Day 79

Student contribution by Leslie and Becca

As a class, we have gotten better at pulling evidence from sources and writing short summaries about what we learned. Also, we are good at group discussions, reading/annotating texts, and writing about documents.

I set out to have my students know what they know and what they don’t. Essentially, they can name the learning. Most years, it is my role to tell the students what they are know or don’t. But, as a learner, they should be able to identify that. They should see the gaps in what they need. I am a guide in that process; however, I shouldn’t be the most essential piece. It’s nice to hear that the students feel the know what they need.

Difficulties

I need help understanding difficult texts and figuring out what will be the best evidence to use and strengthen my short summaries and or DBQ’s.

Most of the students in my class belief in the concept of a perfect answer. It’s hard to erode that belief and I attempt to show them best depends on the situation and purpose. The best is going to be different for everyone. Often when the students are given choice in an essay, they struggle to even start because of they are looking for the best answer instead of what is going to work for their argument. That is why I have them practice and put down what they can do at the moment as opposed to taking too much time to find the best evidence. As I have written daily, I suffer the same thoughts. I question my posts when I publish them. I think I could have added more or spent more time on it. But, my time is limited and I hope my

I wish we discussed the checklists more in class. Even if people don’t have questions, just making sure everyone is on the same page and FULLY understands everything that the checklists had talked about.

Next Steps/Desires

I wish we discussed the checklists more in class. Even if people don’t have questions, just making sure everyone is on the same page and FULLY understands everything that the checklists had talked about.

I’ve posted on this topic before and it keeps coming up. In an AP class, it’s impossible to fully cover everything. It’s impossible to stop and get everyone to fully understand. I have a system in place to help that understanding, but when we cover the world’s history in one year, that isn’t possible. 

The comment harkens back to their other comment about finding the best evidence. They want to fully understand everything. We spent a few days on the French/Haitian revolution. Thousand-page books have been written on the subject and don’t fully cover every aspect. As a positive, the students know they don’t fully understand sometimes and what they don’t understand. I want to ease their anxiety and tomorrow I will give them some more support to help codify the information.