention. Rather than listening to the teacher talk through a traditional style lecture, I was able to see his edited and perfected lecture, through the technology of Moviemaker. It was a good use of technology, that I also enjoy. Josh presented the ideas more traditionally, which was his intent, but he also used the activity with the picture, that really got my attention. This allowed for a few good minutes of thought, interpretation and group work.
If I was teaching right now, and wanted to utilize some of Loewen's arguments in my classroom, I would present them in a manner where students could compare and contrast main points. By introducing opposing viewpoints, such as Loewens, students could analyze and interpret what I have presented to them. I wouldn't be telling them that Loewen's work is what they should believe. I would want them to look at the sources Loewen used in writing his book, and then come up with their own opinions about the topics. My defense to parents, administrators, and the community would be that students are learning a valuable process of analyzing and interpreting information in their own way. If a student can present their own perspective on a subject, then they have obviously learned something. I would also argue that students are learning how to locate sources that authors use when writing their books. This is useful in determining the validity of what Loewen presents and argues.
The group that went last Tuesday did an excellent job with their presentation. All three presented lecture in a different, yet effective way. The boxing match led by Gabe was very interesting. I think it was a fun idea to catch peoples attention. I know it had my full attention as well as the rest of the class, and I only think it would be that much more effective in a middle school or high school setting. I think it is important to remember as a teacher to keep things creative and focus on the student learning.
The other two lecture segments also used great strategies. Josh's picture along with his lecture made things more meaningful and brought them to life. The movie lecture was a nice addition to the presentation. Using pictures and music behind the lecture made everything that much more interesting. It was neat to see the amount of work that was put into that video. I believe in this day an age it is necessary to incorporate technology in the classroom.
I agree with Derrick on the idea of utilizing Loewen's arguments in the classroom. It is important to present both sides in a way that students can study and learn each side and be able to compare and contrast what they are studying. This way students do not just learn one viewpoint of the event(s), but they can see multiple view points and draw their own personal conclusions after researching each. I believe studying multiple viewpoints is a whole aspect of the learning process. It is learning in itself. That is how I would present it to administrators, fellow teachers as well as parents.
Overall, the second group did an excellent job engaging the class with different lecture strategies. They incorporated many interesting strategies to keep the attention of a classroom in the 21st century.
I liked how the presentation had good transitions. They used effective teaching strategies that kept me interested in what was next for them to discuss.
I liked the way they all had their own unique way of drawing in my attention, but I think it could have been more effective if they all would have "collaborated" as a teacher team on each part of the presentation. There were some parts where we had to collaborate with partners where all of the presenters helped and collaborated with the exercise, but besides that I got the sense that it was an ordered lecture series. It could have been better to utilize all three minds to convey the topic at hand rather than just let one presenter speak and the other two just sit back and listen. I don't want to sound overly pessimistic, I think they did a good job presenting their material, but I am just trying to express my opinion so that they can build on each experience they get standing up in front of a class. Good ideas and great job transitioning between topics and class involvement.
Reflecting upon my part of the lesson I think I would make some improvements. Next time I probably would try to ask for more discussion from the students about the facts that were presented.
Also I might have two sides in the "judges" section and assign each to a fighter and ask them to defend the facts that each fighter presented, with some sort of reasoning. IE applying knowledge about humans to the stories told, etc.
Lastly I would have taped the cards up on the board as they were pulled so the students could copy them as they were going along and be able to see the fact that they would have to defend.
As for using Lowen type sources in my classroom; I don't see how you couldn't. After all we will be teaching history not fictional literature. If that means including multiple sources than that's what must be done. I would ask the parents or principle first to come sit down with me and have a discussion about what exactly I was presenting that way there is no confusion. If they still were uneasy i would tell them that this is what a total education looks like. It is being able to read multiple points of view and making inferences with those views. I would tell them that it encourages a higher order of thinking and allows the student acquire skills that will serve them the rest of their lives.
The presentation went very smoothly, each portion was unique but all effective strategies. As a student I was kept engaged in various ways. First the boxing match allowed for me to have a visual action occuring which automatically draws attention from a student. The second lecture also gave a visual picture, then elaborated on the idea. The third presentation used more modern media to engage students. This presentation also allowed for a student to get engaged by visual items. Each of these presentations although very different allowed for an engaging act (boxing,picture,pictures).
With concerns to teaching this material I think it is important to present many viewpoints in the classroom. These students are a very fragile moments in their lives. It is important that we give the information that will properly inform them of the world they live in. If the parents, principle etc... are influencing you otherwise it must be known that you are not forcting any ideas on the students. The information must be provided properly then the student can take it however they seem fit. It is our job as educators to disperse the proper information and hope that it gets used by the students.
I think this group did a very nice job presenting the information. As a student, I was kept engaged in several ways. I thought the boxing idea was very creative, and a nice touch with the band-aids. At the same time though, I could have guessed who would keep "winning" all the rounds after about the 4th won. I thought that in the more traditional lecture, the picture was a great way to keep interest. Those types of lectures may have students lose interest, but using the picture the way that it was, helps keep the engagement of the students. With the MovieMaker, the pictures are what kept me engaged, especially since the narrator's voice sometimes went to low for me to hear. The pictures allowed me to interpret what might be being said and to connect it with what I was able to hear.
As a teacher, I would hope that I would come across unbiased when teaching this type of material. I would hope that in some aspect, students and parents would be able to understand that I am not pushing one side over another. Also, I would hope by being exposed to multiple perspectives that it would give others a chance to view history they want to. By saying that, I mean that they have the knowledge of every aspect and can continue to chose what they want to believe, but it would be their CHOICE, not what they, bad word choice coming up but, would be 'forced' to believe. I would defend my position in teaching this material by stating that there are three sides to every story, and in history there is no exception. Now, I know that there are some people out there that I will butt heads with on this matter, but as a teacher it is my job to teach history, not what people want to hear. By doing that there will be areas that are not so nice and pretty to hear. I agree with the previous posts on how this would be done.
I was actually inspired by group 2's lesson last week. I really had to think about what comments I wanted to make on their presentation, because honestly, I thought it was great. As a student sitting in a class with any of those guys as my teacher, I think I would learn something. They all project their voice well, and just the way they carry themselves as teachers engages me. That for me is just as important as any beginning class activity. I think it's easy for students to see through people, I can remember knowing what teachers were phony and which ones were on the level. Those guys presented well, and got their points across just the same.
In terms of using Loewen's material, if it were possible, I would want to involved the students in some of their own investigation of the material. I think it would be more real and concrete to them if they found the kinds of material Loewen presents on their own as opposed to me presenting to them as fact. Giving the students a chance to form their own beliefs gives them a chance to learn and mature in their thought process as well. for me, the important thing to remember with any activity that puts "American History" in question is interpretation. Having students research for themselves allows them to investigate and again, come to their own conclusions. At the same time, by simply allowing them to do the research, it might possibly keep parents and administrators from throwing up red flags.
To reflect on my own lesson, I would have changed a few things. I know that I was demonstrating a traditional lecture, but I would have liked to of had more in depth discussions and activities. For example with the picture I passed out. I would have liked to utilize this piece in more detail, rather than mentioning it in passing manner. I would have also liked to include more activities, such as the picture, in my lesson to it richer in content. Perhaps I should have pulled back from such an information heavy lecture, and covered less material with more student interaction.
In terms of Loewen arguments in the classroom, I think they are necessary. I do not agree with trying to completely deconstruct our entire history, but a critique of it is always necessary. To examine Loewen arguments is to examine ourselves as a nation. These ideas provide us with material to be critics of ourselves. Criticism of yourself is ultimately progressive, and provides a much needed objective view of your actions and existence as a nation. Without criticism, we would always believe we are right and this is a dangerous way to think. I would relay these ideas to parents and administrators. I would argue that keeping out certain events in history would take from our students valuable information. It would cheat them of intellectual assets, and skills of self-assessment. By knowing the full scope of our history, our students will be better equipped with the skills to meet the challenges of an ever-changing world. It would enable them to become global citizens, and they would realize the danger of repeating history through conformity without inquiry.
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