1. North vs. South: The Survey
Please take our survey by and following the link in the latest Tweet Or Enter the following link into your browser: Scan this QR Code:

2. Soda or Pop? Virtually Connecting Classrooms to Explore Cultural Identities, Stereotypes, & Perceptions
Laurie Hogan-McLean, Mattawan Middle School
Susan Schierbeek, Mattawan Middle School
Dayna Browning, Auburn Junior High School
Kim Johnson, Auburn Junior High School

3. Welcome The South (Auburn, Alabama)
Dayna Browning:
Kim Johnson:
The North (Mattawan, Michigan)
Laurie Hogan-McLean:
Susan Schierbeek:
Anne Weston:

4. Our Essential Questions
What are stereotypes?
How are stereotypes formed and broken?
What are the cultural differences within America?
How do factors like culture and geography shape us and influence our lives?

5. What We Do What we do together: Blog Take surveys Analyze film Read
Write
Reflect
Publish writing
Respond to poetry
Write poetry
Video conference
Tip: Pick and choose from these components to
make your own unit or add these elements to a
unit you already love and use!

6. What We Found Students led and participated in rich conversations.
Students came to new understandings about themselves, their cultures and how perspectives shape their lives.

7. We Found out a Lot!
Students came to class excited and begging to Skype or blog every day during the unit.
Students wrote and responded to others’ writing in thoughtful and meaningful ways.
Students wanted to learn & practice digital citizenship.

9. Common Core
This unit hits a bajillion standards. Check out our website to see what piece of the unit aligns to which standards.

10. A Quick Tour Through Our Unit
Step 1: THE HOOK! Stereotypes Survey and “Day & Night” Pixar film.
Step 2: AHA MOMENTS. Examine survey results.
Step 3: TOUGH QUESTIONS. Video conference & blog.
Step 4: READ TO LEARN MORE. Shared readings.
Step 5: DEEP TALK. Blogging and video conference 2.
Step 6: LET’S WRITE. Common and shared writings.
Step 7: REFLECT. Reflective essay.
Step 8: EXTEND. Documentary film production and peer review.

11. Surveys Made Easy
We recommend using Google Forms – you can easily share, edit, and create pretty pie charts to review survey results!
Your results

12. Survey Results – The Expected
Alabama
Michigan

13. Survey Results – The Unexpected
Alabama
Michigan

14. Survey Results – Cultural Views
Alabama
Michigan

15. Film Analysis Pixar’s short “Day & Night”
Use Notice and Note strategies to deeply analyze what’s happening in the film
See “A Tall Order for Pixar Shorts” NCTE 2013 Boston presentation for further instructions

16. Video Conferencing What we used: Google Hangouts
Other options: Skype, Facetime, Tango
What we talked about the first time:
Unpack the survey results
Let them be curious – they want to ask questions about weather, styles, food, music, etc.

17. Let’s get Digital Blogging (we use Weebly):
Set clear rules for students
Have students post using first names and school initials
Set clear topics for deeper discussion but also allow for students to ask those “style, favorites, what do you do” questions that might not have been answered in the initial video conference (you might be surprised by the new understandings they come to in these informal discussions)

21. And their posts make you laugh…

22. Learning About Stereotypes Through Text
Fiction:The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, Downsiders Neil Schusterman, Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Multi-genre short texts: articles, podcasts, videos, poems, personal essays, songs, etc.
How to do it together?
More blogging!
Another video conference

23. Making Information Accessible
Helping all students be successful information navigators

30. Connecting through Conversation

32. The 2nd Video Conference
It’s time to get deep…

34. Writing Elements “This I Believe” Essays “Two-tone” Poems
“Where I’m From” Poems
Reflection Essay

35. Two-Tone Poetry Discussion

36. “This I Believe” Discussion

37. We’re Expanding! C-SPAN Documentaries
Our other big expansion ideas: multi-media presentations, co-authored stories or essays, debates, service projects, book clubs

38. What connected classrooms do for students
Gives them an authentic audience
Sets a real purpose for learning
Creates a safe space to explore stereotypes and “non-PC” things

40. How can this work for you?
List 5 important novels or units you teach.
List 5 social issues you think are most relevant for your students.
What are two essential questions integrated into your teaching that you want to address better?

41. Examples
Novels or Units: Romeo & Juliet, Canterbury Tales, Poetry Unit, Animal Farm, Of Mice and Men, Personal Essays, Persuasive Writing
Social Issues: Prejudice, Politics, Immigration, War, Social Media, Identity
Essential Questions: How can social media shape identity? How can poetry help us express ourselves? How much of an influence does fate play in our lives?

42. Focus
Circle the top 2-3 units or issues you want to consider using for creating a collaborative classroom.

43. Share: What are texts, questions, ideas you have for implementing a connected classroom?

44. Connect with us
Check out our website and our new teacher connect page at
us!
Dayna Browning:
Kim Johnson:
Laurie Hogan-McLean:
Susan Schierbeek:

47. Question and Answer