In 2011 I launched a website for my classroom, www.jonathanfeicht.com. This website was designed for my students, but quickly became very popular in other 5th grade classrooms. One of my great frustrations in my first few years of teaching was that I was not provided with assessments that truly assessed what my students knew. They were outdated or non-existent. Every good teacher knows that you have to start with the end in mind if you want to be successful. If I didn't have a clear picture of what I wanted my students to know, how could I effectively teach them. For several years I was determined to create quality assessments that truly matched up with the learning expectations for my grade level. I began making these tests available to other teachers, and quickly realized that many other teachers were desperate for quality assessments, as well.

Thousands of teachers and students now use my resources. I began to think about what I was making available to those teachers and students and I realized I needed to change my approach. I wanted to share more than tests and test prep materials. My students have been very successful on standardized tests over the past several years, but their success is based on far more than testing and test prep materials. Students learn when they become engaged and invested in the learning process. This brings me to the reason I started this blog.

Think, Argue, Understand is about engaging students in the process of learning. I have many times simply presented information to students and hoped that they would retain the information. With most students that is a lost hope. They need something to anchor the information. They need to engage with the material or personalize it. They must THINK about it, and not with a passing thought as they jot down some notes. They must truly grapple with the information. Find relevance. Importance. Without it, the material may be memorized for a test, if I'm lucky, or will vanish into the vast recesses of a dormant classroom. In either case, I have failed.

The second part of this process is ARGUMENT. If I hear something fascinating and THINK, "Wow, that's really neat," but never act on the information, it is quickly gone. ARGUING is essential. An argument evokes emotion. Feeling. Anger. Good teachers teach with passion and that passion is contagious. This can be utilized in many content areas, but is nearly always applicable in social studies. If you can invoke emotion you have two distinct advantages over teachers who fail to invoke emotion. First, emotional students are motivated to do something. Let's be honest, that's most the battle right there. If all your students were motivated, teaching would be easy. Second, emotional moments and scenarios that arise become etched in student's memories and provide an anchor for future learning. Let me give an example. I was in the unenviable position of trying to help my students understand how an amendment gets passed into law. The students already are all confused by the difference between the House of Representatives and the Senate, but then you add in 2/3 majority here and 3/4 majority there. It's the perfect scenario for helping students fall into a deep daydream. So I decided to try a scenario in which their class would choose a controversial issue and ARGUE their case about whether an amendment should or should not be passed. I think they decided to vote on the legality of smoking or something. We debated the issue as a class and each student had a role either as a senator, representative or a representative of the states. The students were able to pass their bill through the first three stages around the room and we finally got to the most exciting part. The president. Mind you, I had intentionally selected the biggest know-it-all in the class to be president. He had not been allowed to weigh in on the issue yet and was eager to have the ultimate say. He was all primed to make his speech when I cut him off. "Excuse me Mr. President. Nobody here cares what you think about this amendment. It is too late for you to do anything about it. The president can veto a bill, but not an amendment!" He was flabbergasted and the rest of the class burst into laughter. Months later as we were reviewing for Milestones a group of students was struggling with a review question about how to pass an amendment and they were looking to me for guidance. All I had to do was point at our know-it-all president from that simulation and they were able to recite the whole process back to me. They had a memorable anchor, for tedious information. Teachers who want to make a difference must find reasons for students to ARGUE. Invoke emotion. It will aid future script writers as they make an inspirational movie about your teaching career, and it will also bring meaning to your lessons.

Finally, UNDERSTAND. My ultimate goal is not for students to pass a test. I became a teacher so I could make a difference. If I am going to do that, I need my students to UNDERSTAND the content in a deep and meaningful way. If they can recite the information back to me, they will be able to pass the required tests to move on with their lives, but I want more. I want students to be able to look back and say, "Mr. Feicht didn't just teach social studies. He taught me to truly UNDERSTAND content and realize why it matters. He taught me to THINK about things, and ARGUE and debate the issues involved. As a result, I UNDERSTAND." The content is not as important as learning to think.