Mrs. Slaviero's Blog

  Stretching the thinking in History education sometimes happens spontaneously. A few years ago I found a resource from the incredible iCivics site related to the role presidents play in government, featuring examples from the early years of the nation, and the first four presidents. It became a great review of the big picture events of these presidents, their roles in building a strong nation, as well as a review of the Three Branches of Government. Students read the scenarios and decided if the examples represented Stable Finances, Peaceful Politics, or Self-Defense. I decided to extend the learning on the moment and took a poll as to which of the three students felt was most important. The next task was to calculate the percentages and create a pie chart with the poll data. The result was a strong opportunity to strengthen students' learning in a different way. This year teaching hybrid (teaching students synchronously in-seat and virtually simultaneously) makes planning more ...

  One of the bright spots this year is the opportunity to offer individualized help to students in a different format on a regular basis. It's called Student Support and runs four days a week after school. This is the chance for students to ask questions and for me to reteach concepts in a small group or individual setting on Zoom. I will regularly check for missing work or low grades on assignments, then either individually chat students that are virtual or email in-seat students to encourage them to attend (so as not to call students out in front of their peers). I have a decent amount attending most days.  Students will sometimes attend because they say it's a good place to still feel like they're in school and work, even if it's in a breakout room. I encourage them to turn off other devices and set aside time for them to take care of school responsibilities. (Devices and other distractions are a huge issue, as you can imagine.) I feel it's important for me to ke...