Getting Energized!

As a seventh and eighth grade teacher going for her masters in middle level education, I have been learning about, hearing about, and talking about integrated units for a long while. A few of my team teachers and I have even tried some interdisciplinary work from time to time, but never anything to the extent of the most recent unit I just finished with my students. Our "What's Your Source?" unit sprung from our students' interest in energy.

I teach language arts and social studies on a two teacher team. At the beginning of the year, the math and science teacher I teach with asked the students what their interests were in science. They came up with a pretty extensive list, and on that list was energy. Realizing that this is a topic that needs to be taught in seventh and eighth grade, as stated in our district's science curriculum, we decided to create an integrated unit with the focus of energy. As we got further into the planning of the unit, we realized that it would also make a really great service learning unit, so we added an energy fair where the students would be able to teach others about their energy source focus as the culminating project.

My team teacher and I changed our schedule around a bit so that we had around an hour or two every day for integrated block. During this time we led mini-lessons to teach the students some skills they would need to be successful in this research project and allowed the students time to work with group members on research and reporting. We also had language arts and math classes everyday, but whenever appropriate we would teach about topics that led right back into the energy unit. I taught about citing sources and creating bibliographies in LA, while my team teacher taught about creating graphs and charts in math.

The students used an online wiki journal to log their research with their group members. We also posted checklists for assignments and a calendar with project deadlines on the wiki. This was a great place for the students to share the information they found, as well as read what others had been learning about different energy sources. Much of the research was done online and through the school's library, but we also had many guest speakers that volunteered their time to talk with our students about their particular energy focuses. We were able to get professors from Colby and Maine Maritime Academy to speak to us about coal and tidal energy, we visited a local solar installer's house to take a look at his solar hot water collectors, we had someone come speak to us about the windmill that was just recently put up at the transfer station in our town, and many more volunteers as well. My team teacher and I were truly amazed at the number of people who were willing to volunteer their time to come teach our students about varying energy sources.

As the project was coming to a close, all the research was done, the students had reported on the history and the economics of their source, they had created a public service announcement and a 3D model of their source, and much more, they invited whomever they wanted to the energy fair where they displayed all of this work. Many of the students invited past science teachers, family members, and friends. A few groups of students invited the principals and even our district's superintendent. One student even invited WABI TV 5! We had a great turn out and the students were able to share their knowledge of the energy sources with the public. Even the news casters showed up. Click the link to check out the report...
Pittsfield Middle School Students Get Energized

The Future of Education

One idea that continues to make its way back into my mind is the direction of education in general in the United States and around the world. I feel that many of the middle level documents and publications we have studied this semester allow for, and even ask for, the innovative way of teaching that people are looking for these days.Three of the most important things I am taking away from this semester have to do with the future of education.

1) Keep in mind the media portrayal of the educational system in the US. I think it is important to be outspoken as to how things are actually working, and what isn't working in our system. I continue to wonder how many people making the rules are actually playing the game, or have played the game in the past, when it comes to educational policy

2) We have learned so much about technology, but I think a lot of the time we still have trouble using it to our advantage when it comes to education. Don't get me wrong, I think we (especially in the state of Maine) have come leaps and bounds in the last few years. But, I think we still have a long way to go. I have made it one of my priorities to help my students use this tool of communication to connect them to the world outside.

3) Talking about technology leads me right into getting creative when it comes to teaching. It's going to be hard, but breaking the bounds of the routine and getting creative with the ways in which we actually hold classes and teach will be very important for the future of education. Reading through the history of middle level education this semester really got me thinking about how long people have been trying to make important changes in our field. It is not easy to change anything in the world of education. We can't stay stagnant, however, and I will refuse to be a part of the pendulum swing. Even if change for the better doesn't come quickly, I think it is important to continue trying new things and to be accepting of change.

This semester really made me realize the struggle I have with public education. I have made it a personal goal to stay in public education, even though sometimes it can be very difficult as a teacher who sees the need for creativity, and innovation, and change. I think keeping these three ideas I have learned throughout this semester in mind will help in the long run.