Why Teaching Geography Rules.

This is my 3rd year teaching World Geography at my current school. I like our curriculum because it places a great emphasis on student engagement with global issues. Prior to my teaching in Taiwan I taught AP Human Geography. I've found that I truly enjoy teaching both versions of the course. What's the difference? It's pretty simple, in the non-AP version I can slow down, do interesting projects, and spend more time talking about things that feel a bit more random. AP Human Geography is a worthwhile class both for student and teacher, but I must admit, it's nice to know that I don't have to prep anyone for the big test this year.


At any rate here is just a few quick reasons as to why teaching geography rules:


1) It validates what has been dismissed as lacking in educational quality or merit.

One of my favorite things to teach my students about in class is cultural diffusion. The other day this latest fad on youtube was sent to me by a few different sources. At first I just laughed and bobbed my head along to the tune, but that changed later that day when I realized just how widely spread this has become. Housewives in California, the Oregon Duck, a squad of Naval officers at Annapolis, it's crazy. There were also some great articles by media sources stretching from the Philippines to Chicago, and all of it was devoted to one Korean's mocking jab at the rich of Korea. Seth Dixon did a great write up about this on his scoopit website.

Then there's metal, my favorite genre of music. I love folks like the Requiem Metal Podcast and film makers like Sam Dunn for promoting the intellectual side of the genre. It's folks like this that appreciate the music for its art form, its statements about society, as well as its reflection of various cultural ideas.

Check out the trailer to Sam Dunn's documentary Global Metal 

So what do you do with all of this? For my class I intend to use both Psy's Gangnam Style and Dunn's Global Metal as examples of cultural diffusion, globalization, and as a means to discuss how local cultures interpret global cultural ideas. "How do ideas spread globally?" and "How do local cultures assimilate global ideas?" are two essential questions that come to mind.

For the metal I'm thinking lyrical and musical analysis: Perhaps Aces High by Iron Maiden, Holy Mountains by System of a Down, Quell the Souls in Sing Ling Temple by Taiwan's Chthonic to start. I'm looking to add a couple more to that list, perhaps some Sepultura.

For Gangnam style I'm hoping to be a bit bolder, I'd like the kids to create an "IBSH Gangnam style" video, we'll see how that unfolds.




2) The critical geography lens, you can look at something random and see geography in it.

Case in point, does it get more random than this idea?

This a bridge built for animal use in Alberta, Canada. There are more examples of this here: Wildlife Overpasses.

I love this picture. It's an excellent example of human-environment interaction. What I love about it most however, I feel like this is something a kid in elementary school came up with. Also it make me think of the West Wing's Big Block of Cheese episode: The Story of Pluie.




3) All the fun maps.

When I was a student it never occurred to me what could be on a map besides physical aspects (mountains, rivers, etc.) and political aspects (borders, capitals, cities, etc.). Since I began teaching geography I had my perception of what a map is and what information a map can display be completely altered and challenged time and again.

Here are some fun ones (Go here,  here, or HERE for more):

Teach geography, it's fun, it rules and it matters.

-W

BEIGIN 2013: Footsteps at the Great Wall

The following was originally a guest blog post I did back in November 2013 following my trip to the EARCOS BEIGIN Conference. I traveled with a small group of my Global Issues Network (GIN) students to the International School of Beijing. Enjoy!

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What can you say about a wall? Let alone what is argued to be the greatest wall of them all? Here’s a thought that came to mind.

Footsteps. Consider those who came before you. Consider your story in a place. I’m a history teacher, so naturally my thoughts often rush towards this avenue. In my classroom we call it point of view analysis, or POV for short. The analysis is a discussion of what POV existed and why it existed in the form that it did. My thoughts were on the people who came before and who were with me on that brisk November morning. A thought occurred to me halfway through our hike to the top, and I shared it with E, a student of mine who made the trek with me.

“Seriously, why bother with the wall? Isn’t climbing over a mountain enough for a Mongol?”

“I don’t think that’s the point, Mr. Walker. Besides, I’m pretty sure a Mongol could climb up here no problem.” E possesses gumption, that quality in a person that respectfully cries “bullshit” on whoever is speaking; it’s part of the reason why I like teaching her so much.

Our conversation made the trek seem lighter, but I couldn’t help but think that E had a point about the relative health of people. Here I was a pampered, somewhat “husky”, white guy. I could feel my heartbeat in my throat. I was motivated for a scenic view and the ability to say, “I climbed the wall.”

Those that came before must have had better motivation for their climb. “There are riches to be gained through conquering.” Or “I climb, because my life is to protect what’s on the other side.” These thoughts occurred to me between deep breaths and countless steps up. I’d have to imagine that be you a Mongol or a Chinese dynasty defender, you must have had a better standard of physical health and prowess. The fatigue in my quads, hamstrings, and calf muscles would later attest to that. I’m fairly certain a Mongol could pull 300 pounds on a deadlift and perhaps push half as much in an overhead squat. I was humbled; I’ve been eating more vegetables since I got home.

Those first few steps onto the wall, looking out onto the surrounding countryside awash with fall colors; my first words were an epiphany “Ok, I get it.” I’m sure that there are both practical and symbolic reasons for building and protecting or climbing and conquering; for me it was quite simple: this was a spot worth owning.

What’s the POV story behind my kids and I dropping our studies in Taiwan to wing our way towards Mainland China? We came, to Quest like A Tribe does, but more importantly we came for H20: Hope, Humanity, Opportunity.

In addition to my daily teaching duties, I’m also a faculty advisor for our school’s chapter of the Global Issues Network (GIN). If you’ve never heard of us here’s a link to learn more. The short version, it’s an organization started by one who became disillusioned by the top-down nature of solving global issues (i.e. the UN, World Bank, etc.). GIN embodies a mentality of “think global, act local.” The idea is to inspire local community efforts, and a network of communication between these local communities. The hope is to inspire the growth of globally minded citizens whose work can aid in the resolution of global issues. Think dialogue vs. debate. It’s a model I can get behind. To give you an example, last year my kids worked on the issue of global migrant labor. Specifically we dealt with domestic migrant labor in Taiwan, and the exploitation rights that these people suffer under. It’s an eye-opening glimpse into the reality of how a great deal of labor is accomplished in the world. But this isn’t the place to discuss last year’s work.

What does this all have to do with traveling to Beijing?

Well, it was our annual conference, BeiGIN 2013. The conference theme was water, hence the H20: Hope, Humanity, Opportunity. The entire weekend was devoted to helping students and teachers alike to come together, share ideas, foster connections, and stimulate globally minded civic action. It was like being in a pressure-cooker of awesome. The caliber of people who attended was tremendous. I’d urge you to check out the conference website, especially the keynote speaker videos. Fun fact the website was made by 3 teenage girls at the International School of Beijing.

How did we end up on the Great Wall?

The host school provided this activity as an outlet to help a local issue in their community. Education for all, is a hot a topic in global issues. Our hike to the top of the wall was a part of the “Walk for Change.” An annual event focused on supporting the Love and Hope Center. The money raised will serve as school tuition for young people trapped in cycle of poverty.

Footsteps. My time on the Great Wall was brief. As one colleague put it, “I wish that we had a day to just keep walking up here.” I couldn’t agree more. I also think it’s important to stop and be mindful of your footsteps, and those that came before. Added time in this regard would’ve been welcomed by me. I imagine that the wall has seen a great deal of footsteps in its time. Its memory must be as long as the countless miles that it winds into the horizon. With regard to my memory, and to my footsteps, I’ll keep my moment of epiphany; “Ok I get it.” It’s that moment where I stood, where I saw the land, the faces of my students and thought about my footsteps—that is a spot worth owning.

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The Pursuit of Lively Student Engagement

Perhaps it was a hint that I should've been more aware of in my youth, but I've always had a way with talking to younger people. When I first became a teacher my family pointed to my ability command the attention of other kids at various family and community functions. Apparently I've had a way about me that helps get honest conversations going.

In my teaching I've sought to keep that sort of tradition going. There is no greater force in a classroom than a group of students who can listen intently and respond genuinely. In an American cultural context, back in my days in Philadelphia, class discussion was always interesting. The student body often had quite the cadre of charismatic and vocal young men and ladies. Of course there will always be quiet ones--students hesitate as much as they think about the discussion material, and yes there is apathy. I will say this though, there never felt like there was total silence.

Total silence is what made my first few months in Taiwan a challenge for me. It was my first time where I encountered total reverent silence in response to my normal routine of enticing my students to join in on the fun of class discussion. It had been suggested by my colleagues that more often than not our students preferred to remain quiet, and to let the teacher do most of the talking. Why? My belief is the difference of cultural context. My students came into my classroom with a different lens and set of expectations than my own. So for the first few months, outside of infrequent clarifying questions, my classroom was relatively one-sided with regard to discussion.

A lot has changed since then.

I'm a big believer in teacher inquiry research. A simple understanding of it is this; combine what academia thinks, what other teachers think, and most importantly include what you think. No teacher, no matter how many years of teaching they have under their belt, is any less the educated and trained professional than their peers. Take that combination of academia, the thoughts of yourself and your peers; then envision you classroom as a lab of sorts. Use that lab to try out new ideas, reflect and adjust. Pursue new questions as you struggle to achieve success and growth. It's a paradigm shift from what we often think of when considering "expert" status and teacher development. Normally we wait for PD sessions and for a consecrated expert to hand to us answers from on high. While the experience of good a PD session cannot be understated, I'd suggest that perhaps teachers should begin by looking to each other and their school community first. For some great reading on this topic I'd suggest checking out the work of  Marilyn Cochran-Smith and Susan L. Lytle.

My pursuit of a more lively classroom began with a simple question, "How can I encourage greater participation that is student centered and primarily student-owned." The pursuit and a general rise in student participation first focused on building student understandings that the textbook and I were not the central fountain of knowledge in the classroom. At first we embraced a once-a-week seminar session, to give the students a schedule to cling to. My primary focus in this effort was to help establish the norm once-a-week that I was merely another person in our discussion circle. I later found greater success when I removed myself from the circle entirely (you can't focus on me and ignore your peers if I'm not sitting face-to-face with you). Students were tasked with the responsibility of sharing discussion facilitation. One student in particular was also assigned the task of writing up our discussion agenda complete with questions. I, of course, helped revise and finalize the student discussion agenda in the early weeks.

The format I used for the class was the Harkness Discussion method. I did a lot of reading and research prior to starting, here's a brief intro to the method's history, and here's a good teacher model. I used these resources as a starting point for understanding the method in a teaching and learning context. I also spoke with the ever-wonderful Mr. Choquette who had prior experience utilizing the method. I was able to pick up some good tips for mapping the discussion and providing student feedback. His early ideas on mapping the discussions helped me evolve and come up with my own system and style.

Here's what I mean by "mapping the discussion."

In the two years since beginning implementation of this method in my World History AP (WHAP) class and Honors Geography course I've seen a few simple results:

1. A general increase in prior to class student prep, and in-class participation.
2. The students are generally more at ease with one another and myself.
3. A rise in student confidence during classes outside of seminar class periods.

Perhaps the best outcome of utilizing this method was student improvement upon my initial thoughts and plans. Here's the handout I give my students to clarify the seminar expectations:

See the PDF on google drive.

The students, in their efforts to resolve questions before moving on and to give a clear sense of the material covered, developed a practice in between discussion topics. The method is called "chainsawing." In short, before the group permits itself to move forward from one discussion topic/question to the next, the student facilitator elects one of their peers to recap what was covered during the topic/question. The students then signal they are ready to move on by making chainsaw noises and moving their arms in a "sawing" motion. Why chainsaws? Two reasons: 

1. A particularly charismatic and intelligent young-lady had made chainsaws in general a bit of class joke. 
2. The students likened the act of recapping to "sawing up the topic/question into its basic parts to allow for easier understanding." 

It's an unorthodox title, but I love it. I've incorporated this device into all of my classes now, and all the students upon first learning about how to chainsaw always have a good laugh; it endears them to the process. I can dig it.  

Where are we with this today?

Last week my WHAP class kicked off our weekly seminars with a discussion World Civilizations Chapter 7: Abbasid Decline and the Spread of Islam to South and Southeast Asia. I modeled the facilitator's role, here's the agenda I created for my students.

This week my students take on their first solo seminar. They'll be discussing Chapter 8 and the topic of Islam's spread to Africa. I'm excited to see what they'll come up with.

DID YOU SEE THAT CATCH?: Teaching How to Analyze Historical Documents

October 22, 2011: A Great Day to Be a Spartan!

I can distinctly remember watching the MSU vs. Wisconsin football game on October 22, 2011. I remember holding my breath as the ball sailed through the air, cheering as our wide receiver caught the pass, and anxiously waiting for the refs to confirm the touchdown. I never thought, "wow this would be great for teaching kids how to analyze historical document accounts!"

My WHAP students were met with that particular youtube clip today when they came into class. Taiwan doesn't exactly have the largest American Football fan base. So I wanted to address my concerns of cultural capital before launching into my lesson. Following the video I asked, we talked game rules and about positions (quarterback, wide receiver, and defensive back), then I asked them to consider the event as if they had missed the television broadcast. How would you learn about "the catch", how good "the catch" was, and the outcome of the game?

It's an interesting set of questions for students. It asks them to consider how they could find out, what that information might show, and naturally lead them to consider the limitations of that information. In studying history we have the same dilemma. History is a debate about the past, no one source is enough to attain a complete picture of historical events.

With regard to our MSU vs. Wisconsin game the students came up with an immediate list of potential sources and document types to consider:

Students: 

"Ask someone who was at the game." 

"Talk to the players."

"Read a newspaper."

"Check out ESPN." 

Mr. Walker: What's strong about our list of ideas, what's weak?

After a quick discussion of strengths, weaknesses, and the inevitable discussion of bias. We move on to some actual documents. The Football DBQ Activity is a great way to engage the students in an approachable context. Showing the clip of a football pass for non-American students is also a great way to help build that context. The introduction, or background context for the documents, is not unlike the improbable passing play from the MSU vs. Wisconsin game earlier.

Here's a quick list of what I like about this activity:

1. It gives the students 9 documents, with a wide variety of viewpoints. Students need to understand that in the case of historical analysis more evidence is better!
2. The viewpoints are easily sorted. Pro-team #1, Pro-team #2, objective/neutral. It provides strong in-roads for discussing context of each document as well as the purpose or agenda each document might possess.
3. The documents are short and to the point. When teaching students how to approach documents, direct and accessible information is best.

In addition to the accessibility of the Football DBQ Activity, I further support my students with a simple model for analyzing historical accounts; it's called SOAPSTone.

If your kids are anything like my students, then they want to find the right answer and they want it to be simple, i.e. easy to write down. Many of the items in the list below might have that simple aspect at times, but with regard to my course simple identification isn't enough--you've got to think it through!

• Speaker -- the speaker in the document, it may or may not be the author, it gives the reader a "personal/individual context" for understanding the document.
• Occasion -- the "surrounding context" in which the document was created, i.e. what chronological circumstances surround the document.
• Audience -- who was the document intended for? Is it implicitly or explicitly stated?
• Purpose -- Why this document was created.
• Subject -- a quick understanding of the document's topic.
• Tone -- the mood expressed in the documents phrasing, syntax, and vocabulary choices.

*Blue are typically prior to reading skills, and green are typically during or post-reading skills.

When you combine the two, the activity and model, you might end up with a discussion like this:

Who is the SPEAKER? What shapes her point of view (POV)?

What is the OCCASION? In what context did Mary share her POV?

Who is the AUDIENCE? To whom was Mary directing her thoughts?

What is the PURPOSE? What views does Mary have? What purpose might her words serve?

What is the SUBJECT? What did Mary tell us?

What is the TONE? What sort of mood or emotion does Mary convey? How do you know?

Full Disclosure: I'm a 2nd year WHAP teacher and I borrowed this lesson idea from one of my amazing WHAP mentors, Mr. John Maunu. Here's a link to the Football DBQ Activity I gave to my students. I also made extensive use of the SOAPSTone method for analyzing historical documents.

Buy, Use, Toss? -- A Geography Unit on Consumption

Take a moment and think.

In the last hour how much water have you consumed? Did this drink come out of a tap? Did you pay for the water at a machine or store? Did it come in a plastic bottle? Was the water an ingredient in a beverage you consumed? Was the water you consumed a part of a meal? How much water did it take to process your clothing?

Consumption is something that most folks don't give much thought to. I understand the initial lack of thought. Chances are if you are reading this entry on a computer that you own, you've probably never had to worry about meeting your basic needs in life (food, water, shelter, etc.). Privilege is something that floats in the back of our mind, it's slippery and invisible at times. Beyond privilege consumption can be masked by the fact that it is a daily non-stop occurrence. We consume to live and thrive. How is it that I can't quite put a finger on how much water I've consumed in the last hour? Why haven't I stopped to think about this more? Do you share my struggle dear readers?

I know that I can say that in the last hour I've consumed a lot of water. At least 1000ml. My students like to tease me about the bright orange 1000ml nalgene bottle that I walk around with.

"Mr. Walker, IT MATCHES YOUR SHOES! Did you plan that?"

Yes it does, and sadly no, but I love the idea of color coordination.

The truth be told though I know that I've consumed much more than my usual 1000ml per hour or two. I went home, I made a meal and cleaned up afterwards. Water was in virtually every food product that I used, and the time my tap ran while I scrubbed my dish that's another moment of consumption. If you move away from the obvious usage of water there are other things to take into account. How does my consumption of various materials, the dishes I ate off, the dish soap I used, the containers that my food was packaged in prior to meal preparation. I'm seem to be using quite a lot of stuff without thinking too much about it. (Here's a fun calculator to estimate your water usage.)

Therein lies my challenge as an educator. How can I take this line of inquiry, this curious realization about consumption, and turn it into a teachable moment?

In my Honors Geography class we spend a great deal of time focusing on geographic thinking, the intersection between human and physical geography, and how many of these topics are related to current global issues. Our current global issue is consumption.

Today's lesson was all about introducing the topic.

So how do you approach that, how do you get kids fired up about "material goods" and "material consumption"? I used a bird.

What do you see class?

This is a Gooney Bird of the Midway Atoll. Isn't it cute?

I pushed my kids to consider the issue within the framework of a geographer's question: 

Why and how is something happening, in a certain place, with certain outcomes?

Why are numerous gooney birds of the Midway Atoll dying with stomachs full of plastic?

Borrowed from The Independent. "The World's Rubbish Dump: A Tip that Stretches from Hawaii to Japan." 2/05/2008

From here it's pulling back the veil and letting the students to form their own conclusions. I was shocked when I first saw this info graphic. It got me to thinking, What does this image say about the world and its consumption habits?

My students and I are embarking upon a study of global issues regarding consumption and the current world systems that impact our consumption habits. The next step after birds is all about the kids. They are monitoring and recording their consumption habits for the next 24 hours.

I can't wait to see what they will come up and what they'll deem to be a luxury and necessity in their life.