Mrs. Slaviero's Blog

Student Historians completed their video analysis of one year of the Civil War today. Students needed to have time to also vote for their classroom winner but most groups worked until the end of the hour so voting today wasn't possible. (My classes were asked to enter a district-wide video contest for the first time this year.  It was almost-perfect timing--I'd already had this video planned but we were up against the contest deadline and need to submit our overall winner Wednesday. We had a field trip, a career planning program, and guest speaker in the interim!) My solution to get the voting done in time--I think I flipped my class! (Who knew?) Students uploaded their videos to our Schoology page today. I downloaded the videos and uploaded them into folders by hour so that students could view them. Students now need to view all 6 of their class videos tonight or before school tomorrow and, using Google Forms, vote on the one winner from their class. I will compile results t...

Student Historians started their Civil War investigation this week. Teams were each given one year of the war from 1860-1865 (1860 was included because of the significant events that directly impacted the war) and will rank and justify 3 events they believe impacted the end of the war.  Project-based learning never gets old for me as an instructor. I find such joy in seeing the students interact, think deeply, and work together. I move from group to group questioning and guiding while team members sort through primary sources, storyboards, and apps and discuss and debate with one another. The sense of purpose is palpable and our class minutes tick away productively.  Today team members each chose one of five project roles: Producer, Director, Screenwriter, Special Effects Director, and, of course, Historian. Tomorrow each role will have specific tasks to complete, including deciding on the overall tone for the year being studied and developing justification for this t...

I found out that my 8th Grade Homeroom teacher passed away this week. This made me think back to all that I remembered about her. For years she was the teacher I'd always hoped I'd get when I was in 8th Grade (I went to a 1st-8th Grade school so I'd known of her for many years)--she was smart, fun, artistic, printed so neatly, and always dressed so nicely. I was fortunate (so was my twin--we were in her homeroom, together for the first time in our school career) to find myself in her room. What struck me, though, once I was in her class, was how much she cared about teaching and her students. I learned so much about Science from her but, more importantly, I learned how to lead. I was a shy, awkward teen but she saw my potential. I earned a leadership role and went to a 2nd grade classroom everyday that year to help with lunch and recess. I never saw myself as a teacher but she did and that experience probably laid the groundwork for my career today. The irony, though, i...

Discussions with two of my 8th Graders yesterday led to this post. One of my students, a wonderful young man I will call Michael, and I were talking at the end of class when the topic of career choices came up. He mentioned to me that he was now discouraged about his choice. It seems an adult he had had a conversation with didn't feel he should want attempt to be a professional hockey player when he gets older. I stated that maybe this adult was concerned he didn't have a "Plan B" to fall back on in case of injury but Michael explained to me that he will go to college regardless of a hockey career. He is an excellent and committed student, I have no doubt he will do just that. Another student in the same class period surprised me with his creativity and ingenuity: he created a homemade "fidget spinner". He took note of the latest fad to hit Middle School and decided to create one himself. I marveled at the details--a round Styrofoam disc with ball bearing...

The Student Historians that competed at the Michigan History Day State Competition have so much to be proud of! They presented their projects and answered the judges' questions with detailed and knowledgeable responses.  The final results revealed that two of the three projects placed 3rd in the State of Michigan in their division and these students were alternates in case one of the top two entrants was unable to attend the National History Day Competition this June! (They found out today that the Finalists in their categories will all be attending and their projects are no longer needed this year.) Every one of my Student Historians has now capped off a fantastic year of learning and can look back on their experience with a great sense of accomplishment. Each and every one of my students created a persuasive and analytical project on a person in US History that was significant to them . I couldn't ask for anything more! My goal was to replicate a Genius Hour project ...