Social Studies Cycle Share Out by Jamie Hirai https://padlet.com/jhirai5/mqmu565yuztz en-us 2018-09-20 23:14:11 UTC 2026-02-08 08:59:42 UTC hello@padlet.com HHIS Social Studies Department jhirai5 https://padlet.com/jhirai5/mqmu565yuztz/wish/289397792 2018-10-04 21:22:12 UTC https://padlet.com/jhirai5/mqmu565yuztz/wish/289397792 Mrs. Jamie Bowman jhirai5 https://padlet.com/jhirai5/mqmu565yuztz/wish/289398399 Quarter 1:
During quarter 1 cycle I focused on writing with evidence.   We watched a case study about development and the students posed a higher level question and responded to two of their classmates questions using evidence.  I found that the students had a hard time responding to the questions with evidence.  During the critical friends session I was given some good pointers to provide the students with sentence stems for answering a question with evidence, and maybe try to have the students respond to one question and then one students response to a question. And then to finally have the students pick one question for all of them to answer and grade their response with a rubric.  The highlight of this cycle was sharing out my pre-assessment with my PLC using the critical friends process.
Quarter 2:
During this quarter two cycle the students were working on  speaking and presenting.  For the pre assessment the students researched a drug  using a Q and A template and then created their own lyrics to a song using their research. The students had to use what they learned and apply it in a fun creative way. 
For the Post assessment the students researched psychological disorders in groups and then they selected one disorder to create story board about the disorder and share it with their group.
In both assessments the students had to apply their research but they dot to use their create imaginations.  This cycle was very fun, and included a lot of dialogue between students. 
Quarter 3:
Reflection:
This cycle we focused on increasing students discussion skills.  I used a check list self assessment for the student and teacher.  The assessment evaluated their ability to share basic comments or basic question that help the discussion; Comments elaborate on others, challenge ideas, or make deeper connections; and lastly if they were able to Stayed Engaged & Actively Listened the Whole Discussion. 
Before the discussion students completed a writing prompt using the success criteria format given to me at the visual learning training. This was a great highlight to the discussion piece because students were able to know what was being asked from them and given a chance to go over and beyond. Then they highlighted their evidence to show that the me the success criteria.

Process:
For the pre assessment the student selected a current event topic to research and create a question for their classmates to answer and discuss. 
For the post assessment students discussed the different tax systems around the world and the pros and cons of each system.
 
Reflections:
One take away from this cycle was that I really had to emphasis the difference between a debate and a discussion.  We had to create norms for the discussion and highlight the positive aspects of having a discussion rather than a debate.
Another take away was that it was hard for the students to point to the evidence when speaking in a discussion, they would mostly go off of personal experience. 
Next cycle we would like to focus on deepening their discussion skills by encouraging the students to provide evidence in their findings and speaking through evidence.
Results:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16-2Ll7CqbjsjwqbhjQNz9fO-Xqu6Kh96qpUZ84dV_NM/edit?usp=sharing

]]> 2018-10-04 21:24:33 UTC https://padlet.com/jhirai5/mqmu565yuztz/wish/289398399 Ric Mendoza https://padlet.com/jhirai5/mqmu565yuztz/wish/289409531  Quarter 1:
Instead of teaching history via chronology the syllabus was divided into seven thematic units in the form of different social issues.
Focusing on the first theme which is "Democracy" will introduce students to a document-based learning of history. Literature, speeches, and videos were used from the Declaration of Independence to the 2008 Inaugural Speech of Barrack Obama were introduced chronologically.
I found out that students have a hard time understanding vocabulary and forgot their History lessons from the middle grade. Vocabulary has to be introduced at the beginning of the topic.
Critical friends also introduced me to teaching styles that i never thought of which includes more student interaction. Stations, presentations, and games were suggested to make student interaction better.
My highlight was being able to show my colleagues how I do document based teaching and what tweaks inside the classroom will optimize such teaching style. I was able to validate my teaching through the comments and suggestions of my co-teachers which i hope allows me to improve and refine more teaching techniques.
Quarter 2:
The focus is about student highlights and student voice. As a department, the SS group aimed for students to take control of the classroom.
In US History, the class experienced "Flip Teaching" where a group of students become the teacher for the day. Flip teaching give students a chance to take control of the classroom learning and activities.
I think this technique is very advanced for the students over all. 5 groups from all classes was able to meet beyond expectations, 7 meets expectations, but the rest did not meet expectations for the task. The students are more comfortable working on their seats. Anxiety was so obvious and took over most students especially those who did not prepare properly and made use of their preparation time wisely.
A more rigorous and stricter implementation of the rubric could have made the presentations better. The next time this teaching style would be used, a better rubric can also be designed.
Quarter 3:
The goal for this quarter was to focus on different discussion techniques and how we can assess students' participation more efficiently and increase participation.
I adapted the "Question Based" approach for discussions where the teacher asks questions in class in proper order. the students should be able to share out and answer the questions step-by-step while slowly piecing information to create a narrative of the historical event. This type of discussion was used to us by a college professor where students piece information together using inductive-deductive questions and reasoning simultaneously and interchangeably.
Pre-assessments include students scoring themselves using a participation checklist that would allow students to get 10 points every discussion day which will be added to the actual paper/document they have to work on at the end of the period. Short periods are usually for quick researches, long periods are used for the discussions at the beginning and then the document towards the end of class.
Reflecting on this quarter shows how much students want to talk and own the lessons. I have seen my students get into it and react happy or upset with the information they are able to piece together. There are days where goosebumps happen because students are able to create and unlock a certain narrative within the information. There also exists different stories that surfaced because of different perspectives being produced in class.
]]> 2018-10-04 22:21:50 UTC https://padlet.com/jhirai5/mqmu565yuztz/wish/289409531 Chris Mione & Dan Lewer dlewer https://padlet.com/jhirai5/mqmu565yuztz/wish/289409533 Chris and I focused on the basics this quarter because the data from SBAC showed the 7th and 8th (and lesser extent 11) struggled with identifying central ideas.  We tried to address it in many ways- through discussions, in worksheets, notes, etc. But we were also working on an assortment of other skills as well.  We had a preassessment and post assessment on a test where they read a short passage and had to identify the central idea in one sentence.  It was a short and sweet activity but useful in recognizing common problems with the skill.  In the one month, we noticed several more students 'exceed', some moved from below to meeting, but overall, many are struggling with the wording, if not the skill, of identifying the main idea.


Quarter 2
Learning Goal: Identify bias and evaluating sources

Tasks: Students were given multiple sources from different POVs and they first had to identify likely biases.  Then students had to consider who would be the most likely to be trustworthy and why.  Then they needed to account for how the bias impacted the document (or what was written).  Though this is pretty complex- students did a good job, even the first time, recognizing bias in documents and considering which sources would be most trustworthy and why.  It stimulated good discussions, I noticed- more than if you were just discussing the ideas or content. It adds more of an inquiry mindset and I look forward to digging deeper into how authors' POVs and backgrounds can impact information and how it is relevant to their lives. 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AvABeXesVEw8gMzz9wYh25TUnr1KpExh5jXMcw69nyU/edit

Quarter 3: Discussion

Tasks: Students were given multiple readings from various points of views on a controversial topic; celebrate Columbus Day? What was the real reason Martin Luther led a protest against the church? They were assigned reading groups to mark the text and answer some analysis questions.  I tried to not add anything except for calling on students to participate. In one class- I even had a student facilitate the discussion and it went very well!

REFLECTIONS:
For the post assessment they were also asked to just record interesting or powerful quotes from the text and then respond- this allowed students to hone in on the 'heavy stuff' worth discussing in the class. I think that helped with the post discussion part.  The post assessment also had slightly different seating (more suited for a discussion) which might have helped the improved results.  Something else that might have helped was that I was routinely throughout the quarter calling more on students to share ideas (just informally) or when reviewing answers to make quiet students more willing to share later.  For the post, students also self evaluated and tracked their participation and then wrote a reflection.  Additionally, they nominated students for 'break through performance' and who was 'on fire'- this might help more for the next discussion because some students felt more validated in their efforts (I hope).

Preassessment:
Exceeds Expectations: 4 students [students able to share their own ideas, explain them in detail, and build on ideas already shared]
Meets Expectations: 10 students [students able to share their own ideas and use evidence from the text with some explanation.]
Close: 6 [students could share ideas or questions but mostly use the author's ideas without personal elaboration.]
No participation: 5 students [did not share]

Post Assessment:
Exceeds Expectations: 8 students [students able to share their own ideas, explain them in detail, and build on ideas already shared]
Meets Expectations: 7 students [students able to share their own ideas and use evidence from the text with some explanation.]
Close : 5 [students could share ideas or questions but mostly use the author's ideas without personal elaboration.]
No particatipation: 5 students [did not share]


]]> 2018-10-04 22:21:51 UTC https://padlet.com/jhirai5/mqmu565yuztz/wish/289409533 Macabio & Ashley https://padlet.com/jhirai5/mqmu565yuztz/wish/289409591 During first quarter, Diane Ashley and I focused on evaluating information by analyzing documents, and using primary documents to use as evidence to support their claim. Students analyzed four different primary documents from the time period of the annexation of Hawai’i. The students also used different methods to ensure their understanding and to support their process of analyzing documents. In the end, the students needed to create an argumentative essay using evidence from the primary document to support their claim. The highlight during the process was utilizing and combining both our strengths in the different areas. ]]> 2018-10-04 22:22:09 UTC https://padlet.com/jhirai5/mqmu565yuztz/wish/289409591