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
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
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