As a social studies educator I strive to motivate and challenge my students to evaluate the world around them.  Especially in today’s information age, it is crucial that students learn to critically question and assess the messages they receive from multiple mediums.  Not only do I challenge students to think critically, but also to strengthen their abilities to communicate effectively through writing.



Connecting Content & Research

 During the Confronting Bias Project I have challenged my students to examine the historical fight for civil rights as well as the contemporary psychological significance of ending bias, discrimination and prejudice. Students from my US history and AP Psychology courses engaged in academic research and writing.   

In order to improve student writing, I collaborated with University of Wisconsin Milwaukee professors on a online-conferencing initiative.  University students acted as my high school students’ writing tutors with the use of the Internet for online conferencing.  Online conferencing improved students’ writing abilities and engagement in the writing process as well as to host discussions about bias on the Internet.



Beyond Research Papers

Students then used their multi-draft research papers to create a digital documentary further examining their topics by holding interviews with professionals in our community.  By creating a digital documentary, students were able to bring their research to life, and explore the ways in which our community strives to confront issues of bias.  Specifically, students interviewed psychologists, speech pathologists, social workers and graduate students studying communicative disorders at the University of Wisconsin Madison.

 

Connecting Community



After making the film, I worked with my students to organize a community event, collaborating with local Time Warner Cable stations, our public museum, local organizations as well as usage of the Internet.  The community event welcomed a diverse audience of 200 people.  Students also were awarded a youth leadership grant to screen their film and educate our community.  In the process of this project, I helped students to create resources to model, assess and document the stages of the process, in order to enable other students and teachers to implement similar projects.