The Rise of Common Schools Project

HELP US FINISH OUR PROJECT

Monday, September 22nd, 2014 and Thursday, September 25th, 2014 is the final day of the below lesson for my three sections of Schools and Society. If I have contacted you it is because I would like for you to use Twitter to ask my students a question about education that they will answer from the historical perspective of their character. For example, you might ask Catharine Beecher, "@(Beecher handle goes here) What do you think about Title IX? #TWU2003" or you could ask the same question to the entire class. All you have to do to ask a question is add the hashtag #TWU2003 in your tweet, but you can also ask a specific actor by including their Twitter handle(s) (e.g., @EraTeacher) found below. The key is making sure to add the #TWU2003 hashtag to any tweet so I can see it. 

My students will be answering questions at the following times: 

• Class 1: Wednesday, September 24th from 9:40-10:10am
• Class 2: Wednesday, September 24th from 1:10-1:40pm
• Class 3: Thursday, September 25th from 5:50-6:10pm

You can also leave questions beforehand. Thanks for your help in expanding our lesson beyond our classroom walls.

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RISE OF COMMON SCHOOLS PROJECT

In looking for a way to teach the students in my Schools and Society class about the rise of common schools in the United States I did what many teachers do - I modified a lesson from another teacher, my friend Michael Milton (@42thinkdeep). Michael and I wrote about how he used blogs and Twitter to teach his high school students to take historical perspectives of Enlightenment philosophers, and even consider how their perspectives might be pertinent to issues today (Krutka & Milton, 2013). While I had taught about the rise of common schools before I was searching for a way to make the lesson more dynamic and lasting for my students. Michael's lesson seemed an appropriate model.

In addition to creating THIS DIGITAL TIMELINE TOGETHER, I began by assigning my students to read a blog post on the rise of common schools called “Education to the Masses” (link) and also watch a video online titled “The Common School: 1770-1890” (link). I reinforced the ideas in these two assignments by using primary documents (e.g., historical quotes, letters, a video clip, pictures) to complete a station activity (link). Students moved from station-to-station with small groups of 2-3 students in four minute increments and were encouraged to consider the questions, "How and why did the Common (public) School movement come to fruition in the United States?" and "Who was included and marginalized within early schools?" I walked around the class and answered questions or provided further context when needed. We also created and studies a digital timeline we created together (link). For homework, groups of students chose one historical actor to research further. The list included:

Blog posts and Twitter handle to be added shortly*

• A colonial-era school teacher (Class 1: @colonialTeach; Class 2: ; Class 3: )

• Thomas Jefferson (Class 1: @T_JeffersonUV; Class 2: ; Class 3: )

• Benjamin Rush (Class 1: @BenjiGoldRush; Class 2: ; Class 3: )

• Noah Webster (Class 1: @Dictionaryking; Class 2: ; Class 3: )

• Horace Mann (Class 1: @horacemann_; Class 2: ; Class 3: )

• Bishop John Hughes (Class 1: ; Class 2: ; Class 3: )

• Sarah Roberts (Class 1: @sarahroberts_18; Class 2: ; Class 3: )

• Catharine Beecher (Class 1: @catharinebeechr; Class 2: ; Class 3: )

• Immigrant student (Class 1: @ImmigrantC)

While some of these characters (e.g., Jefferson, Mann) are well known to the common school movement, others helped bring forth important issues that faced early schools (e.g., Bishop John Hughes - issues of church and state; Sarah Roberts - issues of (de)segregation in Massachusetts; Catharine Beecher - gender issues). Groups sought out new sources and added notes to a collaborative Google Drive document prior to attending class.

Once in class, students were asked to write a blog post reintroducing their character to the world as if they had returned to assess how public schools were doing in their wake. Blog posts were required to provide a historical context for their actor and explain their contribution to the rise of public schools. Students completed their post on a Google Drive document and then "shared" it with me and I posted it to this blog (riseofcommonschools.blogspot.com). Once this was completed, students and I created a Twitter account by which they could share their blog posts with each other and other educators. The Twitter accounts were to include an avatar, a creative handle, and an accurate bio. Students then used these accounts to share their blog posts using a common class hashtag - #TWU2003. Students were asked to read the other posts to prepare for an assessment. Finally, I sought out other educators to ask students questions about how they would view specific problems facing education today. This required students to not only answer from a historical perspective, but research (when necessary) issues that educators should consider as leaders of their field.

References

Brackemyre, T. (2012). Education to the masses: The rise of public education in early America. U.S. HistoryScene (blog). Retrieved from: http://www.ushistoryscene.com/uncategorized/riseofpubliceducation/

Krutka, D.G. & Milton, M.K. (2013). The Enlightenment meets Twitter: Using social media in the social studies classroom. Ohio Social Studies Review, 50(2), 22-29.

Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (2001). "Episode 1: The Common School: 1770-1890" In School: The story of American public education. Retrieved from: http://www.fmgondemand.com/play/libsc1