Head of Social Science Department
I took over as the Head of the Social Science Department in March, 2016. Since that time I have been working on the development of our department in a number of ways, from modifying curriculum based on student data to developing the school's first International Day, in addition to ensuring the Department engages in discussions and programs to enhance best practice within the social sciences and beyond.
International Day
The school Director Dr. Vallapa requested that the school should have an International Day and, seeing that it could be incorporated into our 10th and 11th grade curriculum, the Social Science Department took on planning for and implementing the event. Despite the limited amount of planning time and funding, the day was a huge success. You can see a video summary of the day below.
International Day
The school Director Dr. Vallapa requested that the school should have an International Day and, seeing that it could be incorporated into our 10th and 11th grade curriculum, the Social Science Department took on planning for and implementing the event. Despite the limited amount of planning time and funding, the day was a huge success. You can see a video summary of the day below.
As the Head of the Social Science Department, my goal for International Day was to make it a student-centered learning event, and to ensure that it helped to foster the idea of being members of a global community.
The planning phase included collaboration between myself, the school Director, the Head of Student Services and the Building Staff team as well as Human Resources to secure funding for the student learner activities to planning the event space. We even worked to bring in vendors from an International Restaurant and representatives from the Dutch and Swedish Embassies.
In working to ensure the event was a student-centered learning experience, students elected leaders within their classes and created roles for each student in planning for food preparation, costume design and cultural performances. Student leaders were tasked with allocating budgets and organizing human resources while students worked in collaborative teams to prepare for the day. The first two files below show how our department created the learning activities. Documents 3, 4, 5 and 6 show the planning portion that I took responsibility for in regards to the procurement of funding, planning the event space, scheduling the event and organizing teachers. The final document is a proposal which I am continuing to work on which will award the winning teams with the opportunity to use their prize money to fund micro-financing ventures to people around the world.
The planning phase included collaboration between myself, the school Director, the Head of Student Services and the Building Staff team as well as Human Resources to secure funding for the student learner activities to planning the event space. We even worked to bring in vendors from an International Restaurant and representatives from the Dutch and Swedish Embassies.
In working to ensure the event was a student-centered learning experience, students elected leaders within their classes and created roles for each student in planning for food preparation, costume design and cultural performances. Student leaders were tasked with allocating budgets and organizing human resources while students worked in collaborative teams to prepare for the day. The first two files below show how our department created the learning activities. Documents 3, 4, 5 and 6 show the planning portion that I took responsibility for in regards to the procurement of funding, planning the event space, scheduling the event and organizing teachers. The final document is a proposal which I am continuing to work on which will award the winning teams with the opportunity to use their prize money to fund micro-financing ventures to people around the world.
muids_international_day_pdf.pdf | |
File Size: | 343 kb |
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muids_international_day_budget_pdf.pdf | |
File Size: | 179 kb |
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international_day_set_up_final.pptx | |
File Size: | 43 kb |
File Type: | pptx |
muids_international_day_schedule.docx | |
File Size: | 261 kb |
File Type: | docx |
international_day_proposal_1.docx | |
File Size: | 81 kb |
File Type: | docx |
international_day_room_assignments_pdf.pdf | |
File Size: | 232 kb |
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international_day_prizes_pdf_new.pdf | |
File Size: | 363 kb |
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Collection of Student Data
As the Head of the Social Science Department, I continue to work on helping to bring best-practice to the Department and to the school. One of the Initiatives we are piloting includes Professional Learning Communities within subject specific teams. By using a system which focuses on the 'Plan, Implement, Study, Act' model - learning teams within our department have been able to gather meaningful student data which can be used to drive student instruction. Through common assessments including Diagnostic, Formative and Summative Assessment, we are able to collect meaningful data which can be used to modify curriculum and differentiate instructional techniques to better meet the needs of diverse learners.
The first file below shows data collection for all students, broken down by skills, for the Unit 1 Exam. The second file shows the progress monitoring form that students use to track their progress and growth.
The first file below shows data collection for all students, broken down by skills, for the Unit 1 Exam. The second file shows the progress monitoring form that students use to track their progress and growth.
World History Unit 1 Exam Results.xlsx | |
File Size: | 16 kb |
File Type: | xlsx |
Student Progress Monitoring.pdf | |
File Size: | 28 kb |
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This student data can be used for a variety of purposes, from helping students to take responsibility for their own learning to allowing teachers to see how instruction can be modified to meet student needs. One of the accomplishments I am most proud of is the use of this data to enact necessary curriculum change based on student needs.
Curriculum Change to Meet the Learning Needs of Students
Based on student demographic and assessment data, we were able to propose and change the structure of our curriculum, whereby World History and Geography would be a two-year course instead of a one-year course. Everyone in the Department knew the change needed to be made, but our collection of student data gave us the evidence we needed to make the proposal a success.
Use of Technology in the Classroom
Edmodo is a tool that not only helps teachers and students stay connected, it is a great source of formal and informal assessment data collection. At the beginning of the school year I gave a Professional Development Presentation to the teachers on how to use Edmodo to improve student learning. Since that time I have had on-going dialogue and worked with a number of teachers both inside and outside of the department on how to use Edmodo to benefit student learning outcomes. Below, you can see how Edmodo makes data collection quick and easy to use, giving instant feedback to both teacher and learner.
From the results of this assessment, the teacher can see that Question #1 may have been poorly worded, while the content and / or skill measured by questions #9 and #10 may need to be retaught. Other data will include which students have failed to meet learner outcomes and which outcomes they do not yet meet.
From the results of this assessment, the teacher can see that Question #1 may have been poorly worded, while the content and / or skill measured by questions #9 and #10 may need to be retaught. Other data will include which students have failed to meet learner outcomes and which outcomes they do not yet meet.