Who We Are

Over the past couple weeks, I have heard many people talking about how the current generation of students are not as hard-working, intelligent, and respectful as the older generations. I remember hearing the same thing about my own generation. I find myself in an interesting situation where, based on age, I fall between my students and many of the teachers I work with on a daily basis. As a result I feel less inclined to be resigned to the negative beliefs about the current generation., while at the same time recognizing where older adults are coming from. When I think back to middle school, I have tons of memories of doing crazy things over the course of a typical school day; much more so than I witness in students today. Due to the changing environment of schools, students simply have less freedom of movement within the school. Due to testing demands, they have very little downtime as they are pushed into remediation and supposed enrichment activities during the school day. When I compare the amount of information that I was expected to learn, it pales in comparison to what we are currently expected to load students up with. The reality is that students today do care and want to do well. Technology, media, education, and family structure are drastically different than what older generations are used to. At a time when students need to be engaged in dialogue about where they see our country headed and that their place in our story is, many adults are quick to write them off. This is not who we are.

A City Upon a Hill

An interesting question to pose to students is, "What makes, or would make, the United States a shining city upon a hill?" As with most analytical questions, let's start off with some primary sources to build some background knowledge for students.

John Winthrop delivered his aspirations for Massachusetts in A Model of Christian Charity in 1630. Winthrop knew that the survival of his colony depended on its inhabitants dependency on and dedication to each other. "For we must consider that we shall be a shining city upon a hill.  The eyes of all people are upon us." Winthrop was referring to the Puritan society of his colony, but his words cross generations and set a tone for our society at large. When our nation has been at a crossroads, Presidents like John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, drew from Winthrop's words to describe the current political and social climates. What is interesting is the different angles that each president used to invoke "a city upon a hill." 

Just weeks before his inauguration, John F. Kennedy delivered his remarks to the Massachusetts State Legislature.  "Today the eyes of all people are truly upon us — and our governments, in every branch, at every level, national, state and local, must be as a city upon a hill — constructed and inhabited by men aware of their great trust and their great responsibilities." In essence, and in a nod to James Madison in Federalist no. 51, Kennedy acknowledges that our government is only as noble as the people who serve in it. Kennedy goes on to say that, "History will not judge our endeavors -- and a government cannot be selected -- merely on the basis of color or creed or even party affliction.  Neither will competence and loyalty and stature, while essential to the utmost, suffice in times such as these."

Many argue that Kennedy's invocation of the city upon a hill signals a belief that robust, but noble, government is central to American exceptionalism. Kennedy questioned whether "...were we truly men of courage . . . the courage to resist public pressure, as well as private greed?"

In his 1984 Farewell Address, Ronald Reagan describes his view of the United States as a city upon a hill. "I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace, a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity, and if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it and see it still." Ronald Reagan's city upon the hill is one focused more on political and economic freedom. In contrast to Kennedy, Reagan believed that "expansion of government results in contraction of liberty."

In these different approaches to the city upon a hill maxim we see different political means to the same end. An end in which the United States is a political, social, and economic model for the entire world. Ronald Reagan is also credited with stating that "If we forget what we did, we will forget who we are." The way I see it, there is no better reason than this for emphasis on civic education and engaging the new generation in formulating their own view of the city upon a hill. Ask your students what would make their city upon a hill. Sharing and comments are welcome. Thanks for reading!

Leveraging What is Already Developed - Part 1

I always have huge aspirations for developing content for my students.  However, when it comes down to it, there simply isn't enough time.  Interesting web-based content about the Constitution is hard to come by, but fortunately there are a handful of great resources that I rely on regularly.  

In this first of several posts on leveraging already developed content, I will focus on Hip Hughes History. It is treasure trove of content to enrich, flip, and engage students in the Constitution, Supreme Court cases, and current events.

What I like about Hip Hughes is that his content is created with a flipped classroom in mind.  To that end, he is very engaging and explains concepts in a manner that students understand.  He uses analogies and real-world examples to convey complex ideas.

Last summer Google added the ability to embed images and YouTube videos to Google Forms.  This capability makes it easier than ever to use video for pre-teaching and formative assessment.  It is also an effective tool for creating simple homework assignments by embedding a Hip Hughes video, and adding a couple reflection questions.  Students can watch the video and respond to the questions in the Google Form.  It works on all devises and students do not need additional resources to complete the task.  This activity follows all of the best practices for effective homework.  The image below is a sample form using an embedded Hip Hughes video on the 10th Amendment.  It includes two questions.  The first is just getting students to summarize the main idea of the video, and the second question gets at the essential understanding that I want students to gain from the activity.  These types of activities yield a 90+% completion rate from my students, whereas traditional homework assignments typically yield a 50-60% completion rate.

There are a number of ways that Hip Hughes content can be used in the classroom.  That is one of the aspects that make it such a good source for content.  Head over to Hip Hughes History and check it out for yourself.  In part 2 I will focus on the Your Weekly Constitutional podcast. Share your thoughts in the comments section.  

Academic Conversation

It can not be overstated how important dialogue is in a civics classroom...or for the development of citizens for that matter.  What is our Constitution, if not something we must talk about in order to have a continual understanding of what it means?  Whether or not one supports the doctrine of the "Living Constitution", one cannot deny that our collective understanding of what the document tells throughout our history is rooted in dialogue and critical thinking.  Below you will find some resources from a presentation I made for my district's annual social studies in-service.

Links
Socratic Seminar Guide: http://www.authenticeducation.org/documents/WhatSeminar04.pdf

• This is a pretty good guide for how to run an effective Socratic Seminar.  There are a ton of Socratic Seminar resources on-line, and no single one is an authoritative source.  Do what works in your classroom!

Constitution USA with Peter Sagal: http://www.pbs.org/tpt/constitution-usa-peter-sagal/equality/#.Uhx_KJKsiSp

•  This segment focuses on the 14th Amendment and equality.  With the anniversary of the march on Washington and Constitution Day, this is a timely resource.

Constitution Center Blog: http://blog.constitutioncenter.org/2013/06/do-we-need-a-constitutional-amendment-to-protect-privacy/

• There are a lot of good conversation starters on the Constitution Center's blog.  Just click on "Issues" and you will find all kinds of good stuff.  This link is to a post about whether or not the 4th Amendment can sufficiently protect our privacy rights.

Warm-ups and Exit Activities with Google Forms

My school district has a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy that allows students to use their smartphones, tablets, laptops in class...for educational purposes.  I really like this program, as it allows my class to have a near 1:1 student to computer ration between my laptop cart and personal devices.  To incorporate (and encourage) students to bring their own device, I started doing warm-ups with Google Forms.  Creating a form with open response questions, multiple choice questions, images etc. is very simple and is compatible with all devices. Student responses are populated in a spreadsheet, which is great for assessment purposes.  What I really love about using forms as a warm-up is that I can quickly see how students are responding to the questions and provide immediate feedback to the class on concepts that students are not quite understanding. Below is an example of a warm-up.  Student's come in to my room, go to the link (that I have shortened with Tinyurl.com), and respond.  Even students who are reluctant writers and discussion participants get into this.  What a great way to get 100% class participation!

I Love Info Graphics!

Anytime we can help students visualize difficult concepts, we do them a huge favor.  That is why I love info graphics!  There are a couple different Web 2.0 tools that make it easy to create your own or just browse the creations of others...no need to reinvent the wheel right?!  The info graphic below is one that I found on Visual.ly.  Civics teacher here me now: there is tons of stuff on this site that you and your students will love!  Just check out the info graphic below is just one of many that a simple search yielded.  This site free to browse and create!  Another site that is free is Infogr.am.  This one is good for creating your own info graphics.  Check this stuff out...you will not regret the time spent!

Learn about data visualization software.

Why We the People?

Teaching the Constitution is tough!  There are so many interpretations of various aspects of the document that getting it to make sense to students is an art in itself.  It is important to remember that even when the Constitution was written there was much debate over what it all meant.  Take the most well known phrase as an example.  With three simple words - "We the People" - the Founders set forth a government like no other.  This government would be subservient of the people, and not the other way around.  At the time this simple idea was not even clear to everybody.  In Federalist 46, James Madison says, "The adversaries of the Constitution seem to have lost sight of the people altogether in their reasonings on this subject."  People were deeply concerned about a Constitution that created a strong national government, and made little mention of the power of state governments.  In response to Anti-Federalists Madison says, "They must be told that the ultimate authority, wherever the derivative may be found, resides in the people alone; and that it will not depend merely on the comparative ambition or address of the different governments, whether either, or which of them, will be able to enlarge its sphere of jurisdiction at the expence of the other."

It is an important lesson for students to learn that even seemingly simple concepts in the Constitution were heavily debated and interpreted differently.  It is no different today.  It is ok for students to struggle with these concepts, because we still struggle with them as a nation.  As long as students talk about tough concepts, ask questions, and even question the system at times, "We the People" will be good to go.  Hopefully better off than Barney!

Visit Consource for more background on our founding document!

Election 2012 Apps

You've heard it..."There's an app for that"!  When it comes to apps for the 2012 election, there are several that I have found to wonderful tools that I have been using daily.  The best part is that they are all free.  Without further ado...

PollTracker

From Talking Points Memo, PollTracker boasts the most accurate and up-to-date polling numbers.  This wonderful app tracks all major polls and provides averages.  You can also delve into specific states, swing states, key voting demographics, and Congressional races.  It is very good for teaching the sway of public opinion as it correlates to events.  The app is very student friendly.

SuperPac App

Apps that listen to a song on the radio and link to iTunes or lyrics have become quite popular and robust.  SuperPac App takes the same technology to campaign commercials.  As an ad plays on TV simply hold the your devise up to the TV and the app will recognize the ad, and display the super pac who funded, fact checking data, and relevant web links.  Through the app, you also have access to a massive database of current campaign commercials from super pacs and the major political parties.

Voter Planet

Voter Planet is a great app for obtaining information about all congressional and presidential candidates.  Users can search by congressional district and ad candidates to "My Ballot". Included are links to political news and information on registering to vote.