So…about the world, seems like it’s time to change it

My mom likes to tell the story of the first time she read me the biography of Martin Luther King Jr. I was all of 7 or 8 years old. As she tells it, there was a bit of a paradigm shift involved. I marched back and forth in my footie pajamas explaining to her that “it was wrong, why would someone kill him? Why would people hate other people because they looked different?” It was my first run in with some of the big questions that unfortunately continue to trouble the world.
Two weeks ago, we started the third quarter at SLA.
As I last posted, I seem to have challenged my kids to change the world in 9 weeks or less.
Friday, they started posting.
The basics are this:

  1. Pick a problem.
  2. Build a feed reader with at least three feeds on your problem and search/bookmark viable sites.
  3. Throughout the quarter, write 10 informational posts using the information from your reader/bookmarked sites.
  4. Throughout the quarter, write 5 reflective posts on your progress.
  5. Draft an 3-5 minute “elevator pitch” for a possible change agent to show you know what you’re talking about.
  6. Draft an action plan around a realistic solution to the problem you’ve selected.
  7. Meet with an identified change agent and present your pitch and action plan.

Friday, their first two posts were due. I’ve started reading them. Some good work from first-time bloggers. The next step is to help them build readerships. While I’m asking teachers at SLA to read and comment on posts regarding their areas of interest, I issue this call to anyone out there – read here or here and help teach our students.
I’ll be linking the formal project and rubric descriptions soon.
More later.

4 thoughts on “So…about the world, seems like it’s time to change it”

  1. What an awesome project. Im in the process of gathering ideas for new 11th Grade English/ U.S History/ Humanities course I am coteaching next year. This will fit in beautifully.
    EduCon2 has really stuck with me. Been talking about it a lot and your name keeps popping up.
    http://nextsteped.blogspot.com

    Cory

  2. whats up mr.Chase? I missed you man. You could of came to our school to see us or at least wrote me on angel but it’s cool I know you still got love for me.

    P.S I hope you like the new school and they better not get good Mr.Chase like we had,give them the old, crazy, wild Mr.Chase.
    Bobby

  3. Ditto what mrplough said – especially since I’m teaching that course with him! Should be exciting. We are SO stealing your stuff! (Hope that’s okay!)

  4. I am incredibly impressed with your project and would like to copy it with my students and possibly collaborate with our students. Currently, I am taking the online CFF grad course at Wilkes and I wrote about your project for one of my learning logs. You are cutting edge 21st century education and I applaud you. Whenever you get a chance, could you contact me at rjstangherlin@stsd.org. Thanks so much for leading the way with your students.

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