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
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
No comments:
Post a Comment