What Really Motivates Us to Stick to a Project?

Luke Christianson shared with you: What Really Motivates Us to Stick to a Project? Zen Habits - That's not surprising, given how deeply Goals are ingrained in us. And while these days I play with the line between having goals and not having them (it's not solid line), I've learned a lot about myself by allowing myself to let go of how tightly I was holding onto my Goals. Available on the App Store.

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QEI & SQ3R: What Do We Do With Good Processes?

Fellow Big Historians,

     Today is Thursday, February 13, 2014.  We have looked extensively at Guns, Germs, and Steel thus far.  We have found Jared Diamond's claim/theory in his work.  We are beginning to find counter arguments or counter claims in the writings of other people.  What do they say about him as a professional and scientist? (Ethos/Authority)  What do people think about JD's logic and evidence? (Logos)  How do they feel about him? (Pathos).

      Monday's blog post laid out our WICR strategy of attacking our learning.  It looked something like this:

Writing - Written Conversation (Edmodo Chatroom)
Inquiry - What do you perceive Jared Diamond's claim/theory to be?  What point of view is he posing?
Collaboration - Quotation Mingle
Reading - Reading With a Question in mind?  SQ3R  RI 8 Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; recognize when irrelevant evidence is introduced.

I noticed a few mistakes as I read it over again and again.  The written conversation you all were involved in was not the TED-Ed written conversation.  If we look at Edmodo, we will see many phenomenal posts and some halfway decent responses.  I also noticed I was trying WAY TOO HARD to cram too much into the "R"-Reading.  Your humble Big History teacher is tremendously proud of the what you all have been using Edmodo, and I will say that lately you have been listening to each other a little better.  Let's try to really dig into our Edmodo and TED-Ed discussions by offering insightful, extending, and elaborating responses to each other.  

      So...  Today's learning tactics for attacking our learning are as follows:

WRITING- Written Conversation (TED-Ed Discussion Board)
INQUIRY- Now that we are identifying counter arguments to JD, can we begin to delineate connections between Guns, Germs and Steel and Thresholds 6 & 7?
COLLABORATION- Community Circle
READING- SQRRR   (R2- "Recite" will be our focus.)

     
      If you have made it this far in the blog post then you are actually reading it.  Thank you. Please wrap up your reading experience by clicking on the following links.  Threshold 6 is Collective Learning.  Threshold 7 is Agriculture.  We will need to keep these in mind as we try to connect BH to GGS.  Enjoy, and have fun!!

Yours truly,
C-Dawg

From the cluttered mind of C, Teacher
School District of Waukesha
Waukesha STEM Academy

Processes: WICR, SQ3R, QEI, and 6 Pillars of Big History...

Good Morning Dudes & Dudettes,

      Today is Tuesday, February 11, 2014.  Look back at the blog post from last week.  I started to detail some processes that directly affect us as learners especially in a content-area literacy class like The Big History Project.  It is my hope that by the end of the school year you have not only learned some of these processes, but have also OWNED THEM.

      If we look at our day from a WICR perspective, here is our agenda:

Writing - Written Conversation (Edmodo Chatroom)
Inquiry - What do you perceive Jared Diamond's claim/theory to be?  What point of view is he posing?
Collaboration - Quotation Mingle
Reading - Reading With a Question in mind?  SQ3R  RI 8 Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; recognize when irrelevant evidence is introduced.

      If we look at our day from an SQ3R perspective, we will be focusing on the second "R".

S
Q
R
Recite - (Record, React, Respond, RE-READ, Record)
R

      And last, but certainly not least, if we look at today from a QEI perspective, we will be focusing on INTERPRETATION.

Question
Evidence
Interpretation

      Keep these processes in mind as we move through the morning.  They will follow us through the week as well as into our next project: LITTLE BIG HISTORY.

Yours truly,
C-Dawg


From the cluttered mind of C, Teacher
School District of Waukesha
Waukesha STEM Academy

Processes: where we are...

Hey Gang,

      Today is Camel Day, February 5, 2014.  It probably comes as no surprise to most of you, but by the end of class today your presentations are due.  If we reflect on the learning we have done over the past few weeks we can begin to see a process emerge.  There are a few ways that we can think of this process.  Here are a few of them:

1.)
IMMERSE
   INVESTIGATE
       COALESCE
          GO PUBLIC
2.)
Annotate
   Analyze
      Articulate
          Activism
3.)
QUESTIONS
      EVIDENCE
            INTERPRETATION  
4.)
ANALYSIS
      INTERPRETATION
            PERSONALIZATION
                  TAKE ACTION

When we look at these processes and think about the things we do during each step in a process, you can begin to see some connections.   Together you can see similarities.  Look at where we annotate.  Look at where we share our findings.  Look at where we build our own interpretations.  I leave you with a question in mind...

Where does evidence play a role in each one of these processes?

C... Out

From the cluttered mind of C, Teacher
School District of Waukesha
Waukesha STEM Academy

Excellent Classroom Poster on How to Cite Information from Internet

Luke Christianson shared with you: Excellent Classroom Poster on How to Cite Information from Internet educatorstechnology.com - January 11, 2014 Much of the information students use in their research papers come from internet and be it a a blog post, an email, or wiki entry, students need to properly cite and document their sources as is recommended by the citation format embraced by their professor or teacher. MAL and APA are two of the most frequently used citation styles but most high schools use MLA. In the present post I am sharing with you a simplified guide on how to cite online information using MLA style. I have also created a visual poster that goes along with this guide. You can use the poster with your students in class or share it on your blog as long as you do not charge people for it and as long as you credit Educational Technology and Mobile Learning as being the original source. Available on the App Store.

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Worldviews, Values, & Claim Testers: Answering Inquiry Questions

Howdy Cowpokes,

      Today is Tuesday, February 4, 2014.  You have embarked and are probably in the middle of creating a presentation based off of texts, videos, and images that you collected so far.  In the design brief you will find two inquiry questions:

      1. How did your culture/time period’s worldview affect their choices and actions?
      2. What values, skills and forms of knowledge did people need to succeed?

When we READ WITH A QUESTION IN MIND we use these questions to make our reading meaningful.  We look for areas in the texts, videos, and images that would answer these questions.  We look for possible actions and choices.  We look for values, skills, and forms of knowledge.  That said, sometimes the actions and choices we read about give us insight into the worldview of people.  They explain why people do what they do.

      Worldview, is a comprehensive perspective or philosophy that is made up of people's knowledge and experiences.  Perception dictates reality.  Therefore, a worldview dictates how people see the world.  How people see the world dictates how they act, react, and make choices in it.  As you read and try to answer the inquiry questions try to find evidence that points out people's worldview.  It's always connected to thought and action.

     Lastly, we come to claim testing.  Claim testing and the 4 "claim testers" assist us in analyzing information that we may need to IGNORE, TRUST, or INVESTIGATE.  From what we have learned so far, Bob Bain has shared 4 ways in which we try to spot "A LIE".
     
      A= Authority
   
      L= Logic
      I= Intuition
      E= Evidence

Use these in your work and remember them.  They will come back as we look at each others' presentations and CLAIMS as the week ends.
Thanks for reading, and as always...

Love, peace, and taco grease,
C-Dawg
   


From the cluttered minds of C and gang, Teachers
School District of Waukesha
Waukesha STEM Academy

Questions, Evidence, & INTERPRETATION: Think Like a Historian...

Hey Top Guns,

      I apologize for not being there again today.  I have a meeting with Mr. Jonas (who is my docent) and other teachers who involved in a program throughout the district.  I will be back tomorrow.

      In the meantime, continue to work on your Investigation Essays.  As far as I know, there are only a few of you who are almost finished and ready to make revisions.  That said, I am posting two rubrics on Edmodo that you are going to use to self-assess yourselves, your Investigation Essays, and possibly another Top Gun you would like to partner up with.  Remember, a little peer review is good for the soul.

      You have already assessed yourselves on the questions you have asked as good historians do.  In the final stages of writing your Investigation Essay, you will need to look back at your work for the evidence you have used and more specifically, where you tied in Through Their Eyes evidence.

 
       As we finish Units 3 & 4 and reflect back on the process of "DOING HISTORY", we will be thinking deeper about three things: QUESTIONS, EVIDENCE, and INTERPRETATION.  This trifecta is what history is all about.  I bet if you think about what you needed to do to write your essays you will see that you've already been doing this.

Love, peace, and taco grease,
C



From the cluttered mind of C, Teacher School District of Waukesha Waukesha STEM Academy

TE: Through Their Eyes - Second Entry...

Top Guns,

      Looking at history Through The Eyes of those who lived history can be the most fascinating aspect of historical study.  It opens a door to understanding both what all humanity shares in common and the many ways in which we are different.  It brings us closest to the real lives of real people in the past.  Still, we can never be an a crazy scientist trying to prove a theory they have believed for years or an Italian boy preparing to leave the only home he knows to join his father in a far away place called New York.    We can never be an African-American woman watching her children dragged away by slave traders.

     
      We have a different set of beliefs, expectations, desires, fears, opportunities and experiences.  What is logical or common place to us may have been impossible in their world.  Likewise, what is inconceivable to us may have been entirely possible at any time in the past.  Ignoring this leads to errors of "presentism."  When we wonder about the past, while avoiding "presentism", we look for the values, skills, and forms of knowledge people needed to succeed back then.  We try to reconstruct the worldview that affected their choices and actions during their day.  Remember, you are the historians.   You are responsible for "doing history".

C...Out!

 *Adapted from Thinking Like a Historian

From the cluttered mind of C, Teacher
School District of Waukesha
Waukesha STEM Academy

TE: Through Their Eyes...

Happy Tuesday Gang,

      When we look at history - and in our case the story of science - through the eyes of real people that lived in the past, it brings us closer to those people.  When we look Through Their Eyes it opens a door to understanding what we have in common.  What did they look like?  How did they spend their days and nights?  Who was in their family and what were they expected to do?  What motivated them to act in the ways they did?  How did they deal with the problems of their day?


      Exploring these questions and finding others can deepen our historical understanding only if we remember that we are observers of the past, not actors in the past.  What we need to do is to "LISTEN" to the voices of the past without preconceptions.  In order to understand why people thought and acted the way they did in the past we need to see the world as they saw it.  We need to see their world THROUGH THEIR EYES.  

      Think about Through Their Eyes in correlation with our historical figures, Alfred Wegener, Antoine Lavoisier, Harry Hess, Eratosthenes, and Dmitri Mendeleev.  As you use the TE rubric today, look through your paper to see if you have included any perspectives from the "old dead guys" we have read, watched, and talked about.

*Adapted from Thinking Like a Historian

From the cluttered mind of C, Teacher
School District of Waukesha
Waukesha STEM Academy

Investigation 3 & Investigation 4: Thresholds 2,3, and 4...

High Five Friday to my TOP GUNS,

      This week I feel like you have had a lot thrown at you with little to no time to accomplish the things required of you.  So, here is your day.  If my memory serves me correctly here is our agenda or "to-do" list if you will:

1. TEDed - Finish annotating Threshold 4 video (TWO COLUMN NOTES)
2. TEDed - Respond/contribute to the online discussion in the TEDed lesson
3. Edodo - Respond/contribute to the online discussion in the Edmodo thread
4. PAIR READING & TEXT ANNOTATIONS
        -Investigation 3 From Alchemy to Chemistry
        -Investigation 4 Alfred Wegener & Harry Hess
5. PAIR READING & TEXT ANNOTATIONS
        -Investigation 3 Video and Transcript What Did Stars Give Us?
        -Investigation 4 Video and Transcript What Was the Young Earth Like?

      Always remember, never forget, and continue to apply SQ3R in all that we watch, read, write, and discuss.  As you read and annotate the texts be sure to be READING WITH A QUESTION IN MIND.  The question helps us see what is vital enough to annotate.  The annotations will guide us as we begin our research and writing process next week.

    Investigation 3, your question is HOW DO NEW POINTS OF VIEW PAVE THE WAY FOR PROGRESS?  

      

Investigation 4, your question is WHEN AND WHY DO PEOPLE ACCEPT A THEORY?

From the cluttered mind of C, Teacher
School District of Waukesha
Waukesha STEM Academy