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