Mrs. Slaviero's Blog

 After a few months of virtual classes we are now back to hybrid learning (teaching both in-seat and virtual students simultaneously). It is once again going to be an adjustment. One bright spot is that, even with another schedule change my students know that we are working on our National History Day projects. This consistency amidst change has been helpful.  Projects are due next week. That has the potential to cause stress in students, at least until I clarify how close they are to a completed project, before they feel they've started. We have worked on their final project for weeks now, my students just haven't yet realized it. The assignments at the end of first quarter focused on the context of their project. Students had to research and use the engineering design process to learn and explain the context of their historical event. This piece of the project took a few class days to complete.  The second assignment was this year's National History Day graphic organiz...

 My students' National History Day projects are coming along, better than expected, if I'm honest. There are a few factors that are definitely helping--these students created projects last year in their Ancient Civilizations class. How fortunate that our 7th Grade teachers saw the value in these projects last year! It makes this undertaking less daunting for these now 8th Graders. It's just as challenging a project, but my students know what to expect and that makes a huge difference. The wealth of incredible resources from the National History Day and state History Day organizations make my role run so much more smoothly. These historians help teachers focus on guiding our students through their studies and I couldn’t do it without their help. Another factor is that the foundation has been set and my students understand I am there to support them. The student-centered classroom I strive for every year has been replicated as much as possible in the virtual environment. I am...

Happy New Year! January has been full of meaningful opportunities for learning! Eighth Grade Student Historians presented their Breaking Barriers in History National History Day projects to their 6th and 7th Grade peers recently. A special thank you to Learning Village--Michigan History Day's fearless leader, Ms. Amy Bradfield, our Media Specialist, Mrs. Chatel, our 8th Grade Language Arts teachers, Mrs. Galbraith, Mrs. Pagnani, and Mrs. Wright, and our Special Education teachers Mrs. Ritter, and Ms. Bard, for all of your help in making this day possible! It is always exciting to share learning but this year's work is taking on a special purpose--7th Graders and Language Support-History students will, for the first time at our school, complete modified NHD projects themselves later this school year. The 8th Graders will serve as mentors during this process. I am very eager to work with my students in this leadership capacity! Eighth Graders are continuing the...

  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...

Student Historians have been very busy these past few weeks. We are spending our time on the three branches of government and on our National History Day projects. It's always rewarding to have students learn about how our government works and I've used two resources to help this year: the Constitution graphic novel we used last year and, thanks to my newest US History colleague's suggestion--an amazing website called iCivics  . iCivics is an engaging and interesting way to help students learn about the US Government and I would like to utilize it more next year. I'm also happy to see that the website covers more areas that we learn about this year.  NHD is going quite well. The payoff for students and me is manifesting itself on a daily basis--I'm getting to know 8th Graders that aren't in my classes and building connections with the grade level as a whole, helping students through the "just tell me the answer" phase of learning, encouraging ...

Student Historians have been busy reflecting on their project and thinking about their work so far as they completed "The State of My Project" reflections. (The title is a take on the Presidential  "State of the Union" Address.)  Students were asked to let their classmates know what topic they've settled on, what the approximate start and end date of their project topic is, how they feel their research is going so far, showing us their 4 Ts graphic organizer work at this point (especially the "triumph" and "tragedy"), and to let us know about any Aha moments or tips they may have for their classmates. These quick presentations are really going well (we're doing a few each day). It's providing us the opportunity to celebrate the learning that's taken place, giving students the chance to publicly reflect on their work, and to learn from one another as they provide tips or share moments when things started to "click...

This week's National History Day work centered around staff /guest collaboration and giving students the opportunity to explore their interests. The reason I first dove into National History Day projects three years ago was because of the success my students found when I introduced Genius Hour into an elective class I used to teach. Genius Hour centers around students researching subjects that interest them and sharing their knowledge with the world. I spent the summer of 2016 planning how to replicate that in my US History classes when, unbeknownst to me, it already existed. I stumbled upon the National History Day website and the rest is history (pun intended). While I am tremendously proud of my NHD work with my students I feel that we've moved away from making these historical passion projects. This year I'm emphasizing the concept that my students should determine their interests first , then relate the history to their passion.  Tuesday's Speed T...

Our National History Day journey began in all US History classes this week.  I am always striving to improve and streamline my lesson plans and I've realized how essential this blog is for that purpose. Last year's posts (and their labels) were extremely helpful as I continue to hone our NHD work. All History classes were combined for two mini-lessons to begin to delve into this year's theme of "Triumph and Tragedy in History". Student Historians defined both terms and began to think of examples of triumphs, tragedies, and of topics that relate to both. I am once again very excited after seeing initial student topic ideas--they are interested in a wide range of local and national topics from Early Explorers to 21st Century issues. Starting slow helps to set the stage for choosing a topic that is relevant and interesting to the student, it also lessens the chance of explaining this project all at once and potentially overwhelming them. This experience ...

As my Student Historians prepare for their Capstone Portfolio interviews in May I have been reflecting on my second National History Day journey. Students are expected to have three pieces of work from each content area represented in their portfolio. Their NHD projects should take a prominent place in their History portfolio section for a multitude of reasons, most of which relate to the concepts in the 6 Cs of Education: Critical Thinking, Communication, Citizenship, Character Education, Creativity, and Collaboration. Critical Thinking This component is embedded in National History Day projects. Student Historians are expected to utilize higher-order thinking skills as they research topics they are interested in and break down the year's theme related to their topics. Students need to write a persuasive thesis, evaluate sources for reliability, use those sources to prove their thesis, and create a project within this Project-Based Learning model. They must be digital think...

Our first foray into preparing for National History Day went really well last week. I saw every 8th Grader throughout the day for a mini-lesson and front loading the topic with the students was definitely the way to proceed! The Explain Everything worked really well and afforded students the opportunity to brainstorm without worrying about the specifics of the contest--they could just spend some time thinking about US History. The image above is proof that our students do have a working knowledge of US History, my job now is to help them find topics that fit the theme and that have primary sources to support their eventual theses. Another critical role for me is to make sure the student finds a topic they are passionate about. I always need to remember this learning journey is based on Genius Hour. They will spend many hours researching and learning about their topic, it must be something they care about. My task this week is to introduce the main components of the project, th...

One of my Student Historians, I'll call her Sarah, hasn't had success selecting a person that took a stand in history for her National History Day project. Sarah is a great student but her topic choices, while extremely admirable, aren't helping her find success and momentum. She's wanted to focus on her grandfather's military experience but it seems she isn't finding primary sources like we both thought she would. I had a heart-to-heart with her yesterday and now realize that she really wants to focus on this relative because it's meaningful to her but also  to her family . She wants to honor her relative but that isn't giving her momentum with her project because military history isn't her passion. I had her take a step back and asked her to fill out a questionnaire I've used with my Genius Hour students (this questionnaire leads students to focus on their passions). Through reflection, Sarah realized that she should focus on a ballet danc...

I value the use of checklists. They help me to organize and prioritize my life roles and there's nothing like the feeling of accomplishment when I check off my tasks as completed! I have created checklists for students dozens of times in my career--they help to make big projects more manageable and make expectations clear. I had an epiphany yesterday, though, as I was planning my Genius Hour/National History Day activities for students: I need to have students create their own checklists . If my one of my goals for National History Day projects is to give students the opportunity to create a project of their own choosing why am I deciding how they organize and plan their workdays? It was well-intended but I realized when  they prioritize their tasks they will truly be in charge of their learning experience. I gave each student a process checklist, emphasized looking at the contest rules, and then each student received a blank checklist to turn in a the end of the h...

The National History Day projects are moving along in a timely manner and we are on schedule. Thankfully, there are many Michigan and National History Day resources available for us and my main task is to determine what resources we will utilize and timing their usage.  I have created a check list for students to use tomorrow to help them stay focused. Students will finalize their project topic and their type of project. They will also create a digital database to house their primary and secondary resources. Our district Media Specialists have collaborated on a National History page for students, as well (http://troymiddleschoolmediacenter.weebly.com/national-history-day.html). (Thank you!)  Student Historians will begin to collect sources and also use my OPVL analysis form to analyze the value of one of their documents (see below).  The classroom energy on our NHD workdays is particularly lively and energetic--project-based learning is outstanding on so many...

Introducing National History Day today to my Student Historians went very well! I started each class with two short writing prompts (ones that would front-load students and prepare them for the 2017 theme):  What does it mean to take a stand? How do you feel when you take a stand? After class discussion partner groups were asked to come up with examples of people/groups taking a stand throughout History and those were added to a class graphic organizer. I mentioned to students my journey through Genius Hour in Effective Teens, the need to include this concept in US History, and my finding the National History Day competition. I then briefly walked them through the theme (Taking a Stand in History) and a rough project time frame. We ended the hour with student topic research and an online Schoology discussion about possible topics. Students were excited and it was fun to see them make the connection between our discussion and the project theme. My goals were to excite, n...

Students need opportunities to completely take charge of their learning but this could prove difficult to do in a content-area class like US History. I taught Effective Teens, a leadership elective class, for eight years and one of the most powerful components of the class occurred when I implemented Genius Hour two years ago. Genius Hour bases itself on the Google 20% Time work model, where employees are given 20% of their workweek to focus on projects they are interested in. I saw the tremendous benefits of Genius Hour in Effective Teens and knew I needed to bring this model to my US History students, as well. After researching History/Genius Hour blends this summer I came across the National History Day Competition and realized it's the perfect way to combine student-centered, project-based learning opportunities in our content area. I will introduce the project tomorrow and make sure that I do not overwhelm students--I will introduce the 2017 theme help students narrow dow...