This class was was devoted to taking stock of what we had accomplished and making plans for the rest of the semester.
We reported back on progress on the Nikkei project. See Peter’s post on the project – Student Consultants Design Museum Curriculum and Mobile App
Erin, Sam and Peter did a presentation at the OAtS Conference at OHSU. Teena and Amit Jain (from Gamma Point) were there as well. We got some great feedback on the app – features, navigation and uses. Aram and Tom took some photographs in the neighborhood after meeting with Todd at Legacy Center. Todd’s been focusing on finalizing material available from Nikkei archives.
Each team met during class to set goals for their component of the project. Kyle and Peter zeroed in on their intended audience for their virtual museum. Collin, Aram, Tom and Sam discussed feedback from the conference presentation and discussed next steps in the app design.
The “Museum in a Suitcase” team (Christina, Kristi, Cory, Heather, Erin and Damian) – discussed the scope of the lessons they will design. See update in Christina’s comment below
We conducted our second lesson study with Kyle, Peter and Tom in the “Fishbowl.” Their classmates observed from outside the fishbowl. They used a T chart to track two items – lesson strengths and challenges. Feedback from in and outside the fishbowl will be used by students to improve their lesson idea.
Peter reviewed expectation for the upcoming DBQ design assignment and demonstrated use of the Learnist website that students will be using to present their DBQ’s. He also shared the sample DBQ he posted at Learnist. Incarceration of Japanese Americans During WWII
Image Credit:
Class in Pole-Climbing in the course for telephone electricians, with some of their instructors. University of Michigan., ca. 1918
Original Caption: Vocational training for S.A.T.C. in University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
U.S. National Archives’ Local Identifier:165-WW-119A(1)
Created By: War Department.
I’m so glad we got the chance to catch up as groups! I am in the suitcase group and we made some great plans to get the ball rolling on the project. We set a date to meet to collaborate, but we created an assignment for ourselves to do before we meet– to create one lesson plan on the Japanese-American incarceration experience from either elementary, middle or high school level (we decided those groups too). We also decided that each education level will have at least 2-3 lessons in the suitcase which will hopefully give teachers flexibility when they check out the suitcase, and will increase how often the suitcase is checked out. We just want the materials we create to be useful to teachers and to the museum!
Exactly right. I really appreciated the time to ‘re-group’ with our group. It made everything about the project that much clearer in what we can accomplish for the Nikkei Legacy Center. I think that the work everyone is putting in right now will turn out really well. I really like the idea of Text Sets. So it is my plan to create a sort of physical DBQ/Learnist page for my lesson plan. Overall, I have high hopes that this “Museum in a Suitcase” will be intriguing and academically beneficial for Kim, teachers, and future students!
I enjoyed being inside the “fishbowl” because it gave my lesson ideas the chance to be interpreted from 12 different perspectives as opposed to only a few perspectives that I received in other lesson study activities. Aspects that made sense to me didn’t make sense to others, which forced me to think of my lesson in new ways in order to improve it. My app group is on track and we have a cohesive vision in terms of where to go next.
I think being in the fish bowl was also beneficial for me. I got a lot of good questions to help me think about what I’m going to do. I got one suggestion that I should be prepared with a video in case the original conversation on Islam is going nowhere (I think it was Christina). I thought that was a great idea and I plan on having a video ready now.
I think that this class was really valuable in terms of just finalizing what we want to do with the Nikkei Center projects. I’m glad that my group (the suitcase group) made some definite plans on what we will each be doing…that way we don’t end up with one lesson plan from six people! Again, I think that the fishbowl conversation was very helpful, both for the observers and for the participants. I learned a few more activity ideas that I can incorporate into my lessons in the future…I’m definitely thinking that that candy exercise will be a good one to keep!
The fish bowl activity is my favorite aspect of the course. Not only do I benefit from hearing lesson ideas from eleven other people, but I am also learning what questions to ask myself during the lesson development process. During the critique, students are asking things that I fail to consider when I plan. An example: two weeks ago when Sam was presenting his candy-based lesson, someone asked if he had considered students’ allergies. If I were writing that lesson I doubt I would have asked myself that question. Definitely looking forward to doing this again.
The fishbowl was enormously helpful. It’s encouraging to go in to the activity knowing that feedback from your colleagues will invariably help your lesson in progress. Each time we’ve conducted the activity, I’ve come away with some ideas for lessons no matter the content. It’s been a struggle adapting a social studies methods class to my time as a reading intervention teacher, but the fishbowl allows me to gain insight into engaging and educative ideas for a lesson.
Every time we gather, our projects with the Nikkei Center become more clear. Being on the iPhone app team, it has been interesting thinking about a better design layout without ever having met the company that is actually creating the application. A result of that is that I don’t actually know what is feasible or how much time and effort the app designers are willing to put into our ideas. As this project continues to grow, I will curious to see how some of our ideas are implemented in the end. Hopefully we produce something that people will be excited to use.
It was very helpful to meet up in our groups. We were able to clear things up and work things out that were very unclear before. I am looking forward to seeing the finished lesson plans and seeing how they relate to each other. I am becoming more hopeful that this will be a helpful and beneficial project to Portland schools. I will be interested to see the final product of the app. It is a bit strange to be hearing about it when I do not even own an iPhone or iPad.