The First Days of School

The first two days are always getting to know about procedures.  Important but not much fun (for me anyway).

The first PowerPoint is the one for all 600+ 7th graders.

The second PowerPoint is "This is Social Studies...Welcome to MY class."  It is the one I consider more important of the two.

To summarize: Social Studies is not just a class - it is everything that is important in life.  It is a matter of life, death, and survival.

All of the pictures are of students I had in last year's classes.  I did not encourage or discourage their participation in any of the things they chose to do.  This is what happens when people beging to understand Social Studies and it becomes personal.

• The first picture is one showing that we collected $275 to provide over 25,000 meals for children in Jamaican schools.
• The second picture is one showing one of my students protesting the idea of changing a local K-5 school into a 6th grade academy.  She later spoke directly to the School Board.
• The third picture is one showing a couple of my students protesting HB 87 (Georgia's Immigration Law).  As the high school students stood int he background, the middle school students vocalized their opinions.
• The fourth picture is one showing the march on Atlanta on July 1, where several of my former students chose to be a part of the 12,000-15,1000 people who protested HB 87.
• The video is of one of my students who was featured in newspapers in Chattanooga, Dalton, and Atlanta.  She was on TV and a national organization's website asking for her mother to be returned to her family after being arrested for having expired papers, and is an undocumented immigrant "captured" by police at a roadblock while taking her children to their soccer games.  My student spoke directly to the mayor 2 times and to the Chief of Police.  At the age of 13, she made her case.  She is still waiting to see her mother again - since the middle of April.

My class is very real.  It's not book learning, and memorization of facts.  It is about seeing patterns of history, and recognizing when they reappear in society. 

The final thoughts are at the end of the 2nd PowerPoint in the Expectations for class.  I want more than anything for my students to believe and act on the idea that they are not the hope of the future - they are the power of today.

procedures.pptx Download this file

Welcome to class.pptx Download this file

Posted via email from Room 755

Insert Your State's Governor Into This Video - It's Everywhere!

Posted via email from Room 755

Developing Solutionaries - How Facebook Makes It Happen

I like to play with words.  I believe words mean things beyond the definition.  Finding the right word is difficult...like in Throw Mama From the Train...was the night moist, wet, or sultry.

Sometimes words don't exist, so people invent new ones. 

Here's my new word for what I seek to do in my class over the course of a year, and then beyond that, as I keep in touch with my students.

I want to develop students who will be SOLUTIONARIES.

It's a morphing word of Revolutionaries who provide Solutions to problems facing their world.

I tell my students at the beginning of the school year, while their test results are fresh on their minds from the previous year, that I don't care one iota about their results on a test that requires nothing more than a 25% chance to guess right.  That goal of education is too simplistic and demonstrates the low level of expectation our government has for our students.  I've done the math...to "meet the standard" of 6th grade social studies standards requires between 51.4% and 57.2% of the answers correct on the CRCT in Georgia.  I'm sure the percentages do not change for my 7th graders (results of which I do not have access to at this point to determine how I did last year).  For me, this is entirely unacceptable, embarrassing, and a slap in the face to the students in our state.  So I don't accept that level of productivity from my students.

Instead, we discuss, debate, and argue about the complexities of the world.  This past week, we looked at a Deforestation Dilemma.  I posted a video on Facebook for my students to review.  We also watched it together in class. 

The debate topic was: The people of a certain village in Africa have requested access to acres (hectares) in the Rain Forest in order to clear the trees away so they can grow food for their village.  The desert has expanded to their land making their soil unusable.  Without new land, the people cannot grow their food, and the government cannot afford to feed more people in their country.  So what should be done?

Each class was divided into two groups: Group 1 - Give the villagers rain forest land under certain regulations, and Group 2 - Deny the village new areas, and come up with an alternative solution to feed the people.

My students thought this was simply an exercise of classroom time-making.  But then, the reality of the world entered my room.  It was awesome!

Here is the conversation (debate-like) from my post on Facebook.  I did not request my friends from high school to participate, but they did, and they brought the world into my classroom.  David Addison is currently reforesting in the Dominican Republic.  Jon Sanders is currently in Florida working to become a teacher.  The three of us graduated from high school in 1981.  Our lives reconnected within the past year, thanks to Facebook connections.

I pulled up my Facebook page in class and shared with the class the online debate.

So, you can imagine how my students responded.  They did not want class to end.  They wanted to hear more from David and his work.  They want to take him up on his invitation to come to a developing country to discuss sustainable living, reforestation, and his work.

My students became passionate about the destruction of rain forests.  They were as deeply passionate about the need to help people in need.  We haven't even gotten to the deep issues of class yet, and already they are preparing to be SOLUTIONARIES.  Thanks to Dave and Jon.

On a side note, anyone want to debate the use of Facebook in the classroom?  Trust me...you will lose that debate to a bunch of 12 and 13 year-olds.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from Room 755

Blaming Bullies for Suicides is Akin to Blaming Teachers for Failing Schools

I'm not sticking up for the bullies, but I have your attention now. 

The recent suicides are a collective tragedy.  Several teachers have chimed in.

Vicki Bell
Tom - Be ready for language, but passion like no other on the link he provides.

My addition:

NEVER TAKE A PERMANENT ACTION TO SOLVE A TEMPORARY SITUATION

I know it is cliche-like.  But many people take permanent actions in so many settings wherein with patience and perseverance, the situation will change and true growth will occur.

Suicide is the ultimate "permanent action."  There is no coming back from dead in this life.

I could go on and on about the role that violent video games, TV, movies, music, cartoons, and even Shakespeare have romanticized, glamorized, and in some ways encouraged young impressionable minds to end their life to make a point, ease the pain, or otherwise "get revenge."

There is no question that bullying plays a part in the recent suicides.  Bullies thrive on the power they receive from the action, usually because it is the only place in their lives where they feel in control of their situations.

To blame only the bullies in this setting is akin to blaming teachers for failing schools.  Here's the connection.

Before teaching, I spent a few years counseling kids through my ministry.  In a high school of about 150 students, there were 3 deaths in a single year.  None suicide, but many students were considering it as an option when they felt the "life isn't fair, so why continue" situations that everyone faces.

Kids are struggling (and always have, I suppose) with creating an identity.  They live in America where power is admired, and the race to the top is policy not just in education.  When young people do not find themselves in power, control, or are questioning their identity and place in the world (all temporary situations) the immaturity of all kids is to take a permanent action to make their voice heard among the noise.

Bullies, gays, minorities, religious outcasts, are all seeking the same thing.  The desire of power over others, circumstances, or self.  When they can't have it immediately, their hope is vanquished.  Thus, they seek a permanent solution to a situation they believe will never change.

As adults, we fuel their struggle with indifference, attitude, and culture.  I believe our kids are all seeking the same singular thing...HOPE for a better future... but have a distorted view of what hope really is.  Adults, if we are honest, our generation screwed up that hope. 

Teachers, the single best thing we can do for our students of this generation is to allow them to dream again.  I'm convinced of this.  I have 7th graders who have no idea what they want to be in life.  To me, that is the most tragic thing of this generation; they have no purpose for living, when they have no dreams.  They have been (mis)directed into believing there is only one way to success...our way.  It's time to stop this "formal, college-bound education is the answer to all our woes" mentality, and become caring humans again.

Kids are telling us what they want to know, we just refuse to listen most times.  So perhaps it's time for us to shut up, observe, listen, and love our kids again.  Stop stealing dreams and hope, and begin to inspire them to have the dreams and hopes that are buried deep within each of us. 

Posted via email from Room 755

Class Music Videos

This past Thursday, Paul & Anna Joseph came to my class again to help my students learn the countries and features they are responsible for knowing.  It is an exercise in memorization, for the most part.  They have to know and locate 53 places on a map.

I wrote some lyrics, but have no ability to play an instrument, or lead a group in singing.  We had a blast!  Last year was the first year Paul & Anna came to class.  At the end of the school year, I asked my students what I needed to continue doing and what I needed to stop doing.  Having Paul & Anna come to class was the number one thing to repeat.  That was after 8 months of seeing them.  That's how good they are.

I posted several videos on my Facebook page, and the kids "argued" over whose class was the best singers.  It was awesome.  My kids were in the zone (remember, I hate the word "engaged").

Below are the first 4 videos (of 6) that I will post here.  I had over 150 videos, with kids pointing to the locations on a projection of maps, so I'll post some of them too.

Posted via email from Room 755

Metacognition and the Repetition of Learning

I think it is important to know the big picture of your curriculum.  The teacher must know where they are taking their students, how they plan to get them to the destination (at least a temporary, annual destination - not a sense of the learning ends after the test is done), and the best routes to take along the way.

Sometimes the routes are by plane, and very direct

Currently, we are moving in in a direct manner of transportation.  Now, flying does not always mean fast, it just means direct, with no opportunity to see the sites along the way.  We are learning the countries and features that will eventually represent the learning of deeper issues for grade 7 curriculum in Social Studies.

So, we are memorizing, repeating, and having some in-flight entertainment along the way.  I begin with a list we work to memorize in order.  There are 53 items, separated into three regions.  For example:

Africa Countries

1. Egypt
2. Sudan
3. Kenya
4. South Africa
5. Nigeria
6. Democratic Republic of the Congo

We memorize them in order, with the corresponding numbers - no map (no need at this point).

We repeat as a group, as individuals, through fast-paced cold calling, in the classroom, in the hallway, in the cafeteria, at the high school football games, in the grocery store (yes all places I have "quizzed my students in the past week).

Here's a conversation at our Business Office window after school:

Me: Hi Edith!  How are you doing?
Edith: Good Mr. Murry, how are you?
Me:  I'm fine.  Hey, Africa...What's country number 3?
Edith: Ummm.  Kenya?
Me:  That's right.  Don't question what you know.  Tell me all of them, in order.
Edith: Egypt, Sudan, Kenya, South America...
Me:  What?
Edith:  South America, Nigeria...
Me:  What is number 4?
Edith South Ameri...Ohhhh.  South Africa!
Me:  That's okay, you learned that last year.  Keep going.
Edith: South AFRICA, Nigeria, DRC.
ME: Nice.
Edith: Thanks, Mr. Murry.

And this conversation is repeated about 40 times a day for me outside of class.  Sometimes on Facebook.

Sometimes the routes are by Interstate Highways

After the students have proven to me that they know the countries in order, I give them a map of each region (Africa, Middle East, Asia) with the countries numbered with the same number as they memorized the list.

Guess what, they always know which country is labeled with the corresponding number.  Then we work on the location of the countries, because the state test is not going to have the same labeling system I use.  Here is where we take more time to get spacial understanding of where our countries are located.  Students don't have to struggle with the inane, inactive, boring activity of finding countries on a map in an atlas or online.

Later, I'll provide different labels on the countries so students can practice identifying locations.

Sometimes the routes are by Scenic Highway

I think it is good for kids to memorize.  I'll not make the argument here, but will refer you to Why Students Don't Like School by Dan Willingham for an extensive reason as to why this practice is important even in (especially in) the digital age.  HINT: It saves time, and time is the most important commodity in a digital, information economy.

Knowing the spacial relationship between the countries and the physical features found there are the foundation upon which the real goal of my class is built.  We soon arrive at environmental issues, ethnic and religious tensions, governance, economics, and much more.  These are the important issues, but without being able to put a face on the issues, who will be captured by the situations and seek to make a difference?  No one.  When we discuss these issues, it is extremely important for my students (anyone really) to be able to visualize the location and geography of the areas in which people suffer.

My new motto this year: Social Studies isn't just a class, it is a matter of life, death, and survival.

By the way, my willingness to share my class on Facebook has led to numerous teachers, parents, friends, and former students to become a part of my classroom.  They send me links, respond to questions I ask my current students, and provide encouragement to me and my students.  It is awesome.

For instance: The teacher across the hallway from me, Mrs. Ott, a young, energetic science teacher who is a graduate from the University of Florida sent me an article of a young man, Thomas Maresco, who was murdered in Lesotho this weekend.  Why would she send me this?  Because she knows I want my students to go into the world and make a difference in the lives of people everywhere.  But there is danger in doing so.  It takes courage to do what is right, and my students will know the risks because I have caring friends who help me teach my students.

I am finding that having several people help me plan and teach my class by providing information, differing opinions, videos, and encouragement are making this teaching thing even more fun than it already was for me.

Posted via email from Room 755

What My Students Could Teach The DOE

I teach 7th grade students.  Our topic is Social Studies.

We begin the year with Concepts under which most of the curriculum fall.  One concept is Movement.

What they have to know: Movement or migration of people or ideas affects all societies involved.  Fine

It's 3rd period.  I ask how many students were NOT born in our town.  Half the hand raise.  I choose one young lady and I ask, "Why did YOU move to Dalton?"  I emphasize YOU, because I need for them to understand that some people move because they are forced to move (like children with their parents).  So I await the common wrong answer, because I like wrong answers more than right answers (that's when the learning happens).  She looks up at me.  Squints a little.  And within a second replies, "Fidel Castro."

Well...there goes my plan.  But teaching is an ART not a science.  So I stare at each face in my classroom.  Totally quiet for what must seem to them hours, but was really only about 5 seconds of glaring silence.  Then I whisper, "What was your answer?"

"Fidel Castro. I'm from Cuba."

They students learned about Castro's Cuba last year.  They had an idea.

So I asked how old she was.  "Little" she said.

My next class period, I teach her twin sister.  Wanting to find out more about the family without outright asking (it's an art, you know), I ask the same series of questions.  I get to the sister's seat.  "Why did YOU move to Dalton?"

Her reply, "Fidel, Mr. Murry."

The girls had not spoken to each other between classes.  It is who they are, who their family is, and they comprehend more about this concept of movement than most anyone from the DOE could possibly understand from an experiential level.

I thought the day would be a less emotionally charged in my final class.  I just had two heavy classes in a row.  But it was just the experience of one family.

Next period arrives, and I go through my happy-go-lucky pace of questioning.  "Who in this class moved here from somewhere else?" I query.

Half the hands raise.  It's the end of the day, and frankly, I a little exhausted, so I choose a girl up front.  I know her sisters, I taught one in Computer class 6 years ago.  I knew they were sweet kids, and have met their mother once.

"So, why did YOU move here? Tell the class, but be careful this could be seen as a trick question.  No one has answered correctly (based on the curriculum) yet today.  This is our last chance," I say as I draw the urgency of getting an easy correct answer.

"Saddam Hussein," She says.  "I'm Kurdish."

This was our Tuesday.

So the next day, I feel it is important to debrief my first two classes with what occurred.  Word had gotten out (they follow my Facebook posts with their parents), but I wanted to make sure my students knew who was next to them at their lockers.

My first class understood, as I told them we have living history in our midst.  Treat each other right.

Second period comes in.  I tell them the story, and I notice a young lady, who saw my post on Facebook the evening before, crying.  Not teary eyed - crying.  I asked if she was hurt.  No.  "Are you okay?"

"My parents, grandfather, and uncle came from Cuba in a small boat.  My uncle did not make it.  The sharks..." she told us.  I was born in Miami.

So I concluded my classes knowing that my kids' families have experience more than what they are expected to know.  There were some tears shed this week in class.

My mantra is louder than ever.  No matter what people will say, like math and reading are the most important subjects (those are the test scores that count), or we must compete globally in math and science or we will lose more ground in economic (social studies) dominance, I still maintain SOCIAL STUDIES IS THE MOST IMPORTANT SUBJECT WE CAN BE TEACHING THIS GENERATION. 

So I ended my classes by saying, "Social Studies isn't just a class you take, it is a matter of Life and Death and Survival.  Welcome to Mr. Murry's Class."

By the way, people move because they are forced (children, slaves, etc.), out of necessity (disasters), and for opportunities (jobs).  Kind of sound like low expectations all of a sudden, doesn't it?

Posted via email from Room 755

Coming Up This Week in Room 755

Friday the 13th of August was our first day of school.  It was a 1/2 day.  And frankly, it was a little messy.  Oh well.  As long as students got my invitation letter to their class's Parent Night, I'll be happy...and if they have their supplies on Monday.

Here's what coming this week.

Monday - I'll be introducing the class and some procedures for class.  They will also set up their Composition Books for the year. 

I always do something to demonstrate how I run my class.  I am gong to introduce the clip below - "It's the hard that makes it great" from Tom Hanks's speech to Geena Davis in A League of Their Own.  Teaching 7th grade (for 15 years now) I am seeing how important it is for students to understand that it does get more difficult to do well (or it should) in school.  But it is the hard work, the struggle, that will separate my students from the crowd (not just in our building, but in our region, state, and country).  I do expect my students to be different and behave differently.  So here's Tom Hanks to help. 

Tuesday - We'll begin looking at our connecting themes for the year.  The first one, and the one I come back to nearly every day, is Conflict leads to Change.  And generally speaking, change is what starts the conflict, so it is a cycle.  I do introduce a bigger hook, that it is their world to make a difference.  My generation messed it up, and their generation will have to clean it up.  Odd thing: I think they will do it.  I think our young generation will see through the stupidity of my generation (consumerism, status, environmental disregard, and testing to determine value) and change it.  If they don't...

Today, I'll let Adam Sandler help me introduce the concept of conflict.

Wednesday - Our second theme is Culture; what it is, what difference it makes in society.  This is always fun for me, because our school has had students who were born in over 50 countries around the world.  Traditions, religion, customs, cuisine, and language is something our students naturally understand.  We have a good time comparing the beauty and weirdness of our cultures and families.

I use Fools Rush In and My Big Fat Greek Wedding to compare and contrast cultures.

http://dms7ss.pbworks.com/Culture+-+Video+of+Mexican+and+Greek+Culture

Thursday - Students have an assignment early in the week to find out as much as they can about where their family is from (heritage), why they live in Dalton, and what brought their families to the region.  Today we look at Human-Environment Interaction, Location, and Movement as themes for the year.  This introduces them to the idea that people live where they live for a reason, at least when they have the freedom of movement.  This becomes a great hook when we look at Darfur, apartheid, Mao's China, and other times of closed societies.  No videos today.  I introduce rules for class discussions and reflections today.

Friday - The concept today is Governance.  We look at the wording of the Declaration of Independence and discuss why governance is important in society.  We learn throughout the year that when there is no governance chaos ensues.  People create chaos because the see opportunities for power.  Eventually, the citizens get tired of the fighting, killing, and unrest and (in the countries we study) generally cave in to tyrants.

I'll draw something like I did in this video.

That should make for a busy and rewarding first week.

Posted via email from Room 755