NCSS 2012 Blended Learning
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This document describes an 11th and 12th grade blended learning history class taught by Meredith Stewart at Cary Academy in North Carolina. The class meets twice a week in person and uses online platforms for independent work and discussion outside of class. Key aspects include: 1) Students explore history thematically rather than chronologically, completing projects on topics like immigration, war memorials, and social movements. 2) Students interact with subject experts through activities like a Supreme Court simulation and cumulative research projects. 3) Students provide positive feedback that the blended approach allows deeper exploration of ideas than a traditional classroom and encourages independent thinking.
NCSS 2012 Blended Learning
- 1. Adventures in Blended Learning: Class Outside the Classroom Walls Meredith Stewart Cary Academy, Cary, NC Unable to attend: Diana Laufenberg Philadelphia, PA
- 2. Course Logistics o 11th and 12th grade students o Two 45min face to face classes per week (traditional class has three 45min classes & one 1.5hr class per week) o Outside of class time used for independent research, online discussion, and reading o Cumulative project rather than final exam o Material covered thematically, rather than chronologically
- 4. Course Outline What Makes an American? Shift Happens (Immigration and Citizenship) January to Early March August-September Time Periods: TBD by Students Time Periods: Explorers/Early Settlers, Project: Cumulative Project Early 20th century (Timeline, Paper, Interview & Lesson) Project: Immigrant Letter Progress (?) and Protest Movements War Mid-March to End of April October to Mid-November Time Periods/Categories: Agrarian Protests, Labor Time Periods: American Rev, Civil Movement/Luddites, Conservation War, WWI, Vietnam Movement, Prohibition, Women’s Suffrage, Zoot Suit Riots, Civil Rights/Black Power, GLBT Project: Design a War Memorial Rights, Tea Party, Occupy Wall Street Project: Handbook for Radicals Rights Mid-November to Winter Break What If? Time Periods: Post-American Rev (Articles of May Confederation/Constitution), Reconstruction Time Periods: Depression/New Deal, WWII, Cold Project: Supreme Court Simulation War, Assassinations Project: Alternative History project
- 5. Interaction with Experts o Engineer and architect comment on war memorial designs o Professor and attorney comment on opinions written for Supreme Court simulation o Educators comment on student lesson plans for cumulative project o Interaction with experts through social media on topics related to class
- 7. Supreme Court Simulation o Undertaken in the context of unit on history of civil rights in the US o Case chosen from the current year’s Supreme Court docket o 8th grade students act as attorneys (draft oral arguments) and 11th grade students act as justices o Final opinions are posted to class blog- attorney and professor offer feedback to students
- 9. Shift Cumulative Project For the cumulative project, each student chooses a topic of interest and researches the trajectory of the changes in it throughout US history. Each student completes a… • Timeline • Interview with an Expert • Research Paper • Teaches a lesson on the topic to the class Topics have included personal transportation, food preparation, social dance, education and race, and health care.
- 11. Student Feedback It has definitely been unlike any other history class I have taken so far which I really like. It is not as hard as memorizing things for a test, but its harder in the sense that you really have to think about the topic more than in a regular US History class or APUSH. It has let me explore more ideas rather than being handed cold, hard facts. I like how we don't just talk about the chronological events from history. That alone has challenged my thinking because I have always learned history through the other approach and I personally enjoy this approach more. It really makes me wonder if we actually learn more by cramming dates into our heads, or if we learn more by going deeper into individual themes in history. This was the first class that I had ever used a blog in, and I really enjoyed using it. It was nice to discuss concepts using technology and addressing everybody's perspective on certain topics.
- 13. Student Publication and Presentation About the Class o Article co-authored with two 11th grade students published in Independent School magazine o Four students presented at the North Carolina Independent School technology conference
- 15. Tools Used Outside the Classroom o Wordpress Blog for Conversation and Assignment Posting o Wikispaces for posting project work and project feedback o Twitter for interaction with experts and to solicit feedback o Web databases for independent research o Google Sketchup and computer modeling for war memorial designs
- 17. Who’s Meredith Stewart? Law and Divinity school grad who Read her blog decided teaching was way more fun http://meredithstewart.com Follow her on Twitter Middle and Upper School History http://twitter.com/msstewart Teacher and MS Contact her via email History Department meredithlstewart@gmail.com Chair at Cary Academy in Cary, NC
- 18. Where’s Diana Laufenberg? Check out her TED talk http://www.ted.com/talks/diana_la ufenberg_3_ways_to_teach.html On a plane to Read her blog Malaysia, but http://laufenberg.wordpress.com she’d love to connect with you Follow her on Twitter http://twitter.com/dlaufenberg Contact her via email dlaufenberg@gmail.com