HOW DOES YOUR STORY GET AFFECTED BY HISTORY

1. HOW DOES YOUR STORY GET AFFECTED BY HISTORY T527: Final Presentation JanhviMaheshwari

2. My learners… • WHO: Thirty grade X students • WHERE: Rasbihari School in Nashik, India • WHAT: Studying history for their national board exams • WHY (Targets of Difficulty): • Time Constraints • Rigid Testing Structure • Lack of Exposure • Weak English • Lack of Interest

3. My thought process…

4. Project Design

5. The ‘how’ of my design… • Content Matter • Indian Independence Struggle as a lens to look at the French Revolution and the Russian Revolution • Performances of Understanding • Week I: Introduce and Research • Research tools and assigning characters • Exploring different perspectives, building knowledge • Week II: Recreate, Debate and Negotiate • Debate • Connecting history and communicating it • Week III: Relate, Modify and Donate • Write Blogs, gain feedback and make presentations • Relating, forming their own perspective and communicating it • Assessment • Peer Feedback: Designed in groups of 3 with a (Knowledge, Purpose, Method, Form) questionnaire • Teacher: Rubric for judging Beginner, Learner, Inquirer • Self Reflection: Open ended questions on a feedback sheet

6. Connecting our stories

7. Technology • Build Interest: • Multi-media tools seeking to engage the learner: videos, audio-clips, pictures, presentations and articles • Donate their work with blogs to the learning community • Connect to their reality with research • Improve English: • Microsoft Word for immediate feedback • Exposure to better written and spoken English • Expand Exposure: • Modeled resource tools (like webquest) to promote Internet research • Reduce Time Constraints: • Reduce frontal learning with web learning • Produce immediate feedback using Word and peer feedback • Motivate self-learning with the Internet • PLEASE SEE: • http://sites.google.com/site/mystoryhistory/home

8. My inspiration • Kincheloe: • “Is history seen as progressive series of distinctly separate and chronological events as opposed to the interrelated events with the past and future?” • Wiggins: • Identify desired results, determine acceptable evidence, work out the learning experiences • Anderson • Rubric • Project of the Teenage Hobo: • Scope of relating and donating history • Teaching for Understanding: • ‘Constructivist Thinker’ - teaching them how to learn • Knowledge, Forms, Purposes and Methods

9. My targets of difficulty • Potential vs. Feasibility • Issues of time, scaffolding, current knowledge base and English • Deconstructed their history lesson • Modeled appropriate sources • Connecting with my teacher partner: • Time difference, self-confidence, her capabilities • Created a i-site with explicit details • Made it look appealing • Changed the language so that we have a shared vocabulary • Introduced the framework as though she and I invented it together • Changing testing mind-set: • Should they spend so much time on conceptual understanding, mastering methods and purposes? • How can I prove the value-add of critical thinking or respect for different points of view?

10. Acknowledgments • Professor Wiske • Shane • My feedback team: Christine and Dianne • My tech support: Rob • PLEASE SEE: http://sites.google.com/site/mystoryhistory/process/teacher-resources