Tag: global

Domain 1: Planning and Preparation, Domain 3: Instruction

Student Voice Shines with Project Based Learning: Igniting Empowerment and Instilling Empathy

nankr1120

Increasing student empowerment and engagement is wrapped up and delivered in “Life Changing Lessons“.  The gift of Project Based Learning (PBL) is one of intense impact… the kind that continues to give, as if you are unwrapping it for the first time throughout the entire journey.  It creates a student driven environment that is begging for more… more opportunity… more hours in a school day.

Project Based Learning is a connection beyond your four walls… a chance to open up the windows, blow off the door to learning, and ignite global impact with student empowerment!

I recently posted “A Walk In My Shoes” (One Ah Ha Moment within the Voice PBL) on twitter and have received countless DM’s asking how to get this VOICE PBL started.  So this one is for YOU!

The Voice PBL that I teach is one of great magnitude.  It covers concepts from every subject in a depth and understanding far beyond a worksheet.  This is a way to take Common Core Skills/Standards and light a fire under learning! Before the Driving Question is even asked, I hook them in like a pirate  …

It starts with the universal language… MUSIC!   

Students are given a choice to write/draw/sketch their interpretation on a variety of music shaped cutouts or use of poster paper to sketchnote

  • Allow students the freedom to personal space in the room… on floor if desired
  • Quiet space… lights out… reflection time!
  • Copy and paste each URL into google for each song
  • I do not show videos.  This is auditory only!

This is a quiet journey that typically lights up quickly because the students (UM… and ME) cannot contain ourselves… we end up singing and dancing… moving to the beat of our own hearts!

First up:

Man in the Mirror-From A Joyful Noise (It’s shorter than Michael Jackson’s version) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9paJyh8t_sE

This is a WOWZER!  Students stop in their own tracks when they realize that looking in a mirror can give them so many answers… so much POWER! (C-H-I-L-L-S)

Count on Me- Bruno Mars https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yc6T9iY9SOU

Every student responds to this song thinking of a time they needed someone or were there for someone.  This is the moment most of them start putting the pieces of their voice together.  

Firework Kidz Bop https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2s-9Kyumgo

Thank you Katy Perry!  What happens when you don’t light a firework?  That’s right, NOTHING!  Let that speak to each of us… we must light learning up if we want to see what is inside!  Fireworks splatter their drawings with thoughts and ideas coming from within! 

Fight Song Rachel Platten https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8qDOGLCSFo

Drop the Mic… this song allows every student and every teacher to connect!  This is the song that opens up their little world to you.  Are they struggling?  academically? behaviorally? socially?  Is there worry on their mind?  Are they scared of something? Do they lack self-esteem?  Are they the “little girl with the crooked pigtails?” (Getting R.E.A.L. with Tara Martin)

I actually play 7-10 different songs and it is never enough, but the song pick changes from year to year because my students change and I need to make sure that my choices will resonate with each of them.

#Sketchnotes

So about that Driving Question…

DQ: Why Might Having A Voice Matter?

Empowerment/Empathy/Citizenship/Government/Family/Bullying/Debate

Where do we go from here?

Students pick a song and add creative movement to the lyrics.  They now understand that they can express themselves in many ways.  This is one more life changing moment for them.

This is a video of my amazing students from last year interpreting “The Fight Song”.  (My current class in interpreting “The Man In the Mirror” which they will definitely post on YouTube soon!)

Is this “just a free for all” Ahhhh… NO!  This is a creative way to connect an incredible amount of skill in a unique way to impact all students.  Skills are endless!

ELA:

  • Books from Dr. Seuss’s My Many Colored Days to The Invisible Boy by Trudy Luwig
    • This is where “Walk In My Shoes” was created.  This very lesson is a blog in itself… soon!
  • Choosing a book that shows your voice in a way you haven’t been able to… we end up reading 30+ books in a 4 week time period!
  • Use song lyrics to discuss parts of speech (highlight nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.)

Math:

  • Creating Conjectures and Arguments
  • Collaborating and critically thinking to solve a problem
  • Writing and reasoning

History:

  • Choosing a person of impact such as Rosa Parks, Thomas Edison, Martin Luther King Jr., President Lincoln, Amelia Earhart, and so many more.

Government:

  • Voting
  • Being a Good Citizen
  • Debate

Let’s not forget that doors are blown off to this process!  Students learn (to):

  • blog
  • code
  • design
  • create
  • paint
  • draw
  • dance
  • sing
  • poetry
  • build
  • invent
  • 4Cs

This list is endless because students CHOOSE their own project that in turn answers the Driving Question.  They also choose their Authentic Audience to which they powerhouse to impress!  My former students created this video showcasing ALL of their voices and then chose YouTube as their “Authentic Audience”.

I can’t wait to see what this year’s students choose!

While leading my book chat on “Teach Like A Pirate” by Dave Burgess, I posted this reflection for my fellow colleagues to ponder:

Untitled presentation
Teach Like A Pirate Book Chat #tlap

     If there were a “Life Changing Lesson” that “I could sell tickets for” I believe this is the one!  I hope that this was what YOU needed to get started…

Go light them up and find out what’s inside! #VOICE and #CHOICE

 

Domain 4: Professional Responsibilities

#IMMOOC Week 4: Climb A Ladder or Take The Ride

nankr1120

Relationships! RelationSHIPS!  RELATIONSHIPS!

With a goal driven mind, there is always the question whirling around in my head of what will be next personally and professionally.  Am I satisfied?  Do I envision more?  Is this enough… at least for the moment? There are times I feel accomplished.  Other times I feel defeated by the mere expectation I had for the outcome that never graced the highest rung on my ladder.

“IF WE WANT TO CREATE A CULTURE OF INNOVATION, WE MUST FIRST FOCUS ON FURTHERING OUR OWN LEARNING AND GROWTH.”

–George Couros, Innovator’s Mindset

That ladder… the one with extensions that project beyond the ceiling of my ability.  It doesn’t intimidate me.  It doesn’t hang over my head giving me boundaries to my dreams.  It is more often the driving force that fuels my fire to reach higher and higher.  I am a dreamer.  Dreaming matters.  It helps me become what I aspire to be.  I thrive on “greatness” in every sense of the word.  I am driven to achieve beyond my own ability with the deliberate decision to place myself in the presence of opportunity.  I’ve said it before and I will say it again, staying stagnant is my worst nightmare.  Therefore I shall dream!  Therefore I shall connect! #relationships

relationships_or_relationsinks

When the rungs of the ladder feel like a mile apart, how do I find the strength to pull myself up one more step?  The ultimate pirate Dave Burgess says it best, “Find your crew! All Pirates travel with a crew; you can’t sail, navigate, and fight battles on your own.”  Oh, is he right!  My crew is what helps me to reset my inspirational compass so that it points straight forward.

canva quote.jpg

My crew is how I gather the strength to place my hand on the next rung.  That strength turns into inspiration.  The inspiration fuels my dreams.  My dreams turn into my reality.  My crew is not limited to the boundaries of my district (although I have AMAZING people around me every day).  My crew is global thanks to twitter (and blogging of course)! They may not even realize it, but they are my crew in every sense of the word: Dave Burgess, Tara Martin, George Couros, Katie Martin, Alice Keeler, Annick Rauch, Aaron Hogan, my IMMOOC family and many more.  I am the teacher I am today because of this crew! Breaking down the walls… taking the ride!  #twitter #tlap #IMMOOC

Yes, I must climb the ladder to reach my goals, but it is just as important that I stop and take the ride!  It’s the ride that rejuvenates my soul.  It’s the ride that makes me laugh uncontrollably… call it a joyride if you must.  Just as the sea captures the spirit of a pirate, this ride has my hair blowing in the wind, with nothing but joy flooding my mind.