Closing out strong: The end of one half of a journey

The week before Winter Recess brings with it the conclusion of the Chapter 6 Writing Tasks. Students will spend the next week using in class time to draft their work. Rough drafts will stop being read by Tuesday, and final drafts will start being accepted thereafter, with Friday being the last day to accept the Final Drafts. After this, we go home for a much needed two week respite from LCD Projectors, Daily Planners, and Assessments. (It should be known that I am offering extra credit tasks over break so that students do not lose touch with Social Studies in its entirety.)

When we return from break, we will engage in a study of the Constitution. We will also work towards taking our five day final exam at the end of February. Our focus will then lie in the emergence of political parties in America, and the much talked about, Chapter 9 Teaching Assignment, where students teach the class. After this, I anticipate that we will have multiple roads in front of us and the path that students take will rest upon their shoulders. In terms of other items that I will be offering, I believe that I will use Core Extension time to prepare a lesson on Human Rights based on Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence, and, in coordination with Ms. Hill, a class on test preparedness and minimizing test anxiety. The former should happen in January while the latter should take place afterwards.

We have reached a half way point in our journey. Yet, we have miles to go before we sleep and my hope is that students use the break to recharge, reenergize, and refocus their efforts in their pursuit of “the good, the true, and the beautiful” in Social Studies and their 7th grade Social Studies experience.

All best and happy holidays.
Mr. Kannan

“Talkin’ with the Trane:” Conversations with 7.1 Social Studies Students about their work

I am not a big fan of game shows. I am not sure I have ever been. Yet, I admit that there was a phase in the late ‘90s where the show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” seemed to have a hold on me. I liked the notion of the wide ranging question base, and while I did not have a particularly fond opinion of Regis Philbin, I liked how he used conversations with the contestants to achieve “the right answer.” Now, I have seen the film “Quiz Show” dozens of times and knew that at some level, the fix was in. I completely grasped that, but it was the notion of illuminating understanding through conversation that I found very persuasive. In a post modern vein, I was attracted to the idea that mere idea of talking about something could yield something valuable in it. I felt that, if approached properly, conversation and discourse could prove to be beneficial in allowing a stronger understanding of who we are, what our predicaments might be, and how we might better approach addressing both. It is hard to believe that Regis Philbin played an integral role in my understanding of teaching and learning.

In addressing the topic for this week’s blog entry, I would like to introduce you to a composite 7.1 student that I will call “Trane.” Trane has just received the Writing Assessment for Chapter 6. Needless to say, Trane is a bit on the overwhelmed side. There are some critical choices that have to be made. My hope in this week’s blog is to provide some starters to conversation, or “conversatin’” to borrow vernacular from the Jazz period of the 1940’s and 1950s, that might allow Trane to have a better understanding of what work can be done and the predicament in which Social Studies has placed our mythical, yet very real student. These conversations can be held between parent and Trane, friend and Trane, or even outsider and Trane (It is conceivable that Trane could have an experience where some angel descends upon him and engages him to become the messenger, the prophet of a new era of Writing Based Assessment in American History. If this momentous arrival is to be heralded, I would imagine that the topic of conversation would not be about why Trane was chosen, or if Kushner could actually be proven wrong in that there are “Angels in America,” but rather how could our student deal with the reality of a 600 point writing task.)

“So, Trane, after looking at the options, which one interests you the least and why?” I feel that this is a great conversation starter. Students like Trane have to be able to find which type of task offered in the Chapter 6 Writing Assessments is not going to be to their liking. Implicit in this question is the idea of whether or not Trane is going to pivot towards or pivot away from his dominant learning style. A consistent theme in 7.1 Social Studies this year is the idea of how students are going to create meaning for themselves and their work. Building off of this is how students will approach their dominant learning style. Would they want to take a chance and pivot from their power base of a learning style into something different, or do they want to play it safe and go to their source of power in learning? If Trane feels like taking a risk might be desirable, perhaps our student would select a task different from ones selected in the past. Yet, the reality in which Trane is immersed speaks volumes: The Writing Assessment is worth 600 points and has to be completed in a quicker time frame than the previous assessment on chapter 5. In addition to this, the tasks are a bit more indepth than the ones last featured. In the final analysis, Trane has to figure out which position is going to be best, what can be completed and done well, and what is desired. I can almost imagine Regis sitting across and asking Trane, “Well, what the heck do you want?” The cornball music would swell up at this point…

“Hey, Trane, how are you going to manage your time in order to meet the deadline?” I believe that this is a question that all of our students have to answer in any large undertaking. Long term projects can only be successfully completed with small term benchmarks being reached at multiple stages. I believe that the days of students being able to “whip up something up the night before” have long since passed. The reality is that with in class and at home time being strictly devoted to the completion of the Chapter 6 Writing Tasks, I think that a tortoise approach (“Slow and steady wins the race”) is critical. Once Trane has eliminated the options that do not meet personal preference, then Trane will have to make the choice from what remains. The very next stage would be to budget out a timeline to see how things can be completed in a timely manner. In order to do this, Trane will have to see how much time is out there, how much can be balanced with other demands, and how much can realistically be completed on a nightly basis, as well as how much realistic time exists. This can take on multiple forms. For example, let us see how Trane’s timeline might be configured based on different choices of writing tasks:
Identifications and Pictures- Complete 2 identifications each day in class and 2 identifications at home (Check over rough drafts at each night). All identifications done by Friday/ Saturday. Compose one picture a night. Total assignment completed by Wednesday/ Thursday.
Point of View Guides- Monday and Tuesday research. Wednesday- Sunday- Draft 3 journal entries. Use remainder of the week to final draft.
Such a timeline can be worked out with any of the writing tasks, so long as Trane, or any student, can ensure that they are completing all the needed parts of the task and that time is something upon which they have not turned their back.

“Trane, how are you going to use Mr. Kannan as a resource on this particular task?” The facts are transparent and present to all: Most 7-1 Students have been with me for over a trimester. They have completed writing tasks of varying difficulty. Students have found success and have lacked it at different points in our collaboration. As we progress in our journey, students need to make a conscious choice of what role their teachers will serve in order to maximize their emotional, intellectual, and scholarly growth. For example, will Trane be coming in to speak with me during lunch to seek input or advice? Will Trane be making morning appointments in order to better understand things? Will Trane submit rough drafts, multiple rough drafts, in order to achieve a better understanding of material? Will Trane and other students be vocal advocates for what they need? Will Trane take the responsibility to approach the teacher when trouble arises? How exactly will Trane use in class time in completion of the writing assessments? I think that students, such as our mythological yet all too real Trane, will need to make conscious and deliberate decisions as to how they will utilize their teacher to assist them in this harrowing phase of our journey towards the pantheon of scholarship.

In the lexicon of Jazz, “Chasin’ the Trane” referred to the giant of modern Jazz, John Coltrane. When listening to his music, attempting to follow his path of improvisational genius is a challenge, indeed. One can find themselves lost in the creation of authentically great music. My hope is that when we engage in conversatin’ with our Tranes, we can again see what greatness looks like, what talent resembles, and achieve a visual representation of the hopes, process, and products of academic strength and talent. What better way to describe our students, your children?

All best, happy hunting, and best wishes for great conversatin’.
Mr. Kannan

P.S. Those who are interested can examine the individual group conferencing notes for the Chapter 6 Assessment under the link "Recent Powerpoint Lessons."

“Beyond the blue horizon:” The Next Writing Assessment

Upon our return from Thanksgiving Recess, we will engage the concepts in chapter 6 and then begin the process of writing about said ideas. The Writing Tasks for Chapter 6 will run the range of difficulty and intellectual capacity. I felt that students were pushed and motivated to produce quality work for the Chapter 5 Writing Tasks. I equally feel that students will be driven to display even stronger quality work for the Chapter 6 Writing Tasks. The horizons already set will be expanded into a terrain full of more blue skies and broader frontiers. I have enclosed the letter on the writing tasks that students will receive the week they return that explains the nature of these writing assessments. As always, happy hunting and all best.
Mr. Kannan

Dear Parents/ Guardians of _________________:
The purpose of this letter is to inform you of our upcoming Writing Assessment for Chapter 6- The American Revolution. Students will have six choices from which to choose. All options are rooted in the writing process. This particular task will serve as an excellent opportunity for students to display their talents as they focus on writing about the American Revolution. As with our previous assessments, this assessment will yet again force all 7-1 scholars to raise their capabilities in meeting and triumphing over yet one more challenge.
The writing options featured range from the traditional to the unconventional. One option is for students to write formalized essays on topics pertaining to the Revolution. Other tasks ask students to assume different historical personas and construct meaning as to how they see themselves and the time period, while another option asks students to explain the relevance of particular concepts and construct drawings of specific events in the Revolution. Another one is a hodgepodge of thought. In all choices, students must use the connection between reading and writing to compose works that display a challenging combination of student reflection and analysis of history. The primary learning style of each task has also been detailed at the outset of each task, so that students can select with this element in mind. In addition to a completed writing sample, students will be asked to submit two completed sets of Check Your Progress Questions from chapter 6 (previously assigned).
Students will have to assess which option is best for them. I have encouraged them to share these ideas with you, as well. After this, students will have to commit to a particular task and compose their work. Students will be allowed to work on this assessment in class and at home. In all honesty, I believe that success on such a daunting assessment can only be achieved if there is consistent and incremental completion of it in both domains. Students are free to bring materials from home with which to work on this task, but must bear responsibility for storing them in their lockers. They may seek counsel from outside sources in completing this assessment, but must shoulder the burden of completing the tasks on their own. This means that while they may seek advice and input from others, the responsibility for completing quality work in a timely fashion rests solely with their autonomy. During in class work time, I will be conferencing with students, by learning style/ task, monitoring their progress and allowing them an opportunity to ask questions of clarification. I will also have a collection point set up in the classroom for rough drafts to be submitted for review. There will be a cut off for this and students have been made aware of this.
I invite you to discuss which writing task best suits your scholar at this point on their educational journey. On the reverse side of this letter is the timetable of due dates and progress benchmarks. Each student’s specific “chunking” of this task will be contingent on the choices made. The timetable offered is a general plan of attack. Students have been reminded that throughout the course of this task rotation assessment, they may contact me outside of class via district email or at my home, ________________________. Should you have any questions or concerns, I welcome you to do the same.
Wishing you all the best,
________________________ ________________________
Student Signature Parent/ Guardian Signature
Timetable of work on the reverse side! Does not include weekend time. Students are encouraged to use the weekend as part of their calculus in planning and configuring work schedules. Student budgeting of time should be determined based on student choice of task.
Mr. Kannan

Day and Date
Benchmark to be Reached
Day 1: _____________________
Question: Have you asked your questions? Did you enter class with an idea of which tasks you find interesting or the one(s) that you know you would never do?
Selection of writing task declared by the end of the class period.
HW: Start brainstorming on how to complete your task, along with a schedule of how each portion of the task will be completed on a nightly and consistent basis.

Day 2:_____________________
Question: Do you take this writing task to be your writing task? Are you comfortable with it?
In class time devoted to working on writing tasks.
HW: Continue your work on your writing task. Conferences start on day 3.

Day 3:_____________________
Question: Have you addressed all parts of the question/ topic/ task description? Nothing should be left behind. Have you paced yourself out? There might be multiple parts that need to be completed piece by piece.
In class time devoted to working on writing tasks. At this point, a rough draft should be evident, or envisioned.
HW: Continue your work on your writing task. Conferences start tomorrow.

Day 4:_____________________
Question: Is the history in the writing? If not, get it in there in an abundant manner. Make sure you have your Completed Check Your Progress Questions.
Group Conferencing begins while In class time is devoted to working on writing tasks.
HW: Continue your work on your writing task. Conferences continue tomorrow. Rough drafts should be continuing.

Day 5:_____________________
Question: Is your writing clear? If it’s scrambled and unfocused, I am not sure it’s going to be efficient. This would not be good… Eggs can be scrambled, not your writing.
Group Conferencing continues while In class time is devoted to working on writing tasks.
HW: Continue your work on your writing task. Conferences continue tomorrow. Rough drafts should be continuing.

Day 6: ______________________
Question: In the words of Al Pacino, “What do we got?!” Take stock in what is there and what needs to be there because work is due by day 10.
Group Conferencing continues while In class time is devoted to working on writing tasks.
HW: Continue your work on your writing task. Conferences continue tomorrow. Rough drafts should be continuing/ completed

Day 7: _________________ and _____________
Question: Looking at what is there, can the final product be envisioned? What needs to be done to bring the vision into reality? Do it… now! Make sure you have your Completed Check Your Progress Questions.
Conferences concluding. In class time devoted to writing tasks, and perhaps conferencing with colleagues could be in order.
HW: Continue your writing task. Editing should be happening. Final drafts due at the end of Day 10.

Day 8: _______________________
Question: Do you address everything that is in the rubric? If not, how can you do so?
In class time devoted to writing tasks. Editing process, review of work, streamlining work to rubric standards should all be in play at this point.
HW: Final Drafts are due at end of Day 10.

Day 9:_______________________
Question: “It’s showtime, folks!” The due date is near. Is your work ready for showtime?
Final Drafts due at the end of tomorrow’s class. Students should be working towards this.

Day 10:_______________
The end of all things… or these assessments.
Final Drafts due at the end of class.
All Final Drafts are due by the end of class on Friday, December 19, 2008. If you are going to be absent, your Final Drafts are due before your departure.

Another bar crossed, another awaits: Life after the Chapter 5 Writing Assessment and before the Chapter 6 Writing Assessment

This will be a truncated blog entry. After grading and inputting 116 papers, I think I need some distance, if only for an evening. I close my eyes and see rubrics, NT, SF, the words “Colonists” and “because.”

It makes for a terrible dinner date, to say the least.

Indeed, the chapter 5 writing assessments are inputted online and will be distributed back to students tomorrow. The intensity present in writing was evidenced in their assessing. With two papers absent, a total of 116 were assessed. The results speak for themselves: 99 of the assessed papers tallied an 80% or better. When 85% of the papers are such a caliber, much is evident. Of the remaining 17 papers, all but one can be revised to an “A” if all areas of improvement are heeded. Even the lone paper can be revised to a “B” if all is rectified. We had a handful of “perfect” writing samples, ones that scored the elusive 200 out of 200. Students handled the challenge of merging history and metacognition very well.

Students have until next Monday, 12/ 1 to revise their writing tasks. In order to revise their work, they must rewrite it with specified corrections added. They will staple their revised copy to their original copy and receive half of what was lost if all needed areas of improvement are heeded. In addition to this, if students wanted to compose any of the remaining writing tasks, they would be welcome to do so for extra credit, which would also be due on the 1st of December. Students will receive progress reports on Monday, 11/24 and if these are returned with parent/ guardian signature, they can earn 10 extra credit points in Social Studies. Finally, I was very impressed with much of the work submitted. I am offering 3 points extra credit if students can produce an additional, clean copy of their work by Tuesday, 11/25. This could amount to 12 extra credit points, if all writing samples are reproduced.

Our focus now turns to Chapter 6. We will spend the next couple of days analyzing Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence. Then, we will analyze themes arising from chapter 6 before the chapter 6 writing tasks are given to students. Hopefully, students have completed their work from the textbooks on chapter 6, sections 2, 3, and 4. These will be collected with the chapter 6 writing tasks.

As always, if I can be of any further assistance or help, please do not hesitate to contact me at home or at school. I hope students examine what is returned back to them and examine where positive steps were taken and areas where more progressive steps can be undertaken.

All best and happy hunting.
Mr. Kannan

P.S. As of Monday night, 5:54 PM, the last two projects were assessed. The total stands at 101 out of 118 papers scored at an 80% or above.

Looking at what is and what will be: The Life of a 7-1 Social Studies Student

The chapter 5 writing tasks are reaching their natural conclusion. Final Drafts will be collected on Thursday. Students have been and will be continually reminded to ensure that their best work is on display and focus is harnessed all the way through the deadline for submission of work. I believe that this experience has been useful introducing students to different modes of thought and being able to explain how they approached a particular task in the manner that they did. Yet, while I appreciate the work and focus that has been lavished upon this writing task, I am looking beyond into what lies ahead.

Once submission of chapter 5 writing assessments is complete, students will be then directed to chapter 6. Students will be exposed to the actual mechanics of the war with direct analysis of the textbook on Thursday and Friday of next week. Building into this, students will engage in an inductive learning task on Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence. This will take us to Thanksgiving Break. Upon our return, we will wrap up Inductive Learning in studying how political writings can, to quote our President Elect, be more than “just words.” We will conclude our work with the chapter 6 writing tasks. This assessment will be in the same configuration of the chapter 5 writing assessments. Students will have to use more of the history presented in the actual execution of the American Revolution in order to better understand the synthesis between creative thought and intellectual frameworks. Our potential date based timeline for this should look like the following (Please understand that all dates are tentative: )
* November 20- November 23- Reading of Chapter 6, sections 2, 3, and 4.
* November 24 and November 25- Inductive Learning Work on chapter 6, section 1.
* December 1- 4- Finish Inductive Learning task, assess Inductive Learning task. Report out on findings from the Revolution with Chalk Talk/ Station Rotation/ Direct Discussion.
* December 5- Distribute Chapter 6 Writing Assessments. All Final Drafts due on December 18.
The most striking element of the projected sequence is the idea that we are making progress and the expectations placed upon the broad shoulders of students are rising and becoming heavier. Simply put, the time for immaturity seems to have long passed. Students are being asked to do more with less time and in a more comprehensive manner. I believe that this is developmentally appropriate in our journey because students have learned (or have been instructed) as to the importance of handling the taskmaster known as time. In addition to this, a lesson such as this helps students understand that the train must keep moving towards its inevitable destination. While this timeline might seem daunting, when placed in comparison to what lies ahead, it will assume a smaller proportion. I recall when students first examined their Trace Fossil Writing Task. I remember the looks on their faces of abject frustration, and in some cases, horror. I think it is safe to say that if we asked students now about that moment in time, they would have said that it pales in comparison to what stands in front of them now. Perhaps, there is a larger lesson here about maturation and growth… or maybe Social Studies has simply become tougher.

I believe that like all challenges placed in front of these students, your children and our emerging scholars, they will be able to assume the persona of Aeneas for they, too, “will be able to look back on this and smile.”

Happy Hunting and even happier writing.
All best.
Mr. Kannan

P.S. Please do not be surprised if next week’s blog entry is abbreviated. I will be grading student work throughout the weekend in the hopes of returning it by Monday, 11/24. I will make some comments, but they will be in the truncated form. I apologize for this and thank you for your (hopeful) understanding.

Fascinating Questions, Unique Results, Enhancing Dialogue: Learning Styles, the Road to the Revolution, and 7-1 Students

As we close a week of monumental change, equally powerful strides were taken in the realm of our writing assessments. The pullout sessions were extremely compelling. A small group of learners met in the team area, and a discussion about their specific learning style emerged. More interestingly, I conducted each pull out session as a teacher of that learning style. At one moment, I was “The Captain” and at the next moment, “Socrates” ran a forum. While “Charity” led a talk and “Picasso” strove to establish voice and find meaning. Students were able to ask questions, seek clarification, and note subtle differences between learning styles, teaching demeanors, and assignment expectations. To have concluded the week with a rousing scene from the film Pleasantville, and hearing the sounds of dialogue, dissonance, and discourse emerge from the 7.1 Team Area was a moment that represented the idyll to which all teachers aspire.
In a larger scope, I must stress how powerfully compelling this lesson on learning styles has been. I think it has been a gamble that has paid very substantial dividends. I sense that it has reached students who have normally remained forgotten, and allowed more students to have a greater understanding of how they learn and how their minds work. This has been a powerful experiment in what can happen when we, as educators, seek to broaden the paradigm of schoolwork to incorporate the role of metacognition within our teaching. The inversion of a product based setting to one that focuses on process can be quite rewarding. In the final analysis, taking a risk in teaching and learning can prove to be an experience worth repeating as often as possible.
At this point, we are in the process of assembling drafts. I implore all stakeholders to encourage students to submit multiple rough drafts in order to gain a better understanding of how writing can be enhanced. I do hope that students take advantage of the rough draft process in order to help writing skills improve. When we create better writers, we invariably create better thinkers and emerging scholars.
All final drafts are due on November 20. We are heading into the final ten days. In addition to this, students will be given Social Studies and Language Arts Progress Reports this Thursday, 10/13. Signed cover letters will be due back to Mr. Kannan or Ms. Hill by Tuesday, 11/18. As always, if students require personalized meetings to discuss their writings, they are free to seek me out during lunches, advisory times (pending permission), during Core Extension (pending permission), and through notes, email or phone call (pending permission on the last two.)
Happy hunting.
Mr. Kannan

Charting the Course of Academic and Political Futures: 7-1 Students and the Chapter 5 Writing Assessment

On the eve of when Americans will make a critical choice in their political destinies, 7-1 students are in the process of making their own essential decisions about their academic futures. The Chapter 5 Writing Assessments have begun. Monday and Tuesday will mark the first days of in class work on the composition process of these writing tasks. Students will have some important decisions to make. Questions such as “What is my dominant learning style?” will be matched with, “Do I want to take a risk or play it safe?” We, as onlookers, will examine if students pivot towards what seems so very safe to them or if they move towards something different in their work process and product. Just as there are only a couple of days left in a rigorous political campaign, where every little detail is magnified, we, as onlookers, will be doing the same to our students, our emerging scholars, in sensing where our students will “break” in the days leading to the due date for all final assessments, November 20, 2008.
Students have been given a timeline in order to complete the chapter 5 Writing Assessments. The timelines for this week can be found on this week’s syllabus, under the headline “Homework for the week of 11/3- 11/7”, and under the hyperlink of “Calendar of Events.” We will be starting our breakout sessions this week, where small group instruction will be given to specific learning styles. It will be interesting to see students converge as “Intuitive Thinkers” or “Sensory Feelers.” Following this will be individual conferences with students to ensure that progress is being made, and that the writing process is focused and meaningful. Rough drafts can be submitted at the Day IV stage, and this is yet another avenue where students can receive feedback on their work. The underlying hope is that students work at a steady pace and refrain from procrastination. One of our goals is for students to earn as many “A’s” and “B’s” as possible. Yet, the overarching principle that guides us is that students create quality writing samples that reflect thought, reflection, and in depth analysis.
Students have to compose a writing sample based on a specific learning style and a corresponding defense piece that justifies how that sample represents the specific learning style. This means that on November 20, students will have to submit four work samples. I have advised students to complete one learning style work sample and then complete the defense piece. This will make for a consistent and thorough completion of the writing task. I believe that stakeholders can help this strong process by asking leading questions to students as they are working. Attempting to remain consistent with the learning style methodology, I believe that the following could yield fruitful discussion:
* Sensory Thinking Style: “What are your four specific acts of colonial protest?” “Why are these acts colonial acts of protest?” “How did each act come about?” “What was the British response to each act?” “Did you find detail and support from the textbook or the notes to help explain your position?”
* Intuitive Thinking Style: “What is the meaning of the quotation?” “How can it be supported and how can it be negated?” “Have you explained the statement’s validity?” “Have you explained if something can actually begin before it truly ‘begins’?”
* Sensory Feeling Style: “How have you assumed the persona of a columnist during the time period?” “How have you convinced the reader that you are feeling the sentiments of the time period?” “How have you done this through language, sentence composition, and general mood?” “Have you explained the case for going to war with England?” “Have you explained the case for making peace with England?” “Have you concluded the editorial with a clear call to action?”
* Intuitive Feeling Style: “What is your statement about the events that led to the Revolution?” “How have you amplified or explained your statement through the collage medium?” “What images help to support your statement?” “How can your statement be seen in different ways?” “How is your statement like art, something that starts discussion and conversation?”

We have spent the last week listening to the stories of Duke and Celestine. We have immersed ourselves in the lessons of Carl Jung and Dr. Hansen. We have been engrossed with the lessons of Charity and Socrates. While we chuckle at the trials of the Captain and Buddy, we have started the process of looking inwards at who we are, how we learn, and the manner in which we understand the world in which we live. As we take our lessons and apply them to Chapter 5, we begin the process of taking what we have learned and place it on the stage of scholarship and understanding. Our political candidates for the nation’s highest office are doing much of the same thing. Both our students and our candidates strive for the highest notion of the good within their own frames of references. As stakeholders, we watch and study how this narrative will unfold and conclude in the small window that is left.

Wishing our students and candidates the best of luck with the hunting that lies ahead,

Mr. Kannan

“Cracking the code:” 7-1 Students and Learning Styles

I found it to be a fascinating week. The lesson on learning styles encompassed a great deal of uniqueness and compelling ideas. I realized the validity of this when many of the conferences in which I participated used the potential discussion of student learning style and a springboard to conversation about student strength and areas of improvement. I thought this to be powerful. I further realized the magnitude of the lesson when I heard students initiating conversations that strove to analyze how they and their colleagues learn. When a teacher hears students express where they are on the axis of perception, or in what arena of judgment greater success can be found, a note of redemption is heard. My original projection was that while we lost a week of history based instruction, we were going to gain much more in learning a system of analysis and thought that would help to frame our path to scholarship. I believe that such a projection held validity given what I experienced this week.
We now find ourselves in a very challenging time. It is a time where we will have to learn new patterns of recognition in addressing the very tests that will help to define our mettle and our intestinal strength. It is a time where the great ones will differentiate themselves from others. It is a time for great ones, now. While one could sense this as describing the last week of current national political campaigning, I think it has just as much meaning in articulating where 7-1 students are. After an open note learning style quiz this week, students will engage in the domain of the chapter 5 writing tasks. Learning styles will play a prominent role in the composition of these writings. Students are being asked to compose two writings on the intellectual concepts presented in chapter 5 and then prepare two “defense pieces” which explain how each writing task and student writing represents a specific style of learning. In composing four writing samples (two on American History, two on specific learning styles), students will be utilizing the writing process in the hopes of achieving 400 points worth of work. This week students will receive a timeline for completing the tasks with incremental benchmarks that should be reached throughout the work phase. As mentioned at conferences, rough drafts can be submitted at multiple points in order to enhance student composition of work. At any and all points of this process, students are encouraged to “reach out” for help as “I’ll be there” for assistance.
I believe that this will be the most challenging endeavor we would have encountered. I know that our students, emerging scholars, will reach for these heavens in expanding their understanding, their strength, and their intellectual honor.

Happy hunting!
Mr. Kannan

“Hold on to your seat belts- It’s going to be a bumpy ride!” Learning Styles and 7-1 Students

When I originally conceived of the lesson on Multiple Learning styles and how they filter into the lives of 7-1 students, I confess that my original idea was to hold a brief talk for a day and progress from there. Yet, as I began to delve into the notion of making this a meaningful experience for students and started the process of analyzing the story I wanted to tell, it evolved into a life of its own. The organic growth and evolution of a singular item into so much of educational consciousness became something that I tried to contain, but could not stop. From distilling the four learning styles, I drove deep into the heart of models of learning, patterns of brain recognition, and determining how students can be empowered, I felt that this became too important a lesson to “gloss over.” When the opening starts with, “To ‘crack the code’ of how students learn becomes the essence of teaching and the root of all power,” it becomes evident that this lesson is larger than a mere explanation. I redid a pair of syllabi, changed a timeline on a writing task, added a quiz, and am ready for what will come out of it. This lesson might be one of those lessons where its ideas prove relevancy outside of the classroom and to all domains of learning and interpersonal dependence. I believe in a great deal of what I do, but I feel passionately about this particular lesson.

It is at this point where students should be rightly scared. I know I would be.
We start the lesson on Monday. Students will receive the scores from their exam at that time as well as the Chapter 5 Writing Extensions. Both can be revised, with the former being able to be revised during Tuesday and Wednesday lunch and the latter at any time until October 31. Students will receive updated progress reports on Tuesday, but all grades can be accessed online. We will be engaging in lecture driven instruction on Monday and Tuesday, and then profiling students based on their learning patterns on Wednesday. We will continue this process by profiling teachers on Thursday and Monday of next week. Students should expect a quiz on this material next week, and the unveiling of the Chapter 5 Writing Extensions to follow by mid next week.
I will be the first to claim that it is a time investment to sacrifice a week of instruction on a concept that is not directly linked to American History. However, I believe that our students are ready to receive a lesson that can serve as a snapshot of where they are at this moment in time and perhaps foreshadow where they will be in the future. I sense that this lesson will have meaning for several reasons. The first would be that a greater sense of understanding will result if students can identify their dominant and secondary learning style. Instead of saying, “I didn’t get it” or “Yeah, I got it,” there might be a stronger and more relevant discussion if they can explain why based on personal learning styles. Additionally, affording the opportunities to articulate why some find greater levels of success than others might help to bring a healthier notion of learning to our students. Too often I have heard students acquiesce to defeat and bluntly say, “I am not good at school.” While I have admired the honesty, this lesson on learning styles might offer some refutation to such a cynical claim. If students can understand where success might lie and where challenges might be present, they can appropriate a domain that seemed unreachable. I believe that we sense a greater level of meaningful and differentiated instruction for all if we can teach the idea that every learner possesses dominant as well as an equally compelling inferior learning style. The challenge placed upon the broad shoulders of all students is to not be afraid of their auxiliary or inferior learning style, but rather take ownership of it. This lesson might tear the mask of student ineffectiveness by giving them a vocabulary to articulate where their strengths and areas of improvement lie. In doing this, our students become stronger, taking one more step on the path of scholarship. They also become tougher and, in doing so, represent the spirit of the “Jayhawk”- a creature that binds and connects and compels us all to “master success.” Finally, I think a greater level of knowledge will unveil itself to students when they are able to take the lesson taught and apply it to their teachers. I plan on explaining to students the same learning styles that govern their understanding also govern their teachers, as well. To understand the learning styles that lie in their hearts and minds will give students power. Yet, to grasp the learning styles that lie in the hearts and minds of their teachers will give students access and control of their own academic destinies.
Yes, students should be mindful of this week. In the attempt to make something difficult a bit more approachable, I have uploaded the lecture notes to this lecture on this blog under, “Recent PowerPoint Lessons.” The file name is "Learning Styles 2008." It might help students to have a copy of the lecture notes so as to assist them.
I look forward to seeing many of our stakeholders this week during conferences. I also look forward to hearing about how your children, our emerging scholars, begin the process of better understanding themselves and the world that not only surrounds them but awaits their arrival.

Happy Hunting all you feelers and thinkers!
All best.
Mr. Kannan

“The Train Keeps On Rolling:” Writing Extensions, Exams, and Metacognition

A shortened week brings with it a great deal of work. It is odd how so much can be compressed into so little time. A concept that embodies relativity, time becomes our powerful adversary and our success becomes contingent on how well we can navigate through what it presents us. With the field trip Tuesday, Wednesday becomes a critical day. Writing extensions on chapter 5 will be submitted by the end of class. Students will have either composed a Top 5 List of the Causes of the Revolution or a Newspaper Editorial from the time period. Timely submission of writing extensions will result in a 4x 6 index card that can be used as a reference during Thursday’s exam. Thursday will also be Stuffing Day for Student Portfolios. The exam will last two days, so students should be mindful of using Thursday night as an evening of focus to help shore up curricular support to make Friday a worthwhile day, the concluding day of the 55 question multiple choice exam. Indeed, in three days of teaching and learning, much will be undertaken. When one week contains close to 200 points of work, it becomes understatement to say it is a “big week.” Time becomes our worthy adversary, one where battle is waged and swords clash in pursuit of those things that are "good, true, and beautiful." Within such a collision of values, the journey towards scholarship continues.
The week after our shortened week will not only mark conferences, but also our foray into metacognition. In order to approach the writing tasks for chapter 5, I wanted to spend some time discussing the four dominant styles of learning in students. My hopes are to engage students in an intellectual dialogue about the nature of how they learn. Oftentimes, when asked why a particular option was chosen, students respond with the ubiquitous quip, “I don’t know- it sounded cool.” After this week, students should be able to give more in terms of how their particular learning style meshes with a chosen task or assessment. Driving the train from this point, students should be able to engineer an assessment of how their teachers learn, as well. This would play into them gaining a stronger understanding of how to “read” their teachers as well as themselves. Such discussions will lay the groundwork for the completion of the chapter 5 writing tasks, to commence next week, conference week. It is a challenging time to be a 7.1 Social Studies student, indeed.
I will be sending out updated progress reports on the week of 10/27, once the writing extensions on chapter 5 as well as the Chapter 5 Exams have been entered. I remind all stakeholders that utilization of this blog, as well as accessing student grades online through http://www.mygradebook.com/ are recipes for success in times of challenge, as we are immersed within at this particular moment. Finally, I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible during Conference Week. If you have a free moment (and if I have one), I certainly hope our paths will cross to engage in meaningful discussion. If time becomes an adversary for us, as well, I will have a box outside my room for comments, questions, and concerns, and will respond to each query with all possible dispatch.

Here is to defeating the forces of time. Happy Hunting!
Mr. Kannan

P.S. If you are interested in previewing some of the questions featured on the chapter 5 exam, please examine the link on the top left hand corner entitled “Upcoming Tasks/ Handouts.” Examine the Table of Contents on the first page and test question stems await.

Clocks, Matrixes, and Historical Ideas: Rushide, Neo, the American Revolution and 7-1 Students

This week will mark an intellectual delving into the American Revolution. We have spent the last week analyzing specific events’ impact on this moment in American History, but this week will mark a point where we discuss the intellectual merit of this essential nanosecond in historical time. We will begin by concluding our Scholarly Sparknotes presentations on Monday, and then Tuesday will mark our discussion of midnight and inevitability. Wednesday presents a moment where we become the intellectual freight trains that cut like a razor blade as we “walk the line” with polar opposite statements and assess where we as individuals and community members stand. Our week will conclude with working on our writing extensions, writing tasks that will be worth 80 points and will be due on Wednesday, October 15. The exam on chapter 5 will be on Thursday, October 16.
The post modern philosopher Friedrich Nietszche has been credited with uttering the line, “Truth is a mobile army of metaphors.” I have always been fascinated with such a concept. The notion of describing historical truth through metaphorical analysis allows both students and me to frame history in a paradigm that allows for greater understanding, stronger analysis, and more critical thought. It helps to bring students closer to understanding that the currents of intellectual thought underwrites all historical advancement. I have always believed that ideas have roles and possess power, and that expressing these ideas through metaphors allow a greater chance to holding, if only for a moment, an elusive notion of truth. The first two metaphors I employ in our journey are the notion of midnight and the idea of inevitability.
Salman Rushdie’s book Midnight’s Children highlights the concept of the hour when both hands meet. It is an unique and powerful moment for while the clock strikes repeatedly, the two hands touch for only an instant. This represents a moment that can last for what seems to be an eternity. Rushdie plays with this metaphor throughout his book to describe the world of Indian freedom and independence in 1947. As the protagonist, Saleem Sinai is born into a world of mystery and autonomy at the same moment as the nation of India. This notion nestled into my mind as I became drawn into the parallel between individual psychology and national history. The pain and joy of love and politics seem to be united in one metaphor: Midnight. When applying this same image to America, I found much in terms of 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 a pledge. Midnight: While the world sleeps, a nation and a people awake to life of freedom and the sometimes challenging 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. When we study American freedom, my hope is that we will be mindful of time, noting when events brought us to the moment when the clock’s hands met, and when our hands met with history and intellectual analysis.
Midnight will become a central image, a metaphor through which we will examine the colonial struggle for freedom. Accompanying this will be the study of inevitability and its role in the American historical dialectic and within individuals. This metaphor comes from The Matrix. In the narrative, there is an ongoing battle between the forces of authentic reality, embodied by the protagonist Neo/ Thomas Anderson, and the forces of controlled reality, embodied by the antagonist Agent Smith. At the pitch of dramatic tension, conflict ensues between Neo and Agent Smith. When it appears that Neo is going to fail in his desire to defeat the forces of inauthenticity, Agent Smith pins Neo down on a set of railroad tracks and, hearing a train in the distance, he utters prophetic words for both the film and 7-1 students: “Do you hear that sound, Mr. Anderson? That is the sound of inevitability- that is the sound of your doom.” When he says these words, the insinuation is that Neo will be unable to escape from the clutches of inevitability, from the grasp of what will be. As we study the emergence of the Revolution, the question then becomes whether or not we hear the same sound, namely that of inevitability? Was the Revolution inevitable? Was it bound to happen? What role do human beings play within history? Is history, itself, something that is inevitable or something that can be altered?
It becomes interesting to sense the implications of such a paradigm. If the Revolution was indeed inevitable, then the textbook based mythology is right and America is indeed a shining beacon of freedom and liberty. We, as a nation, were meant to be the city on a hill. However, this means that humans are essentially powerless when faced with the inevitability of history. Human beings seemingly become like Neo, crushed underneath the weight of the historically inevitable train. However, there is a flipside to this coin. If human beings do have a role and can exercise freedom to escape from the train, then we must embrace the reality of failure as a logical extension of our freedom. If inevitability is not present, shortcoming and sad endings become apparent. In this light, we begin to understand that justice and fairness is not always guaranteed. Monsters may walk among us and things may go bump in the night and there might not be a satisfactory explanation for either. Examining the American Revolution in the context of inevitability and midnight helps to create a stronger sense of thought. Plato’s notions of the happy ending, noble lie, and wandering into the world outside of the cave become the constant companions of our 7-1 students as they attempt to determine where they stand in the face of such intellectual paradigms. Once again, we begin to see the dominant theme of ideas having power emerge into full focus.
Some housekeeping ideas conclude this week’s thoughts. Midterm progress reports will be sent home with students this Friday. Additionally, student led portfolio conferences rapidly approach. If you have conferences with me, all confirmations for conferences have been sent, and I have posted his conference schedule on the blog under the “Handouts” link. Students will have their writing extensions due on Wednesday, 10/15, and the exam on chapter 5 will be on Thursday, 10/16. After this, we will start the process of examining the idea of dominant learning styles, which will lead to our writing tasks on chapter 5, worth about 200 to 300 points. Grades are updated each weekend and as we approach the midterm point of the trimester, I encourage all stakeholders to check grades on a weekly basis to ensure a line of clear communication being present.
To paraphrase Agent Smith, I ask all of you, “Do you hear that sound? That is the sound of academic inevitability.” I await to see how all of you stand against that train.

All best and happy hunting.
Mr. Kannan

Voices From the Front: Student Voices Authenticating Academic Experiences

In closing last week’s blog entry, I wanted to include the voices of students’ trace fossil papers. On Friday, I asked students if they would volunteer their favorite line or concept from their paper to represent a voice from the intellectual battle to reach “the good, the true, and the beautiful.” Featured below are words from your children, my students, our sojourning and emerging scholars:
“I believe that my trace fossil represents a good blending of who I am in today’s culture and artistry that I value from the past.”
“We fight until our toes bleed… Show them the wisdom our people had.”
“It has a lot of scratches in it. My mom hates the scratches, but I think they show the good use and the past of that piano.”
“Running my hands along the side of the piece, I notice a feel akin to that of bunched fabric: there are layers of protruding convex areas that create hills and valleys and a rippled, rhythmic effect, altogether affecting the smooth, contoured craftsmanship and appearance as a whole.”
“In my younger and more vulnerable years, my father gave me some advice and now that advice has made me the happiest person in the world.”
“Music is an essential part of my culture. Drums enhance the ideas, emotions, and traditions that are being conveyed in music.”
“ The ocean waters still remember Phyllis and me, but now it is I who am trying to get back to where she was.”
“I was very excited because it was one of the coolest phones I’ve ever seen.”
“Memories can be good or bad, but no matter what, they are there.”
“Time stands still for no one, but my pictures- my memories- they do.”
“It likes like an ‘Ollivander’s’ for dancers with boxes of pointe shoes stacked everywhere.”
“ In my younger and more vulnerable years, my father gave me an item, red and small, but it filled my tiny heart with joy.”
“My crocs mean so much to me- I cannot imagine life without them.”
“My culture needs my racquet. I need my culture. Everything is connected.”
“My dad bought it for me.”
“Today, it has a chipped coat of hot pink coloring and one nose grip.”
“The surface of it looks like dozens of children have roller skated across the surface, leaving scuff marks at their tracks.”
“It’s black, it’s about the size of two shoe boxes, and it’s mine.”
“It looks like an overcooked quarter pound hamburger.”
“When people look at my trace fossil, they usually smile… unless they are Duke fans.”
“I share a love/ hate relationship with my pointe shoes.”
“To the red country and part of the gray country of Oklahoma, the last rains came gently and they did not cut the scared earth. If it were only true- the day I got my trace fossil.”
“To be or not to be- that is the question and my answer is to be.”
“Once upon a time, and a very good time it was, I received a small red item of which is now very precious to me.”
“It was a moment of complete and unutterable fulfillment which could not be described in words.”
“Your culture is not only what country you are from or what your traditions are, but what you believe yourself to be.”
“A fear of my culture is the breakage that I know one day will come.”
“The music beaming from every speaker and everyone dancing, laughing, having a good time; as a child not knowing a thing, I could feel the melody of the music playing and the loud sound of the radio.”
“It’s as if Gabi is sill in the past, even when the world around him is battling the future.”
“One word: Scars. And I will never fix them.”
“As Toni Morrison says, ‘All water has perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was.’ I feel like the water always has a memory of me.”
“Music is a world of its own, a temporary escape from reality, and a way to express and deal with problems.”
“This is the bud of the bud, the root of the root, the sky of the sky, of a tree called liked that holds the force of keeping us together.”
“October is the cruelest month.”
“It simply crashes like a plane without warning.”
“Music makes us feel like we can do anything.”
“But, THUD… RRRRRRROSSSSSCCCCRRRR… This sound I could live without.”
“It’s simple. Black, silver, and very shiny.”
“It saved me.”
“There it was- bright and shining; a white polar bear.”
“I love my cell phone culture.”
“My trace fossil is not just a trace fossil, but an elusive spyglass to the unknown.”
“Fading memory. It is a fading memory.”
“I play like it won’t be there anymore.”
“Do what you love and do it good no matter what.”
“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.”
“In 300 years, my trace fossil will be a piece of junk.”
“My iPod is my shrink.”
“As I change, my trace fossil changes with me.”

These lines are but a small sampling of the work presented in students’ trace fossil papers. There were wonderful and compelling lines, thoughts, clauses, and ideas presented in each students’ papers. It was an honor to read, and while extremely challenging to grade in a weekend, the papers turned out to be a success. We take another step on our journey with the Road to the American Revolution. I invite all stakeholders to examine the handouts for this unit by clicking the hyperlink, "Upcoming tasks and assessments/ handouts for 7-1 Social Studies with Mr. Kannan" on the top left hand pane. Students should expect an exam on Chapter 5 to be administered the week of October 13. The writing task for this chapter will commence soon thereafter.

From trace fossils to Scholarly Sparknotes, to Concept Attainment and Polar Opposites, this will be an interesting unit with interesting challenges to all students.
Progress Reports in Language Arts and Social Studies were distributed out last Friday and the signed cover letters are due on Wednesday of this week. Midterm progress reports in all classes will be sent home with students on October 10. Finally, those students who will be having their Student- Led Portfolio Fall Conferences with me will be receiving written confirmations this week. My Conference List is posted under the "Upcoming tasks and assessments/ handouts for 7-1 Social Studies with Mr. Kannan" hyperlink. For those who wish to meet with me and have conferences with another team 7.1 teacher, you can examine which times I have open and contact me so that I can expect to see you.
Writing extensions, exams, authentic assessments- To quote the great football coach, “Is this fun or what?

All best and Happy hunting!
Mr. Kannan

One mountain climbed, another awaiting: The Road to Revolution

I want to open this week’s blog with an expression of gratitude to all of those who were able to attend Curriculum Night last Thursday evening. I appreciated all of you who came into my classroom and allowed me the chance to explain to you my philosophy, its implications, and the manner in which how I plan to deliver our students, your children, to the pantheon of scholarship. Although I found myself hoarse by the end of the night, I felt it was a wonderful opportunity to meet and greet you all, the parents who will accompany your children on this journey we call American History, the quest we call 7.1 Social Studies. If you need an additional copy of the Powerpoint Lesson I delivered, please do not hesitate to check on the Julian website, under “Parents/ Community” or on this blog under “Recent Powerpoint Lessons.”
In terms of what is transpiring in the class, the trace fossil writing tasks have been graded and will be submitted back to students on Monday, September 21. I will make general comments tomorrow, but I can state with certainty that this was the year that the records did fall by the wayside. This year’s 7.1 students posted the highest number of A’s and B’s on this particular task. What was even more inspiring was that the papers delivered represented a high quality of craftsmanship and inspiration. It was not unusual to read papers open with a quote from Dante or Toni Morrison, Shakespeare or Steinbeck. It was not an isolated incident to see students discuss elevated notions of cultural identity and delve into personal experiences that represented the essence of authenticity and sincerity. Students delivered papers that rose to the challenge. Many papers were submitted and resubmitted in the drafting process and this resulted in a higher caliber of work. Being the ever present realist/ cynic that I am, I will be explaining to students that now that many of them have done well, the challenge will be to keep doing work that represents the best of their abilities (One is reminded of the Aristotle quote of “Human beings are what they repeatedly do.”) Students who wish to pursue the avenue of revising their work, regardless of the grade, have until Friday, October 3, to revise their work. A revision would involve rewriting the paper with the needed corrections included and submitting both the original and the new version by the deadline. Successful revisions will receive half of the points originally lost. Students who demonstrated success on the trace fossil writing task should find Social Studies Progress Reports that are being sent home on Friday, 9/26 a relatively pain free process. All students will need to have these reports signed by a parent/ guardian and returned back to Mr. Kannan by Wednesday, 10/1.
The next two to three weeks will be critical in our advancing journey. As we temporarily close the books on the trace fossil writing task, we open our textbooks to the Road to Revolution. We will be starting this week with a review of the French/ Indian War and supplement this with Chalk Talk, an open forum where students post messages of intellectual context in the hopes of starting a transparent dialogue open to all. Scholarly Sparknotes will follow this, where students will be responsible for charting out a section of the text, creating a visual that possesses multiple components, and then explaining this visual to the class. After our presentations, we will engage in a reciprocal reading task on the steps towards war. Once the reading from chapter 5 is completed, we will engage in a study of intellectual metaphors that might allow our examination of the road to revolution to gain further complexity. Agent Smith’s idea of inevitability, from The Matrix, and Salman Rushdie’s conception of midnight, from Midnight’s Children, will form the basis of our first two historical metaphors. There will not be a cumulative exam on chapter 5, but we will have an assessment on the material presented. Prior to this, we will step into the terrain of educational training by examining the four dominant learning styles and which methods of understanding best represent our students at this time in their academic careers. Grasping such a conception will allow them a strong footing to make judgments as to which of the chapter 5 assessments will be best suited for them to demonstrate success.
One mountain fades into the distance while a more daunting one stands in front of our students. I imagine that they will express the some of the same sentiments they expressed the last time an impressive summit obstructed their path. Two weeks ago, students felt disgust, reticence, fear, and some level of academic confusion regarding the trace fossil paper. Yet, fourteen days of crafting, and recrafting, draft and multiple drafts, frustration and elation have led to one of the best batches of graded papers on record. Many will feel comfortable with how they fared on this paper. They will express some level of satisfaction at having scaled such a height. It is because of this that I have confidence that if they demonstrate the same tenacity and relentless nature for academic success, they will climb this summit, as well and experience even greater pitches of prosperity.
Ask your student how they fared on the trace fossil writing task. If it went well, congratulate them and ask them to identify where they think they “got it.” If it could have better, ask your student to identify where they think they needed to devote more attention and encourage them to revise it. The lessons they take from the trace fossil writing task will enable them to find greater success on that which lies ahead.
Next week’s blog will include lines from student papers in order to validate the presuppositions I have put forth in this missive.

Please remember that all Social Studies grades are available online at mygradebook.com and that progress reports in Social Studies will be sent home with students this Friday, 9/26. The signed cover letter will be due back to me, Mr. Kannan, by Wednesday, 10/1. If I can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me at school via email or at my home phone number.

Climb Ev’ry Mountain and Happy Hunting.
Mr. Kannan

Postmodernism, Lennon/ McCartney, and Questioning Identity: Just another week in 7.1 Social Studies

This week brought another week of strong progress, measurable growth, and the bourgeoning intellectual inquiry that will prove to be useful in 7.1 Social Studies. The trace fossil papers approached and moved past the halfway point. They will be due Friday of this week.
As students reached this critical point of construction, the questions and dialogue reflected advancement. Students were asking questions such as, “What is culture?” or “What is my culture?” Many were critically dissecting the question of who they were, in what they believed, in which social setting does their identity lie. These are the questions that not only help form the definition of the trace fossil paper, but also help to form the constitution of who we are as people. For seventh grade students to engage on this journey is powerful to behold. Students also began the examination of their trace fossils. From literal descriptions and striving to find the different ways to express physical reality to emotional connections and resurrecting memories that might have lay dormant, students demonstrated a great deal of progress and improvement in articulating objects that represent their voice, their experiences, their narratives. In philosophy, the post –modern movement emphasizes that human beings are the authors of their own stories. If this is true, then we have many writers on team 7.1 for many are continuing that tradition of seeking to establish authorship of who they are and in what they believe.
This process comes to its summit this week. Monday will be the last mini lesson. The topic will be leads, symbolic meaning, and time capsule. From this point, students will be on their own to complete their handwritten or typed final draft by this Friday. It is my hope that all papers will be submitted on this day. Progress Reports in Social Studies will be going home the following Friday, and the Trace Fossil Writing Task will be included on this report. After this, we will begin our study of American History- a living, breathing trace fossil. Our first unit will be the Road to Revolution, a study of events leading to the American Revolution. A short term goal will be to be at the construction of the Constitution by January.
This week marks the annual celebration we call Curriculum Night. Thursday evening at 6:45 in your child’s Advisory classroom or area will commence this yearly tradition of PowerPoint slide shows, handouts, and the wonders of navigating through student schedules. It is my hope that all of our 7.1 parents will attend this year’s Curriculum Night. Those who attend will receive first opportunities to sign up for conferences and will also receive their child’s log in password and classword for all student grades via mygradebook.com. To quote Lennon and McCartney, “a splendid time is guaranteed for all.” Of course, they were talking about a circus. On the other hand, some would argue that Curriculum Night might fit such an interpretation.
As always, if I can be of any assistance to students or parents, I encourage both sets of stakeholders to contact me at school via email or at my home number. This week is a very big week for us. I am confident that like so much I have thrown at students in this embryonic stage of the year, they will rise, endure, and triumph over what is presented.

All best and Happy Hunting.
Mr. Kannan

Tonight’s Homework for Social Studies: Successfully embody the traits of a classical hero

Our journey into the deep recesses of scholarship continues with the explication of the trace fossil writing task. Students were able to receive its introduction well. We analyzed the notion of culturally historic artifacts in Aztec, Mayan, and Incan culture. Then, we analyzed objects from a culture that seems to reside in ancient desolation: That of the Social Studies Teacher on Team 7.1. Students gained much insight into how this culture operates, in what he (as the sole member of the culture) believes, and the values of such a bizarre setting. It was insightful to read about how Mr. Kannan believes in “dressing nice for work” or in how “he believes in scholarship” or the fact that “he believes everyone chooses their own culture.” Absorbing such insights into their own mind, students were able to turn their high powered lens of precise insight and analysis on themselves. As they greeted the trace fossil writing task, our students seemed to paraphrase the words of Dr. Lecter as they “looked deep within themselves.”
The lambs might not have stopped screaming, Clarice.
Certainly, our focus for the next week is the hopeful progress of our writing tasks. We have mapped out the dates and times for completion of this task. In the process, students have been reminded that nightly and incremental completion of this paper, as outlined in the timeline for completion, is a critical component for success. Each day, our in class focus will be on some new aspect of the paper’s growth and development. Students have been reminded that they should expect that their sole focus in Social Studies should be on the successful completion of this paper. To that end, students should know that the copies of the mini lessons I will feature are online, under the “Recent PowerPoint Lessons” link on this blog. Each day’s notes will address the topics as outlined on the timeline for completion. I believe that if students access these files and can possess hard copies of the notes prior to class, they might be able to use their in class time with greater autonomy. I will be encouraging students to access these files this week. Should computer usage be a challenge, I will also be inviting students to utilize my computer or those in the Media Center.
There is a theme in literature about the notion of the hero. Part of the heroic archetype is that when faced with a seemingly insurmountable quest, the hero retreats to some type of meditative and reflective location. This locale is either a physical place of solitude or a mental place of rumination. Such musing allows the hero to gain insight on how to approach the challenge that lies ahead and how to eventually claim triumph over a daunting adversary. Eventually, the knowledge gained on how to achieve victory rises above all, like a phoenix from the ashes, or as a house of worship towers over an entire population. I imagine that nightly homework for our students should be to find this place of intellectual sanctuary where they can reflect and mentally map out what they are going to do to slay this demon, a force that will dwarf in comparison to the forces that lie further on in our journey.
Now that would be a great assignment to write in student daily planners: “Tonight’s homework: Be like brave Hector, be like strong Ulysses, approach the paper like Dante, slay the demons of doubt as Lord Rama, and avoid repeating the mistakes of Faust.” (I can only surmise as to the emails I would get as a response to such an assignment. Talk about answering voice mail!)
Nevertheless, it is one of my hopes that in the successful completion will lie some of the elements of strength and austerity that I seek to impart consistently and repeatedly in all of our emerging scholars. We will construct temples of intellectual worship that will tower over all.
Final red tape issues need to be integrated into this missive. I look forward to seeing all of you at Curriculum Night on September 18 at 6:45 PM. Information should be forthcoming. Please also be aware that the Trace Fossil Writing Task is due on September 19, with Progress Reports in Social Studies going home with students on September 26, 2008.

Happy hunting and even happier ruminating! Go find your trace fossil!
Mr. Kannan

Trace Fossils and the Emergent Spiral of Student Voice

The first week of students’ 7.1 Social Studies experience has passed into the realm of what has been. Within such a small period of time, students learned much about what lies in front of them. They grasped the importance of the table, the music stand, reading “signs,” taking out their daily planners, and handling one’s own problems and challenges. We endured a week of PBIS training and emerged from it stronger, more capable, and more appreciative of in class instruction time. I stood impressed with how students were able to “read” me from such an early stage. My hope is that this continues as we face more challenges, more arduous tasks, more moments of tension and growth. (Certainly, the look of readiness that all students grasped would help them in these trying periods. Ask your emerging scholar what “twiddling thumbs” looks like and why it’s important.)
As this transition phase ends, the new and more lasting one of intense work and emerging to scholarship commences. This week, students will engage in the process of identifying and explicating the notion of living history. We will be accomplishing this through the Trace Fossil Writing Task. After a year hiatus from assigning this task, it has reappeared in a more substantiated and impressive form. The purpose of this writing task is for students to identify one particular item from their lives and explain it as an artifact of history, their history. The definition of a trace fossil is an object “that represents or shows an animal’s or human’s behavior, evidence of life and patterns of existence.” The question that Trace Fossil Writing Task seeks to answer is how students can use an artifact to draw out a narrative of their own existence. On one level, the task seems elemental. As long as children have been in school, they have been asked to write about “my favorite thing.” This has been a staple in essay prompts from all walks of academic life. Yet, the trace fossil writing task takes this rather obvious essay and attempts to invert it. Rather than students merely explaining their “favorite thing,” the paper seeks to explore their subjective links to the object, and then how this particular object represents their aspect of culture. It is in this stipulation where the paper reveals fascinating notions for students must define their own culture in relationship to their object. By being compelled to “choose” their notion of cultural identity, I believe that students explore a part of themselves that might not have been so readily evident. On one hand the paper is extremely subjective and personal, yet on another level it is collective and broadens what was individual to a larger scope. It becomes fun for me to see students define and explain their culture in unique terms. When students to state that “My culture is that of the Cubs, we who have suffered for 100 years” or “My culture is that of basketball players who seek to sink a jump shot and make a free throw” or “My culture is that of an artist and our identity is enhanced with each stroke of a pencil on paper or paint brush on a canvass,” I believe we see something emerging within the minds and souls of our students. This lotus is that of change and understanding that they are the authors of their own narratives. As students are compelled to define their culture and choose their individual trace fossil, they also engage in a form of historiography- the construction of history, in particular, their own personal history. By the conclusion of the Trace Fossil Writing Task, students will see themselves, their artifacts, and their cultures in new lights. The purpose of writing is to seek exploration and, as E.M. Forster says, “to connect.” I believe that these goals are accomplished in the Trace Fossil Writing Task.
There are some small items of housekeeping that need to be relayed. The first set of Social Studies Progress Reports will be going home on September 26. These reports have to be signed and returned by October 1, 2008. Curriculum Night is rapidly approaching and will be held on September 18 at 6:45 PM. This is your first opportunity to sign up for Conferences, so as those slots vanish in a very small amount of time, my hope is to see as many of you as possible. Finally, if I need to be contacted, I have instructed students and implore all stakeholders to contact me via email (akannan@op97.org) and have also given out my home phone number to all students. Please do not hesitate to access additional copies of in class handouts and work or copies of the next two syllabi on the option pane in the upper left hand corner of this blog.

Happy Hunting!
Mr. Kannan

“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair,” or “Sleeping Beauty Awakens” or What steps can be taken in that fragile first week?

If one can hear close enough, one can hear the sounds of stirring prior to the start of the year. These sounds reveal quite a deal. They show excitement, nervousness, anticipation, and wonderment. I have always admired how Kindergarten children view their first days of school. They lay out their outfits, make sure their shoes are new, and aerate their backpacks with pencils sharpened. They are ready for the new dawn, excellent and fair. In harkening to this image, I believe that some of our students possess the same mindset. Just as the Democrats are preparing for something new and unique, I hope many of our students carry the same mindset as they begin their 7.1 experiences.
Yet, I thought that I would offer some thoughts for 7.1 students in this, their first week. These small items might provide some guidance in the amazingly harrowing terrain presented within the first week. They might also give students the ground where they can “plant their feet” in the name of taking steps to accomplish something that represents “the good, the true, and the beautiful.”
* Report on time on Tuesday- The first day of school is on Tuesday. The doors will open at 8:50 AM and students should consider reporting around that time. My advice would be for students to find their advisory teachers as soon as possible in the gym and check in with all possible haste. It is important for the 7.1 experience to begin immediately. Students who check in quickly with their advisory teachers can start the process that awaits.
* Know your schedules, your two schedules- When students move to their advisory classroom, they will be in possession of two schedules. The first schedule is their “real” schedule. It will have a “Core Extension” class period, and should be similar to the one they received over summer, prior to the first day. The second schedule will be given to students on Tuesday. It will have a “Health” class period. This schedule will be in full effect for the first six to seven weeks of school. Students will be expected to follow this schedule immediately. They should consign this to memory.
* Know your locker combination- Naturally, students should spend the first advisory period memorizing the locker combination that will be given to them. Place this in memory as quickly as possible and refrain from giving this combination to anyone.
* Read the “Signs”- There are two kinds of students in this world: Those that see signs as something important and those who discard them as not important. My hopes are that the 7.1 student is closer to the former than the latter. When students begin their class rotation and daily schedule, my advice would be for them to pay attention to the signs that will greet you in the hallway, on music stands, and on top of tables. These signs will tremendously assist students. The beauty about such signs is that they confirm that “we are not alone.”
* Use the first week to develop a successful pattern of academic behavior- Sometimes, students do not pay attention to what is asked of them in the first week. They mistakenly believe that “it’s only the first week, or only the first day, so why complete homework?” In the words of the 80s commercial, “Bad Idea Jeans.” I think it’s really important for students to hit the ground running and complete the first homework assignments presented in the first week. This would include reading over the opening day document and generating at least three questions, completing the personal inventory, and identifying five personal items and developing thoughts on how “outsiders” would view these items. It is essential for students to develop a pattern of academic success as early and as quickly as possible. This cannot be done if homework is deferred or not completed.
* Use the first week to observe without being observed- Sometimes, students view the first week as an opportunity to “test” the teacher/ student boundary. This might be a natural part of the growing up process. Yet, I would like to offer something different. It is essential that students, in order to be successful, understand their “bosses” or their teachers. I think that it would behoove students to gain a better understanding of their teachers by using the first week to examine how these teachers operate. What is it that these teachers respond to in a positive manner? What repulses them? Rather than testing boundaries with arbitrary and silly displays of power and tension, why not observe these teachers in a manner that shows precision, depth, and awareness? Sometimes, we learn so much more by observing and noting that speaking and annoying.
* “See” the journey- One theme that will present itself throughout the first week is the notion of “the journey.” Each year is a journey and each journey is a lifetime. Another conception of “the journey” is how this class will bring students farther along the path of intellectual scholarship and this voyage is an integral part of this classroom’s experience. As we commence our first week, we take the first steps of this journey, our journey. Students might want to consider “seeing” this journey even in the first week as it will bring a better understanding to the weeks and months that will follow.
Fairy tales and noble lies aside, students can use the first week, this week, to help bring more understanding to their experience as 7.1 emerging scholars.

All best and happy hunting.
Mr. Kannan
P.S. Have you paid attention to the items present on the blog? Wacky metaphoric analysis? Quotes to place the journey into context? The homework links? Investigate, my curious scholars, query, analyze, seek a better understanding of what lies in front of you.

P.P.S. To my former students, I mailed out letters last week. I did not have some of your addresses, so I will be delivering your letters through your 8th grade teams within the first week of school. I am sorry for the inconvenience.

Emerging from Hibernation: Welcome back to another year with the Jayhawk

It is with the deepest of pleasure that I say welcome back to all of the Percy Julian Middle School students. We are on the precipice of commencing another year replete with intense scholarship and intellectual growth. It is good to be back home.

I just returned back from India earlier this week. It was a pilgrimage that afforded me many moments of understanding and clarity. It also allowed me to perceive both past and future experiences in a new light. I will target this opening blog entry of 2008- 2009 to two sets of people that have served to create meaning during my time at Percy Julian Middle School: Former Students and Prospective Students.

To my former students, I want to take this opportunity to wish you best of luck for the upcoming year, your last as a Percy Julian Student. I hope you enjoyed your summer. I am certain that you spent time escaping from the demons of the Final Assessment, Outcome Sentences, Daily Planners, Teaching Assignments, as well as paying attention to the LCD Projector. Yet, like all of those who seek refuge from that which stalks them, I believe that “you can run, but you cannot hide.” It is close to the time where you will assume the leadership of the student body, and be expected to embody “those things that are best” as you prepare for your departure and your entrance into the new domain of high school. I will be mailing out letters to all of you by early next week. Each letter begins with the same opening paragraph, but is personalized to each of you. The purpose of this letter is to wish you best of luck for this upcoming year and explicate the meaningful nature of my time teaching you. I hope you enjoy your letters and I look forward to you gracing my doorway in the upcoming year.

To my prospective students, I want to take this opportunity to wish you all the best in enjoying the remaining time you have in summer. I hope you were able to do all of the things you told yourself that you were going to do at the start of it. I am confident that you told yourself that you would visit the Art Institute, spend a day touring the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field, study the great architecture of downtown Chicago, and read the great works of Western Philosophy to discover meaning in existence.

… Or maybe you stayed at home, hung out, and simply vegged.

Whatever it is you did, I hope you enjoyed it. I also hope you are preparing yourself for the start of school, and in particular, your time as a 7-1 Student. Allow me to welcome you to such an experience. You will be a part of something special, unique, powerfully difficult, and intense. It is my belief that your time as my student will represent some of the most difficult time you will spend in a classroom. It will be “the toughest job you will ever love.” I believe that it might be the first time where you will be introduced to the pantheon of scholarship. I will assure you that I will do my best to move as many of you as possible into the domain of intellectual analysis.

If you have me for advisory, you will have received your advisory letter. (See you on Tuesday, as I don my Edmonds jersey.) For all of this year’s 7.1 students, if you are wondering what is awaiting you in Social Studies, feel free to examine this blog. You can see the first two syllabi of the class, and also see the handouts and distributed items for the first three weeks of the course. Please be mindful that the syllabi featured are a guideline as to what will be covered. As with all first weeks, there will be time commitments outside the realm of academics that might compel us to alter when we reach certain topics. You can also see what this blog features, and read over some of the topics covered from last year. I hope you ruminate and contemplate what this class will be like for you. I promise that you will work… oh, you will work, my emerging scholars.


Expect another entry as the start of school creeps closer and closer. The Jayhawk has a hold over us all, indeed.

All best and happy hunting to both former and prospective students.

Mr. Kannan