Synthesis and a Collaborative Site

Collaborative website as set up by teacher. Students added pages based on class.

Synthesis is an essential skill that is present on the AP Language and Composition exam. Unlike the Rhetorical analysis, this skill doesn't explicitly parallel a skill that has been previously talked about in English classes. While students have been taught to research and argue, they rarely have heard the term "synthesize". This is a skill that I think a lot of students struggle with, in part, because they don't understand that simply repeating an answer isn't becoming a more critical or knowledgable thinker. In order to practice for synthesis, I try to replicate the idea through conversation. Using a multitude of texts, we engage in a discussion about a question. This requires that we understand multiple points of view, we bring in evidence, and we expand on that evidence with our own experiences.

My goal in designing this task was to take the skills of synthesis and break them down into smaller parts. I also wanted students to share their understanding in a collaborative site--meaning we could all see each others work. In my thinking, this would help us investigate MANY sources without taking valuable class time. Students were divided into groups of 3-4 for this assignment. While they were able to complete the tasks and use the technology, I don't think we effectively were able to connect all of the pieces.

Reflections for next year:
1. Regardless of the time, students need access to all of the texts.
2. There needs to be more focus and modeling on source analysis
3. Summaries need to be expanded. This was an issue with some groups and I'm not sure if it was timing or a lack of effort. Either way, I want to remedy this.
4. I need to brainstorm other ways to make this actual tool more useful, as opposed to a tool of substitution.

The biggest regret and lesson of this task is the final piece of discussion. Students struggled to adopt another's voice. I knew this would be a challenge, but, looking back now, I'm not sure if is a challenge we needed to go through at all. I think a discussion with a focus on using text would be more efficient.  

Here is the link to the collaborative site. Each class had their own page to work from. I would like to build this site throughout the remainder of the year, hence why it is set up as a year-long site as opposed to a one-time project.

Thinking about Expanding Technology

So I am well into the second quarter of a new school year. I've thought a lot about blogging--even venturing to create a new blog--but I haven't been able to find the same commitment to the process as I had last year. In a genuine effort to pick back up with my blogging reflection, I am returning back to this blog. I figure that I can be inspired by previous posts.

This year I have been teaching some new text and some texts that I am have taught previously. Even with these texts that I have previously taught, I am really pushing myself to create more effective lessons. In some cases, technology has been really helpful. I realize that last year I used a lot of technology for the sake of using technology. For example, for Huck Finn, I had students create a video representation of one scene. The idea is that students would explore a thematic element of the scene by recreating the scene in a more modern interpretation. This didn't really work because students had a hard time re-envisioning the scenes. I also noted that students picked scene that were common to our class discussion. This assignment seemed like filler rather than a meaningful activity that taught critical thinking. Given that I only I have one prep, I feel that it is important that I really step up my game.

This year I decided that we would focus on using technology in a way that enhanced critical skills. In order for me to do this, I need to break down what I want students to do by the end of the unit while also figuring out how that skill can be divided into smaller skills. For example, I want students to build rhetorical analysis skills. Given that we're reading a fiction piece, this skill has to be done through the lens of a literary analysis. I realize that I ask students to do incredibly complicated things but sometimes they just don't know how. Students have a literary analysis paper to write, but as I was getting submissions for topic proposals I noticed that many were summaries of the book or (worse) they were sociological papers with a very lose connection to Huck Finn. To take a step back, I figured we needed to look at what "close reading" for analysis looks like. I also needed to model this myself.

I wanted to lay out visually what an analysis is and how it is a process...not just an answer. To get what I wanted I needed to show them what it should look like. I went to my bag of technology resources and brainstormed what tool could help students see analysis. I decided to use Smore. Using this tool, I made my own analysis of a famous example of satire seen in Huck Finn--the Duke's Hamlet soliloquy. Going through this process myself, I realized what students needed to do to understand a text: 1. summarize; 2. hypothesize a purpose for the specific part of the text; 3. Find devices; 4. Explain how those devices lead to an appeal; 5. Tie the appeal to a purpose. After all of this they needed to understand how their passage worked in the entire context of the novel. I figured I could visualize this step-by-step process and perhaps students will begin to internalize these skills (and understand that they all work together).



Above is my sample Smore. In addition to the 5 skills I outlined above, I also wanted students to understand how their own literary analysis should be framed. They will need a conclusion. I want the conclusion to be more than just a repeat of their introduction. The idea I have is that an introduction should give the reader food for thought. So to get students thinking about a so what, I wanted them to create discussion questions...this in itself is a hard skill, so I'm not sure what the product will be.

Finally, to model good digital citizenship, I cited all of my images. This was a pain, but I am happy I did this. I told my students how I thought it was difficult and that it had taken me a lot of time (it really did!), but that it was worth it. I noticed on this assignment, there was a lot less complaining about citations and finding the source material. I think this is because of the model. I think if I show a clear investment in the product (other than I just want it done) I will get better work. I will keep working on this as I move forward.

Creating Lessons for a Tech Visit Day

Here is an example of a Tackk that I have created for today's lesson. I know that today is a Technology Visit and I have really been trying hard to have something different for each visit. I know that the people coming to my classroom are new, and any technology activity would seem new, but for the students it can get repetitive. All classes today use technology and I want it to be a lesson that they are growing from. My thinking was that a Tackk could allow for students to work at their own pace. This also allows me to use several different measures for student learning.

Students will first respond to an informational text (good practice for their next assessment). Afterwards, students will move on to reflecting on the novel as a whole to find examples of the "coming of age story." Students will do this in a padlet so that they can see each other's work and get more ideas. Afterwards, students will read and move to their blog for responses. The final task will include a pre-reading question for Chapter 23 (which will read tomorrow).

While I believe this gives students the opportunity to work at a pace best for them, I am nervous that it will be boring and that they will not work diligently. I will have to monitor constantly to ensure that students are working on this task. I may also have to pause the entire class to ensure that they have a sufficient understanding of the definition of a "coming of age text."

Digital Portfolios and In Cold Blood

For my final "big" novel study for AP Language, students are studying Truman Capote's In Cold Blood. I have found this to be a nice transition from As I Lay Dying. Students find the read to be much easier and the plot enjoyable. I also like this text because it is the definitive "non-fiction novel" (my words...an probably Truman Capote's too). Students unknowingly get challenged to think about sourcing and what discrepancies may exist between sources. This is particularly useful for the synthesis portion of their AP exam, so I also paired the unit with synthesis review. Because we're so close to the AP exam, I also wanted to ensure that students were conscience of the skills needed so they could be aware of what they need to practice.

With all of this in mind, I set forth to try an ensure that I designed an assessment for In Cold Blood that mirrored these skills. What I developed was a 3 part project, each focusing on a different element of the AP exam. Students had to first complete a source analysis--key to writing strong synthesis essays. They also needed to know how to do visual analysis (another particularly difficult component of the synthesis essay. In order to do this, students found a visual, analyzed it using a Thinklink and then completed an O-P-V-L (source evaluation technique). I then had students use the source evaluation technique with a written source and compare the usefulness of both. This covered our synthesis component.

The next task was a rhetorical analysis of one thematic concept in the novel. Students worked as a group to research different thematic elements of Capote's novel. They found various examples and brainstormed potential messages. Their work was compiled in a Google Presentation that was shared with the entire class. As a result, each class had research compiled jointly. Using this research they developed their own analysis of one thematic concept. Students have done this kind of work before, but I have found that some students are still struggling with writing analysis. To help students better understand how to structure their own rhetorical analysis papers, I had them mark the different components of their essay. When I assess their work, I will be able to tell if they understand what a thesis looks like and the different between summary and analysis.

The final part of the project is a "Meeting of the Minds." This is a task that I once had to do in high school and I found that it pushed me both in terms of critical thinking AND creativity. Students will be practicing the skill of argumentation. They have a question to address: Should the death penalty be abolished? Knowing my students, I was sure they could have a heated discussion immediately about this, but that wasn't my goal. I want them to develop argumentation using the voice of another. They will have to argue this question as a historical or literary figure. They have the option to make a speech, debate another character or have a discussion with 2 other characters. For those working with others, they will produce a video of their debate/discussion. Those working alone have the option to perform live, though they will put their speech in google drive.

With all of these different components, I wanted students to bring them together--as a culmination of all they have learned in terms of skills. They will present these on their digital portfolio, showing each product as part of their portfolio for English III. I will also have students working to embed their blogs. For now, I am using this as a launch pad for them--a way for them to get used to interacting with a digital portfolio--as it is a senior project requirement. However, I want to continue to brainstorm potential activities and ways to use the digital portfolio next year.

Creation with Technology

This upcoming week will end with the official start of Spring Break. The students can feel it and so can I. These types of weeks are always exciting, because the countdown to a break is in the single digits. These weeks also have the potential to be the longest weeks for the same reason. The students are antsy and so is the faculty. Behavior can be rough these weeks and that is to be expected. As a result, instruction has to be top-notch. There can be no slacking, otherwise students will shut-down early. I also want to end our instruction on a high before the break because I know that students will not be studying consistently over the break. With all of this in mind, I want to focus on having student create. If students are creating, they are working at the highest level of thinking. However, they can't "create" just anything. The assignment needs to be aligned with the content we are working with. It needs to push their thinking.

For my 9th graders, this week includes their mid-term. I am anxious to see their progress, because their 4.5 week assessment was awful. They completed that assessment on the day I returned from maternity leave. I knew that the scores would be shaky, but I wasn't expecting it to be that bad. It was evident that we needed to work on pulling information from the text, grammar skills and general comprehension. The first major text that we worked with was The Odyssey. I have a vision of students re-telling the story with a modern update. I think this would be really fun for the students, and really help them understand the idea of an "epic" and a text that is really the fundamental text for the classic "journey story." In my last blog, I spoke about them creating a video. I'm thinking of giving students option to make a radio show or a video. I think there is a lot of potential for this project, I will just need to keep them on track.

My AP juniors have been working hard on As I Lay Dying. It is a complex text and they already have a project due after Spring Break using Multi-genre, however I also want to do a class project. I have recently found a source that explores how to make a "Story Corps." For those unfamiliar, Story Corps is made up of interviews between individuals. I'm thinking of having students explore narration by creating their own interviews between he different characters. I think they would really enjoy this process and it would show their understanding of the characters and the relationships. Today I am going to create the assignments, so we'll see how it goes!

Seeming to Fall Behind

I felt that at one point in my teaching career I was in the 'groove.' I felt that I had everything under control and that I was producing great lessons and staying on track with data and grading. That seems to have long since passed though. This semester, as I have returned from maternity leave, I know I have a plan in place but I still feel so overwhelmed. As I have been planning out lessons, I feel that I'm not using technology as effectively as I once was. This week, I used google documents to have my AP classes write a collaborative essay. In many ways it seemed to work, but I didn't feel as if the students were as invested in the process. It could be that lull right before spring break, but I'm not sure how to finish strong for this third quarter.

For my 9th grades, we have finished The Odyssey text and have been reviewing for their mid-term, but I'm not seeing the results I want. On Tuesday, I can review the data and I will have a better feel, I suppose. While they may be learning grammar rules and some basics in reading texts and pulling evidence, I don't feel that we're making progress quickly enough.

I really want to push their critical thinking skills, so next week I want to bring in excerpts from O'Brother Where Art Thou. I know from past experience, they'll like the excerpts. My goal is for them to recognize the story of The Odyssey. For a final project, I want them to create their own scene, a modern interpretation of one piece of the Odyssey. This is a daunting task, especially since some of them are struggling to do the paper "Body Biography" assignment that they are currently working on. The thinking that is required for a revision of a classic epic is something that prominent authors struggle with.

I don't expect the students not to struggle, and I certainly don't expect for them to create their own O'Brother Where Art Thou, BUT I do expect them to grapple with the text and to demonstrate some creativity as they try and show me that they have the capability for creative and innovative thought. I am also hopefully that they will enjoy the project because I want them to be excited about critical thinking and creativity. I want them to feel some pride in their work and really push themselves. Hopefully seeing what the Cohen brothers did will invigorate them!

A common face when I am trying to explain key course components

Back in the Saddle

This week was my first week back. I'm not sure what I expected for my first day, but I was very nervous. In many ways it was like the first day of school--especially since I had not met with the 9th graders. I think that this was a good day to come back and that I am good to have high expectations. I can see that I will have to constantly reinforce my high expectations in order to get students to grow. My first day back also coincided with the 4.5 week assessments. I had the freshmen complete the assessment. It was my hope that I could convince them to take it seriously. Reflecting on their scores, I'm not sure if they did or not. Mind you, I've only known them a couple of days. The proficiency rating currently sits at 28%. This is obviously not where we want to be, but I have to recognize this is where they are. Because we are essentially 4.5 weeks behind, I have to be deliberate with our lessons and course goals. The students obviously need structure. They can not be left to work on big projects like my AP students. For my 9th grades, I need to be very explicit in my instruction. I also need to show them technology that they may be unfamiliar with, in part because they are new to the high school. This week we've used the following technology:

1. Blogger
2. Google Documents (including copying a document and sharing documents)
3. Research tool in Google Documents
4. Easybib Add-On

Tomorrow students will use google presentation. I'm pleased with how quickly they have taken to using some of these tools, but I can definitely see a huge gap in the classroom. In my AP classes, I show all of the students a tool and for the most part they are good to go. In my 9th grade class, I have students who are still confused about finding the URL to copy and paste. This means that it will be important for me to be constantly monitoring and reinforcing what tools we've used and how to use them for whatever our specific purpose is.