Bad Time for a Blog...Good Timing for Personal Growth

So, I began this blog back in 2016, and I started off with several posts. Then my blog went silent for several years.  It was a classic case of, "I'm going to start a blog" and then not following through after writing a couple posts. Well to be fair, my timing was poor. I decided to start a blog right about the time that I was beginning an Ed.D. program. Anyone who has attempted a doctoral program understands that they can be very time consuming and involve a lot of writing. If you don't believe me you can check out my dissertation here. All 298 pages were drafted, revised, edited, and rewritten numerous times. But I'm proud to say I did it. I finished. Also, I learned a lot along the way. Now that I'm finished I'm hoping to become more involved in being a resource to teachers again.

I Finished my Doctorate and can now Resume my "Normal" Life

My focus over the past several years was researching how teachers can foster student creativity in classrooms subject to high-stakes testing, and maintain their passion for teaching. It can be so easy to get bogged down in the system and all the requirements and educational mandates. I was fortunate enough during my research to meet with 16 teachers who were fostering creativity in their students and avoiding burnout which claims so many teachers. Of course you can read the study for yourself, but I will be breaking down my research a highlighting various elements that are important to teachers in the coming months.

Pick a Fight or Run Away?

The first five minutes of any lesson is crucial. A student's brain is more likely to remember something from the first 5 minutes of class or the last five minutes, than anything done in between. Sure students will remember things from throughout the class. What I'm saying is that the first few minutes is when the brain is the most alert and ready to learn. Unfortunately, this time is often lost taking roll call, checking homework or doing mindless bell work. You want to challenge and engage students minds right out the gate. Using pictures can be powerful. This picture caused much discussion and questioning when it was presented at the start of class.

Some students, "I'd run away." Others said, "I'd tell somebody." And then of course the macho boys, "I'd a get a group of friends to help me and we'd beat him up till we got it back." With each answer someone else would respond with sharp criticism, "What kind of friend are you?" Or, "Do you really want to die?" Or, "Chicken!" Two great things have happened. Students have become very vested in my topic and have a memorable experience to go back to later on when the topic is referenced. They are also developing a true understanding of my topic and not just writing down a list of notes.

Of course with each answer the students look over at me with pleading eyes looking for validation? Did I choose the right thing? They want me to tip them off. They want me to tell their friend that they are crazy for thinking they can beat this guy up or that they are a horrible friend for running away. In reality I'm not concerned with their plan. I'm excited with all of their plans because they are truly getting to the heart of our lesson without me saying a single thing. After the intense debate has died down a bit, I start in. First I recap their responses. Then I inform them, "You may be very upset with your friends for the choice they are making, but you should know that every one of you has chosen correctly." What? How is this possible? Well, my topic is German & Japanese aggression that started WWII. Some people tried to stand up to these invasions. Others said I'm no match for Hitler's army. Still others began to form alliances to try to stand up to the invaders. Others began pleading with some of the more powerful countries to get involved and stop Germany/Japan.

Why is this strategy so beneficial? It gives students an anchor point or a schema from which to build information. Social studies has a staggering amount of vocabulary, names and dates. Now any time a student is struggling on an activity or question regarding the start of WWII, all I have to do is refer back to this picture/activity and their brain will be able to go back quickly to a memorable experience and begin to piece together what was discussed.

This warm up is not incredibly time consuming and really supports the main point of the lesson. This strategy can be used with most any content lesson. You just need to think about the following things:

• What is the main point of my lesson?
• How can I make this point memorable or controversial with a picture or scenario?

You do want to be careful, because this starter will be memorable. Make sure that you are focusing on a key concept and not some obscure or insignificant detail. Make those first few minutes count!

Argue is Such an Ugly Word

"Mr. Feicht, do we get to argue today?" When students greet you at the door already excited about engaging with content in a deep thought provoking way, I don't care if ARGUE is an ugly word. When my wife found out what I had decided to name my blog, she politely tried to convince me that argue might bring some negative connotations. I originally started with a less offensive word. I had thought about debate or defend. But I couldn't shake the memory of being greeted at the classroom door by eager students asking, "Do we get to argue today?" So I agreed to add a tagline to the title: Because Students Like Contrary and Teachers Like Learning. There. At least I acknowledged the ugliness of an argument. Let's be honest though, I have a 1 1/2 year old and 3 year old. If I say it should be one way I'm sure to get a contrary opinion. I started out teaching middle school and then spent 7 more years teaching 5th grade. All that experience has shown me is that my kids are not going to change much between now and middle school. They're just going to be able to express their contrary opinions in a more articulate manner. If you don't like the word argue because it has a negative connotation, then they love it. The most important part of teaching is not the content. The most important part of teaching is understanding kids.

If I hadn't planned an "argument" for the students that day, then I certainly would have found a way to fit one into my lesson somehow. However, I typically try to plan arguments (which are really more of debates) into my lessons. In addition to the fact that students love ARGUING, the strategy helps students brains actively engage. If students are passively receiving information they will not retain as much information. This is particularly true in social studies. Look at the chart below and take note of the vast amount of new vocabulary students are trying to take in when they are learning social studies.

This statistic often leads to the drudgery that most people often associate with past social studies classes. Teacher's are tasked with trying to convey so much information and so many new terms that social studies classes often resort to trying to memorize study guide after study guide of names and dates. This approach leads to low retention of content because it is memorized for short term use on a test. It also leads to negative feelings toward the subject area as a whole.  The result is almost funny, if these weren't real college students.

That brings us back to the word ARGUE. When social studies events and concepts are playing out in real life they are charged events. They are also filled with conflict. Every story has two sides and both sides generally invoke incredible passion. I look back to my first year teaching 5th grade. That year I was learning material right along with the kids. Sure I taught about the New Deal, but for the most part the kids memorized a bunch of programs like the CCC, TVA and WPA started by FDR. We missed the greater concept which would bring lasting understanding. ARGUMENT. Now as I look at this standard it becomes clear that the New Deal is the foundation of one of the greatest debates still occurring in politics today. One side says the government should be doing more to help the people and the other side is arguing that the government needs to leave things alone. Listen to any of the raving lunatics running for president on the Republican or Democratic side and you will here this theme passionately reiterated.

So how does ARGUMENT help this situation. In every historical setting there is conflict (and for that matter government and economics concepts are also steeped in conflict). If you find the conflict you can draw the students into an ARGUMENT. If you can effectively do this, two things happen. First students brains engage at a much higher level, as they are thinking critically about things that are being said, so that they can make counter arguments. Secondly, students will begin to use key vocabulary terms in context as they ARGUE. An average student needs to hear, say, read or write a word in context about 20 times in order for it to be committed to long term memory. Arguments or debates about topics quickly fill the quota for hearing these words in context, helping students understand the "big picture" but also helping them master the plethora of new vocabulary.

Find conflict in each historical event or concept and let the kids ARGUE, because students like contrary and teachers like learning!

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.