How to Foster Empathy in Students Using Project Based Learning in an ELA Classroom.

Image Credit: Pixabay User fancycrave1 / Public Domain

Noisy and energetic like any scene during lunch, my students can be found sprawled throughout my classroom, intent on seizing the coveted title: Inventors of the Year.

Though my story may be seem to be specific to my English language arts classroom, I think there are larger implications of the importance of incorporating empathy with project based learning. In this instance, every year, my students read Daniel Keyes’ “Flowers for Algernon,” a fictional story about a man’s extreme quest for intelligence and his willingness to undergo a radical surgery to increase his mental abilities. My students are always fascinated by this story, and they enjoy debating the merits of the operation. They write reflections, engage in discussions, and compose essays during this unit – all classically rigorous activities that require critical thinking skills. However, I wanted my students to do more than just study the story from an academic perspective. I wanted them to not just appreciate their natural-born abilities but for them to realize and explore what it would be like to live with a disability, hopefully leading to an empathic understanding that will last a lifetime.

An Invention for People with a Disability
As I pondered this one night well over 10 years ago, I did what I always do when coming up with lesson ideas. I asked myself how I could design an assignment that could simulate real experiences, a life outside the walls of a classroom and the world in which we lived. Then inspiration hit. I could ask them to become scientific inventors and imagine the impossible.
My students were challenged with creating a product that will improve the life of someone with a disability, in essence, an Invention of the Year.  The product must be a device that people with disabilities can use in their daily lives, and it cannot be a miracle drug or an operation that will magically conjure away the disability.

First, each team had to choose a disability to research and were directed to medical websites to learn about their topic. We talked about the importance of credible web resources and how to find experts on any given research topic. At the time when I first conceived of this project years ago, the Common Core State Standards had not yet been introduced to schools. What inspired this idea was my long-standing belief that real-world applications should be at the core of all my lessons. Therefore, using informational texts like medical articles fit in perfectly with the adoption of a CCSS curriculum.

When doing their research, students brainstormed many different ways they could help someone with the disability. Then they created three final works: a prototype sketch of their invention, a product description for the purpose of "selling" their invention, and a user guide. To guide them, I shared examples of product descriptions from online vendors like Amazon, which they examined and emulated. I also shared examples of user manuals from real products we use in our lives. With these professional examples as their model, my students were practicing writing skills beyond those required in a traditional English language arts classroom.

The Culminating Expo
The culminating activity in this project was to debut students’ products at the Invention of the Year Expo. Over the years, I was able to convince the other language arts teachers who also taught this story to join me in this endeavor. My colleagues liked the idea of incorporating more informational texts and taking PBL approach to this curriculum unit. As a result of this collaboration, we decided to hold an expo where all our students would showcase their inventions in the multipurpose room and present their ideas to each other.

Anxious and yet excited, the entire eighth grade met during their language arts period throughout the day to show off their inventions or to learn new ideas from their peers. By the end of the school day, they saw some amazing inventions such as computerized glasses that speak and project holograms (this example is from many years ago, before anyone had even heard of Google Glass). Other creative projects include a GPS-equipped walking cane with self-defense mechanism for the blind and surgically implantable microchips that moderated electrical signals in the brain (which I later discovered is not too far from the impossible as a few companies are currently trying to develop this technology to measure electrical brain activity to predict epileptic seizures). In the end, our expo was a success, and students talked about it for days afterwards.

After completing this project, my students wrote blog posts about what they learned, and they published their projects and reflections on their own individual blogs. Because my students are connected with other classrooms around the country, they received many compliments on their work from peers outside our school. In the end, this project gave my students a greater appreciation for people with disabilities, and they were able to share their epiphanies with an authentic audience through their blogs.

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This post is also published on the Buck Institute for Education PBL Blog. 

Empowering Students with Peer-Designed Lessons

Image Credit: Ulrich Wechselberger / Public Domain

Traditionally, teachers have always determined the pace and format of all their lessons. What if we shake things up a bit in our classrooms and give students more control over how they learned instead? What if we put students in the driver’s seat of learning, let them design their own lessons and allow them to be teachers for the day?

Relinquishing control of one’s classroom may seem a bit scary or chaotic, but it doesn’t have to be that way if we provide the guidance and structure students need. Below are the steps I took to ensure my students were designing meaningful lessons for their peers. I allowed students the option of working alone or in groups of their own choosing.

Teaching Specific Skills and Content

Narrow down the standards, skills, or content that the lesson must address. This helps students determine the focus of their lesson. For example, in my language arts class, all groups were challenged with teaching a chapter of a novel we were reading. Each lesson must address a literary element present in the chapter, and students were to choose from this list: characterization, conflict, theme, figurative language (symbolism, metaphor, simile, or hyperbole), setting or mood.

Instructional Materials

Students had to design the instructional material for their lesson. They could create handouts or use presentation software like Google Slides to fulfill this requirement.

Assessments

I asked my students these questions: What will your peers do to show that they have learned the content you taught? How will you evaluate each student individually and collect data on their learning? I really enjoyed the different approaches my students took to create their assessments. Many used Kahoot, a web-based gaming platform that tapped into their peers’ competitive spirits as they tried to best each other. Using this digital tool, lesson designers developed their own questions and determined the answers. Kahoot will reward players with points based on two criteria: the correct answer and student response time. Other lesson designers had students write their responses on Google Slides, Google Forms, or Google Docs. Others created Jeopardy games and tempted students with candy to encourage participation. (Check out this great Jeopardy template from Eric Curts’ blog.) Some students opted for a non-digital route and passed out handouts or had classmates answer questions on a sheet of paper. I let my students determine the method they preferred.

Conference with Students

Before teaching their lesson, I met with each group to make sure their lessons were meaningful. I also checked for errors and questioned them on their workflow. For example, one group created a template in Google Docs for their assessment. Their plan was to have each student make a copy of the template, but they didn’t think about how they were going to collect these individual copies. I suggested they use a Google Form to collect the links to the individual files. I also pointed out that if the assignment asked students to write a short response, then using Google Form where all the answers would be populated into one spreadsheet is more efficient than collecting over 35 individual files.

The Day of the Lesson

To ensure that all lessons were focused and productive, each group had to teach a concept or skill and give an assessment in approximately 15 minutes. This helps keep the lessons interesting and the students engaged. The peer teachers were addressed as “Mr.” or “Ms.” which everyone found extremely amusing. During the lesson, students also enjoyed having command of the classroom and would gleefully direct peers who were off-task to pay attention.

Peer Assessment

After all lessons were taught, each group met to assess the data they collected from their peers. They had to determine a method for assigning grades, and I loved the discussions that arose over how to do this fairly. Each group would report a score for each student in the class. Then, I averaged the scores each person received from all the lessons that were taught and used that as a participation grade.

Reflections

Not only did the students assess their peers for their participation in the lesson, they were also asked to evaluate their peer teachers and to nominate those who gave great lessons. In turn, they also evaluated their own teaching practice by answering the following questions:

1. What skills did you teach your peers?

2. How effective was your lesson? How do you know?

3. What can you do to improve your lesson?

The responses to this project were overwhelmingly positive. My students truly enjoyed this activity, and countless students commented on how challenging it was to be a great teacher. One of my favorite responses came from a student who wrote, “I learned that it is not easy to be a teacher. It takes time and dedication to actually learn to teach properly.” Also, quite a few came to the conclusion that “being a lesson designer and presenter is harder than it looks.” Many also shared that creating a lesson forced them to learn the material better because they were responsible for becoming experts on their chapter.

Empowering Our Students

By giving students voice and choice, we are cultivating our students’ investment in their own learning. This project also fosters many college and career-ready skills such as decision-making, project management, analysis, collaboration, communication and metacognition. Not only did I enjoy seeing my students bring new energy into our classroom environment, but they had a blast, too.

Let’s empower students by giving them more control over their own learning in the classroom. The end result might surprise you as much as it did me.

Originally published on KQED's "In the Classroom" blog. Reproduced courtesy of KQED.

8 Ways for Students to Reflect on Their Learning

“Students Collaborating” by Greg Anderson Photography / CC BY 2.0

How do we know our students are truly learning? Teachers often use tests and essays to gauge student achievement. And although these methods are useful ways to measure student performance, they place most of the responsibility of analysis on the teacher. What if students were also involved in actively analyzing their mastery?

In my classroom, student reflection is regularly woven into each unit of study throughout the year. Below are eight ways I’ve found to encourage and promote this very important cognitive skill.

1. Blogging

All my student have their own blog, and in addition to writing on topics of their choosing, I often also ask them to write about what they’ve learned from  a lesson I’ve taught. My prompt usually includes variations of the following questions: After studying this unit, what conclusions can you draw? What do you think of the ideas and skills we covered during our lesson? What do you think about what you learned? Did you find these lessons meaningful or valuable? Why or why not? To learn more about incorporating student blogs into your teaching, check out my post “How to Inspire a New Generation of Writers Through Blogging.”

2. Websites

All my students also have their own website, which is  a great way to showcase the projects they’ve worked on in my class. For each assignment they add to their site, I ask them to write a short paragraph of explanation and reflection. Because I teach in a G Suite for Education district, my students use Google Sites, but there are also many beautiful website builders like Wix and Weebly that students might find equally easy to use.

3. Padlet

I love Padlet, a virtual bulletin board where students can share ideas and crowdsource information. If building a website seems a bit daunting, then Padlet is a great alternative — it’s very easy to use. Students can post their projects on a Padlet and reflect on what they’ve learned.

4. Google Slides

Google Slides is not just a tool for creating presentations, it can also be used as a digital book. Think of each slide as a page in a book, and you get the idea. Students can upload or import each assignment into a separate slide, and write a short explanation for each one. With lots of fonts, colors and layouts to choose from, a reflective paragraph never looked so pretty.

5. Google Forms

What better way to keep things quick and simple than by collecting reflective responses in a Google Form? I love that Google Forms populates all responses into one spreadsheet. No need to click on 175 different files to read 175 paragraphs. You can also use the same form throughout the year to have students reflect on different assignments, since all responses are timestamped. Below is an example of a form I use in my class for this purpose.

6. Google Classroom

When I want my students to write a short paragraph, I often turn to Google Classroom. Using its “Create Question” feature, I can quickly ask my students a reflective question, and they can post their replies. I can also decide if I want their answers to be viewable by only me, or if I want them to read and respond to each other’s ideas. What better way to promote reflection than to have students interact and evaluate each other’s responses?

7. Screencasts

Not only is screencasting a fantastic tool for reflection, it promotes fluency skills as well. Students can open a digital assignment on their computer and record themselves talking about what they’ve learned from the lesson as they show the project on their screen. Some popular screencasting tools include Screencastify, QuickTime, Explain Everything and PowerPoint 2016. This list includes both free and paid software. Some are Web-based or specific to Mac, iOS or Windows platforms.

8. Student-Designed Assessments

Since last year, I have given my students the option of designing their own assessments. I first ask them to consider what skills and content they learned from a particular unit. For example, after reading Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” and Dolores Huerta’s “Proclamation of the Delano Grape Workers for International Boycott Day,” I asked them to reflect (in small groups) on their takeaways from the lesson. They replied: “We learned many rhetorical strategies and how they help make a speech powerful and convincing.” They also realized that “words are as powerful as actions,” and “problems can also be solved without violence.” After pinpointing the goals of the lesson, we craft a rubric together to identify the criteria that will be used to evaluate their assessment. Students have fun working on this project, and I love seeing their creativity.

A Reflective Classroom

As a teacher, I want my students to become independent learners and critical thinkers. I truly believe that in order to learn, one has to be reflective. If you have found ways to encourage reflection in your students, please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Originally published on KQED's "In the Classroom" blog. Reproduced courtesy of KQED.

Pause Before Downloading: Rules and Resources for Reusing Digital Content in the Classroom

“Duke Ellington Visit” by U.S. Department of Education / CC BY 2.0

“Why can’t I use this picture?” This is a question my students often ask whenever they are looking for images on the Internet for projects they create in my class.

My response is always this: “If you go into a store and you see merchandise you like on the sales floor, can you take it without paying for it?”

In this era of digital media, where almost everything is searchable and downloadable, it’s easy to see why students, and even teachers, think that it’s perfectly fine to reuse another’s creator’s work. However, this is not always true.

Myths and Facts

Let’s look at some commonly held misperceptions of copyright law.

Myth No 1: You can always claim fair use.

Fact: Fair use isn’t a legislative right, it’s a legal defense you can use in a court of law. However, that doesn’t mean you will avoid legal repercussion simply by using this argument. To learn more, read Harvard University’s guide on copyright and fair use.

Myth No. 2: If it’s copyright protected, then you can’t use it.

Fact: The creator of the work owns the copyright. If you are able to obtain permission from the creator, then you can reproduce it.

Myth No. 3: It’s not copyright protected because it doesn’t say that it is.

Fact: It depends on when the work was originally created. Copyright laws have been amended a few times over the course of the 20th century, so you’ll have to check the work in question. However, as of March 1, 1989, all work is automatically copyright protected, and a copyright notice isn’t necessary for work to receive this protection. The United States Copyright Office explains this in more detail here.

Myth No. 4: As long as you cite the creator of the work, you don’t have to worry about copyright.

Fact: Citing work avoids plagiarism, but you can be in danger of copyright infringement. Check out this explanation from Duke University Libraries’ Web page for further clarification.

Solution

How can students incorporate media into their projects without violating copyright laws? Luckily, there are three options:

1. Use creative work that is accompanied by a Creative Commons license. Creative Commons is an organization dedicated to helping creators share their work with the world. People who publish their work with a Creative Commons license are allowing others to reuse their work on their terms.
2. Use work in the public domain. These creations are not subjected to copyright laws because either the copyright has expired or the creator has decided to give up his or her rights to the work. In the latter example, creators will declare this on their work.
3. Create original work. Students are incredibly creative. Depending on their talents and inclinations, they can create hand-drawn illustrations, make their own computer graphics or take their own photographs. With the right digital tools, students can create their own original videos, music, images or audio.

Project Resources

I’ve gathered a few resources for students to use when incorporating media created by others. Don’t forget to tell students to verify the usage rights of all works before using them. In addition, keep in mind that when searching on the Internet, there is always the potential to come across inappropriate content. Before using any of the following search engines, check that it has been vetted by your school’s content filters. Also, tell your students to turn on SafeSearch — if it’s an option on the website.

1. Creative Commons Search allows you to search for Creative Commons–licensed images, videos and music.
2. Google Advanced Image Search allows you to filter your search, by image size, aspect ratio, color and more. The most important thing to remember is to scroll down to the end of the search fields and choose the correct “Usage rights” option.
3. Pixabay is a website with many beautiful public domain images. Remember not to click on the sponsored links (those are not in the public domain), and you’ll find many great options.
4. Photosforclass is fantastic for the classroom. All photos are all Creative Commons licensed, filtered for appropriate images and come with an automatic citation when you download a photo.
5. Openclipart provides clipart that is all in the public domain
6. Flickr This link will take you to Flickr’s search portal. You must click on “any license” to filter for the correct license.
7. Wikipedia usually features work with Creative Commons license or those in the public domain.
8. Pics4learning states on its homepage that it offers “a curated image library that is safe and free for education. Teachers and students can use the copyright-friendly photos and illustrations for classroom projects, websites, videos, portfolios or any other projects in an educational setting.”
9. Foter has free stock photos. When choosing an image, users are guided through an attribution process that could be helpful for students.
10. Library of Congress is the government’s website of online prints and photographs.

Giving Credit Attribution

As with textual research, giving credit is always something we should teach our students. However, most students are unsure how to cite images in their projects. Though MLA or APA citations are appropriate for academic papers, these look clumsy in a project or in published media. When providing attribution, include the name of the work (if known), the name of the creator and the usage rights. Also, include hyperlinks to the creator and the Creative Commons license in the citation. Here is an example of how to cite images with hyperlinks: “Beach” by Sean MacEntee / CC BY 2.0. To download an infocard to show students how to include credit attribution, click here.

Time to Get Students Creating

In the 21st century, understanding how to properly use digital content is an essential skill. Following copyright laws isn’t difficult if students follow guidelines and use the right resources. Isn’t it time we showed them how?

Originally published on KQED's "In the Classroom" blog. Reproduced courtesy of KQED.

10 Ways to Use Google Hangouts to Transform Learning

My class "hanging out" with Education Secretary Duncan on Google Hangouts

In our world today, we can stay connected in unprecedented ways. Why just call or text when you can “see” someone who is hundreds or thousands of miles away? Even President Obama used Google Hangouts in 2013 during his fireside chat with the country. If you haven’t used Hangouts before, it’s time to examine the possibilities.

In education, using Hangouts is a great way to connect and collaborate with other educators without giving out your phone number. It’s a powerful tool for making connections, working collaboratively, and introducing the world to your students. Many educators have embraced Hangouts to enrich both their students’ learning experiences and their own professional development. Below are some ways educators are using Hangouts to step up the learning.

Make Student Connections

You can connect students with their peers from around the country, or even from abroad if time zone differences permit. Below are some ideas on how teachers are using this fabulous video calling tool in their classrooms.

1. Book Talks: Classes that are reading the same book or similar genres can discuss novels together and make book recommendations to one another.
2. Mystery Hangouts: In this activity, two classrooms video chat with each other but do not reveal their individual locations. Before meeting online, both classes research facts about their own state and create clues about their location. Then, each class takes turns asking “Yes” or “No” type questions in a race to solve the mystery. More details on how to get started could be found on my blog here. To find classes to connect with yours, visit the Mystery Location Calls Google+ Community or reach out to members of the Connected Classrooms Workshop Google+ Community.
3. Presentations: Give students an authentic audience. They can present their projects to other classes or adults. Recruit parents, community members, or career professionals to provide a captive audience for your students.
4. Project Collaboration: Classes that are studying similar themes or topics can collaborate on a project together in a way never possible before.

Bring in the Experts...For Free!

1. Guest Speakers: Inviting a speaker into the classroom has never been easier...or cheaper. Video calling enables anyone from around the world to “visit” a school. Also, as an added plus, Google Hangouts has the ability to handle up to ten people in a video call at once and up to fifteen using a Google Apps account. This means that there’s never a dull moment or radio silence during the call. Last year, my classes were able to participate in two amazing Hangouts on Air. We got to speak with Nobel Peace Laureate Leymah Gbowee and Education Secretary Duncan.
2. Virtual Field Trips: With video calling technology becoming more popular, many companies are now offering virtual field trips via Hangouts on Air, which is a public Google Hangout that broadcasts a live recording of the event. After the video call ends, it is archived on the host’s YouTube channel for anyone to view again later. Here are a few companies that are offering or (have recently offered) virtual field trips that could bring that out of classroom experience to your students: Learn Around the World, Exploring by the Seat of Your Pants, and SeaTrek.TV. Occasionally, announcements of virtual field trips from various members of the Connected Classrooms Workshop Google+ Community will be posted.

Learn and Collaborate from Anywhere

1. Virtual Classes: One year, we had one student at my middle school who progressed so quickly through his math studies that he was ready for Algebra II. Unfortunately, we didn’t offer this course on our campus, but we did at another school in our district. Thanks to Google Hangouts, this student didn’t have to transfer schools and, instead, he attended math class virtually and received all his instruction online.
2. Office Hours: Sometimes students need more one-on-one attention or perhaps they were absent and need to catch up on what they missed. Teachers can schedule Hangouts to hold virtual office hours to provide the assistance students need.
3. Professional Collaborations: With everyone just a video call away, educators can work on projects and share ideas with anyone around the world. Many educators have forged powerful connections (called PLNs) via social media platforms like Twitter and Google+, and they’re using Google Hangouts to learn together or to plan professional development events for educators like Edcamps and PLAYDATEs.
4. New Twist to Webinars: More and more, companies are turning to Hangouts on Air to host their webinars. It gives educators a choice: watch the webinar live and participate in a “Question & Answer” session with the presenter or watch it later at one’s convenience. A great example of this is the webinar series from Imagine Easy Solutions.

The possibilities of using Hangouts in education are endless. How will you transform your learning and the learning of your students?

Abbreviated version of this post was originally published on WeAreTeachers.