Celebrating Failure in Rm 613

Last year, I launched my World History class with the project called We, the People of Mars...  where students investigated various forms of government so they could form their own ideal government to be used on Mars. As I mentioned in a post last year, it was one of my more cringe-worthy projects for a variety of reasons and I decided to completely revamp it for this new school year. But no matter the adjustments I made, I couldn't fall in love with the project and I felt stuck on what to do for a project that discusses democracy. As one of the beginning of the year activity, I had students do a gallery walk with sticky notes where they answered questions on posters. One of the questions was "What do you want to learn in History?" No students put "FOUNDATIONS OF DEMOCRACY!" and I realized that I only taught that concept because I always have, not because the students were excited about it. The most successful PBL is one where students are engaged in relevant...

As January 24 quickly approaches, I have been re-watching The X-Files , one of my favorite television shows. While I could go on and on about all of the things I love about the series, one of my favorites is its ability to get the viewer thinking; regardless of how many times I have watched Mulder and Scully race to uncover the truth, I'm left contemplating something new. This time I've realized how I want my students to be like Mulder and Scully. In case you are unfamiliar, Fox Mulder is a strong believer in the supernatural while Dana Scully is a strong believer in the scientific method. With most of their cases, Mulder and Scully are obviously at odds with each other; one advocating for the science-fiction explanation and the other advocating for the science-reality explanation. As the show develops, both Mulder and Scully realize that they rely on each other's strengths to solve their cases: This is further demonstrated when Mulder is abducted and Scully is left ...