Mrs. Slaviero's Blog

  My reflections this week are all about leveraging technology to positively impact students and their learning. My Language Support Historians built community by creating and viewing persuasive newscasts about the geographical regions that make up the United States. Students had the choice of using either the TouchCast app or the new (to me) green screen technology in Apple iMovie.  Writing, speaking, and critical thinking skills were practiced and community building occurred when viewing. Each student wrote two compliments for each video (including their own video) and shared out.  My US History 8 Historians are in the midst of researching their National History Day projects. Classes are combined every hour at this point in the project so I get to interact with close to 300 students! It's so exciting to hear how they are interpreting this year's theme (Breaking Barriers in History) and the subjects they're researching. Last year I kept noticing that I...

It's been a bumpier start to the school year than previous years. I'm not writing this to complain, but rather to state that the wait for this week's developments has been worth it. This has been a week of wonder for me. My Language Support students are getting more acclimated. I'm hearing them talk about "our school" and claim ownership of the many opportunities they've had to represent us and our school community this quarter. What also warms my heart is the way they are seeking independence in their learning in our History classroom. They will begin to grow as learners even more now that this is becoming our norm. Small gains, such as one student finding the theme song to the current events news program we start our class with so that he can use it in his newscast project, mean so much. The US History classes are beginning National History Day projects in earnest this week. I'm meeting my colleagues' students now that we are combini...

We have had a busy week! Students in US History participated in a Gallery Walk, examining primary and secondary sources related to some of the battles of the American Revolution. We also reviewed the concept of propaganda and applied that concept to some of the sources. This important understanding will assist students during their National History Day work.  Student Historians also used the National Archives DocsTeach app to analyze multiple primary sources about Valley Forge. They needed to figuratively weigh the evidence on a scale as to whether or not the documents would make them quit the Continental Army or encourage them to stay.  This exercise is beneficial for many reasons. One is that the students are working and thinking on a continuum.  Being able to weigh evidence is a critical life skill (and citizenship skill). Preparing students to problem solve in this way will benefit them, regardless of their career path. I was impressed to see th...

One of my greatest professional accomplishments was the day I certified as a National Board Teacher. My Cooperating Teacher is an NBCT and after witnessing the impact she had on her students (and me) it became one of my top bucket list accomplishments when I was hired twenty four years ago. One of my closest colleagues achieved certification eleven years ago, she and other colleagues convinced me to attempt and I certified in 2011. It's hard to believe but it's been close to ten years since my initial certification and I became a renewal candidate this school year. My initial certification cycle consisted of four portfolio entries, two unedited videos (one of me teaching small group activities, the other of me teaching a whole class activity), and six Assessment Center tests covering pedagogy and Social Studies-History concepts such as how to understand and teach primary sources to students. (The tests were stressful--candidates are required to go to a testing site and t...

The classroom structure and routine I'm trying to build with my Language Support students paid off this week.  My English Language Learner mentor advised me to emphasize structure for these students. It's important in general but especially with students new to America and in need of the stability structure provides. I decided to begin each class period with a current event news story. The students view one story twice and attempt a summary listing the who, what, where, why, how, and when. We then discuss as a class. This strategy employs listening, speaking, and writing skills--3 of the 4 components of language learning.  I felt this was only working to an extent--the story content is often intricate and we couldn't always answer all of the elements. I kept the procedure going, though and was hopeful.  Thursday, on a whim, I asked a student to lead us in our discussion. That felt stilted to me and I wondered if the class wasn't ready to tackle the discussion...

Today my Student Historians started to create a One-Pager. One-Pagers are new to me, but English Language Arts teachers have been using them for some time. These graphic organizers promote deep learning and creativity, and is a meaningful way to have students show what they know. The focus of our One-Pager is Thomas Paine's "Common Sense". Students translated six quotes yesterday, rewrote them into 21st Century language, and discussed these tricky meanings together as a class. These primary source quotes are now at the heart of the One-Pager. My Historians needed to select one of the quotes and bring it to life in their project. A template isn't necessary for One-Pagers but I believe at this point in the year my students need the structure a template provides. I found out that most of my students (like me!) had never created One-Pagers before. I searched and searched last night for a One-Pager template that was free and easily accessible, but had no luck.  I ...

There is so much happening in our classroom this month! US History students are learning about the work of historians through the Stanford History Education Group's "Thinking Like a Historian" series. This program is serving to add to our academic language in the classroom this year. We are also studying the pre-Revolution and the Revolutionary War. Our study centers around "March Madness"-style brackets.  Student groups are analyzing people, places, ideas, and events of the time period through seeding and regional tournaments. The ranking necessary to complete these regionals isn't easy! Students develop their rankings and topics independently, then they need to prove to their group mates the importance between, for example, a three seed versus a six seed. The elimination rounds are full of animated voices and students scrambling to locate factual justifications in our materials and create an agreed-upon set of topics and a winner. The first two ...

The school year is off to a great start! My US History 8 students are starting the year learning the academic vocabulary we will refer to throughout the course.  The Thinking Like a Historian plans from the Stanford History Education Group are an excellent resource, their class activities are student-centered and relevant. These history terms will be supplemented with a few concepts from AP classes, too. I am making a Word Wall and we will add to it throughout the year. I am greatly enjoying my first time teaching the Language Support-History class, too. These students from Grades 6, 7, and 8 are so eager to learn! We've started our study with learning about maps and directions. We've used Google Earth and Google Maps to research the streets in our city and how to give directions. These lessons will support tomorrow's first field trip--we are taking a tour of our city! We are going to the Library, Police Station, City Hall, and Civic Center. It will be exciting t...

The iMovies are completed. As I'm viewing them I'm struck at the talent and creativity of my Student Historians.  Groups of students studied one year of the war, ranked three events from that year they believe impacted the end of the war, found primary source documents from each of these events (including at least one Mathew Brady photograph), drafted explanations of the events, and composed and explained an original piece of music on GarageBand. Their music compositions needed to exemplify  the tone of their year of the war.  I will share projects over the next few days, here is one outstanding example. Bravo students!

It's time for a change. I will be teaching a new (to me) class in the fall. I'm going to be the Language Support-History teacher in our building. I will have 6th, 7th, and 8th Grade English Learners in my class and together we will study both World and US History.  I couldn't be more excited! This class will combine my backgrounds in teaching History, Foreign Language (German), and my deep passion for character education for the first time in my career.  The year will begin with a study of our world, moving into learning about North America, the United States, our state of Michigan, our city, and our school. I will learn from and collaborate closely with two amazing educators, our school ELL Coordinator and ELL Parapro. Our District-level English Language Coordinator is outstanding and I can already tell we will work very well together, too. We have some exciting plans and I'm starting to formulate ideas and possibilities for day-to-day activities.   ...

The last month of school is upon us. For 8th Grade teachers in a 6th-8th Grade Middle School this isn't just the end of the school year, it's the end of Middle School for our students.  This time of year always brings on a range of emotions for my students--they're happy, nervous, excited, unsure. Change, even good change, can be a challenge. Processing these feelings isn't easy but I hope the next few weeks will bring some help by asking my students to complete a LEGACY Reflection. This is the third year my students have written these reflections and the second year all 8th Graders in the building are completing them. I've enjoyed going into all of the classes to begin this project.  My hope is that I successfully plant the idea in our students that they are the ones that set the tone for their Middle School legacy. This can and should be empowering.   The first reflection centered around a definition of legacy and a focus on leadership. Stu...

This video is an example of how students benefit from cross-curricular opportunities in learning. These Student Historians created an exceptional graph analysis combining their understanding of History and their knowledge of Mathematics to produce a project that thoroughly explains their awareness of the Big Picture ideas present in American during the Early 1800s. They were able to use a math graphic site to create a detailed graph, event though that wasn't a requirement.  My outcomes for students was that they understood the concepts of Nationalism and Sectionalism present in America during this time period and that they realized that there were events that led the United States to the Civil War. All students were able to show their understanding of these concepts, all were also able to do this in ways that made sense to them. Differentiated instruction enables students of all levels and abilities to shine. I will have more examples to share soon. #innovationforthewin

Student Historians began a thematic assessment yesterday. I have implemented this assessment for a few years now, adding more specifics each year. This assessment requires students to examine examples of growth and change in early American History, from the Presidency of George Washington to the Missouri Compromise.  Students ranked each of the events using a scale of -4 to +4 and explained their rankings. This is a sophisticated skill--they need to explain why, for example, a positive event that rated a 3 in their view wasn't a 4 but also wasn't an example of a negative change for the country. (They will also need to describe their positive events in terms of nationalism and the negative events will more than likely be examples of sectionalism, a concept that ultimately leads to the Civil War in the 1860s.)  When rankings were complete students received a graph and plotted their points. The next steps of this project completely take me out of my comfort zone--stude...

I've been utilizing blackout poetry as a means of assessing knowledge for a few years now  because it's one of the best ways to assess deep understanding of a topic. Yesterday's classwork was no exception. I've never used music from the hit musical "Hamilton" in my classroom before. I've wanted to but planning lessons seemed daunting because, frankly, many of the songs aren't student-friendly. I located a friendly version and decided to take the plunge--I'm so glad I did! We listened to and annotated the song two days ago and then wrote our poems yesterday. We are studying the New Nation and the seeds of discord surrounding Hamilton and Jefferson. The song "Cabinet Battle #1" tells the story of the negotiations into paying off state debts in the Northern states, creating the National Bank, and the creation of Washington DC (exciting, right?) I've never particularly cared for teaching this time period but I do now, thanks t...

Student Historians recently presented their National History Day projects to our school community. Thanks to the support from our 6th and 7th Grade Social Studies teachers, 8th Grade students were able to successfully defend their theses to their peers. The 7th Graders can see what they will be asked to do next year and the 6th Graders can use these projects as a spring board for their student-centered projects they will complete within the next month. Each grade reflected on the event and related it to what they knew, as well. It was also a wonderful community-building activity. National History Day projects are so meaningful to me because they are, at heart, Genius Hour projects within the content area of History. I promised myself this year's focus would be on helping students hone their passions and I believe this was achieved. Middle Schoolers need to find who they are and what they're about. Delving into what's important to them will help on their journe...