The+Kinkaid+School

** //Lux per Scienttiamm// **

 * ~ Name (click to email) ||~ Subject/Division ||~ Twitter ||~ Delicious ||~ Blog ||
 * Diana Kokernot || Middle School History Teacher ||  **dk** **okernot**  || dianakokernot || http://www. kokernotsouthafrica.blogspot. com ||
 * CeCelia O'Connell || 3rd Grade Teacher, Team Leader || ceceliaoconnell || ceceliaoconnell || http://ceceliaoconnell.edublogs.org/ ||
 * Cindy Stanley || 4th Grade Teacher || cindycando || cindycando || http://blogamundo-cindycando. blogspot.com/?zx= 6cebe5407bbc3aaa ||
 * Angela Wainright || Upper School History || adwainright || awainright || [] ||
 * Larry Kahn || Director of Academic and Information Technology, Fellow || larrykahn || cognito58 || newthingsnewways.blogspot.com ||

**PBL Unit Template**
//We want to share your PBL units with the world from our web page, so we created a template format for you to fill out. Please fill in these sections and then link to where you have created the unit plans, such as a Google doc, wiki, website, etc.. We are excited to see what your team and the students have created. When you have finished completing this template, please delete the italicized directions below each section heading as well as these directions. If you need any help or have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.//

**Rationale:** //Why is the topic important? How does it relate to education? Does it promote lifelong learning and character education? How does it support the curriculum?//

As we all met we instantly realized it would be best to do it around the subject of history since we all teach history. We brain stormed and came up with the colonization of the Americas. From there, we landed in Texas and thought about the different groups that had influenced our local history. We settled on covering the six flags over Texas using a “Traveling History Show”. I love that the older kids will be coming to teach the younger kids, and then the younger kids will show what they have learned. It is important as Houstonians living in a urban city with different cultures to understand the roots of this diversity. Much of this stemmed out of this period from the Six Flags over Texas. All of us cover this topic in our respective curriculums.

//I//

**Unit Goals:** //What are the broad goals for the unit? What do you expect, in general terms, to accomplish? What are the goals for content? For skill development? For affective learning?// Our long term is to establish this relationship of cross divisions that we lacked before. Not only will this foster a relationship between the divisions, but it will also promote the use of 21st century teaching tools. Our goal for content are that the students involved leave with a greater understanding of cross cultural interactions that specifically affect them as Texans. **Kinkaid Peeps** (See our wiki for more details)

**Evaluation:** Use assessment and evaluation which may include the following: “kidwatching,” observations, anecdotal records, checklists, conferences, informal interviews, student and teacher made rubrics and 2.0 tools. Our main objective when we design the actual assessments will be to create rubrics that are a product of collaboration between the students and the teachers. We don't want the students to think of this as a "grade," but more of a reflection of what they have accomplished and areas to grow in.

**Curriculum** **Objectives**: //Identify objectives (concepts) that are taught and are related to the topic of your unit. These objectives (concepts) will identify the topic-related information that students will be expected to learn.//

DRIVING QUESTION: What were the details of the progression of how the six flags changed from one country to the next to the next?

**Essential Questions:** Who were the key players (individuals/government)? What role did each play? How did their actions affect the other? What role did greed play in these changes? What flag would you create to represent Texas today? What is the impact of the six flags over Texas to those particular countries today? How significant is this to those citizens today? (interface with students from that country) What percentage of Texas' population today is represented by those cultures (Spanish, Mexican, France,US)?

**Introducing** The **Activity**: //Describe the extravagant way you plan to introduce the theme. The introduction should be concrete and actively involve the students.//

This is what we called the hook. Please refer to our storyboard.

Everybody films their part (your classroom)
 * Lower School - Lower school will bring in a special character to tell a story to the little ones.
 * Middle School - Simulation of a historical scene from the Six Flags of Texas.
 * Upper School - Will talk about the Six Flags over Texas amusement parks and its relevance to actual history.

**Culminating Activity:** //Describe the way you plan to close the theme. The culminating activity should be concrete and actively involve the students, parents, and community.//

Our culminating objective is to bring all three division together in the creation of a collaborative project that will showcase their knowledge of the Six Flags over Texas, provide a digital footprint for others to learn from, and hopefully better the culturally diverse community in which they currently live in.

**Tentative Timeline:**

September 7th: We will present the students with the hook. September 8th: Divisions will get together to brainstorm possibilities for perspective project ideas. September 9th, 10th, 11th Students will do the individual research required for the content mastery component of the project September 12th: Divisions will meet to plot out and organize the plan of action and assign tasks. September 13th and 14th: Production of project


 * Our Assumptions:**


 * We will have food and some sort of treat to ease the pain!
 * We will have patience and respect for our colleagues as we grow!
 * We will each contribute at least once a week to the Ning!
 * We will come up with a product that will benefit all levels at Kinkaid and will be long lasting!
 * We will pump each other up and constantly remind each other that this will make us better teachers!
 * We will collaborate, share, and support one another!
 * We will "kill several birds with one stone!" Hint: curriculum mapping!

Featured Forum: Trends and Shifts Impacting Children in the Next 10 Years:
9 Scientific discoveries and societal realities will force widespread ethical choices. In a world poised for unprecedented progress, we have seen a mind-boggling escalation in the possible benefits and consequences of our actions. Schools will be expected to model ethical behavior and help their students understand the need to identify the possible ethical implications of their decisions. Among the ethical issues today's students will face are world poverty and inequities in the distribution of resources; violations of basic human rights; production, distribution, and control of weapons; computer ethics; genetic engineering and cloning; stewardship of the environment; dealing with crime and corruption; and the introduction of new life forms on other planets.


 * Add what you find regarding teaching and modeling ethics in school below:**

Here goes my input. Diana

As educators, it is our responsibility to teach and model ethics and ethical behavior in our schools. Responsible educators should help guide students and provide them with the life skills they need in order to positively contribute to society. But, who determines the bais of those ‘life skills’? Alone, schools are not capable of providing the framework for determining life skills and modeling ethics. A partnership between home and school must be established. The problem arises by the fact that we live in a global society of rapidly changing values and attitudes, attitudes that are flexible and values that change at a fast speed. Today’s knowledge base is quickly expanding, and the world is becoming more and more global. Additionally, who is to define proper morals and acceptable ethics in a world as interconnected as it is today? Regardless, schools should attempt to establish (for both students and educators) codes of conduct (The Honor Code) and provide ethics education and training. Willie Hines commented, “Whenever a teacher ignores destructive behavior, a certain morality is left unchecked. A clear message is sent that the behavior is o.k. When we neglect to highlight what is right in the world, we unwittingly endorse what is wrong.” Journal Interactive (1.9.09)

Teaching Ethics (http://www.ethicsineducation.com) is a website dedicated to promoting a free exchange of ideas among secondary school educators. Anthony Tiatorio, Social Studies Department Head in the Mansfield, Massachusetts public schools for over 30 years, calls for a history based, critical thinking, approach to ethics education. He compares ethics to a gyroscope stating that it is “a mechanism that must be used consciously and continuously to maintain direction, stability, and equilibrium.” Tiatorio further states, “Ethics education is about recognizing the real power of one’s innate ethical sense and how it influences our behavior. In this way we can free reason to become a tool to truly guide our actions. Without the wisdom that results from understanding one’s innate ethical self, reason remains a powerful propaganda prop for unchallenged intrinsic human ethical imperatives.”

Frederick Douglass once said, “It is easier to build strong children than to fix broken men.” We, as educators today, have an enormous social responsibility concurrently with our basic academic responsibilities. Wish us luck......

Angela's Contribution:

I read //Teaching Values in School: An interview with Steve Johnson []//

"Steve Johnson is the Director of Character Education at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University. Johnson developed the Character-Based Literacy Curriculum, now in use in the court-community schools of many California counties and hundreds of regular and alternative classrooms throughout the United States. Johnson trains teachers, counselors, and administrators in the curriculum, which integrates ethics into the language arts curriculum."

I think he makes some very valid points in this interview, and I was glad to see that we already embrace some of these practices here at Kinkaid with our emphasis on the four core values. However, I am not so sure how we are making sure that our character education is implemented on a regular basis. Overall, here are the three points from his interview that stuck with me the most:

"Ethics is not about being part of any culture; it's about being human. Whatever your background, culture, language, etc., you cannot be successful, you cannot run a society without human minimums in the way of conduct"

"So, respect, responsibility, integrity, self-control, self-direction, change requires effort, moderation, and justice—those are the eight key values that frame our program."

"The interest in character education is very much from parents and schools feeling that they're not doing a good enough job and asking, "How can we better influence the kind of people that our kids become?"'

I personally think that more teachers need to be asking this last question more if we want to create a better, more productive society. Content is great, but ethics and values make us better people.


 * Thoughts from CeCelia**

**Teaching and Modeling Ethics in School** Students today are encountered with more problems than past generations. The best way to teach our children to become more honorable, virtuous, and moral people is to help them become adequate ethical decision makers. As educators in the 21st century this duty and responsibility has fallen more on educators’ shoulders to help our students learn to think and reason for themselves. We have a huge role in contributing to the ethical teaching of our students. “Throughout history and in cultures around the world, education rightly conceived has had two great goals: helping students become smart and helping them become good. They need character for both.” (Davidson, M., Lickona, T., Klmelov, V. 2007)

Teachers have a great opportunity to teach ethics since we are around the students many hours throughout the day. We have to handle conflicts that come up with the students and among the students, thus a great opening to teach ethics. The best two strategies for teaching ethics to our students are by modeling and being aware of the “teachable moments.” Most of the time students do know the right thing to do, but how can we as teachers help them make the right choice. Society is calling us to build character in our kids! It is even being yelled across the political aisles from left, right, and center—acknowledging that building character in our children is everyone’s responsibility. Of course that vastly impacts the schools because we have the majority of children’s time.

Students can learn practical ways to deal with conflict. They need training in social skills, conflict resolution, anger management, and just life in general. Character education or ethical programs that really work involve the students, teachers, coaches, administrators, and of course the parents buying into it. Most importantly, ethics needs to be integrated into all aspects of school life from the content of the curriculum to the extra curricular activities. Our bottom line should be that we want our students to be their best! “We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.” Martin Luther King Jr.

Good character is not shaped mindlessly; it is developed over time through a continual process of teaching, modeling, and practicing. The social, ethical, and emotional development of young people is as important as their educational growth. Theodore Roosevelt acknowledged, “To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.”

I think Kinkaid is trying hard at educating both the mind and the character! We have a good foundation of becoming a community of virtue by teaching, modeling, and practicing our four core values. As our school community becomes more global and diverse, I think our core values are common to all cultures that we can continue to build upon and celebrate success together.

**Larry’s Musings** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Thank you team for your thoughtful and reflective posts. Something that bothers me greatly is the disconnect students see between who they are in “real life” and who they are when they are on-line. They seem to think that it is okay and normal to have 2 different personas. I only meet briefly with students but I see this as a huge issue that we will need to constantly work on with our students. **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cindy's Bringing Up the Rear:) ** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I found the **<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Code of Computer Ethics For Educators by Jason Bates, etc. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/students/mickley/ethicsnew.htm **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Since computer and communication developments are changing each day, computer ethics should be included as a topic in any professional development, and especially at the beginning of the year. There is a definite need to establish a set of guidelines, or code to which students must adhere, and teachers must model. All students and teachers must sign this yearly and be reminded of the importance and perhaps the consequences of not following the code. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The code should include: **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. respect for privacy **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. respect for ownership **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. respect for the network **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4. duty to educate---I say this means teachers, students, and parents--(cls) **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5. acceptable use policy **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6. agreement which is signed by teachers, students and parents **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Any educational institution that has invited technology into its classrooms has an obligation to train its faculty in the ethical use of computers. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I want to take it even further and offer training to parents so they can assist us, support our efforts, and trust us with technology education! (cls) **

=<span style="clear: none; color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 2.4em; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px ! important;">http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/students/mickley/ethicsnew.htmd Shifts Impacting Children in the Next 10 Years =