To begin our Semester of Love, we spent a lot of time brainstorming our sixties ideas on Jamboard and Padlet. I asked my students to define important ideas on their own terms. No longer, I said, did I want them to copy definitions out of the dictionary or off a website. That’s BORING. Instead they shared their understanding of a subject through investigation, discussion, analysis, and reflection. That’s EXCITING. Jamboard and Padlet increases the level of collaboration in the classroom.
Jamboard probably works as much for ME than it does for MY STUDENTS. Jaja! I can post Jamboard assignments on Canvas and see what students are doing and understanding in real-time. Or, what they are not doing. I mean, I can provide immediate feedback and support. In our first week, we read a Sandra Cisneros essay, "Only Daughter" that reflects a long-standing conflict between the author and her father. Sandra has grown up to be a strong, independent woman. Her father has maintained his old-school sense of macho. The sparks fly in this essay. On Jamboard, students have the opportunity to share their learning and thinking. Sandra was born in the United States. Her father immigrated from Mexico. Over time they have developed decidedly different world views. Many of my students can relate! And they do so, by dragging their thoughts and opinions on a stickie to an appropriate place on our Classroom Jam.
In this foto (to the left), Marilyn Monroe is wearing a pale green Emilio Pucci dress. I know that because that's the dress they buried her in. Marilyn is famous for wearing it in Mexico on the last vacation she ever took. When journalists gushed how beautiful the dress looked at her Mexico City press conference, Marilyn famously said, "You should see it on a hanger." This happened in February 0f 1962. Later that year in August, Marilyn's half-sister, Bernice Miracle, and Marilyn's housekeeper, Eunice Murray, were assigned the task to select the clothes for Marilyn's funeral services. They searched her closets for a blue dress - of Marilyn's favorite color - but they couldn't find anything appropriate. When they laid out the green Pucci on Marilyn's queen-sized bed, they were all in agreement. This one would do.
I posting this here because in my classes we read 1960s literature, and I assigned a 1960s research project. For me, the sixties were exciting times. I grew up in the decade. I can stand up before the class and speak to my memories of the Moon Landing, the Beatles, and Marilyn Monroe; like it was yesterday. It was a time in our nation's history that changed us. Civil Rights. Mohammed Ali. The Women's Movement. It was an era that inspired us. Too bad for me, I realize now, that my students regard the sixties like Ancient Greek history. Jaja. They know little about it.
That's why I pull out Jamboard and Padlet the first week. I'll share a short video of Marilyn's mysterious death. Students might share sixties music knowledge that has been passed down to them from their grandparents. In the 1960s, Cesar Chavez fought in the fields - right outside our classrooms - for worker rights. To the right, I share Litzy's Padlet submission on Padlet. While many of her classmates chose to write about President Kennedy, Litzy chose to focus upon the strong woman behind the successful man. In her research paper, she defined the term "icon." I'm hoping this brainstoriming activity may bring out new possibilties for writing that my students may not have touched upon in other classes. Before we begin the work, I ask each of my students to make a list of three of their best ideas on a sticky. LET'S JAM!
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