Trivia Crack and the History Teacher

I withheld as long as I could.

After several weeks of hearing about Trivia Crack, I succumbed. If you don't know the app, its Trivial Pursuit meets Wheel of Fortune meets Jeopardy. It is also addictive. I am currently playing about 10 games with friends at the same time.

Shock of shocks--my best area is history. Shock of shocks (the sequel)--my worst area is sports, followed closely by science.

Here is the question I have...Is Trivia Crack a useful tool for an educator. Its popular and fun to play, but does it (or any trivia game) show learning has taken place? In some ways, a comprehensive test (multiple choice, true and false, blah blah blah) is a kissing cousin to Trivia Crack isn't it? How well can you regurgitate data?

I prefer assessments which require more than just data regurgitation. Writing a paper. Analyzing a map, photograph or piece of art. Creating a podcast or documentary. Show me you know the data by showing me how you'd use the data.

Now, data regurgitation has a place in the classroom. The 'teachery' jargon is formative versus summative assessments. Formative assessments are those checks while you are in learning mode. Data regurgitation can be a useful formative tool. Summative is an assessment at the end--what did you learn and how can you use that information in a meaningful way? My feeling is that a summative assessment needs to go beyond data regurgitation.

I remember reading a story about a class that had an all-day project. A farmer unloaded a huge pumpkin to the school's doorstep. It was far too large to get the pumpkin in through the doors. So the student's worked all day to figure it our. They had to use math to figure out slope and calculate measurements. They had to communicate with each other by writing out questions and the corresponding answers in a way others could understand, interpret and respond to. They employed scientific method. They had to learn from mistakes without letting the mistakes consume them. In the end they had to report their findings, whether they were successful or not. As a teacher, its hard to manage chaos and not feel the need to jump in and 'help.' Its difficult as a parent as well. However, I love the idea that we hand the kids the keys and say, we trust you enough to get out of the way. To me, that is where you get a real assessment of the work you've done.

As I've been writing, I realized that this is a new thought for me. I've written about this idea before. Here is that link.

As I've said before, this is a place for me to dump ideas. So I can remember them again in the coming months. Consider these thoughts on assessment dumped...besides, my computer just let me know its my turn, pray I don't get sports or science this time.

BTW-happy holidays for the folks who read this blog.

Are teachers getting in the way of learning?

As I finished this post, I realized that I have talked about the Independent Project before... here is that previous post. The video is new though.

 

I have a feeling I'm going to upset someone with this post. And I am making peace with that.

This video is put together by a student at an a school affiliated with The Independent Project. The program started in Massachusetts as an alternative school. This Huffington Post article does a good job of explaining it (watch the video with it as well). The gist is that students decide on a Monday what they want to learn and then spend the week wrestling with it. On Fridays, students present their findings.

I know, it sounds like kids would just dink around all week but, the administrators of the program found that students held themselves and each other accountable, and the end of week outputs exceeded the state standards. There are requirements for the weekly exploration and there are teachers who help facilitate the learning, but students research what students are curious about.

Yes, the format raises some obvious questions and red flags, but before babies go out with bath water...

Think about facilitating students as they teach themselves.

Think about engaging with students who are curious and fearless and interested in more than regurgitating data on a test.

Think about seeing students as more than data points to be manipulated.

Hmmmmmm....

"A taste of what I learned" ... rancid or not

First, thanks to Brett Clark's blog Education Dreamer for posting this video. Watch this video and then come back...I'll wait.

 

Welcome back ...

The program is called the Independent Project and it works like this:

Sort term questions--
Monday-Students begin by asking themselves: What is a question are you are curious about.

• You spend the week exploring that question
• The difference between this approach and a lot of other classwork is: "You actually want to know the answer."

Friday-You make a formal presentation on your findings. The week they filmed, the subjects included:

• Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky
• John Muir
• HIV-AIDS
• Why a wing generated lift.

In addition to the weekly projects, there is Individual Endeavor-
Learn to do something you are interested in:

• play an instrument
• writing a book or collection of poems
• research topics like education and environment

The expectation is there will be a mastery of skills

The last portion of the curriculum is Collective Endeavor, a group project designed to produce social impact and make a difference which also teaches collaboration skills

Some of the take aways from the video:

• Allows them to become completely invested...not every human being through the same gate.
• whats the role of the teacher...who decides good work? ... according to the  administrator
• Their questions get me thinking ... said the science teacher.
• Accommodates different types of leanings--strong and learning different
• Freed to focus on their own curiosity--they work harder when its their own idea
• Learning becomes a group activity--every day

I like the story of the student who studied Crime and Punishment but didn't feel mastery during ther presentation. Instead of filing it away and moving on ... he took another swing at until HE felt like he had a handle onf Dostoesky. Impressive.

The program is in its second test drive and it many are intrigued by the idea of spontaneous learning. It does raise some questions:

• What can students teach themselves?
• What is the role of the teacher?

This quote is from one the teachers they interviewed and he sums up my thoughts exactly.

"The the power of a young mind is pretty impressive...one they are so resilient, two they are extremely creative, three they are fearless, they will try everything. So, the qualities I think many many teenagers have go really well with the program; which would make sense since it was created by a teenager."

Something serenditious happened while I was writing this blog. Somehow (an I have no idea how it happened) but I inadvertently started playing the following video I posted a few days ago by Sir. Ken Robinson. Hmmmm...maybe the gods are conspiring....