How will this course change the way I teach in the classroom?

I was teaching nursing clinicals a few months ago when one of my students was telling me that she had to watch the nursing lectures at home and participate in discussion during classroom time.  At the time, I remembered thinking to myself what an interesting concept.  Fast forward to two weeks ago, I am sitting on the Principal Selection Committee at Sharp Middle School.  During one of the interviews, one of candidates talked about his work with flipped classrooms.  However, this time I was able to intelligently ask questions about what kind of classrooms he was using this teaching strategy, how did he get teacher buy-in, what percentage of his teachers were using this strategy, etc.   One of the results of this class is definitely a greater awareness of the teaching strategies that can be employed to engage learners.  As educators, we need to share this new knowledge with others in our teaching-learning community to move our students to mastering 21^st century skills.  If change is truly going to take place in our schools, it all begins with these critical collaborative conversations.  To the best of my knowledge, a flipped classroom instructional strategy is not currently being used at the high school or middle school in Pendleton County.  By introducing this approach to co-teachers from each school, this strategy hopefully will get the necessary buy-in to help it become successful in the future. 

I strongly encourage each of you to read Bellanca and Brandt’s 21^st century skills: Rethinking how students learn.  The concept of Teach Less, Learn More was introduced in this book.  At first, I was a little skeptical about this concept.  However, the more I read the more I agree with this concept, and it is something I want to incorporate in my own teaching in the future.  You see Teach Less does mean” teaching less in the traditional didactic delivery of information-less teacher talk, less pour and store, and less-frequent one-way broadcasts” (Bellanca & Brandt, p. 105).  Teach Less means using wider and deeper instructional methodologies, hands-on learning, and collaborative interactions.  Teach Less, Learn More is about preparing our 21^st century students to learn more, faster, and deeper.  If we can do this, we can equip our students with the skills of learning and the skills of life.

Bellanca, J., & Brandt, R. (Eds.). (2010). 21^st century skills: Rethinking how students learn. Bloomington, Indiana.: Solution Tree Press.

Instructional Plan

In reading James Bellanca  and Ron Brandt’s 21^st century skills: Rethinking how students learn, I have learned that there are five types of minds we need to cultivate in our students.  These five minds are the disciplined mind, the synthesizing mind, the creating mind, the respectful mind, and the ethical mind.  The development of each of these minds is of equal importance for that person to reach their highest potential in life.   “Among the minds there is no strict hierarchy, such that one mind should be cultivated before the others” (Bellanca & Brandt, 2010, p. 29).  However, a pattern often does exist.   For example, a respectful mind often is needed to cultivate the ethical mind in a student.  That is why this particular lesson is so important because it really develops at least three of the minds for students to succeed.  It teaches the student to respect their freedoms (respectful mind), and that freedom requires good citizenship (ethical mind).  Besides helping the students have a greater understanding of the democratic principle of freedom, this project also helps students develop as the future leaders of tomorrow.  By participating in this service learning project, students are developing the creating mind that is needed in our future leaders.  By sharing their projects with the public, they will inspire others to value the freedoms we are blessed to have as American citizens. 

Bellanca, J., & Brandt, R. (Eds.). (2010). 21^st century skills: Rethinking how students learn. Bloomington, Indiana.: Solution Tree Press.

Shawn Nordheim’s Instructional Plan Summary

Title of Project: What does freedom mean to you?

Description of the Students/Course:

This unit will be geared toward Advanced Placement U. S. History students at Pendleton County High School.  This unit could also be modified for 8^th grade students taking U.S. History at Sharp Middle School.  After much discussion with Brent Sowder (U. S. History teacher Pendleton County High School) and Meagan Wood Ramsey (U. S. History teacher Sharp Middle School), a flipped classroom approach is going to be applied to this three-day series of classes.  Our goal is to offer a different class each week over a three week period in September.  These sessions will lead into the League of Women Voters Service Project in October.

Student Learning Outcomes:

1.     Students will be able to list examples of how to be a responsible citizen.

2.     Students will demonstrate effective social interaction skills during class discussions.

3.     Students will demonstrate an understanding of the importance of responsible citizenship in reflective journaling.

Unit Timeline and Lesson using a Flipped Classroom Approach

Use of Technology and co-teachers included in lessons

	Homework prior to classroom session	Activities for classroom session
Week 1 session	Students will watch President John F. Kennedy’s 1961 Inaugural Address http://youtu.be/BLmiOEk59n8 Link to complete text of Kennedy’s Inaugural Address http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres56.html Answer reflective questions Alternative activity for Middle School Students: Visit Congress for Kids website and read about responsible citizenship and take quiz http://www.congressforkids.net/citizenship_intro.htm	Teacher will select students to lead discussion of the reflective questions Bill Mitchell, Community Development Director of Pendleton County, will act as co-teacher in this session.  He will specifically address citizen responsibilities. At conclusion of session, students will be asked to reflect on what responsible citizenship means to them.
Week 2 session	Students will watch Martin Luther King, Jr. deliver his famous “I have a dream….” Speech http://youtu.be/nFcbpGK9_aw Link to complete text of King’s speech http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/16/i-have-a-dream-speech-text-martin-luther-king-jr_n_1207734.html Answer reflective questions Alternative activity for Middle School Students: Visit Congress for Kids website and read voting tutorial and take polling places quiz http://www.congressforkids.net/Elections_voting.htm	Teacher will select students to lead discussion of the reflective questions Shawn Nordheim, President of the League of Women Voters of Pendleton County, will act as co-teacher in this session.  She will address voting rights and responsibilities. At conclusion of session, students will be asked to reflect on what freedom means to them.
Week 3 session	Students will watch the following videos: “How to take care of the American Flag” Video http://youtu.be/mQgzKQp0aSU “How to fold the flag” Video http://youtu.be/4Nw8FcU4dyM “13 folds of the American Flag” Video http://youtu.be/c50xvbEmzOs Answer reflective questions	Teacher will select students to lead discussion of the reflective questions Bryan Nordheim, Director of Tactics at Wright Patterson AFB, will act as co-teacher in this session.  He will discuss flag etiquette and serving in the armed forces. At conclusion of session, students will be asked to reflect on what caring for the American flag means to them.

Formative assessments activities include weekly reflective responses from the videos and in class discussion.  Summative assessment would be completion of the “What does freedom mean to you/” activity with a student product in the form of a YouTube video, poem, song, or any other creative form the student chooses.

Parent/Community Involvement

Parents will be encouraged to help students in this learning process.  The collaboration of multiple individuals will be necessary in order to make these classroom sessions and the civic engagement project a success.   League members will meet to review the submissions and limit the entries down to five from each school.  After the entries are limited down, the Mayor of Falmouth and the Judge Executive of Pendleton County will pick the winning student from each school.  By sharing the students’ final product with the public, the League can remind other community members of the freedoms we are blessed to have as American citizens.