Exam Experiment

At Maggie, we are required to give a midterm in every linear course. I find this frustrating because in English there is nothing to test on because it is a skills based course which is best tested at the end. In Socials, you just end up re-testing things you already covered on the unit tests because we haven't got far enough into the course to really discuss many themes. I expressed this frustration to Naryn one day and she gave me some ideas of how to play around with the midterm. After thinking about it over a weekend, this is what I came up with. I am going to try next week in SS 9.

So far in Socials 9 we have covered Geography, a review of the Renaissance, the English Revolution (Civil War to Glorious Revolution) and the French Revolution. Because Geography does not link to the other units, I have decided to leave it off the midterm. The test will take place in a computer lab and it is divided into 3 parts.

The first part is a traditional essay. I asked them the following question:

In both the English and French Revolutions, a nation proved for the first time that it was possible for people to rise up and depose an absolute monarch. Please compare these two important historical events by looking at their similarities and their differences.

We prepared for the essay in class by making t-charts comparing the causes, outcomes, philosophies, negative aspects, leaders and major events of each of the revolutions. I have allowed them to fill out an essay outline which they can bring into the test.

In part two, I gave them the theme "out with the old, in with the new" and students have to list and describe to things (events, philosophies, ideas, governments, etc) that fit this theme of the course. They have this topic and are encouraged to research it ahead of time with their notes and textbook, but they cannot bring in anything to help them with this section.

Part three is the experiment and the part where the computer lab comes into play. This section is kind of an enrichment section. I gave my kids a list of terms connected to the English and French Revolutions and they are going to use the internet to do research on their chosen topic at the midterm. First, they have to find an article on their topic and record 5 new facts they learned. Next, they have to find a YouTube clip connected to their topic, summarize it and explain how it helps them understand their topic more. Finally, they have to find a piece of art, a song, a cartoon OR a modern connection to their topic, explain what the artist was trying to show and how it connects to their topic. They will have to write down the name/address of the websites they use and print off any materials. To help them, I have bookmarked helpful sites and asked Naryn to add them to the library website. I have a very keen class and I am hoping they will appreciate the chance to go deeper into a topic they are interested in. I also gave a small lesson in class about how to do internet searches and find information on a website. I had them tell me their topics ahead of time so I can do some searches too to see what is out there. They most popular topics seem to be the palace of Versailles, Marie Antoinette, the guillotine and the Bloody Assisizes.

This test is a complete experiment and I am not sure at all what to expect. I will be supervising the exam so I can troubleshoot, but I am hoping this will be a much more valuable exam for students than simply memorizing facts and regrugitating them back to me. The students seem keen and I am looking forward to reading what they come up with. I know many students have already starting looking on the internet to see what is available for their topic (although they are not allowed to bring anything but the essay outline to the test). I think I will have them fill out a survey on the test after the midterm to see what they think.

Paranoia and the Reign of Terror

             Recently in Socials 9 we were studying the French Revolution. When we got the Reign of Terror, I wanted to help my students understand the paranoia everyone felt during the this time because no one knew who was associated with the aristocracy or the Committee of Public Safety (group who tracked down people who they believed did not support the revolution or were accused of hoarding bread, arrested them and guillotined them).  To introduce this part of the Revolution, I decided to play a game which would allow the students to feel that same paranoia.
       First, I had my students draw pieces of white folded up paper from a box and then they had to open it in secret. Most students had a blank piece of paper, but 5 had a piece of paper with a small red dot in the middle (no one knew how many red dots there were, in fact, I told them there was only 3 just for fun). The object of the game for the students with white pieces of paper was to make as big of an alliance as possible with other students without allowing a student with a red dot in it. The trick was they could not outright ask a kid what was on their paper. They could ask other questions though and had to gauge their answers to determine if they were "guilty" of having a dot. The object of the game for the red dot people was to get themselves into an alliance by pretending they had a white piece of paper. It was a very interesting game and the students had a lot of fun. They ostracized kids and when I asked them why it was often answers like "they just look guilty" or "they smiled." The red dot kids almost always win though.

Afterwards, I discussed how they felt during the game and how exactly they judged who was guilty and innocent. We linked it to the revolution and then modern examples of judging people by their appearance and how we really can never know what someone is thinking. They kids like the game so much they insisted we play it at the beginning of each class for three days. I love using simulations to illustrate points/concepts in history because it always sticks with kids when you can get them to empathize with a historical figure. I have also used this game in SS11 to talk about the red scare and McCarthyism.