Exploring AI

"IT'S ALIVE!" Bringing Critical Thought to Life with Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Victor was a learner. He had a passion for acquiring new information and using it to innovate and create. In Mary Shelley’s famous novel, Frankenstein, the title character, Victor Frankenstein, stated that “It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn...” In the story, Victor exposed an unchecked curiosity for learning as well as his own tragic flaw. Although learning is generally a positive process, understanding how acquisition of valuable information goes together with personal and societal ethics is something that a learner must fully grasp when encountering content, if they intend to apply it successfully. Through critical thinking and discourse, fostered by student choice and individualized learning opportunities, students are able to think differently about a text and draw conclusions about its relevance to their current world.

The type of critical thinking required to comprehend and analyze encountered information and its connection to real life areas of advancement is an absolute necessity that ninth grade ELA students experience as they encounter Shelley’s text in Pre-AP/GT English courses at Eaton High School. These students explore, consider, and discuss the “moral liability” of “knowledge” and “progress” as a part of a problem based learning opportunity that allows for student choice while also facilitating real world connections to the text. As part of this project, students in ninth grade Pre-AP/GT English are presented with the driving question of “Does knowledge or progress ever become a moral liability?” They are asked to utilize resources and processes of their choosing to explore both sides of an area of advancement and then choose varied platforms and tools in which to communicate their findings in ways that answer that driving question. The findings are curated into a “Live Binder” that is shared with peers and other school and community members.

Students are given a wide variety of options for how to present up to date research in ways that not only answer the given problem but also present both sides or an issue and advocate for a perspective that has been developed through meticulous research and and discussion. Some students choose to use WeVideo or YouTube to help create and edit videos in the format of interviews or commercials, while others use similar tools to create podcasts or radio shows. Some prefer approaching their topics through graphic design with visual advertisements in Canva, or written argument in journal or blog entries using Blogger or Smore. Whatever the platform, a truly beneficial part of this experience comes in when a student is given the freedom to choose a tool or resource that they are confident in using and that communicates their voice effectively while helping to share their knowledge with the community around them.

As students develop argumentation, research, and independent communication skills throughout this project, they are able to display those over the course of a week set aside for formally sharing findings with the school community. While presenting their inventive and relevant creations, these students confidently defend their research and conclusions in a dissertation style setting, which is not only challenging but truly impressive to witness. It is in a forum such as this where it becomes apparent that our students are not only being given the freedom to explore content and required texts but they are also being provided opportunities to develop their own viewpoints on critical societal issues while shaping an ethical compass of their own, all while being able to connect it to their reading.

Victor Frankenstein also said, “I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation.” However, what Victor was lacking was a true understanding of what to do with that information, which students in our freshman Pre-AP/GT English classes are acquiring and applying through research into their own opinions, in-depth analysis, and critical discourse. These invaluable learning experiences are things that will help to not only develop lifelong learners but also facilitate learning that encourages an approach to new discoveries with a critical eye and solid ethical grounding.

Juxtaposing Student Voice & Choice w/ AP Exam Test Prep

When your Senior level AP course doesn’t have TEKS and is primarily focused on preparing for the AP exam, there is not much room for student creation and choice, right? WRONG! AP English IV (AP Literature and Composition) teachers Denise Tennison and Brittany Harper at Byron Nelson High School look for innovative ways to prepare the student, while engaging them in the learning that goes beyond traditional test prep. What better way for students to learn question analysis than to create AP-level questions themselves. Futhermore, they stepped into the teacher role and used formative assessment websites, like Quizizz, Socrative, and Mentimeter, to create student-made quizzes with a future audience of their own peers. Talk about real world application, authentic audience, collaboration, and student choice - all wrapped up into one!

This task’s purpose was multifaceted as it aimed to 1. Analyze Othello, and 2. Apply knowledge and syntax of the 12 English Literature and Composition Question Types. Specifically, it challenged students to CONSTRUCT AP questions in order to be more prepared to DECONSTRUCT them on the exam as it will be easier to answer high-level questions if students have an understanding of how they are originally developed.  

Project Instructions:

In the past, this project stopped at Step #4 above in which the student solely created the questions on a collaborative Google Doc. Although these did provide a sample set of study questions, they weren’t interactive, thus many peers read over them without truly applying their thinking to answer and engage with the content. Furthermore, there wasn’t an authentic audience since it was simply a paper turned in to be graded by the teacher. To provide a more engaging experience and incorporate student choice, Tennison and Harper brainstormed applicable product choice websites using the Tools that Make IT Click resource to identify a set of options that would work well for this assignment.

Benefits of designing student choice lessons with multiple tool options:

• Students have power over the tool they chose.
• They are more engaged in the process because they were able to break out of the “one-size-fits-all” approach in which every students' experience is identical.
• Students can apply prior experience with tools they have used in other classes to understand which tool most appropriately applies to their content.
• Neither the teacher or students need to be “tool-expert.” There are so many resources that are Google-able to understand how a tool works; plus, students typically are able to figure site features out quicker than many adults.
• If a tool doesn’t fit one groups’ needs or isn’t as easy to understand, just pick another platform!

Example #1:

Students: Cavnar, Dumble, Felten, Pham, Cobb, Hinshaw

Formative Assessment Tool: Socrative

Play along HERE! Room Name: CAVNAR

Example #2:

Students: Edwards, Ye, Holt, Plocek, Mauer, Young

Formative Assessment Tool: Quizizz

Play along HERE!

Students’ feedback on this project was very positive. Because of the collaborative group nature, these teachers overheard really good conversations taking place as students discussed Othello, compared the 12 question types to best assign various formats to their content, and wrote a challenging question and designed relevant distractors. When it came time to enter these into the formative assessment site, students were able to collaborate in discussing their prior experience with various sites as they weighed the benefits and downfalls of each in order to connect the best type of tool to their content needs. Additionally, they were able to design the type of experience they would most like to participate in such as choosing sites that use gamification, whole class/group vs. individual quizzes, and embedded opportunities for detailed student feedback. The final products will support students two-fold: allowing the student to be the “teacher” in designing the content, as well as letting the student be another peer's student by taking each other’s assessment’s now and in the Spring to prepare for the exam. Adios traditional, boring test prep!

Text Features and Digital Magazines

Text structure refers to how the information within a written text is organized. This strategy helps students understand that a text might present a main idea and details; a cause and then its effects; and/or different views of a topic. Students in Mrs. Brittain’s class, at Nance Elementary, were asked to pick a research topic of their choice. Once they picked their topic they spent several days researching using different library databases, websites, and books with reliable information over their topic. Once they had enough information, they wrote three articles using 3 different text structures: chronological order/sequencing, compare/contrast, and problem/solution.  

After revising and editing their articles they were given a choice of how to present them. The culminating, summative activity, students chose was to create digital magazines using a tool called Canva.  In Canva, students combined the different text features and graphics to add to the reader’s understanding of their topic. This is where they had the most fun.

Aahana stated, “I liked this project because it was really fun. Using Canva there are a lot more things that you can add to your project such as different layouts, pictures, and graphics. You have more freedom than you would if you had created a magazine using construction paper and it allows you to show off your creativity.  I enjoyed researching and learning about snow leopards.”

“I think doing this project on Canva was better than using paper because it allows your reader to visualize your topic.  You can also add a lot more features using the technology that you would not have been able to do if you had just used paper and pencil.” said Sophia

Caroline said, “I enjoyed doing this project because it allowed you to have multiple varieties and styles of your magazine because we used Canva. For example, you can match your layout and graphics to the topic of your magazine. Canva gives you the freedom to make it look the way you want it to look.”

This type of learning project integrated several of the ISTE Standards which are so important for the empowered learner.   

• Digital Citizen Students recognize the rights, responsibilities and opportunities of living, learning and working in an interconnected digital world, and they act and model in ways that are safe, legal and ethical.
•  Knowledge Constructor Students critically curate a variety of resources using digital tools to construct knowledge, produce creative artifacts and make meaningful learning experiences for themselves and others.
• Innovative Designer Students use a variety of technologies within a design process to identify and solve problems by creating new, useful or imaginative solutions.
• . Creative Communicator Students communicate clearly and express themselves creatively for a variety of purposes using the platforms, tools, styles, formats and digital media appropriate to their goals.
• Global Collaborator Students use digital tools to broaden their perspectives and enrich their learning by collaborating with others and working effectively in teams locally and globally.

Breaking Up: Rhetorically Speaking...

The exhilaration of a new relationship and the world-ending-feeling after a breakup summarize the range of emotions that occur in the daily life of a high school student. The longing for acceptance by self and others is everything as high schoolers gain a better understanding of themselves as a friend, partner, student, and job-worker. What better way to get students interested in Rhetorical Analysis than to compare it to element’s of their everyday life.

To begin, students in English III at Byron Nelson High School deconstructed one of the nation’s oldest break up letters, the Declaration of Independence. They analyzed its literary text structure which included the Preamble (introduction to the conflict which is also the claim), the Declaration (rights and beliefs), a list of grievances (specific complaints), and a counterargument (perspective from the “other side”). Next, student’s scrutinized the popular Country song from Old Dominion called “Break Up with Him” to study the tricky use of sound counterargument.

As a culminating, summative activity, students then wrote their own break up letter using the rhetorical structures and devices they’ve been studying throughout the unit. The lesson objective states “Using “The Declaration of Independence” as a model, you must “declare your independence” from something that is a problem for you: something that makes your life difficult, unhappy, or stressful. This can be a relationship with a person, a problematic object, a bad habit, or even a situation you find yourself in often. You may be as creative as you like!" Once the subject of the essay was chosen, students then had to incorporate the rhetorical appeals of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos and include at least one rhetorical device of choice; furthermore, the location of these literary devices were easily located by color-coding the corresponding statements within their essay.

Breaking Up with Anxiety

Breaking Up With Sugar

Because of its cross-curricular emphasis through incorporating Historical text in conjunction with the relevant, meaningful, and personal context of the assignment, this lesson met multiple objectives outside of the English III, 15A TEK. This meets International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)’s standard of a Creative Communicator (6D) in which “Students publish or present content that customizes the message and medium for their intended audiences.” in addition to being a Knowledge Constructor (3D) in which “Students build knowledge by actively exploring real-world issues and problems, developing ideas and theories and pursuing answers and solutions.”

Additional examples include Breaking Up with Cats and Breaking Up with Loneliness.

Frankenstein Project Based Learning: It's ALIVE!

Students in Mrs. Day's English I GT class recently completed work on an amazing project based lesson over Mary Shelley's classic novel, Frankenstein.  According to the project instructions, students were tasked with creating a portfolio of artifacts that answered the driving question: Does knowledge or progress ever become a moral liability? Student groups chose their own area of scientific advancement to research, then explored the driving question from different perspectives and considered both the positive and negative effects of advancement. Based on their subject they created four products of their choosing to represent their findings and related them to the themes found in Frankenstein and how they apply to the world today.

The group of Michael, Matthew, Marcos, and Jonathan chose to do their project on robots and the future of artificial intelligence. "This project was fun because we got to put our own spin on it, both by choosing our own products and in how we did the presentation, which we did as a skit," said Michael. Jonathan elaborated that they "appreciated the product list Mrs. Day gave us because we got to choose what digital tools to use in order to more efficiently represent our topic." This way, students not only got to choose the topic themselves, but they also chose what tools to use. This allowed them to represent their thoughts on the subjects they chose as they related them to the lessons in the book. Michael explained that their research gave them a different "perspective on whether people should do things rather than if they could do things."

The group started by using a Google Doc to plan out the project, including their subject, research, pros/cons of the subject, links to resources and products, and even a script for their presentation. They decided to use a Google Slides presentation to present their portfolio of artifacts, which can be seen here:

The group used multiple tools to create their products.  For example, Matthew used Lucidpress to create their preparing for a Robot Uprising pamphlet "because it had lots of built-in design options for making pamphlets."  They used Imgur to create a Wanted poster for a rogue robot.  Marcos said the ability to choose their own tools, like Canva, and create their own products was very helpful.  He explained that it "gave us ideas how to connect things back to the book.  I chose the Survivor Shopping List because I thought that people would need to know what they'd need to survive, similar to what Frankenstein needed."

Check out the presentation above to see all the products as they were presented, which was in the form of an interactive skit.  The ability of these students to choose their route of learning was evident in every step of this project, and is represented in the quality of their products.  "I love the way these students draw comparisons between a novel from 1818 and modern day technology," said Mrs. Day. "These students prove that literature and the lessons it teaches are always relevant."

Student-Run Newspaper Brings Campus Events to the World

Eaton High School is in its inaugural year, and the campus newspaper already has an online media presence. Even more impressive, it is run by the Newspaper class, which consists of three students.

Jordan, Mara, and Callie Ann describe their student-run Newspaper:

"Eaton High School’s journalism students have created an online newspaper housed on the Eaton HS web page, where the students upload stories, videos and photos of school news, features and events. The newspaper also reaches students and the community by student-run Twitter and Instagram accounts, posting daily newsworthy photos and captions. Students also create Youtube videos edited in Adobe Premiere Pro, also posted to the newspaper page and Youtube, including highlights of sport events, school activities, and student interest videos."

Eagle Media on Twitter

Tweets by @eatoneaglemedia
Direct link: https://twitter.com/eatoneaglemedia

Eagle Media on Instagram

Direct link: https://www.instagram.com/eatoneaglemedia

Eaton Online Newspaper

Direct link: http://www.nisdtx.org/Page/60120

Students frequently collaborate with each other to decide the best wording for each post before posting to the accounts. Using these digital platforms, students connect campus events with an instant, authentic audience. The Twitter and Instagram accounts have several followers -- 67 and 79, respectively, as of the publication date of this blog post -- and continues to grow. Students are also planning to present at this year's Techno Expo event to showcase how technology has transformed their learning. Make sure to stop by their presentation on Feb 25 to hear about their experience!

Student Blog Develops Better Writers

Student blogs are not uncommon; having students interact with each other and with the world is a valuable learning experience. This blog project is unique in that it is a student-run class blog which spans the entire school year and incorporates multiple skills needed to be successful writers. Each class period manages their own blog, where students all contribute.

Project Driving Questions: 

• How can we make blogs interesting and relevant? 
• How can sustained, interactive writing, published over time improve author voice and style?

Goals for students during the project: 

• Develop personal writing voice 
• Grow as a writer 
• Become more comfortable sharing writing 
• Considering tone and purpose in writing 
• Brainstorming, drafting, facilitating peer review and feedback 
• Craft a professional and safe online presence 

The overall process:

Students choose one journalist whose work they will follow throughout the year to (1) become familiar with both current events and pop culture, and (2) analyze and assess author style and voice. For each post, students pick a current topic that their journalist wrote about. Students then qualify, refute, or defend their journalist’s stance on the issue, providing evidence from personal experiences or text-to-text/text-to-world connections. By engaging with an author’s existing work, students enter into a rhetorical dialogue, and by posting that dialogue on a blog, they invite others to participate in that conversation. 

In Ms. Lloyd's 8th period class, students created their STEM Journalism Review blog (http://stemapenglish8.weebly.com) and have already begun posting and commenting. The topics about which students write include politics, economics, education, medical, race & culture, science, and technology. 

Kira, the Blog Master for 8th period, oversees all posts from other students. There are four blog teams, each with a team leader. Team leaders submit each blog post from their team members to Kira for evaluation and feedback. Once the post is approved by Kira, she sends the blog post to the teacher for final approval. After the posts have been published online, students go into the blog and comment on each other's blog posts. According to Kira, this process helps students develop their own writing style and helps them understand writing styles, grammar, and organize thoughts. 

For example, Garrett writes a response to an article by Frank Bruni, describing a new way of thinking about the value and effectiveness of the college experience. 

The blog is still in its beginning stages; as this is a year-long project, readers are encouraged to revisit the blog to watch it grow. 

#rhetoricislife