It's For Me?!

I have to say this semester has been a study in unusual activities. Thank YOU Sydney Bontrager! One of the more unusual activities we did was a trade fair.

The trade fair took place during our class time and what we did was very one brought in items they didn't want or thought other people would like. The items were laid out on the table and the students were able to walk around and look at all the items. Once that was accomplished the trading began.

The trading started off kind of slow but as it went on it began to pick up speed. People were trading this for that and that for this. It was so interesting to see what some of the hot ticket items were. Art was a big deal for this class. There were paintings and statues; they all went very quickly.

At the end of the trade fair I had traded a scarf for some books (I was so excited). I ended up with Tuck Everlasting and another book (which I can't recall the title of right now). But even better than the books, was the learning that took place. I got to learn about the other people in the class and about what they valued.

This is something I would love to do in my own classroom.



To see more blogs like this one check these out:
Miss Kunnen
Mrs. Richardson

Living in the Past

A couple of weeks ago, we did a project. This project was something I never would have thought of, something that branched across all branches of academics, something so creative only Sydney Bontrager could have come up with it; it was the Decades Project.The project was such a great learning experience and it was something I would love to do with my own students.

By doing this project, I learned about the 1920's. Even though I learned more about my decade than I thought possible, I learned more about authentic learning and assessment. I was able to see how a project of this magnitude would benefit my students. By doing a project like this the students would be in control of their own learning. They would be able to choose what to include in their presentation, what to put on their poster, and how they want to approach the topic.

The very depth of the learning was amazing and it was more fun than I expected it to be. We were able to dress up and work to collect the votes of other students. I also loved how much I learned about the decades that were not my own. I was able to learn about all the other decades done within the section. I learned about the 40's, the 50's, the 80's and the 90's.

The project was such a great learning experience I can't wait to use it in my own classroom.



To see other blogs about this subject, check out:
Ms. Simmermeyers Classroom

All About Me

During last semester and continuing on into this semester we have been doing all about me projects.

It started out with Sydney handing out a prompt with specific criteria for what we were supposed to have in our All About Me projects. We then took that prompt and answered the questions based on ourselves.

Some of the questions were basic information: what our full name is, what it means, etc. but some of the questions were much more personal. Some of the questions made me think more about myself than I have in a really long time and some of them were hard to answer because they were so personal.

So far more than half of us have done our All About Me projects. It has been amazing to see how alike and different everyone in our block is. Everyone has someone who is special to them and many of us have similar stories. It was interesting to see how unimportant the physical differences were, when we were so similar in the ways that really matter.

This is something I would love to incorporate into my classroom. It definitely helps to create a classroom community and that is something I desperately want to instill in my own classroom.



To see more:
Social Studies Blog

Shoe Box? Who Wants a Shoe Box?

Last week in class we did a shoe box activity. I never really thought of a shoe box as particularly important but after this class I found it for someone it could be.

Sydney set the stage for us. We were traveling back in the early 1800's. The wagon was packed with the essentials, and we were getting ready to leave. We were given a box and we could fill it with whatever we wanted to take with us. Whatever we thought was important. These things could be anything, but the box had to close. We had our rules and off we went to fill our boxes.

When we came in for the following class, we were all supposed to share what was in our boxes. It was amazing to see what people had decided to put in their boxes. Some of them went survival and fill the box with things like tooth paste, lighters, water, etc. while others went for sentiment. There was a little bit of everything; some of it had a story and some of it didn't.

I was amazed to find how hard it was to share some of the items in my shoebox. There was nothing in there I was ashamed of but it was the knowing others were going to see what was important to me and the possibility they would find it pathetic or dumb. The moment of vulnerability is hard to put into words.

The insight into the other people in my class was unbelievable. The similarities and differences were so blatant yet never seemed so insignificant. This is an activity I would definitely love to do with my own students some day.

Paperclips: Don't Forget the Past

Today in E325 we watched a movie. When Sydney first put the movie in, I wasn't thinking about the way it would change my outlook on something so simple, so innocent as a paperclip. I mean its just a paperclip I've used them a thousand times and never really thought about it; there's one in my assignment notebook, to hold my place. I never imagined they could mean so much to so many different people. The movie was Paper Clips and the lesson was one I will never forget.

It was just a school in a small town and the teacher wanted to teach about the Holocaust. It was a lesson the students would never forget.

It all started with a question. How much is 6 million? (That's the number of Jews who were murdered during the Holocaust) The teacher decided to collect 6 million of something to show the students what that looked like. The students did some research and found out that people who protested what Hitler was doing wore a paperclip in support of the Jews, and so the choice was made. The students would collect 6 million paper clips in honor of those who died during Hitler's reign. So the students began to collect the paper clips, unaware of where this would lead. They sent letters asking for people to send them paper clips and the public responded. People from all over the world sent paper clips to the school with letters and stories. The 6 million paper clips were collected and still more kept coming. The 6 million mark had been reached and passed, but it didn't end there.

Holocaust survivors heard about what the students were doing and came to the school to show their support. These survivors shared their stories about what happened to them. The stories were heartbreaking and contained horrors no one would wish on their worst enemies. The students were offered a look into what it was like to be held in a concentration camp. They were able to see the smallest part of what that waking nightmare must have been like. The stories touched the principal so much she came up with an elaborate idea.

She wanted to take the paper clips and make a memorial to honor and remember those who lost their lives in the concentration camps. So the hunt began for a railcar from the time period. The search was long and spanned the entire country of Germany. Finally, a railcar was found and brought overseas to the US. It was filled with 11 million paperclips to represent the 6 million Jews who died and the other 5 million represented the gypsies, lesbians, gays, and others who were also hunted down.

Months of labor went into the making of the memorial. The real work wasn't in the making of the memorial or in the collecting of the paper clips. It was in the changes that were made in the lives of the students, the teachers and the community. It was the teaching of tolerance, the stories shared along the way, and the lives that were changed.


To see more:
Miss Greene's Blog