“So, now what do we do?” The second half of a journey designed to tax the mind and elevate the heart and soul

It has been said that the 1970s represented the “Golden Age” of American Cinema. It was a time period where a representative sample of “the great ones” emerged. If one was to look at the American Film Institute’s compilation of the 100 greatest films, there would be a stellar sampling of American films in the 1970s. A small budget film that was groundbreaking (or what our writers of the traditional essay set of prompts would deem, “radical”) was The Candidate. Starring Robert Redford as a California gubernatorial candidate and Peter Boyle as the chief campaign advisory, the film foreshadowed what the modern realm of American politics had become: realpolitik, spin control, and the dreaded exit poll. In the film’s pivotal last scene, when it had become evident that Redford’s character had won the office of California governor, he looks back at his advisor and asks a haunting question amidst the celebratory sounds of a political victory:

“So, now what do we do?”

Not to categorize our students as a collection of Redfords, I believe that some are uttering the same question. We have completed our study of the American Revolution. This examination encompassed text- based reading and analysis, preparation on an exam, and intense writing tasks on aspects of the time period. Students will have the chance to use the break to regroup and reload for what lies ahead.

When we return from break on January 7, 2008 (please accept my apologies for the mistake on the syllabus), we will begin our study of the formation of the United States Constitution. I have always believed that three documents guide the seventh grade Social Studies curriculum: Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence, The Constitution of the United States, and Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. When we return from the break we engage upon the analysis of the second leg of this triad. We open our study of the post- Revolution America in a vein of philosophy. We will be receiving visitors in the form of Philosophy students from Mr. Goldberg’s class at Oak Park and River Forest High School. They will be facilitating philosophical discussions about a variety of topics ranging from ethics, social obligation of the individual, and justice. Our emerging scholars will learn how to “argue philosophy” utilizing active learning and listening techniques. Students will engage in a variety of discussions and then report out their findings to the larger group. This entry into the domain of philosophical discussion and inquiry is an excellent stepping stone to our discussion of the Constitution. As we assemble our understanding about how the Constitution was formed, we will engage in a serious study of its varied and multiple components. Capping this intense analysis will be an introduction to thinkers of political philosophy and Constitutional philosophy in action. This will allow students to read primary and secondary sources in the domain of ideology and intellectual history. This will be a zealous and arduous undertaking, as I have never attempted any study in this amount of depth and breadth. One of the hopes of having the high school students visit our students is to allow them to envision where they can be on their journeys. The idea of engaging within an intellectual discussion where ideas and concepts matter is a worthy vision, a Parthenon of academia where few even dare to tread. In stressing philosophy in American historical development, I believe we will allow all of our students to make another bold step into the arena of scholarship. By now, students have learned to take this arena extremely seriously, as all are invited, but few have the courage to “walk the line” into it.
More pedagogical tools will be divulged to students in the next couple of weeks. The employment of speak/ write lectures, outcome sentences, as well as other tools to help increase student understanding shall find greater presence into the classroom setting. Our assessments will range from the standard multiple choice exam, as well writing tasks which compel students to access all four primary learning styles in order to find greater success. Students should be vigilant about their second trimester final exam, which is to take place in February. The best advice I could give all of our students is to invest in a good, durable two pocketed folder, as well as a series of good pens and paper. These will be needed as they face what lies ahead.

I guess Redford's question of “What do we do now” is a rather loaded one. The songs in our garden may take a small respite, but their sonorous notes will resonate quite clearly and distinctly in the months of January and February. Students will have a clear idea of “what to do now” and what shall be done.

Best wishes to you this holiday season.
Mr. Kannan

“If your mother says she loves you, check it out!” Validation of content through external and internal analysis

It sounds odd to me to begin any message with the following phrase, “When I was a younger teacher.” Yet, I find myself having to do that in this particular instance.
When I infact was a younger teacher, I detested the notion of professional development. I felt that I had reached a particular point in my life where learning had reached its natural end. It is worthy to note that I experienced this when I was working at schools that were not middle schools. I have experienced the diametric opposite during my time at a middle school that stresses the whole development of the child and the notion of the “lifelong learner.” It would be a contradiction if I were to zealously advocate this to my middle school students and then not follow the same premises myself. Over the last seven years, professional development has helped to take my curriculum to new levels and broaden the reach of my instruction, students’ learning, as well as the methodology inherent within both domains. One element of this evolution has been the notion of validating one’s experience through internal reflection and external criteria. Simply put, it suggests that a middle level educator must constantly scrutinize their practices through their own eyes as well as the multiple gazes of “the other.” This postmodern web of analysis provides a prism where student learning can be maximized for one is constantly in search of how to enhance pedagogy and understanding, another essential component of the independent learner.
Bearing all of this in mind, I thought I would turn the “high powered laser” of reflection upon the chapter 6 writing assessments, our latest foray into the harrowing world of scholarship. Simply put, I used my own observation of student experiences as well as The National Middle School’s “14 Characteristics” of successful middle schools to examine my own curriculum. The results proved illuminating in terms of content, student learning, and pedagogical enhancement.
One of “The 14 Characteristics” centers on the idea that curriculum must be relevant, challenging, integrative and exploratory. Within this domain, the assertion is that successful learning activities “create opportunities for students to pose and answer questions that are important to them… Such a curriculum provides direction for what young adolescents should know and be able to do and help them achieve the attitudes and behaviors for a full, productive, and satisfying life.” Over the last week, I have witnessed students engage in thoughtful analysis as to which of the five writing tasks would best suit them and which would be the best to complete. In this vein, I had a moment of illumination on Monday. After divulging the writing tasks to students, I was approached by three students, who asked me to spend my lunch with them. I had little idea as to why these particular students would want to spend their lunch period with me and when I asked them, I was surprised to find out. After a period of brief silence, one of them spoke: “We want you to help us pick which of the writing assignments to do. This is like really big, and we want you to help us choose- whatever you think we can do, we’ll do.” I pretended not to be excited, thrilled, and completely overwhelmed. I have had some great moments in teaching, and at that moment, I could tell that this was working its way up that list: Three students that had never volunteered a lunch period throughout the year were approaching me about counsel on a writing assignment that was due three weeks in advance. We worked out a plan, developed a prewrite, and talked out a particular writing task. The discourse was intellectual, academic, and collegial. Naturally, whenever students take an active role in what they should do, it is inspiring. Yet, when middle school students take steps that will reveal hopeful patterns of success in life, one is awed. In another experience, a student said, “My mom wants you to listen to me explain why I should choose the ABC summaries over the letter.” In other instances, different levels of students have struggled with the element of choice and made peace with their decision, or found what could yield the best level of success for them. To witness these behaviors and attitudes enhanced through this particular task has been most gratifying.
The notion of dialogue with students is another characteristic of the successful middle school. I believe that the conferencing format with students over the next week will continue what has already been started: A work- based discourse between students and teachers. Engaging in dialogue with students about their work, their choices, their concerns, and their possibilities is a benchmark of my instruction. It has become more valid with the writing tasks on chapter 6, as students have understood how difficult the problem of choice is and how challenging it can be to navigate. A component of “The 14 Characteristics” is that “Since young adolescents learn best through engagement and interaction, learning strategies involve students in dialogue with teachers and one another.” Hearing students talk with me, and infinitely more important, themselves, has solidified my belief that learning at this particular age is a social construct. The idea of solidarity cannot be vitiated when one conceives of the best ways for a middle school student to learn. This social aspect is rooted in the idea of talking about the work, centering a dialogue on academics, and transforming a traditional school climate of opposition and boundary to one of collaboration and partnership.
A final component of “The 14 Characteristics” helps to articulate the best conditions to maximize student learning. This notion of assessment is critical in understanding quality instruction and learning at this age. It stresses that “continuous, authentic and appropriate assessment and evaluation measures provide evidence about every student’s learning progress” are primary components of a valuable middle school education. When I examine how students are encountering challenges and difficulties each day with the completion of this task, how the level of questioning is becoming more specifically intellectual, and how students are attempting to develop a level of greater understanding about their particular task in how it is linked to American history, I can sense that students are becoming stronger about the content of the American Revolution. This is an ongoing process that seems to develop momentum with each day of in class work. When the NMSA argues that “grades alone are inadequate expressions for assessing the many goals of a middle school education,” I understood this as a description of what we best do as a Middle School. In trying to address the needs, promises, and possibilities of all children, we create a setting that stresses academic importance, but does not do so at the cost of the understanding of a specific child. This notion of creating an experience that represents the “whole child” in all children is an absolute. In these writing tasks, their process of composition and their intrinsic dialogues, I believe that meaningful relationships between students, content, and teacher emerge. Within this cocoon of safety, the NMSA suggests that “intellectual risks can be taken.”
Journalists live by the doctrine of examination and reexamination. I am reminded of the veteran Chicago journalist slogan that opens this missive. In this connective thread, I believe that “checking out” what one does in the eyes of the inescapable “other” can yield a great deal of meaning. “Checking out” what we do as a Middle School can help to validate our practices and remind us of “those things that are best”. In the final analysis, the element of risk taking becomes an essential component of the Middle School conception of education. When placed in the context of this past year’s experiences, it is a logical component. Graduated difficulty, Don Quixote, Sancho, multiple learning styles, the metaphors of inevitability and midnight in conjunction with writing tasks and assessments have all formed the setting where risks can be taken. When I examine what we have done and what we will do, I understand that the Parthenon of greatness, to which I hope all of our students and emerging scholars aspire, will be within reach. The garden is still brimming with songs being sung and those waiting to be sung.

All best, happy hunting, and even merrier writing.

Mr. Kannan

Bollywood, Middle School Philosophy, and the Chapter 6 Writing Assessment

There is a new Bollywood film slated for release the same week the writing assessments on Chapter 6 are to be submitted. While I don’t think this was conceived by design, there are some parallels. The film is the Aamir Khan work “Taare Zameen Par” and literally translated it means “Stars on Earth.” Contrary to most topics of Bollywood films, this film centers on teaching and learning. It is almost a certainty that the film will continue the current discourse about education in India. This is a vibrant conversation in a culture that places a primacy on education, yet struggles to understand its multi faceted nature in the modern setting. I was struck by the title’s implication of how human beings find themselves inexplicable trapped by a consciousness that is eternally earth bound, but a psyche that strives to achieve other worldly status. Perhaps, placing education in this philosophical conundrum makes what we do as teachers and learners even more provocative a topic for discussion as it seeks to provide a respite from a restless condition.
When I tried to conceptualize how to discuss the writing tasks on chapter 6 in this week’s blog, the great Aamir Khan’s film helped to clarify my focus and that of 7-1 students. The exam on chapter 6 has been written and will be taken this week (Tuesday.) Students designed it, wrote it, and taught its content to their colleagues. The second phase of the assessment on chapter 6, the American Revolution, commences. This phase will be centered on writing, but will also force students to address several issues. With the writing assessment valued at 500 points, this moment of reckoning will have strong repercussions. Students will have to select one of five tasks to account for such a major component of their grade. Moreover, they will have to select from a field of tasks that will comprise some of the hardest yet faced by our scholars, now a trimester old in this schematic. Some of the tasks offered are new to students (Point of View Guides and A-B-C Summaries), while others are familiar but feature a wider scope of focus (Traditional Essays and Identifications and Pictures), and some are plain bizarre and could only come from the mind of an equally odd Social Studies teacher (Sam Adams’ Letter.) The tasks are demanding in both quality and quantity, as they will take two weeks to complete. Students of all levels will be pushed to their maximum level. Then, they will rest for two weeks, only to repeat the process of challenge again as they commence with the study of the formation of the Constitution, the document itself, and its implications in the modern setting.
I have always given a writing task to complement the study of the Revolution, yet I felt this one was different. I wanted to create a task that would match the value of the content, develop the conditions of a difficult choice within students, and also mirror the drive of what it means to be a middle school student. I feel confident that the tasks represent a solid conclusion note to our study of the Revolution. I believe that the meaning that will emerge will be the meaning that our students place to this formative event in American History. They will take ownership of the content and apply meaning to it, a component of the definition of the independent learner. In a larger sense, I believe that the tasks represent the essence of a middle school experience. Over the last few weeks, we, as professionals of Percy Julian Middle School, have had to do a great deal of soul searching about what it means to be middle level educator and how do we best carry such a powerful burden on our already broad shoulders. I believe that writing assessment on chapter 6 can serve as my answer to these questions. An examination of the writing tasks reveals how they can reach the elusive domain of “the middle school child.” These prompts are designed with different learning styles in mind, to the extent that the dominant learning style is declared at the start of each task. I have always believed that the middle school experience is akin to drawing a square and a smaller square within that one and repeating the process until one cannot do so any longer. A series of squares emerges as well as the presence of a corridor that seems to progress infinitely. I feel that the first square is what our children are like when they enter Julian for the first time in the main spine, desperately seeking their advisory teachers in their initial start to both the school year and their Middle School experience. Then, as they grow within this experience and reveal more of their persona, as more depth is added to their characters and psyches, the corridor gains in length and complexity. In the same way, I believe that the writing tasks on chapter 6 reflect the progression and process of walking through the corridor and adding more dimensions to it. Students will have to make choices as to who they are, in both learner and person, and then have to undergo the process of becoming what they hope to be. I cannot find a better description of the middle school experience. When one understands that this sensation as an experience that all of our 7-1 students will undergo together as a community of emerging scholars, yet on an insightfully meaningful level as individuals, one can only marvel at what will emerge on December 20, the deadline for all submissions.
Philosophers have struggled to articulate the aspect of duality within the human consciousness. This conception understands human existence as something that transpires on this earth, as beings of a planet bound by the needs of oxygen and the reality of gravity. Yet, it seems than an inevitable part of our identities is to split this consciousness with a desire for something more, something outside of the setting in which we are inevitably chained. Whether we are Plato’s children in the cave wondering about the light outside, or whether we are Sartrean offspring who sit in one train and see another one pass on an opposite track, seemingly moving much faster than we move, or whether we are Kunderian creatures trapped between the weight of existence and the unbearable lightness of being, human beings seem to be poised between equally desirable, yet ultimately incompatible courses of action. We understand that this is a part of our state of life, what Cervantes would undoubtedly call “La Mancha,” or “the stain.”
As dour as this might be, have no fear because Bollywood is here!
While this condition is a part of our “La Mancha,” Khan’s film of “Stars on Earth,” reminded me that embracing an education process where teaching and learning for all reign supreme could serve as a temporary respite from this pain of consciousness. We achieve our hopes in our reality. Students are the stars on earth, and our potential salvation to the pain of division inherent in consciousness. We see in our students the chance for them to become stars on earth, to bridge the gap between where we are and where we wish to be, to bring harmony to the dissonant tunes of Quixote and Sancho. When we design learning as contingent on education for all and all for education, we find some reprieve from the pain of our being, the pain of “La Mancha.” In their last writing assessment, many students suggested that we “are both Quixote and Sancho.” Indeed, the triad consisting of Khan’s film title “Taare Zameen Par,” or “Stars on Earth,” his notion of how education can be a liberating answer to the pain of consciousness, and the presence of a middle school environment predicated on the promises and possibilities for all are linked to one another and can provide a sense of hope within a seemingly hopeless condition. This triad, which emerges through the writing tasks of chapter 6, reminds us of how all songs sung in the garden of scholarship hold beauty, harmony, and melody.
We await to see what songs will be sung by our 7-1 nightingales.
Yours in song, wishing you all the best and happy hunting.
Mr. Kannan

Giving the keys to the palace or a post modern vision: Students taking and administering student composed exams

The writing prompts on chapter 5 are complete. Students have gained a greater understanding about inevitability, midnight, and colonial anger and resistance. Now, we commence second trimester by continuing our study of the American Revolution. Naturally, our assessment of chapter 6 will be challenging. One such aspect is that students will be creating the exam portion of the chapter 6 assessment.

The notion of test writing has always remained in the domain of the professional educator. When students reflect on one of the most powerful aspects of being a teacher, the idea of administering and grading tests is a hallmark of the profession. It has always intrigued me to see what would happen to students if they were given “the keys” and asked to write a test that they and their colleagues would have to take. Each year, I have created some type of activity where students write an exam and have to assist one another in preparation for their portion of such an assessment. There is a spirit of collaboration, healthy competition, and academic discourse that results from such an experience. Students ask questions such as “What would make a good test question?” or “Is this fair to ask students on a test?” We see students of all ability levels learn from and teach one another because everyone has “the keys.” All are actively learning and partaking in what is being taught because when students write the exam, they are all stakeholders in the process. As students finish reading chapter 6, completing their reciprocal reading tasks for each section, they should be keeping in mind potential areas of the material that could serve as topical areas for test questions. Their completed work on their reciprocal reading tasks will not only serve as good study guides, but also as excellent surveys of the terrain that students will map out through their exam questions. I believe that students have to work well within their own settings and with their colleagues for the writing tasks on chapter 6 will be even more demanding than their counterparts on chapter 5. I am reminded of a great coach’s challenge: “Is this fun or what?” (Extra credit if you can name the football coach who coined this phrase.)

One trimester has been completed. I believe that the second installment of our journey will yield more treasure, more challenge, and more work. I believe that students will have to give more of their hearts and souls in accomplishing the tasks that lie ahead. They will demand more commitment, more focus, and more of “those things that are best” if success is to be achieved.

The nightingale who sings the song of academic scholarship continues on where only the great ones dare to tread. Who knew that some of our students will begin to join this song in this learned garden of “the good, the true, and the beautiful”?

Yours in song,

Mr. Kannan

Voices from the battlefield: 7-1 Emerging Scholars at work through their voices

As I study the faces of our students who are working towards Friday’s deadline, I am struck by some of what their thoughts are. As I have been reading their work, I surmised that the best way to compose this week’s blog is to have them do it for me:

* “My friend and I were arguing about whether the revolution happened before the first shot was fired.”
* “Quixote no esta loco.”
* “Of course, the phone began to ring and then Quixote took his sword and chopped my lovely phone in half.”
* “Sheen would die to meet the real ultralord as Quixote would die for Dulcinea.”
* “The colonists didn’t have a say about the acts that were being passed. I think this is what made the revolution inevitable.”
* “To the townspeople, Quixote fighting windmills is absolutely pointless. But, to Quixote, Dulcinea (independence) is the one and only thing Quixote fights for. There is no Dulcinea, there is no Quixote.”
* “ We live in a world of mammals, reptiles, amphibians and many other things. Some of the other things are Quixotes and Sanchos.”
* “There are more Sanchos in the world because more people think of stuff as they really are (such as a dog as a dog), but Quixote thinks of them as a monster, or something that it really is not.”
* “I think that we should fight and win the freedom that we deserve and that we are willing to fight for.”
* “Quixote told Sancho that he would give him a twinkie every day if he went on a quest with him, called him “The Great Don Quixote” or “master,” and does whatever he says.
* “To all healthy, able bodied men in this neighborhood who have the will to join the troops now rising under General George Washington, take notice!”
* “There were many dragons to slay and monsters to kill, but for her it was worth it all.”
* “I can compare Don Quixote to the cartoon duo of Sylvester and Tweety Bird.”
* “The colonists weren’t happy about all of the fighting, they wanted peace.”
* “Alonso Quixano is no more in existence than a meteor. You cannot see it unless you try very hard, but it will become visible to someone as a once- in- a- lifetime experience.”
* “I don’t have a sheet with me.”
* “Incompatibility is something that can fatally confuse.”
* “I was not prepared to endure the state of this poor man that seemed to be disturbed far beyond the point that I or anyone else could help him.”
* “The colonists would be very happy if they were fought a war with Great Britain because if they won then they would have their own country and if they didn’t win, then they would have the satisfaction of trying.”
* “In a way, the Revolutionary War started before the first shot in Lexington.”
* “In order to pay off the debt from the French and Indian war, Parliament passed a new act.”
* “All right, kid, what’s your name?” “I am Don Quixote, knight of La Mancha!”
* “I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death… or something else to do!”
* “Don, do you think you are crazy?” “Crazy, no, I am a knight.” Sancho, then says, “I am a man… a hungry one.”
* “He believes he is knight even though he is not.”
* “There will always be a windmill to be fought and always a stand slip to be given.”
* “I think that the colonists should have gone to war against England because it was something that had to be done.”
* “One cartoon character resembled Quixote, and one cartoon character resembled Sancho. Would that count as two or one?”
* “Where there are always beliefs, there are always haters to take them away.”
* “I don’t know…. Mr. Kannan told me to.”
* “Gosh, Jasmine- sit down.”
* “They’ve all just given up and renounced what they know is right.”
* “A pen with unlimited ink/ a notebook with no end/ a mind full yet so empty.”
* “People who have deep imagination and work with them are always left out.”
* “I was against the war because it would have put the colonists at a bigger risk with a greater loss of life.”
* “Happy Diwali… isn’t it supposed to be celebrated tomorrow?”
* “I don’t have anything… now, I will give you one. The bell rang and everybody went marching into school with their id’s for approval to be let in.”
* “There was once a book by Miguel de Cervantes, who wrote a masterpiece so clever, in it was a story and philosophy that would last forever.”
* “Hold back your hands from the jaws until the lion is asleep.”
* “It’s decent content and meets the criteria of how long it should be… It’s pretty awesome.”
* “I think this is my best work yet- you can fail me, if you want, but I know that I tried my best.”
* “What do you want…ok, ok, God- my work- don’t use my words- is good. Oh, my god. I’m leaving.”
* “All I can say is that you’ll know it belongs to me.”
* “ Me? I started off with the opening sentence of the actual work.”
* “Mac’s work is the best work of all these works.”

* “I believe that there are five major differences between the story and the play.”
* “ Fred and Shaggy are the ultimate Don Quixote and Sancho.”
* “ There’d be no reason for conflict if the first shot was not already fired.”
* “ To me, Don Quixote represents the colonies, Dulcinea represents liberty and independence, and the windmill represents Britain.”
* “Bring war to England.”
* “ I worked hard on my work and I cannot believe Mr. Kannan is making me make this dumb statement…. Oh yeah!”
* “I think that my work meets the standards, but I mean, they don’t just meet the standards. They meet Mr. Kannan’s standards, which are higher than all the other standards. I guess they are just high.”
* “Without colonial anger, there might not have been a revolution.”
* “The vision that I see is my sweet, beautiful Dulcinea. May I be with her soon.”
* “I think that a psychiatrist would have a real hard time with Quixote and Sancho.”
* “I know that hardly anybody reads the blog and if they do they won’t be reading what I am saying right now. So, if Mr. Kannan types up what I am saying and puts it on the blog and I print it out, everybody gets 20 points of extra credit.” Upon further review, this challenge was put down by Mr. Kannan.
* “It was the first time the Colonists had guns, but it was not the first time they fired.”
* “My work is very detailed, it gives many examples and connections about before and after the American Revolution, and provides an overall summary of it…” Do I have to say it?
* “No, I am just kidding- don’t write that.”

* “ My work made many connections to the present day world, not the real world.”
* “Is Quixote part of the Revolution?”
* “No, just being nosy…. And that’s my friend- what does that say about me?”
* “I hate you.”
* “In the statement, ‘The American Revolution started before the first shot was fired.’ I believe John Adams was saying that the fighting started before the shot was fired or else there would not have been a reason for the revolution to be started.”
* “My work is a mixture of myself and what we have learned about Don Quixote. I have learned in the process that everyone has a right to their own opinion and should be able to express that.”
* “I believe that the Revolution started before the first shot was fired at Lexington.”
* “My work has a bunch of details and effort… it does! It also caused me an unbelievable headache.”
* “ His advisory teacher is Mr. Kannan.”
* “It’s very difficult because you don’t know if what you put is going to be wrong… That’s pretty much it. In all frankness, I am a lame and trying to keep it real.”
* That’s power.
* “Mine’s better than Anna’s.”
* “My work is going great.”
* “ Stewey called his dad Fatman.”
* “ My work is great… no, no I’m not done.”
* “ The glory of the Spanish Empire was falling… I don’t know.”
* “ I’m not lame and I don’t know anything.”
* “ It’s good… cool.”
* “ Mr. Kannan vs. Don Quixote”
* “They were good questions and made you think and definitely enough to write about…. Does that make sense?”
* “ Sancho Panza is a realistic representation of the common man. There are more people like this in the world who see windmills as windmills and not monsters…. And that my work is better than Jack’s.”
* “ The British are even more evil than Mr. Kannan.”
* “I don’t know what to say… Don’t let the music die!!!”

Social Studies Progress Reports go home on Friday, 11/16. Happy hunting and best wishes to all as another step on the path of scholarship is taken.

Mr. Kannan

The Struggle for Recognition, or how 7-1 students are writing their essays on chapter 5 and Don Quixote

This week’s blog entry will be relatively concise. This is because the students are doing most of the writing. At this time, as this is being written or read, students should be composing 4 essays. Two on colonial resistance, and two on Don Quixote. Students are working on the composition of these essays during class time and at home. I am seeing a variety of ideas being presented, accepted, rejected, and modified. It is evident that the struggle for literary recognition takes many forms within the psyche of our students. Some are trying to frame a collage within the contours of a clock to symbolize midnight, while others are seeking a way to connect lipstick to oppression and freedom. There are some who are trying to see Don Quixote struggle his way through first period PE, while others seek to link Spongebob to the exploits of the knight of La Mancha. Poetry seems to be present, with lines taken and others discarded. Students are feverishly approaching me with questions that begin with, “Can I try this…” or “Would you read this…” The atmosphere is one of construction within the classroom. There have been moments where I can “feel” student work. Students are beginning to believe that they are “the one.”

With all of the writing being done on the part of our students, I have little else to say. Final Drafts have been scheduled for submission at the end of Thursday’s class, but I might extend the deadline to the end of Friday’s class. I will try to grade the essays as fast as humanly possible, and while my goal is to have all work returned by Monday, I might not make such a lofty standard. Progress Reports in Social Studies are scheduled to be sent home with students on November 16.

I wish all the best and happy hunting to these warriors of the pen (blue or black) and princes and princesses of scholarly inquiry.

Mr. Kannan

“Either we shall all hang together or be hanged separately:” Standing on the threshold of yet another Social Studies Assessment

7-1 students will commence their assessment on chapter 5. It will take about two weeks to complete. The first portion is a multiple choice exam on chapter 5. It consists of 25 questions that survey the steps taken to the American Revolution. This will be completed on Monday. The more interesting component of the assessment resides in the domain of writing. Students will have to compose four separate writing samples. The first two will be rooted in colonial resistance to British acts of encroachment. Students will have to choose two of four writing options. These options are designed for students to access their dominant, subdominant, auxiliary, or inferior learning styles. It will be interesting to see what kind of thinker each of the 7-1 students is as their choices will reflect their learning modality. I believe that making conscious choices about how we learn is as important, if not more, than what we learn. Again, the theme of metacognition will be emphasized through the assessment of chapter 5.
The second set of writing prompts will be on Cervantes’ Don Quixote. In reflection about the lesson from last week, I cannot express my level of admiration for so many of our learners. To reconfigure the experience shows how the growth of intellectual toughness within the 7-1 student. They approached the classroom and saw a foot and a half pile of lecture notes. Each set of lecture notes was 10 pages, back to back. They examined the document within the first moments of Monday’s class and then saw over 80 words in bold font and underlined, to be added to students’ personal dictionaries and to be incorporated within their frame of references. Then, the lecture began. Students settled in for three straight days of “bell to bell” lecturing about Cervantes’ work. While I was lecturing on many occasion, I marveled at how our students attempted to engage themselves in a novel that they might not have ever read, or possessed any sense of understanding prior to that exact moment. I looked at students who were locked in with a sense of focus at hearing about Quixote’s and Sancho’s adventures and how their experiences reflected philosophical reality and American history. I saw students trying to grapple with the fact that they are the authors of their own reality, and that they might be the characters in Cervantes’ text. I was able to see students realize the Nietszschean idea of truth being a mobile army of metaphors; students appropriated new recruits in their army whose name was Dulcinea, Cervantes, Quixote, or Sancho. At the conclusion of the lecture, students breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps, because it was over, but I did notice some of them taking a moment to tarry as they began to understand that while the lecture might have been intense (certainly, there is a cabinet, I mean, windmill, I mean, monster, that could concur), the assessment component that would follow would be that much more demanding. In the words of one student, “Only you would rob the fun out of a field trip.” We both smiled when we both understood the truth behind such words. When students attended Thursday’s field trip, I noticed that they were aware of what was happening on stage, and even critiquing it to some extent. At the conclusion of the excursion, I heard students arguing about whether the production was true to Cervantes’ vision. To quote another budding scholar: “That play was nowhere near what Cervantes’ wanted for Quixote.” It was a moment in time. It cannot be reflected in a test score or in some level of a notation, but to have students become a participant in an ongoing intellectual and historical dialogue is something that creates a sense of wonderment in both teacher and learner.
The notion of collaboration is a reality that must continue as students compose their writing prompts on Don Quixote. The 10 prompts are challenging, but like so much in this course, the toughness needed to succeed does lie in our students. I believe that if students display the focus and commitment that has begun to emerge within the conditions of scholarship, they will find success. In the final analysis, should a student be able to ruminate upon their time in a seventh grade classroom and conclude that they engaged in a study of Don Quixote, success would have been recognized. The difficulty of the tasks should not be a reason for retreat and silent isolation into a shell of helplessness. I believe that students will have to continue to keep the lines of dialogue open in order to find greater success. This is another aspect of intellectual strength developing in our students: The notion that collaboration and seeking assistance is not a sign of weakness, but actually a revelation of intense strength. If we stick together, students and teachers, we will find success. We will discover success. We will represent or be success.
Over the last week, I have been most amazed at how quickly our students, your children, took to the idea of learning about Literature in a History classroom. This embrace of interdisciplinarity has been something that left a distinct impact on my perception of these learners. It also is another benchmark of scholarship as it seeks to eliminate arbitrary and territorial boundaries in the learning process. Writing assessments will be collected on November 8, as students can compose the four writing samples at home and in class. I eagerly anticipate what chances will be taken, what intellectual gambles will be taken, and what exciting and zealous work will emerge from challenge and intensity. On a red tape note, I encourage all stakeholders to check out the “Helpful Links” on the left side of this blog. All classroom documents have been converted into pdf forms.
All best, happy hunting, and go battle a windmill.
Mr. Kannan

Requiem for dreams or Fighting Windmills: Don Quixote, American Independence, and 7-1 students post conferences/ pre chapter 5 assessment

This week will bring about a rather unique combination of forces upon the shoulders of students. We have our focus placed upon the assessment for chapter 5, as well as the lessons of the man of La Mancha. Students will be introduced to the narrative and lessons of Don Quixote in preparation for Thursday’s field trip. I am confident that this will reveal much to students about a landmark of literature and allow students another metaphor with which to analyze the American Experience.
One lesson that I hope to evoke through the instruction about Don Quixote is the power of dreams. Quixote is a character who is animated through his dreams, but also crushed underneath the weight of those dreams. He is an individual who believes in ideals, yet never fully realizes them. His story is a tale of what it means to possess multiple narratives, the world of what is and what should be. In analyzing the story of Don Quixote, and the world of La Mancha (the stain), I hope to evoke a story of American Democracy, and the fight for freedom; one whose beat continues. As we examine how the colonists waged a fight for independence, similar to Quixote’s defense of the lovely, but invisible Dulcinea, one can see how freedom, as a concept, is a quixotic vision. I hope to counter the belief that the colonists knew the exact and perfect forms of freedom, liberty, and independence. When the world mocks and derides Quixote for fighting something that is not fully recognized, we are left to ask ourselves if this is not the fate of any person, group, or society who strives for something that is not recognized. One element of philosophy which is of personal fascination is the idea of introducing “newness” into the world. What happens when one brings sound into that which was silent? Certainly, a theme that was evoked through this week’s conferences was the development of student voice. What does it sound like when one evokes chords of scholarship through notes of inquiry in a domain of silence? What was it like for Quixote to fight his first windmill or fight his first battle for the honor of the dispossessed? What was it like for the colonists to first sound the call of freedom? I believe that all three questions are related for their answers lead to a new realm where the element of newness is brought into the world. Quixote, the colonists, and our 7-1 students are all linked to one another not merely chronologically, but thematically. Imagine our students as quixotic knights or visionary colonists and one has a new image of life in the C wing of the first floor.
Quixote relished the new quest, the new journey, and the language of newness. He spoke in dialects that others could not fathom. Quixote’s commitment to the chivalry way of life and the belief in nobility collided with Sancho’s platitudes and belches. Quixote’s faith in the role and power of ideas conflicted with a world where others lacked vision. Quixote was a living embodiment of his ideals and never showed fear. I believe 7-1 students must adopt a similar stance this week as they prepare for their assessment on chapter 5. In accordance to the idea of strength and honor, students will be asked to summon all of their powers without the assistance of study sessions or study guides. We will be reviewing essential topics of the exam in a station rotation task on Tuesday and Wednesday. We will spend Friday taking final questions on the exam and commence with the assessment on Monday. The first day will be a multiple choice exam, while the second day will consist of explaining the writing components. As Quixote sojourned with Sancho by his side, I hope 7-1 Students will travel the path of scholarship with their notes and understanding by theirs. As always, if I can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me via email, post a response to this blog, or contact me at home.

All best, happy hunting, and safe travels you Quixotes of scholarship and inquiry!

Mr. Kannan

Articulating a Vision: Student Led Portfolio Conferences and the Journey

As we approach the midterm of the trimester, we should take a moment to honor all the steps taken thus far in our journey. Simply put, I feel that 7-1 students have grasped how their Social Studies class works. When introducing a task, I sense a different perspective on how it should be undertaken. I see students asking for my advice on written work because they feel “that more can be there.” I am listening to students argue with one another: “Lexington and Concord were important, but not as important as the Boston Massacre- that started it all.” Students are trying to troubleshoot problems by posing workable solutions. I find myself hearing students ask if they can take a task in a way that I might not have seen. Their autonomy is becoming increasingly apparent. Students are becoming more open to the postmodern idea of truth being a mobile army of metaphors. Concepts such as midnight and inevitability have become part of the linguistic pattern of recognition of many a student. Some have even taken to developing their own arguments and ideas about how American history functions. I am having students develop ideas such as “We all live in our own universes,” or “The Revolution might not have been inevitable, but struggle for rights is inevitable,” or “What good are political rights if you have no money?” I see students studying my copy of Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children, and asking to borrow it during a silent reading moment. Some will argue that this might not be a representative of all 7-1 students. I suppose that I borrow a gardening image for a response. I sense that the conditions have been created so that all flowers can grow and some take more time than others. Once the garden has been configured properly, growth is inevitable… as is the struggle. The midterm point has revealed flowers ready to bloom. Our garden is looking pretty good in terms of becoming into one where a thousand flowers bloom and the intellectual market of ideas is open for business.
Conferences will illuminate such growth this week. I hope that all of our student conferences reveal student maturation and evolution. I do hope that all stakeholders of the process can listen to how students describe their own world and their own sense of education. Traditional conferences have a tendency to silence the student voice in the discourse of student progress. Student- led portfolio conferences are unique. The students lead and drive the conference. The role of the teacher is more facilitating the dialogue. No doubt that this dialogue happens outside of class with parents and family members. Yet, rarely does it happen with the entire triad of student success: student, family members, and teacher. This is critical for this partnership locks in the highest caliber of student achievement. It is my hope that conferences display how far our students have come thus far on their journey and how much more they have to go.
With conferences this week, student homework might not be as much as one might have come to expect. Students have a writing task that is due on Tuesday, extended from its original Monday deadline. Additionally, students will have to finish reading chapter 5, section 4. The assessment on chapter 5 is forthcoming as well as an introduction to the world of Don Quixote, windmills and monsters, and the dream of democracy. This will segue into our fieldtrip. At the time of posting, my district website does not seem to be functioning properly, so if you require pdf copies of documents, please check back frequently, until I can determine the cause of this. Once again, technology and I seem to be at odds. As always, if I can be of any further assistance or clarification, I invite you to contact me at school, via email, posting a response to this blog, or contacting me at home.

All best and happy hunting. Happy conferencing, as well.
Mr. Kannan

The Ongoing Academic Dialectic for 7-1 students or How I learned to appreciate gardening.

The German Philosopher G.W.F. Hegel might not have been the first to speak of the dialectic in his philosophy, but he may have demonstrated the most compelling use of it. Hegel argues that historical reality and individual consciousness unfolds through a dialectic, or collision of opposing ideas. The result of this collision is a synthesis where distinct remnants of each seem to be evident, yet giving way to a new collision. The unfolding of the human predicament, Hegel argues, is the revelation of this dialectic. It becomes essential to human growth and social advancement. To understand and embrace it is to validate a portion of who we are as social creatures and individual human beings.

As we approach progress report week and Fall conferences, this metaphor holds special meaning to the experiences of 7-1 students. I can sense that many of them are beginning to understand what the process of the dialectic means. At first, there is a level of comfort or understanding with who they are and what they know. This would be a type of thesis. Then, its countervailing and powerful force, the antithesis, reveals itself another reality juxtaposed to their own notions of self. The antithesis comes in many forms: A challenging in class task, homework that seems relatively easy, but can be deceptively intricate, or a wide ranging and different form of assessment on material thought to be grasped. The struggle now emerges where students seek to bring the synthesis and the antithesis together. From a pedagogical and metacognitive point of reference, it becomes exciting to witness this battle take place. Armies seem to assemble on each side, as the dialectic reveals itself. Students find themselves pulled between equally powerful, and seemingly, incommensurate forces of the good. The dialectic becomes one that can only be endured through intestinal fortitude. Paraphrasing the words and thoughts of Brian Robeson in Hatchet, “tough hope” must emerge. Out of this, though, the synthesis is something new and beautiful. Students create something that has combined both thesis and anti-thesis in a new conception.
As progress reports and conferences approach, I believe that this dialectic is an essential component to the experience of 7-1 students. In the next week, students will be confronted with midterm grades and assessments of their performance. For some, the antithesis will be the need to continue the good work done and progressing at their current pace. For others, the antithesis will be the need to give more and demand more of themselves in order to meet the demands placed on their broad shoulders. How our students/ emerging scholars rise to and endure through this dialectical process will be critical to their growth. I invite them to examine how they will allow the revelation of their own dialectic in better understanding not only the content that is to be placed in front of them, but also of themselves.
I used to detest gardening. I found it pointless and without meaning. Yet, over the summer, in trying to reconceptualize my own teaching and student learning, I began to examine the metaphor of gardening. I discovered that the ideas presented within gardening can have great meaning to both content and cognition. For example, the blooming of the rose can hold so much meaning. When we examine how a rose blooms into its final form, we can see the elements of the dialectic at full play. The difficulty of tilling the soil, creating conditions optimal for growth, continuing nurture and care, as well as providing regular modifications so that development becomes a reality are all evident in both the content of American History and the maturation of our students. More and more, I am beginning to see some of the difficulty experienced evolve into conditions that will allow growth in the roses in our garden. (“Eggshells and Miracle Gro” not withstanding. Extra credit if you can identify the film from which this “recipe” emerges.)
With so much to do and so far to go, our dialectic will reveal wonder. It will allow us to hold moments that represent pure learning. There is much to be harvested here, as the rose bushes grow extremely well in certain conditions, and must endure difficulty at the rise and setting of every day’s sun. As we embark on our assessment of chapter 5, I stress to students/ emerging scholars to remember from where we have come, how far we have gone, and how much more we need to go. As always, if I can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me via email, at my home, or by posting a response to this blog. As we approach conference times, my conference times are posted on my website, underneath the links to "Current/ Prospective Assessments/ Assignments."

All best and grow well, you kings and queens of an intellectual garden.
Mr. Kannan

Navigating through the Matrix… of 7-1 Social Studies

This week will be one where students will focus their study on either individually reading or collaboratively presenting on steps towards the American Revolution. The metaphor of midnight has not been formally introduced to the students, as of yet. I believe that it will reveal itself to students in the course of the next week to ten days. After we hear Scholarly Sparknotes presentations or after students pour through chapter 5, sections 2 or 3, I believe that the image will hold more meaning to their analysis of this portion of American History.
The other central image that will accompany that of midnight will be that of inevitability. In more specific terms, we will be arguing that the breakup between the colonists and their English brethren was inevitable. This idea of something that was meant to happen will unfold to students in more than one way. The work is going to become progressively more challenging, with more at stake. This is inevitable. The ideas that students will confront will become more taxing on the mind and force the issue of reflection upon the laps of students. This is inevitable. The class will begin to move towards a labyrinth of ideas, where confusion and misunderstanding are often present, requiring a mature sense of analysis and supporting detail. This, too, is inevitable. The writing tasks will become more divergent. Alas, this also is inevitable. It seems that if there was a proverbial “honeymoon” period, it has moved into the past. We are now entering a configuration where strong students must rise to the occasion and focus must be demonstrated. When we analyze the American Revolution, or the steps to precede it, I have always looked at this content as the last portal before the unsafe and challenging waters of the intellectual ocean confront us. The safe harbor of docking is beginning to pass, and in its place is a setting where internal strength and intellectual commitment are the only compasses.
I have always been a fan of the Matrix trilogy. I believe that much of what is present in these films and ideas can be applied to students who have to endure my class. Consider for a moment: The students in the class would be “the one,” or the multiple representations of Neo. Their mission is to “be the one.” They must weave their way through the workings of the Matrix, which is everywhere and all around them. Such a description would aptly fit their Social Studies classes. The matrix is meant to challenge and demand growth out of “the one,” whose central purpose is to confront and triumph over a mighty adversary. As I examine where our students are, I can begin to see some of them become acutely aware of what lies in front of them. I can see that some of them are beginning to take those risks and chances that are so closely associated with being “the one.” I can observe how students are starting to shed fear and insecurity, for they are beginning to see themselves as a representation of “Neo” and embrace that which they know is their destiny. I suppose that my role in this narrative could be multi- faceted. At moments, I would serve as a Morpheus- like figure, while at other times, I could see myself as an Oracle (For I, too, love candy and cookies.) At other moments, I am an Agent Smith, and at others, the architect who designed the Matrix. The one critical difference is that at every step of the way, I stress student freedom. There must be a certain maturation of choice and decision making ability intrinsic to the function of the one. As I am studying American History with these students, your children, my prospective scholars, I am also studying them, to see if they are ready, willing, and able to become “the one.” As the oracle says, “I do not know, but I do believe.” I certainly can say that I believe. We have endured our first set of progress reports, our first set of exam revisions, our first really difficult multiple choice assessment, our first in- class presentation, and our first moment of teaching one another. I believe in what I see. It took time for Thomas Anderson, Neo, to accept his purpose and function as “the one.” It will take some time for some of our Neos to do the same. Yet, as the Matrix grows in strength and difficulty, the time for our Neos is at hand. They must become “the ones.”
In terms of other Social Studies events, Progress Reports in Social Studies were sent home on Friday, 9/28. All signed progress reports are due back to Mr. Kannan by Tuesday, October 2. Additionally, Progress Reports in all classes will be sent home on Friday, October 12. Students will be notified as to how these will be returned. In addition to this, please be vigilant for conference confirmations that will be sent home by your child’s conferencing teacher soon. These student- led, portfolio based Conferences take place on the week of October 15. As always, if I can provide any further assistance or clarification, please do not hesitate to email me, post a response to this blog, or contact me at either school or at home.
All best and happy hunting.
Mr. Kannan

“Taking Steps Towards Midnight:” Beyond our first exam, past the blue horizon

I tried to make a catalogue of the various phenomena I experienced today as my students, your children, took their first Social Studies exam. I saw the smudged palms and bases of hands, and I saw many a hand go through “writer’s cramps.” I witnessed students visually drawing triangles in the air and trying to envision a particular thought. Naturally, I beheld the sight of panicked faces with eyes running across the pages, as if there were some magic answer at the bottom of the exam. Providing a vivid contrast to this would be the vision of faces with a high level of confidence within many a student. I saw students calibrating their watches to synchronize their time to the exam setting, and I watched my students, your children, focus with laserlike precision on this, their first exam. Whether students possessed icons of the Lord Ganesh or were actively marking off which identification topic they were going to complete, I sensed a strong level of commitment and focus towards this assessment.
I remember telling the students at both study sessions that while this exam might prove challenging, it will represent a small exertion in comparison to the work that lies ahead. Once exams are returned, we will commence our study of chapter 5, the road to revolution. While the key concept of chapter 4 was the emergence of colonial culture vis a vis the Enlightenment, the analysis of chapter 5 will revolve around one central idea: Midnight. The moment when the clock strikes is also when both hands meet for a instant, but their touch can last for what seems to be an eternity. Indeed, this becomes the metaphor for our analysis of the road to American Revolution. I borrowed this idea of midnight and its inevitability from Salman Rushdie’s work, Midnight’s Children. As the protagonist, Saleem Sinai, is born into a world of mystery and freedom, so to is the nation of India. This notion found much resonance in my mind as I was drawn to the paralell of individual psychology and national history. The pain and joy of love and politics seem to be united in one image: Midnight. When applying this same idea to America, I found much similarity. Midnight: The stroke of time when nations and people awake to freedom and life. Midnight: When our “trysts with destiny” are met with the redemption of a promise and pledge. Midnight: While the world sleeps, a nation and a people awake to life and freedom and the inevitability of both. Prime Minister Nehru’s words serve as the backdrop to Rushdie’s work, but can also be deftly applied to the study of the colonists’ struggle for freedom.
Midnight will become our central image, our metaphor through which we will examine the colonial struggle for freedom. Within this will be the study of inevitability and its role in the American historical dialectic and within the evolution of individuals. We begin our journey with an analysis of the French and Indian war, and then continue with our first presentation, Scholarly Sparknotes. In this project, a group of students are responsible for teaching a section of the text and reporting out to their colleagues. With this task, the belief of dependence meeting interdependence arrives in a more developed form. Naturally, in recognition of such a powerful and meaningful metaphor, it can be understood that our end of the unit assessment will be equally potent in magnitude. I can offer a hint: It is worth 300 points and in three parts. I am confident that while students worked well throughout chapters 3-1 and 4, they will be working much harder to find success in chapter 5, throughout the darkness and light inevitably linked to midnight.
I will be sending out conference confirmations with students/ parents/ guardians with whom I will be meeting soon. I will also be sending out Social Studies progress reports Friday, September 28, 2007. As always, if I can be of any further help or assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me via district email, or at my home, or through posting a response to this blog.

All best and happy hunting.
Mr. Kannan

“A School Story:” One assessment down and another to go

The first major assessment of the 7-1 Social Studies experience has moved into the realm of what was. I marveled at witnessing in class focus and at how students struggled through particular questions on the assessment. Worthy of specific mention would be question number 6, which asked students to reflect on their own metacognition, or how they know what they know. This epistemological analysis of their own academic experience and thought patterns proved to be unique and quite insightful. Such a validation of student voice proved to be one of the most rewarding elements of this assessment. It is also my hope students learned the power of planning ahead and using time well. These are tools that will prove invaluable along the journey.
While this assessment can be revised for additional credit, if students choose to do so, our next level of focus now lies on the upcoming Social Studies exam. The facts of the exam have been divulged to students. It will take place on Thursday and Friday, 9/20 and 9/21. Its contents are will cover chapters 3-1 and 4, while its form will be of multiple choice questions, short answer, and extended essay format. The exam is worth 100 points. The weapons of choice that students can use to prepare for this exam are their homework, in class work, graduated difficulty essays, and their readings from the textbook. There will also be study sessions held during 5th period lunch on Tuesday and Wednesday (9/18 and 9/19). These sessions are voluntary, and passes will be made available to students, if they wish to attend. If I can offer additional insight into this assessment, I might suggest that students begin the process of studying for this exam soon… very soon. A good timetable might be the following:
The weekend- Spend time reviewing chapter 3-1 and chapter 4-1. In terms of the review of 3-1, pay close attention to the governments of Jamestown and Plymouth, as well as the DR-TA work which focused on essential elements of Jamestown and Plymouth. When reviewing 4-1, I believe the IEPC chart and summary of 4-1 could be highly beneficial. Special attention should be paid attention to the Zenger case, the Navigation Acts, and English roots of colonial government.
Monday night- Spend time reviewing chapter 4-2 and 4-3. Graphic organizers on both sections were distributed and should be completed. I believe these will be extremely helpful to student preparation. I would also suggest that students examine the ideas of Triangular Trade and the economic and political implications of slavery.
Tuesday night- Spend time reviewing chapter 4-4. If I were to identify one section that provides the genesis for this exam, it would be this section. Students took notes through the New American Lecture method of “chunks” on this section, which focused on the emergence of colonial culture. I would review the concepts of each chunk. By “review,” I would expect that students are fluent and proficient in discussing the chunks and embarking upon a fruitful and worthwhile conversation about each chunk. I have always suggested that if a parent/ guardian could simply ask their student to talk about a particular concept, and have them instruct the parent/ guardian, students would be ready for any assessment I give. Students should ensure that they are aware of the concept of Enlightenment theory, how it was reflected in the Colonies, and the role ideas played in developing colonial culture.
Inherent in all of these methods of study would be the notion of utilizing vocabulary effectively in articulating intellectual ideas. For students to become stronger participants in their learning, it is inevitable that they must appropriate the language that shows mastery of understanding. I believe that if students possess a greater understanding of the vocabulary in the unit of study, they have a better chance of finding success on this assessment, their first exam in Social Studies. Integration of vocabulary and key terms should be inherent to all nights of study and preparation.
I believe that this exam will be an excellent opportunity for students to display what they know about the content. I don’t feel that it is an exam to “catch students” in what they don’t know. Providing that all students have done what has been asked of them in an appropriate manner, I believe that each emerging scholar has an opportunity to demonstrate success on this exam.
I hope to see all 7-1 parents/ guardians Tuesday starting at 6:45 for Curriculum Night. It’s an excellent opportunity to visit with your teachers (and witness a fairly neat Powerpoint presentation in Social Studies). As always, if I can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me at school or at home.

All best and happy hunting.
Mr. Kannan

“From Delusion Lead Me to Truth:” The Graduated Difficulty Task and Hopes for What Could Be

The graduated difficulty task is where our focus lies for this week. Keeping eyes ever fixed on our first exam to take place on the 20th and 21st, this week’s assessment will prove beneficial in preparing us for understanding both content and the modalities of metacognition that precedes all learning. I have been using the inclusive pronouns because I believe that it will be a process of understanding for both teacher and student. This task will require students to choose one of three sets of essays on the content of emerging Colonial Culture. Students will compose their writings and then check their work against exemplars that will be located in the classroom. Students will assess and evaluate their own writing. In doing this, students can understand where they are in their writing and where they need to be. This modeling of writing is critical in the development of student styles of writing and thinking. Finally, students will answer reflective questions about the task and their experiences. Students will have at home time and in class time to compose their work. During classtime, I will be conferencing with students about where they are, where they would like to be, and how they can get there.
This task reveals much about our journey this year. The stress on student autonomy is evident, as students choose which task to complete, how it should be completed, and assess their own work based on their own impressions. Similar to this is the critical element of choice is also present as students must make critical choice and abide by the consequences of said choices. This task also highlights the notion of discourse about student work. I have always stressed to students that the climate of our building can only improve if students are able and receptive to the idea of talking about what is done in their classrooms. I have often asked how glorious our school can be if students wait in the lunch line, discussing Lockian notions of freedom in comparison to Rousseauian notions of the social contract. What beauty lies in the students who fill the locker bays arguing about which method of Enlightenment was intellectually superior: Theory from Europe or Practice from the Colonies? When one closes their eyes and conceives of a world where students walk to and from class passionately arguing if Franklin was an Enlightenment or anti- Enlightenment figure, how much of a glorious picture emerges? This task compels students to talk to one another about content and their perception of it. This is a benchmark of scholarship and a goal worthy of attainment, or at the very least, the pursuit of attainment. Finally, this task places a strong stress on the idea of reflection and that the notion of a journey is not defined by a destination, but rather by multiple paths taken toward it. I can only hope that students learn that the process of learning is much more critical than its end products. If this lesson is learned and absorbed, it could help make our students more willing contributors to the dialogue of scholarship, and allow them to be greater participants in this experiment called democracy.
The graduated difficulty task is to be completed at the start of Thursday’s class. I am curious as to what the next three days will reveals about these learners, our scholars, your children. I hope it reveals what I suspect is true: We are making progress on our journey and we have “miles to go before” either one of us can sleep. In terms of other news, the exam on chapters 3-1 and 4 will take place on Thursday, September 20, and Friday, September 21. This exam will consist of multiple choice questions, short answer writings, and extended essay prompts. It will take two days to complete and students will be receiving an “Exam Basics” guideline to approaching studying for the exam on Monday, September 17. There will be lunchtime study sessions held, as there will be in class review sessions. Curriculum Night is also rapidly approaching. I look forward to seeing you all on Tuesday, September 18 starting at 6:45 PM (Coincidentally, the first game of the Julian Jayhawks Girls Basketball Season. Mr. Kannan will run the trifecta: Teach, coach, and present all in one day.) This will be an excellent opportunity to meet your children’s teachers and sign up for Fall Conferences in October. As always, I encourage you to examine the contents of this blog, including the link to the District webpage, containing pdf versions of all the handouts to this course, the extra credit opportunities with the icon and quotes, as well as the poll of the week. If I can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me at home or at school. (Extra credit if you can identify what work inspired the title of this piece. Write the answer on the back of your syllabus.) Finally, Progress Reports in Social Studies will be sent home with students on Friday, 9/28.
All best and happy hunting to 7-1 students, you kings and queens of scholarly inquiry, and to their parents/ guardians.
Mr. Kannan

The Differences between “Knowing the Path” and “Walking the Path:”

The first week of school has now entered into the domain of the past. Something that had been met previously with anticipation, nervousness, and a bizarre combination of revulsion and excitement now must give way to creating and maintaining academic and personal notions of success. 7-1 Social Studies Students endured much in their first week. It was a moment in geologic time where scavenger hunts through an arduous textbook dominated, and survival (or minimizing embarrassment) made it a necessity to read signs on an almost hourly basis as well as claiming all needed items from “the table.” Ending this sequence was learning about the power of time and the purple prediction popper. At all points, I demanded that students “show readiness,” and in all of their minds was the visualization as to how this state of being actually looks. In the final analysis, the first week of 7-1 Social Studies was not geared to “getting to know one another,” but rather for students to “know thyself.” This theme of self reflection is what will frame this class, giving it meaning and purpose.

Now, students will begin to walk the line of academic rigor. This week will be an intense one for 7-1 Social Studies students. As we will flex out the schedule to allow for more core teaching time, this will increase the magnitude and forceful nature of the lessons. Students will start off the week in an acceptable enough fashion in the use of graphic organizers to configure the social setting of Colonial America. Their next adversary will be their first lecture in an unconventional format, the “New American Lecture,” where knowledge is chunked into specific portions in order to maximize student comprehension and focus. Students will end the week with their first significant assessment of the course, the Graduated Difficulty Task on Chapter 4. The first exam will be held on September 20 and 21. Hence, this week becomes a critical one for it will serve as the first steps 7-1 students take into the pantheon of scholarship. It is safe to say that the work of this week upholds the class mantra of continued improvement through means of consistent displays of personal and academic excellence

One of my reflections about the first week was that the 7-1 students who walked into my classroom, C105, possessed a desire to discover academic success. Simply put, I sensed that these students wanted to do well. They sought extra opportunities to display their knowledge and held the understanding that placing their trust in me would reap benefits in both knowledge and understanding. This “Sophia,” the Greek word for “wisdom,” seemed to emanate in all classes. Yet, I believe that while students “know of the path” that leads to academic and personal success, it will be this week that starts to display which students have the personal strength and intestinal fortitude needed to “walk along the path.” This week will be one of many that will prove there is a difference between “knowing the path” and “walking it.” (Extra credit can be obtained if students can identify from what movie and speaker the above line was borrowed. There were also some other movie references, and those can be identified, as well.)
Some other notes of interest would be appropriate at this time. I do hope to see all 7-1 parents/ guardians at Curriculum Night, which will be held on September 18, 2007 (Also, the first Julian Jayhawk Girls’ Basketball Game.) This evening is an excellent opportunity to meet your children’s teachers and sign up for Fall Conferences. I do hope to see all of you there. On another point of future dates, I am asking that all students bring a set of index cards to class on Friday, 9/14, in order to begin the process of reviewing for our first exam that will take place on 9/20 and 9/21.
Finally, I must offer my deepest apologies. I have made frequent mention to my webpage on the District website. Due to challenges that seem to lie in the technological domain, this is unavailable. I am taking all the possible steps to create the same links on this blog in order to make your lives (and mine) a bit less stressful. This will take time because like Neo from The Matrix, I seek to bring reconciliation between humans and the machines (or at least the server). I can only hope that my fate differs from his…

If you need to contact me, please feel free to email me at my district address at the bottom of this page, or contact me at home (I divulged this to all students within the first week.) You may also post a comment to this blog.

All best and happy hunting.
Mr. Kannan

A sample... why not?!

A few things that are essential to commence your journey in a successful manner:
1) Review the course description with your parents/ guardians immediately- It's strange to say, but if you sit down with them and discuss it for about 15- 20 minutes, it might allow both you and them to understand what has to be done in this class in order to discover success. The stronger the discussion, the more rewards this class has to offer.
2) The scavenger hunt: Is this fun or what?- I think that the scavenger hunt is your first exposure to what you are up against. It's different in that it has multiple layers of difficulty. Attack this assignment and work well on it as it will serve as the basis for your first assessment in this class. It is substantial, but if you work to your best level, you will be fine. Please trust me on this one.
3) Nightly reading- "Get it done!" Your first reading assignments and the tasks that accompany them are critical. They will set the tone for both our content and the methods by which we will be examining it.
You will notice a theme that runs through the three hints. Be a proactive advocate for your work in this class, and the path of scholarship will be easier to navigate. If you have questions, ask them in class, ask them through email, respond to a blog, or contact me at home. Whatever path you choose, always ask your questions. Truly great scholars understand that there are more questions than answers. Paraphrasing the words of the bard, "Don't let your function be smothered by your surmise."
Happy hunting.
Mr. Kannan

Opening Day 2007- 2008

Welcome to 7-1 Social Studies with Mr. Kannan. As we begin our journey on Tuesday, 8/28, check back on this page for insights about where we are, where we are going, and where we have been. Feel free to answer the poll question of the week, or examine some of the relevant news stories. Each week, you will find a new quotation at the bottom of this page. For extra credit, find out who said or wrote the quote and include both at the top of this week's syllabus. The purpose of this blog is to invite discussion on the content of the class and the ideas. It will also serve as a forum for stakeholders in the 7-1 Social Studies experience to share insights.
In terms of items for this week (8/28- 8/31), we will start by examining the rules of the road for 7-1 Social Studies and then progress into the domain of the Social Studies textbook via scavenger hunt. As we conclude the week, we will commence our exploration of American Identity with Jamestown and Plymouth, and examine the emergence of colonial culture. I invite you to visit the district website and look under the "Staff" links for my webpage where you will find pdf versions of all course handouts.

Welcome to 7-1 Social Studies!
This will be fun... or something like that.
All best.
Mr. Kannan