https://padlet.com/Katie_Seamon/r4bf3yeh2m3x Collaborative Teaching and Learning en-us 2016-10-30 20:40:31 UTC 2026-03-20 09:22:36 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Templeball.png Katie_Seamon https://padlet.com/Katie_Seamon/r4bf3yeh2m3x/wish/134106282 I'm a native upstate NYer who came to Fez, Morocco in 2008 for a teaching job, and ended up getting married and staying! I teach middle and high school Social Studies at the American school here; this is my seventh year at this school. I have two sweet baby boys, Jonah (3 years old) and Sammy (16 months old), who are my constant joy. While I don't have much free time anymore, I enjoy reading, traveling, watching TV, cooking, and spending time outside. There aren't many opportunities for professional development here in Morocco, so it's awesome to have found this MOOC; I enjoy learning new things, especially when it comes to developing my skills as a teacher.]]> 2016-10-30 20:45:23 UTC https://padlet.com/Katie_Seamon/r4bf3yeh2m3x/wish/134106282 Katie_Seamon https://padlet.com/Katie_Seamon/r4bf3yeh2m3x/wish/134106880 I'm currently teaching 6th grade U.S. History, 7th grade Moroccan History, and 10th grade Modern World History at Amicitia American School of Fez. http://americanschoolfes.com/
Class sizes are generally small, with my largest class being the 6th grade with 18 students. The majority of students are Moroccans, with some having dual nationalities (American/Canadian/British/French/Dutch, etc.), and a few expat kids from various countries thrown into the mix. Most of the Moroccan kids are learning English as a third, sometimes fourth, language(!), so managing learning levels can be quite a challenge. Our school's mission statement includes the phrase "characterized by excellence in technology"  but in reality we are lacking any true technology other than a basic computer lab. Personally, in my own classroom I use several tech tools such as: Edmodo; Kizoa, Prezi, or Google Slides for student presentations; daily notes on PPT or Prezi; Pinterest and Blogger for student extra credit projects; and many other Internet-linked activities for review, homework assignments, online quizzes, etc. This year I made the decision to "go digital" with my middle school classes, so they no longer have a physical textbook; instead they use personal laptops, tablets, or smartphones to access their textbooks as a PDF file. So far, it seems to be working and the kids are happy not to lug around a huge textbook!]]> 2016-10-30 20:54:14 UTC https://padlet.com/Katie_Seamon/r4bf3yeh2m3x/wish/134106880 Katie_Seamon https://padlet.com/Katie_Seamon/r4bf3yeh2m3x/wish/134115249 Learning Activity #1:
This past week my 10th graders worked on a collaborative in-class project to present to their classmates and me. Working in five groups of three, each group was given a European country and a Southeast Asian country that was a potential conquest of the European nation. The groups were to assign research roles to each member and choose a presenter; the research involved finding information about the natural resources, military/government strength,  and location for both countries. Group members had to produce a route map and charts or graphs detailing resources, military or naval strength, or other pertinent information which would be presented to their nation's ruler (me) as justification for conquest.

I would consider this a high collaborative effort as students were to agree on their roles and research responsibilities, design and create their presentation, and then present their conquest strategy and justification as though they were an advisor to a 16th century European monarch. 

If I use this activity next year, I would provide more print resources in class rather than assuming students would be able to find what they needed online; some students were confused over how and what to search for online. It would also be more productive to spend more time in class researching and writing rather than to assign the majority of the research as homework.]]> 2016-10-30 23:04:52 UTC https://padlet.com/Katie_Seamon/r4bf3yeh2m3x/wish/134115249 Katie_Seamon https://padlet.com/Katie_Seamon/r4bf3yeh2m3x/wish/134116777 Learning Activity #2:
Often, as an in-class reading activity, I have students pair up to do "Think-Pair-Share" with the critical thinking questions that our textbook features at the end of every section.

This requires a high level of collaboration as students are working in pairs, which means they're more likely to be a participant in the activity. The only downside to using pairs is in my larger class it can be difficult to monitor all the pair groups to ensure they are actually doing as instructed and that they're doing the activity correctly.]]> 2016-10-30 23:26:34 UTC https://padlet.com/Katie_Seamon/r4bf3yeh2m3x/wish/134116777