3 Great Questions for Discussions Around Bullying

Remember when driving drunk was a minor offense?  It was legal to harass someone?  Moon someone??  There is no doubt that while many new laws have made our lives safer and more civilized, there are many people who think that the rush to legislate personal decisions (like helmet and seat belt laws) curtails our rights and should be left up to the individual.  Others think that clearer laws are necessary to keep up with the times. 

Recent headlines have turned this debate towards bullying, specifically cyberbullying.   This is a great opportunity to turn the question over to your students to help them develop respect for different points of view, think critically and speak and write persuasively.  This week Dharun Ravi was sentenced to 30 days in jail for webcam spying on his college roommate who killed himself in the aftermath.   There are many different perspectives on the outcome of this trial, and many thought that the charges did not fit the crime.    

Should more laws be written to deal specifically with cyberbullying?  Viewpoints range from “not every tragedy should lead to prison” to “privacy invasions last forever.”Why not have your students examine these different perspectives – legal, psychological, cultural- as they apply to bullying?  Room for Debate  is a discussion forum of the New York Times that can provide your students with great written essays from knowledgeable professionals reflecting these perspectives and more on Cyberbullying and a Student Suicide. 

Should offensive opinions and hurtful statements be protected by the First Amendment?  How about having students look at bullying through the lens of the First Amendment?  How do you distinguish between free speech and bullying?  Where is the line between free speech and harassment? Do state bullying mandates leave any wiggle room for common sense?  This Edweek article “Groups Urge Balance Between Censoring, Stopping Bullies”  can provide students with highlights of the recently published guidelines “Harassment, Bullying and Free Expression:  Guidelines for Free and Safe Public Schools."

What do you think should be done about bullying? 

How about having your students look at different student perspectives?   Common Sense Media provides the lesson “Taking Perspectives on Cyberbullying” featuring video clips of the Friday Night Lights TV show, providing a lesson plan complete with student worksheets and  video clips.  (caution:  may only be appropriate for older students due to clip content)

You can have students practice civil discourse on these issues practicing good digital citizenship using the SCAN tool at TregoED.  Just register and set up the free cyberbullying lesson for the private URL for your class.   Students will read the cyberbullying scenario and discuss the issues and possible solutions guided by the SCAN problem solving strategy (See the issues, clarify the issues, Ask what’s important and Now, what should be done?) from the built in different points of view.  SCAN is a great way to teach students civil discourse and empathy as they represent the point of view of parents, teachers, administrators and bullied student and collaborate on solutions.

The question remains, do we need to use the criminal justice system to battle cyberbullying or would teaching civility and respect be a more effective solution?  Either way, discussing the question can help students practice those attributes, while they learn to think critically, read and write on this relevant and authentic topic. 

Resources to get Kids to Read, Write and Reflect on Memorial Day

On Memorial Day, we traditionally thank those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.  Do your students see the connection to their lives?  Having students connect the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to their daily lives is a great way to develop an appreciation for freedom and the democracy that so many have died to protect.

 Integrating the Common Core

Integrating the Common core with the many resources that are available can get your students reading, writing and thinking.  With these resources, we can move beyond the “What freedom means to me” five paragraph essay and have them:

• Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection and research (W9)
• Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence (W7.1)
• With the added bonus of focusing on “discipline-specific content” for social studies (WLHST 8.1)”  (Common Core State Standards Initiative)  

Making the Connections

The Bill of Rights Institute features thought-provoking lesson plans, links and resources connecting current events with the Constitution.  Have your students explore the following:

Is there a difference between searching a student’s locker or backpack and searching their phone? 

Should people be able to stand their ground, as in the case in Florida?

Take a look at “Current Events and the Constitution”  for information on internet piracy, airport scanners and illegal searches.

Or “Bill of Rights in the News”  for lessons on stand your ground, occupy protests or GPS tracking.

Have them read  Education Week articles:  “Students Under Arrest?”  to spark the discussion of bringing police in to deal out discipline in schools.

Or  “Can schools legally block Internet sites?” Can it be argued that it is the same as book banning? 

Check out these free SCAN lessons at TregoED.org to have your students explore topics from different perspectives in an engaging online discussion platform:

A New Approach to Remembering Pearl Harbor- Have students debate the merits of looking at history from all perspectives. Check out the Collaborize Classroom Topic Library for some great discussion topics to enhance this lesson. 

Locker Searches and the Fourth Amendment- Remind students of the freedoms secured in battle by looking at their connection to the Bill of Rights.

More Memorial Day Resources:

Memorial Day Lessons from NEA.

Video:  The History of Memorial Day in 3 Minutes

Video writing prompts on volunteering and bravery from Teach Hub

Memorial Day is a day to reflect on the sacrifices that have been made to maintain the freedoms guaranteed to us in our Constitution.  How do you help your students understand and exercise this freedom?

Teachers Value Increases with Technology

I heard a story the other day about a man who slipped a disk when he was young and had extensive surgery resulting in a six inch scar and a six month recovery period (and a whole year out of PE!).  Ten or so years later, he slipped another disk.  This time the surgery was not as extensive, the scar not as long and the recovery period was shortened to a week or so.  Recently a friend of his had the same surgery.  This time it was out-patient, a half-inch incision and back to work two days later.  We all know that there have been great advances in medicine through the wonders of technology, but even more amazing was all three surgeries were by the same doctor.   Of course, we expect our doctors to keep up with all the latest techniques and technology – or be the target of malpractice suits.

The gentleman telling the story (and main character) was Jon Landis, a former educator and Development Executive with Apple Inc. at the recent NJAET conference.  Although I may not have gotten all the details of his story perfect, I did get the point.  His point was that technology has drastically changed the way that we all work and learn.  Teaching is no different.  Technology is not replacing us but making us more valuable.  We cannot stay in the classroom and ignore the communication revolution that is all around us.
Landis pointed out that "your value as a teacher is no longer your ability to deliver content, content is free, content is ubiquitous, content is good."  We may have been replaced as content providers,  however, our job is even more important now.  Students need to be able to digest content, not just spit it back out.  We need to help our students understand the context, take it apart, and reassemble it into relevant connections and original thought.  No easy task.

He is right, of course, content is ubiquitous.  One need only look at the various free offerings from Kahn Academy (over 3000 videos to “Watch. Practice. Learn almost anything for free.”) or through iTunes U (with a growing library of courses and the ability to create your own) to see the overwhelming amount of content our students hold in the palm of their hand.  Class time, then, needs to become the time that students “play” with the content, contextualize, collaborate, apply and synthesize.
This is where having a good grasp on strategies to get our students thinking critically and creatively comes in to play.  We need to become the problem person, not the answer person.  Our classes need to be creative, with hands-on activities and engaging discourse.  I have found that online discussion platforms strengthen engaging discourse by democratizing conversations, allowing every student an equal opportunity to contribute.  These discussions can engage students in powerful ways, providing rich introductions or extensions to course content.

There is great power in using TED talks and activities to get students thinking about further applications and connections to course content.  Integrating tools such as SCAN (with the built in critical thinking strategy and representing different perspectives) and Collaborize Classroom  (with a full library of higher level thinking activities and interactive discussions) gives our students the opportunity to take an active role in their learning and provides teachers with a simple to implement lesson upgrade.

The bottom line is that, we, as teachers need to embrace the technology (As Landis stated “the internet is not a fad”) and adjust accordingly.  Just like our students, we need the time to “play” with all of the great content we receive on good teaching, time to practice, collaborate, and upgrade our lessons.  Start with some simple tools, one lesson or unit, one homework assignment, but get started.

Great discussions can lead to great writing!

Do you talk about race in the classroom?  Will students shy away from participating?  Using online discussion tools can help get all of your students involved in the conversation.  Modeling and practicing the rules of netiquette can make your students comfortable and feel validated.

Check out this lesson from the Collaborize Classroom library:
“Read this article with teen responses to the question “Has Martin Luther King’s dream been realized?"  Select one student’s answer and state whether you agree or disagree with their perspective.  If so, what strong points did he or she make? What could you add to his or her argument?
If you disagree, explain why. Identify areas of his explanation that were underdeveloped. What concerns do you have about this topic that he/she did not address?  After posting your response, read your classmates’ opinions and post a substantive reply to a student with an opposing viewpoint. Ask questions, present counterarguments and compliment strong points made.”

This assignment is a great prerequisite to writing a thoughtful essay.  Reading other student's answers can help jumpstart your student’s thinking.  Having students answer these questions in a free, private Collaborize Classroom will get them thinking and engaged.  Follow up with the “Dr. King’s Dream” SCAN lesson to increase their content knowledge.  You can improve your student’s essay writing by providing topics that are engaging and relevant, giving them time to think and access to resources.  Online discussion tools can get students involved in discussions to get them thinking and writing.

Dr. King's Dream

Remembering Dr. King’s legacy is a relevant activity in any classroom whether covering bullying, the economy, world peace, social justice or looking for relevant nonfictional reading and writing across several disciplines. Plan ahead using some of these great resources to get your students thinking.

For Students:

Read Dr. King’s "I Have a Dream..." Speech: 

Students get a small taste of what segregation feels just entering the site.  They can listen to Dr. King’s speeches or read some of his other writings at Remember Segregation.  Simply powerful.

Watch a video on Dr. King, fill out a KWL graphic organizer, take a quiz, or study relevant vocabulary at BrainPop

Read the Story of Martin Luther King and find related facts, figures and folklore. (some ads)

Play the “It’s Not Fair Game” to learn about and experience prejudice first hand!  Fun- teaches students MLK related vocabulary while skewing the score to discover how it feels when "it's not fair!"

For Teachers:

Teachersfirst (a great FREE teacher resource page) has links to many different MLK resources including video links, lesson ideas, materials, and interactive sites.

See what other teachers are doing for MLK day at Scholastic’s site.   

Watch great historical videos of the Civil Rights Movement and Rev. King

Try out this free SCAN lesson “Dr. King’s Dream.”  Register from the dashboard, set up the lesson and send kids to your private URL to discuss whether Dr. King’s dream has been reached in their school, state, country or globally. They will look at issues from each perspective and name some action steps that you might take to solve them.  New to SCAN?  Start here.

Students can make a difference:  Read the 6 Steps to Nonviolent Social Change and remind students of the small everyday things they can do such as not judging others by their appearance or actions, sticking up for others, or learning more about different religions and cultures. Have them make a list of actions that they can do to reach MLK's dream.

How will you honor his legacy and work towards his dream?

Discussing Discussions

As an old dog, always looking for a new trick, technology has taken on a large role in my professional development.  Beyond the faculty room and my colleagues, workshops, blogs, classroom, and webinars, this year I have discovered the discussion group to be one of the most valuable tools in my professional development tool box.  While I shied away from being involved in the original discussion groups on listservs, email groups that focused on one subject area, I have discovered that there are many online discussion groups full of great educators with all kinds of expertise, just waiting to give you advice and support at the click of the mouse.   Most recently, educators in the Teaching Writing Forum on the English Companion Ning had a great discussion centered on Problem Based Research.  All it took was a simple question – Have you done this?  How does it work? - to let the learning begin.  The input on this conversation ranged from great idea starters, mechanics, critical thinking strategies, to assessment.  Beyond the discussion forum, groups form around common interests and you can sort them by most active, etc.  What a great way to share ideas and resources!  In this community alone, there are 46 groups ranging from “Free to Educators” to “Collaborative Projects.”   Some of the other communities where I have found supportive, creative, active, and practical groups are the ISTE Community Ning, edweb.net, and LinkedIn.   Check them out!  Find a group and get in on the action.  You will find the feedback and creativity of these collaborative groups to be invaluable in professional growth as you do not have to reinvent the wheel.  Why not take advantage of the free advice of your colleagues and share some of your own?  Hmmmm...maybe I should start a discussion group on discussion groups!  What's your favorite?

Want kids to think historically? Go to the Source!

   When trying to get students to think critically about historical events, what better place to start than primary sources?  As the new Common Core Standards call for increased reading of challenging informational texts in a range of subject areas, teachers will be looking for easy access to primary documents and strategies to help our student’s comprehension of this type of reading.   Simple strategies that ask questions of our students help to guide and document their thinking.

The Library of Congress (loc.gov) provides sets of primary sources.   They also provide a “Teacher’s Guide and student worksheet (www.loc.gov/teachers) with a strategy for helping our students think critically while using the documents.  The strategy is based on questions that will have students observe, reflect, and question.  

Thanks to Jennifer Hanson, Marcy Prager, and Ann Marie Gleeson from PrimarySource.org for sharing a number of wonderful links to primary documents, resource guides, articles and teaching strategies at their workshop at the recent NCSS Annual Conference.  PrimarySource also provides a series of questions and a student worksheet to guide critical thinking on informational texts. Their Primary Source Analysis worksheet provides questions to determine the what, when, who, why, and questions students may have.   They also provide classroom-ready activities for students on their site as well as great links to sites that provide primary sources.

TregoED provides a critical thinking strategy and online discussion tool that takes student thinking one step further.  The SCAN online discussion tool at TregoED.org allows teachers to link primary sources to lessons help students learn and appreciate point of view.  Students determine the issues that are important to each point of view represented, collaborate and analyze the actions that were taken and discuss possible alternatives to gain a deeper understanding of the event.  Students begin to think historically as they work through the questions from the SCAN critical thinking strategy (See the issues, Clarify the Issues, Ask What’s Important, and Now, what’s next?) on such events as the Boston Tea Party, Manifest Destiny, or the Patriot Act. 

Primary documents are a great way to increase student reading and comprehension of informational texts.  For links to more resources for primary documents, check out the resource tab in this livebinder.