Encouraging Students to Have Pride in their Work Part 2

Being a teacher is like being a poker player.  There are highs and lows and sometimes you win big and sometimes you go all-in and bust.  Recently in my 7th grade social studies class I think I won big.  One of my standards is about international organizations, so I made a TIME Magazine template in the Mac program Pages, and student chose international organizations from a list by the acronym only.

Students researched their organization and tried to answer the basic questions: what does the acronym stand for, and what does their organization do.  The research phase only took about 1 day.  We spent another 1/2 day looking at TIME Magazine covers and looking for similarities and themes.  I gave my kids a few requirements:

1.  Design a TIME Magazine cover with 3 areas of text.  The text must describe the international organization.

2.  Use 1 main image on the cover to draw attention to your magazine help explain your international organization

3.  Use smaller images to give more details about your international organization.

4.  Use the logo of your international organization.

As students began to create their magazine I started to use the phrase, "would you pick up your magazine?".  Basically, was the cover gripping?  Did it make you want to read what was inside?  This became more important to most of my kids than anything else.

I think we took 2 days to create the cover, and at one point I had students do a gallery walk to take a look at everyone's work.  When students saw some of the covers like the ones I have on this blog they sprung into action and completely started over.  I told several students, "you don't need to start over--you've met the requirements, you are going to get full credit".   They didn't seem to care--they didn't even hesitate as they deleted their old work.  This was art, and the grade didn't matter.  They were on a mission.  To be fair, it wasn't all of the students, but somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 of my students started over.

I graded this the same way we always grade--one on one conversations, what I have also heard called "oral defense" and presentations.  The day before we presented, I sat down with students who finished early and asked them content questions about their international organization. We then reviewed the requirements and negotiated a grade that seemed fair to both of us.

Now for the best part.  After I graded many of the students asked if they could make changes before they presented the following day.  I told every student it wouldn't change their grade, and yet every student made changes to their work before they presented the following day. About 1/4 of the students graded out early and made changes to their work without ANY encouragement from me.

 I was so proud of the the pride they had in their work that I honored each student who made grade-less changes during presentation day.  Each time, the class gave an unprompted round of applause to the student.

This was a big win, for all of us, but why?  What made these kids have so much pride in their work?  Why this assignment?  Maybe this assignment was not too hard and the tools to make it top notch were well within their control.

This is the goal--I want my students to have pride in their work.  They are engaged, interested, excited, and most importantly they are learning.  I couldn't believe how well students knew their international organization, and it seems to be sticking because we are doing a project about world conflicts right now and students have to come up with a solution to the conflict.  Many of them are relying on their knowledge of international organizations.

I try to emphasize learning--I don't mean this as a cliche'.  I say the words and reinforce the goal everyday in my class--LEARNING.  With every activity or project I encourage students to make something amazing--"blow everyone away", I tell them, "impress me"!  When students adopt this mentality, even for a few class periods, the learning naturally happens in an authentic and real way.  Imagine if an entire school took this approach!

I don't want to use fear of a bad grade to get students to learn or threaten that, "this will be on the tests" to force information into their short-term memory.  Learning is like love, you can't force it, and if you do, it doesn't last.  

Why Chrome is the Most Amazing Browser

People don't like to talk about religion and politics because people are generally set in their ways and emotions gets high.  This is how I feel towards web browsers (nerd alert), and like any religious zealot, I am completely convinced I am right!  However, this is no leap of faith.  Google Chrome is, by any measure, the best web browser available and anyone who doesn't agree simply doesn't know what Chrome can do. This is especially true for educators and students.

Speed is thought to be a major issue with web browsers, and you can find speed tests that favor just about any browser, except maybe Internet Explorer.  I personally think Chrome is faster after using IE, Firefox, and Safari on a fairly regular basis, however, Internet speed is more linked to your Internet connection and computer processor than it is to your browser.

The real beauty of Google Chrome is the apps and extensions.  For those who don't know, web extensions (also called add-on too) are essentially mini-programs that work within your web browser.  Some of my favorites are Evernote Web clipper, Diigo Highlight/bookmarking tool, Explain and Send (screenshots), Black Menu (for easy access to all your Google Apps), and Aviary image editor for Google Drive--this is important when working in Google Presentation to edit and crop images.  The Google Chrome Store is full of thousands of other extensions and apps such as Ancient History Encyclopedia--and they are almost all FREE.

There are many other benefits too.  Google Chrome automatically updates, so there is no need to ever update the software.  Do you ever leave your browser open so you don't lose the tabs you have open?  Chrome allows you to close your browser and continue where you left off.   Possibly the greatest benefit is the fact that it is 100% web-based.  What does that mean?  I can log into Chrome (Google account) on my desktop and have the same apps and extensions I have on my laptop. I can log into my account on my friend's computer, library computer--ANYWHERE and have all the same apps, extensions, web history, bookmarks, etc. as I do on my personal laptop.  Not to mention the incalculable value of all the other Google Apps, which I've blogged about before here and here.  I don't want to live in digital world without Google.  You won't either when you discover the glory of Google.

When Google Search Doesn't Work

There are certain topics that are very difficult to "Google", which has been declared a verb for searching the Internet.  Maybe you have had this experience.  Your students choose a volatile topic for a paper such as abortion, religion, or guns.  You and/or your student are getting very partisan or unreliable search results.  There are some steps you or your students can take.

Step One:  Search Google better.  The operation and functions of Google Search is as unknown and mysterious to people as a microwave.  Most people are accustomed to pushing a button to make food hot or in the case of Google, typing in a single word or group of words and clicking search.  Just as your microwave has mini operations for thawing frozen vegetables, Google has thousands of "operators" and options that help you modify your search.  (don't include the brackets below, these enclose the search I would enter.

• [filetype:pdf gun laws]--this search will only show PDF files that contain hits on the keywords "gun" and "laws"
• [filetype:pdf gun laws site:.gov]--this search will only show PDF files that contain hits on the keywords "gun" and "laws" from state and federal government websites.
• [filetype:pdf ~"gun laws" site:.gov]--this search will only show PDF files that contain hits on  "gun laws" as a phrase and similar phrases such as "firearms" "automatic rifles" from state and federal government websites.
• [filetype:pdf ~"gun laws" site:.gov OR site:.edu]--this search will only show PDF files that contain hits on "gun laws" as a phrase and similar phrases such as "firearms" "automatic rifles" from state and federal government websites or university or education websites. 

I could go on about Google search operators here are a few others.  Here is a nice inforgraphic about how to get more out of Google.  Really, the steps could end there.  I firmly believe if something is on the web, Google can access it.  It is up to you to create the right query/search.  Obviously you could try other search engines such as Bing or Yahoo, but you will find similar results as Google.  

Step Two: If you have a divisive topic, you might also want to search a reliable database such as a curated library. One place to look is ipl2.  This is a  public service organization with thousands of resources devoted to teaching and learning environments.  Another virtual library is infomine.  This library is "relevant to faculty, students, and research staff at the university level".  You will find databases, journals, books, articles, and many other types of information.  

Step Three: Repeat step one.

Step Four: Go to the physical library in your area and ask a librarian.

Step Five: Give up and pick a new topic.  Seriously.