Lesson 2 Activities - Week 2:

Exploration and Online Collaboration of Personal Truths

Classroom Discussion-Categorizing Personal Truths:

Further concept of different perspectives on history by having students tie the idea into their own lives. Begin with four blank construction papers on the board titled as follows:

• Our Truths About Our Daily Lives as Children

• Our Truths About Our City

• Our Truths About Our Country

• Our Truths About Our Country

With a pad of 3”x3” post-it notes at each table group, have students brainstorm together in groups and come up with two truths for each category and write them each on a post-it. Note: This is NOT a time for discussion of the validity of the actual truth. When done, one member from each group places the notes on the correct charts. Teacher facilitates a class review of each post-it and class determines whether or not it was placed in the right category or not. Volunteers and teacher help clarify which kinds of topics might fit into each category as well as the difference between a broad focus and a narrow focus when it comes to perspectives. This process is very important because I have found that while most students don’t have difficulty coming up with truth ideas, they DO have difficulty with categorizing them within the four areas. Their online homework assignment requires that they understand this concept prior to completing homework online.

Close by leaving students with the knowledge that their weeklong online homework assignment will require that they understand the differences between each category.

HOMEWORK INSTRUCTION:

Teaching How to Do Online Collaboration Through Forum Discussion Threads:

Explain that over the course of this week during homework students will record at least 1 of their own personal truths for each of the four categories above. They will also think about and respond to others truths (in a positive manner keeping in mind the “Ground Rules for Discussing Perspectives” used in the Lesson 1.

Using either the computer lab or a laptop, LCD projector and screen in the classroom, instruct the students in how to navigate the classroom webpage (Moodle) to find the forum and use the threads to post their truths as well as respond to other truths by their classmates. Refer to the Technology Rubric in reminding the students of what you are looking for in terms of effort and performance on this assignment to achieve the grade they desire. (A snapshot of a forums page is below, initiated by the teacher. Note how a student who didn’t quite understand the categories added another thread with a truth that could have gone into “My Truths About Life as a Child.” This is why I the first activity in this lesson is so important.)

Snapshot of Forum Discussion Threads:

Snapshot of students using one of the discussion threads:

Be sure to have students also write down on paper (or print a copy or snapshots of the threads from the computer) showing their 4+ truths and responses/replies to other students’ truths. This will be turned in to the teacher by attaching it to the back of the Technology Rubric the following week during classroom Follow-Up (see below).

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? (Let Students Know!)

The beauty of doing this activity online rather than in class is that it allows for more success for those students with minimal English or disadvantaged socio-economically, and thus with less background about the city, country or world. These students can read and learn from the ideas of other students in the privacy and comfort of their own home, without fear of being laughed at for their lack of knowledge. It also provides greater confidence for those shy students to share their ideas with the public more than they normally might.

Secondly, with the world growing smaller as a result of the rapidly growing ability to communicate with anyone in the world at any moment, this gives students skills to use discussion threads for not only information gathering but also discussion topics of interest. While students are learning pieces of these skills with social applications such as Facebook and MySpace, they need to understand the more important use of discussion and collaboration for professional and career reasons one day.

Classroom Follow Up

Reiview and reflect upon the collaboration in class the following week. What did students learn from each other? What did they learn or enjoy about the process? What was difficult about the process? Teacher may create a sheet with these questions if desired (or use my Online Collaboration Reflection Sheet linked here) and/or have students self-assess themselves on this portion of the Technology Rubric. Students attach to the back of the rubric their Online Collaboration Reflection Sheet done in the previous activity . Have students highlight their favorite personal truth to later use in their Photoshop project.