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I am Brian J. Stoddard. I am 61 years old and have been an educator for 27 years (the last 20 here at Ottawa High School). This will be my 16th year as a sophomore World History teacher at OHS.
I live in Lenexa with my wife. I have two sons - my youngest is a senior at KU and the older one graduated from college a few years ago and now works in California. I have three college degrees - a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts and Science, and a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from the University of Kansas, and a Bachelor of Science in Education from Kansas State University.
My educational philosophies in this class are ones of Differentiated Instruction and Professional Learning Communities.
Differentiated Instruction: various learning strategies and techniques will be utilized in the class to best target the ways that all students learn differently. Some of these learning strategies and techniques include:
Cornell Note Taking - a note-taking strategy to increase comprehension of material and vocabulary.
Enrichment Activities for students who already are competent on the material/unit being taught.
Reading Comprehension strategies/Vocabulary/Searching for Main Ideas and Themes
Various videos throughout the year - longer videos usually have an assignment that is connected to it that we work on together in class.
Research and writing of social studies concepts/standards being learned in class.
Various projects and other hands-on activities either in an individual setting or in groups. For most post-tests on a unit, an alternative assessment is offered for those students who learn better with "hands-on" methods rather than the traditional multiple choice, matching, short answer etc. unit post-test.
Assessments of vocabulary on a regular basis.
Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) - this is a learning strategy/program implemented by the school district several years ago that asks teachers to answer these four questions to increase student achievement through differentiated instruction:
What do the students need to learn? In this case, state standards through the district alignment of social studies material through the various grades.
How do you know the students learned the material? Students are assessed at the beginning and end of units - a 70% is the acceptable minimum post-test grade.
What do you do if the students don't learn the material? Post test examination for the individual and the class as a whole will be conducted to reteach/relearn material that was of particular difficulty for whatever reason for the students.
What do you do for the students who already know the material? A pre-test will be provided before every unit/chapter taught to check for previous knowledge. A pretest score of 90% or better is the benchmark for a student being offered Enrichment Activities as compared to what most of the class will learn/do on most days of a particular unit/chapter.
One of my goals is to have all the students appreciate and understand historical events during our time frame of study. I totally understand that not all students at the sophomore age level think history is their favorite subject. Saying that, if the students just "get" history better than they did before and learn to like it better, then my mission has been accomplished. I try to have fun in class, but I do make it a point to have the students understand that there is a time for fun and time for work. Also, I try to tell the students that somethings we do in class or study will be more interesting than others we cover, and sometimes we have to cover specific topics and just need to "grin and bear it" and get through it.
I do believe in being proactive with parents/guardians who have students that struggle time-to-time in my class. Be assured, I will either call or email you if there is some issue in the class - either academically or behaviorally. You are also encouraged to get into contact with me anytime on any issue you wish to discuss.
Sincerely,
Brian J. Stoddard
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