Back to School Night 2011
Kim Barben
kbarben@gvsd.org
10th Grade Western Civilizations
All students who did not take AP
Background Information on Ms.
Barben
• This is my 19th year teaching high school
Social Studies.
• I taught for 7 years at Haverford High School--the public school.
• This is my 12th year with Great Valley.
• Most of my years of teaching have been in
European History---it is my passion.
My Overall Educational Philosophy
• My goal is to bring European History to life to my
students.
• To get them to see that history is not dead and just
the memorization of facts.
• But to see the individuals who made history and to
understand their motivations, obstacles, and
impact.
• It is also to show my students how much of who we
are today as American citizens of the 21st century is
rooted in the formative events of European History.
My Educational Philosophy
• It is also important to teach our students the
importance of questioning and to appreciate the
rights we have with freedom of speech, press,
religion, the vote, etc…
• They must understand all the struggles and
sacrifices that were made by previous generations
to truly appreciate what we have today.
• To do this, we will be using a multiple of sources:
– We will start with the textbook.
– Then we will move to supplemental secondary readings.
– And then working with primary sources.
My Educational Philosophy
• I will also support the readings with my Historical
PowerPoints and personal experiences traveling in
Europe.
• This also helps to prepare the students for the
expectations for the American Studies Program, and
the American History Research Paper.
• In my classroom, students are not allowed to be
passive learners.
• Each day they are expected to play an active part in
the learning process through a variety of activities.
• This is how true learning occurs.
My Educational Philosophy
• To create this active learning experience, my lessons
will utilize:
– A mixture of individual, pair, group, and whole class
activities.
– Working with a wide variety of primary sources.
– Creation of higher level thinking projects and assessments
like political cartoons, propaganda posters, hero and wanted
posters, etc…
– Doing a variety of creative writing assignments to help bring
history alive and to also target literacy skills to support GV’s
English Program.
– Doing a variety of visual assessments.
– Presentations of ideas to the class.
– Full integration of the District initiatives of Reading
Apprenticeship and the Collins Writing Program
Recent Parent Testimonial
• “You are held in high esteem in our
house. You are a remarkable and gifted
teacher and we are so pleased that
Joy’s high school years were enriched
by having taken your course. You made
a real connection with our daughter.”
Course Requirements
• Midterm: Multiple choice questions that
come from their old unit tests and an essay
(covers first semester content)
• Final: Multiple choice questions that come
from their old unit tests and an essay (cover
second semester content)
Pacing
• The Social Studies Dept Chair has set covering through
the Causes of World War One for our end of the
semester curriculum ending point.
• This means we will be covering European History from
the Age of Absolute Monarchs in the end of the 16th
century to 1914 in the first semester.
• This is a lot of curriculum to cover, especially for
students who have little to no background in
European History.
• However, I will not be sacrificing long-term
understanding of the concepts and skills development
to race through content.
• It is a carefully planned balancing act.
Skills To Be Addressed:
• Reading Comprehension---A major emphasis
this year with the school district in all the
content areas---will be a regular component
of all lessons.
– There will be with a variety of texts and through the
use of primary and secondary sources following the
Reading Apprenticeship Program.
– This is when the students will be doing the Talking to
the Text.
• Organization---Notebooks
• Time Management---Homework Assignments
and Notebooks
Recent Talking to Text Testimonial
• Hey Ms. Barben!
• I'm sure your busy getting ready for the upcoming
school year and everything, but I just wanted to let you
know that I have officially moved into Liberty University
and have already had one class! Guess what my first
homework assignment was? TALKING TO THE TEXT. I
had to read 4 Chapters and highlight and comment on
everything! I now fully appreciate your teaching
techniques =]
• Thanks!
• -Katie Pagan
• P.S. I give you full permission to show this e-mail to
your classes when they complain about talking to the
text. =]
Skills To Be Addressed
• Writing Skills---A major emphasis this year with the school
district in all the content areas---will be a regular
component of all lessons.
• There will be a variety of writing activities following the
Collins Writing Program.
– Type Ones are to introduce a topic, a brainstorm, and are graded
on participation.
– Types Twos are to review and check for understanding. They are
graded on content and format.
– Type Threes: This will involve editing of a rough draft to be
included with a final draft and have the FCAS.
• Formal Thesis Writing/Persuasive Writing---Editorials, Speeches, Thesis
Essays
• Comparative Writing---Transfer, Triple, and Double-Entry Journals,
Artwork Explanations, and Thesis Essays
• Analytical Writing---Journals, Newspaper Articles, Writings based upon
Primary Sources
• Creative Writing---Diaries, Poetry, Music, etc…
Skills To Be Addressed
• Note-Taking--– Interactive Notebook Method,
– A Wide Variety of Graphic Organizers,
– Anno-Lighting---Talking to the Text,
– Pre-Write Organizers
• Working with Primary Documents---This will be
done in class with Quiet Questions, in Group
Activities, and in Homework Assignments.
• Public Speaking---Presentation of Group Projects
Former Student Testimonial
• Hey Ms. Barben,
•
• Just wanted to let you know that I am taking a
Holocaust class this semester to fulfill a Humanities
requirement. We are working jointly with a Holocaust
center in Rochester archiving information. I am using
some of the skills that you taught us during the
big project and am starting to appreciate how valuable
those skills are. College is hard, but I really like
Hobart. Thanks for everything.
•
• Alex Abel
Former Student Testimonial
• Hello Ms. Barben,
First, I wanted to say, I've actually been thinking about emailing you since my
first semester of college about something, but I have a bad habit of always
keeping myself busy. Although, I don't think that's a bad habit.
• But in my first semester, I had to take a class about writing papers and
thought it was funny because my professor complimented me on how well I
knew how to work on research papers, and I kept telling her that's because of
one class I took in high school. And then next thing I knew, I was doing
research papers in all my classes. It amazed me how many people knew
nothing about writing research papers nor did anybody know how to cite
sources within papers. And all I could think was how lucky I was so I wanted
to say thank you. I felt well prepared and a little ahead of the game upon
entering a lot of my classes, I even made a lot of friends in my classes because
I would help them with editing and little tips on all their papers.
Thanks,
-Ariel Marie McManus
Grades
• Homework---This is posted on Skyward on a regular basis; there is ONE major
homework assignment a week that the students should work on for 20 to 30
minutes each night.
– Most homework assignments are assigned for multiple nights.
– Students should not PROCRASTINATE. I call this the Eighth Deadly Sin!
– My homework assignments are not designed to be completed in one night.
They are higher level than that.
• Group Projects---There is usually at pair or group project every other week.
• Unit Tests
– At the end of each unit and usually in two parts---objective and writing
– Study guides are provided the first day of each unit. The idea is that as we
complete each lesson, the student should go back and answer the study guide
questions that correspond.
– For the students may answer all the study guide questions as detailed as they
would like on separate paper.
– They may then use it on BOTH parts of the test: Objective and Written.
– And the students can earn 15 points extra credit added to the test score.
Grades
• Attendance---For each day the student arrives on time, the student earns 2
points. For each day the student arrives unexcused late, the student will lose 2
points.
• Notebooks: These are collected on the test days.
– Opening class activities---Quiet Question Collins Prompts
– Lessons Plans
– Supplementary Readings
– Class Notes
– All class work.
– Returned graded work
– In chronological order
• Extra Credit in Notebook---Options are provided on the Unit Study Guide at the
start of each unit.
– There is unlimited extra credit.
– It is to be done in the notebook.
– It is due when the notebook is due.
– There are no last minute extra credit assignments to bring up a marking
period grade.
Instruction Guidelines
• Students are presented the lesson plans in THREE different forms:
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PowerPoint Slides
Photocopied Typed Lesson Plan
Oral Discussion of Lesson
Typed Grade Sheets are provided when a homework assignment is given
Examples of different activities as models are presented on the Smartboard,
passed around in class, hung on the bulletin boards, and/or uploaded on my
teacher page
• This is to address any accommodations or missed instruction due to
absences. My expectations and directions are very clear.
• For all reading activities, students are expected to read, Annotate, and
Anno-Light the readings.
• This is called “Talking to the Text” or “Reading for Meaning”.
– Last year, Mr. Oswald, Ms. McGregor, and Ms. Carlino introduced this
practice.
– And I spent two days of class time teaching this process last week.
– The students were given directions, in the course overview with different
methods and examples to help guide them with this.
Instruction Guidelines
• For all note-taking activities, students will either
receive a graphic organizer or modified teacher notes
to do the Interactive Notebook Method with.
• The Interactive Notebook Method utilizes Left and
Right Brain, Learning Styles, and Multiple Intelligences
research.
– The students received instruction on this first week of
school and were provided a handout to help them with
this.
• All lesson plans, power points, and supplemental
readings are posted on my Teacher Page for students,
Guided Study Teachers, and colleagues to access.
– This is so they know exactly what we are doing in class and
can use Guided Study time effectively.
Instruction Guidelines
• If your child is absent, he should read over the
lesson plan to see what was missed and be sure to
make it up.
– I am uploading all the lesson plans, power points, and
supplemental readings to my website, so if a student is
absent, he can just visit it and download what is
needed.
• Step by step directions are provided for all
activities, and student models are provided for all
new activities.
– This is to ensure that your child understands my
expectations and can follow each step to success.
Teacher Page
• Units of Study:
• United Streaming Video Clips on topic covered are
uploaded and can be watched to review material.
• You Tube URLs are listed for when students miss a film
in class.
• The You Tube URLSs are also to be used to review
material.
• Historical Content Powerpoints that notes are based
upon are uploaded for students to review and fill in
gaps in notes.
• Weekly Lesson Plan Powerpoints are uploaded for
students and parents to use to monitor daily learning
and what needs to be made up when absent.
Teacher Page
• Instructional Strategies:
– On this page are examples of all the different types of
activities we do in class for the kids to use as models.
– These are a tool for parents and students.
– There are also Instructional Powerpoints on some topics
like:
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Political Cartoon Strategies
Propaganda Strategies
Interactive Notebooks
Collin’s
Etc…
Homework
• There is usually one major homework assignment per week and
usually one or two reading and note-taking homework
assignments per week.
– This means your child should be doing some form of homework
assignment for me at least 20 to 30 minutes a night.
• I will try to post the weekly homework assignments ahead of
time in Skyward to help you monitor your child’s workload.
– It usually takes me one to two weeks to grade the collected major
homework assignments.
– If your child did not turn the assignment in, it will be indicated in
Skyward with a 0 and Late comment.
– If there is a * and a comment about it being Missing in Skyward, this is
because I am still grading the work.
– It does not mean your child did not turn the work in.
• I know this is confusing with Skyward, but teachers do not have
the ability to change this.
• Please remember this, so you are not emailing me to see if your
child turned in the assignment.
• It will save time and effort on both our parts.
Extra Help
• I am available for extra help before school from 6:45AM
through 7:30AM. Please make arrangements ahead of
time with Ms. Barben.
• I am available for extra help after school from 2:30PM
through 3:15PM on twice a week depending upon the
meeting schedule.
• I am also available for extra help during the 8th Periods for
Western Civilizations Remediation.
• My duty period is Period Four. And I can work with
students then as well.
• Peer Tutors are available during certain periods on certain
letter days to help students with notebook checks,
homework, projects, and preparing for tests. You need to
check with Ms. Barben to schedule a time.
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Final Former Student Testimonial
My name is Alyssa Pearson, I graduated in 2008, and though I haven't met you, my younger sister, Bryn Pearson has had positive things
to say about your job at Great Valley. The purpose of my email is to share with you the contribution Ms. Barben has made directly to
my college experience here at Hartwick. I'm not sure who the department head is any longer, but I feel compelled to let someone know
the events that have taken place for me these past two years.
Last year in my writing class, we were asked to provide any past projects/papers written so our professor could make comparisons of
our high school work and beginning college writing levels. I brought in my research paper from my sophomore year with Ms. Barben. It
was a fifteen page paper and he met with me and a couple other English department faculty to let me know that it was the highest
quality research paper he's seen from incoming freshman, and that it was better than a number of college level papers he's seen. Had
Ms. Barben not been as helpful, and challenging as she was, I wouldn't be equipped to be here.
Secondly, I somehow found myself in a Political Research Methods class meant for juniors and seniors completing their final thesis
projects for college and it's my first Political Science class. I should feel over my head, however, I used the index-card citing method Ms.
Barben made us do and used all the research method resources and helpful packets she supplied me with sophomore year and my
paper came out really well. My professor for this class was also impressed, and surprised, with how I organized my work was in
completing the paper.
Ms. Barben is a tough teacher, she is. I noticed in my peers their complaints were driven by their unwillingness to work at a higher level.
She's also the only teacher I had that actually prepared me for anything that happened here at college. Her challenging style comes
across as "too much" because I realize my other teachers were lagging; they had become too accustomed with curriculums they had
been doing for years, and as wonderful as they are as people, they didn't hold me accountable to my work as she did. She is very clear
with her expectations, she's very interactive and uses activities that hit every learning style.
I was just reading two pieces of literature that struck me as important; in the Times Obama's call for us to have higher academic
standards, and a political writer, Mill, talked about how [negative] feelings often replace real reasons for being against something. I felt
the need to say something on her behalf, even if a couple of years later. She has also been a huge, huge help to my personal life as she
gave me great advice in decision making, caring about others and being more sensitive to their needs, and just being a role a great
model for me.
Anyhow, if you've read this, I very much appreciate it. I realize it's rather long, but I want you to know what an incredible staff member
she is from my perspective, and that of my family, and we fully support her.
All the best,
Alyssa Pearson