Putting the Pieces of the Puzzle Back Together

Today's in-class activity was transdisciplinary; it allowed us as a cohort, a group of interns from numerous disciplines, to collaborate and share ideas of how we could incorporate the missing pieces of the puzzle game into our own curricula. One of the common themes was the role of visual imagery in the learning process. Several of us mentioned that we are visual learners.

This game would be particularly effective when, for example, teaching a lesson on the Dutch Revolt. Following the same format as today's activity, I thought of one of the many painting from the Dutch artist Adriaen van de Venne: Fishing for Souls (Zielenvisserij), 1614, a satirical allegory of Protestant-Catholic struggles for souls during the Dutch Revolt (Rijksmuseum).

That the Dutch Revolt was a religious one is illustrated here by this contemporary painting from a Dutch artist. Protestants (left) and Catholics (right) are fishing in the river for followers. That the conflict between Catholics and Protestants was also political is indicated by the presence of leading political figures on both sides. Left: Stadholder Prince Maurice and his brother Frederick Henry with their allies. Among those on the right: the Archdukes Albert & Isabella, who ruled the southern Netherlands. 

Any suggestions on some other resources, including those outside of the ever-expanding field of history?

Latin? What are you going to do with that?

I've finished reading an interesting post from a high school Latin teacher: Marginalia (Mark Keith—HS Latin) http://promagistris.blogspot.com/

He proudly reports that his daughter has decided to follow his footsteps in becoming a high school Latin teacher, to which most people respond with a loud: Why? Her father, whose comments are posted below, responded on his blog with the following fatherly words of wisdom.

"Colleges should not be seen as expensive vocational centers training the work-force for the 21st century. What present (and future) employers need are individuals who can think, plan, organize, be creative, collaborate, and communicate. Anyone with these abilities can easily be trained by employers to do what is required in any job and to be a contributing member to society. The world cannot benefit from narrowly-educated, close-minded individuals who are merely out to make money."

"We, as educators, need to support and encourage students to pursue whatever field they wish after they leave our classrooms. If a students wishes to go on to college and study math, economics, engineering, and the like, so be it. Likewise, if a student wishes to major in art history, English literature, classical music, or Latin, these are completely valid choices as well. Student who go off to get a degree in the liberal arts should not have to defend or explain themselves. One should never have to apologize for her education."

What do you think? What's the likelihood of his daughter finding a job teaching Latin  after she finishes her schooling? 

I "mastered" Latin in grad school, Cambridge and Virginia, but was ill-prepared for what to expect when I entered the job market. After nearly 300 job applications, I finally landed a job - I taught upper school history and middle school Latin. To "seal the deal," the headmaster offered me $1500 extra to teach Latin. So, my own words of wisdom to those what want to spend a fortune on mastering Latin: Caveat Emptor! 

From Abaci to Calculators

Reflecting upon today's class, I've just finished having a metacognitive conversation with myself in the virtual world of my head, which brings me to where I left off in class: in the 17th century. Reading, writing, and teaching about historical events, stretching from Ancient Egypt to its recent revolution, for example, ought to be interactive, both imaginatively and intellectually.

So, then, how does one bring his or her students into this virtual world we create for our students as we try to teach them a thing or two about history? How, in other words, do we captivate the intellectual curiosities (and imaginations) of our students?

This is what, I think, us "history guys" will attempt to do as we create our lesson plan for next week. Our lesson plan will explore some technological advancements through the centuries. We will begin with some sort of open-ended question about technology. It is our impression, at this early stage of formulating our ideas, that most folks will view "technology" (broadly construed) through their 21st century spectacles.

Technologically speaking, computers, tablets, and other forms of digital devices that are, say, more than a few years old are oftentimes considered out-of-date. So in our lesson, we will stretch the chronological timeline, so to speak, by looking at some historical artifacts (no pun intended) that were once considered state-of-the-art. Included among the many "technological" innovations through the ages are: the printing press; vellum; paper / pencils (mechanical or otherwise); 8-tracks records; CDs and MP3s.

Wanting to make our lesson plan as multidisciplinary as possible, perhaps other members from our MAC cohort can suggest a technological innovation from their field, from abaci to calculators, for example?

Church Interiors Challenge

I played the BBC Church Interiors Challenge, in which players are asked "to drag these different features onto the correct place of the church plan." These different features are: Tomb, Pier, Arch, Nave (where the congregation usually sits), Transept, Choir Stall, Choir Screen, Stained-glass window, Apse.  

I had to guess where on the building the stained-glass window would be place. Each time I dragged it to the wrong position, an "INCORRECT" icon appeared. It took me several times (about 5 or 6) tries before I chose the correct position. I never figured out where the pier went, although presumably it could have been any number of positions. After about 5 minutes I got frustrated and stopped playing.

It would have been much more user-friendly had there been an interactive video showing the various "features" of the church before "dragging these different features onto the correct place." As an ecclesiastical historian, and one who has stepped foot in hundreds of churches across Europe, I'm feeling rather dejected; I'm not in the mood to play another game!

Cambridge Digital Library

I invite you to browse Cambridge University Library's Special Collections. How might we, as 21st century educators, incorporate this collection of primary sources, some of which date back to the second-century, into our curriculum?

Included among the collections are the scientific works of Isaac Newton (1642-1727), who, after graduating from the University in 1665, held the Lucasian Chair of Mathematics from 1669 to 1701.

http://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/newton

Jewish Diaspora

Say, for example, you were interested in teaching a unit on migration patterns in general and the Jewish Diaspora in particular. Since "geography" is no longer a requirement for high school graduation here in the state in Michigan (for which see Senate Bill No. 66), how might a high school history teacher use the following map to explore some cross-cultural connections between and among exile communities? Can you think of any modern-day parallels of peoples who, like the Jews, have been forced into exile?

Thinking Outside the Box

Today's class, which began with our small group technology tutorials, focused on "Separating Fact from Fiction: Examining the Credibility of Information on the Internet," before moving on to a game called 20 questions. We started off strong before slowing down to a screeching halt. After only 6 questions (was the character a male?, to which he answered yes; was he under 30?, to which he answered no; was he alive?, to which he answered no (which later proved to be a lie); did he die during the 20th c.?, to which he answered no; did our mystery character make local/national/international/news (as being alive)?, to which he answered yes; was he a fictional character?, to which he answered yes. 

After only 6 questions (and much discussion), we seemed to have veered off course. So far that we actually stopped playing the game, which came to an abrupt end when we were informed that our mystery man was Stephen Colbert. 

While the "rules of the game" were ill-defined (and hastily stated, accompanied by several amendments), it was nevertheless a good learning experience; it allowed me to see that, as an educator, there are times that I should step back and allow more time for reflection; allow more time for the students to strategize (when playing a game); and provide a clear (preferably typed-written) set of instructions. This "game" showed me (from a student's perspective) that teachers need to allow more time for metacognition; more time for students to work together, to collaborate. This would, I believe, create a more student-centered classroom. I just wish we had more time "to play."

Crusaders for Christ (?)

Dewey, who was schooled in New England Congregationalism before converting to atheism, wrote in 1897, ostensibly before his re-birth: "the teacher is the prophet of the true God and the usherer in of the true kingdom of God." Would you want your child to be schooled by Dewey?

Transatlantic Crossings

I've attached a copy of a letter from Increase Mather, Congregational minister in Boston, MA, and President of Harvard during the second half of the 17th century. Writing from Boston in Nov. 1683, Mather sent the letter to Abraham Kick, an English coffee merchant operating out of Holland, in Amsterdam, the center of 17th c. world trade.

The letter is Mather's request for Kick to publish (and distribute) another 50 copies of his Diatribe: de Signo Filii Hominis, et de Secundo Messiae Adventu. How might 21st century educators such as ourselves use primary sources such as these in our classrooms? And for what purpose(s)? 

Dewey's Pedagogic Creed

Dewey’s Pedagogic Creed

Video Reflections: Dewey would think that this “shy guy” is standing on the “outside looking in” because he has self-consciously failed to participate in the social situations forced upon him by transferring to a new school. For Dewey, “school is primarily a social institution.” Richie knows very little about his fellow classmates, their like and dislikes. He is an outsider, one who has cut himself off from the “organic union of individuals.” Since, for Dewey, education in a social process, Richie is not fully prepared “for future living.” 

How so? Because he has not received proper “moral education” in his home, which, for Dewey, “is the form of social life in which the child had been nurtured and in connection with which he has had his moral training.” But do we want our public school system instructing our children in “moral education”?

For Dewey, “Moral education centres about this conception of the school as a mode of social life, that the best and deepest moral training is precisely that which one gets through having to enter into proper relations with others in a unity of work and thought.” While adding that the “teacher is not in the school to impose certain ideas [i.e., morals] or to form certain habits in the child, but is there as a member of the community to select the influences which shall affect the child and to assist hi in properly responding to these influences.”

So, then, what can we learn from Dewey’s Pedagogic Creed? What would Dewey say about, for example, state standards, core curriculum, and our highly departmentalized instruction? Dewey believed "that the true centre of correlation of the school subjects is not science, nor literature, nor history, nor geography, but the child's own social activities." According to Dewey, history, for example, "is of educative value in so far as it presents phases of social life and growth." 

What's your Pedagogic Creed?