THE HOGGATTEER REVOLUTION
  • Homeroom
  • Orientation
    • Class Handbook
    • Family Involvement
    • Meet the Teacher
    • Place in the World
    • Teachers: File Cabinet
  • Positivity
    • Insightful Poetry
    • Inspirational Prose
    • Meaningful Quotes
    • Positive Behavior Conversations
    • Scripture Studies
  • Exploration
    • Celebrate Good Times (Come On)
    • Cerebral Cinema >
      • Hoggatt-Made Videos
      • Mood Music
      • Music Appreciation
      • Positive Behavior Conversations
    • Coursework >
      • Cultivating America
      • Focus on Science
      • Let's Communicate
      • M4+HEM4+1C5
      • Missouri, USA
      • Recess Bell
      • Scripture Studies

OPTS:  Paint Mixing

4/30/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
​In an attempt to address the eight Math Practices in the graphic at left, I will expose the class to One Problem to Solve (OPTS), one of which is displayed below. Students will discover and create their own problems, while being guided by the teacher.

Picture

Watch this video (below), ​and describe the situation
Write down the first mathematical question that comes to mind.

As a class, we will decide on a central question to explore.

Make three smart guesses to answer the central question:
a guess too low, a guess too high, ​and a guess in the middle.
​
​Place your guesses ​on the number line.

WHILE WE'RE ON THE TOPIC

Learn more about
​paint mixing:
Picture
Can You Make Paint
Out of Berries?

Picture

What information has been provided?

Do we have all the information we need?

​
What tools might you need to solve the problem?

​What strategies might you use?

Solve to answer the central question.

Picture

How close was the actual solution to your estimate?

What would have helped you achieve a more accurate estimate?

Picture

Did you make any mistakes along the way?
Fix them.

How might you avoid such a mistake in the future?

Explain your work to someone else?  Did s/he do the work differently?
​Can you explain the process using the other person's methods?
0 Comments

Book:  Zane and the Hurricane

4/29/2016

0 Comments

 
I was prepared to dislike this book about Hurricane Katrina, thinking it might not be a realistic depiction of the storm and its aftermath.  Author Rodman Philbrick creatively places the title character into the heart of the storm, helpless and alone with his dog Bandy.
While I was afraid this would be a glossy version of the story, there are things here that only someone knowledgeable of detailed facts would have included, and these little details, not typically reported in news reports or documentaries, are what makes this an interesting read.

​From the author's website:
Zane Dupree is a charismatic 12-year-old boy of mixed race visiting a relative in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hits. Unexpectedly separated from all family, Zane and his dog experience the terror of Katrina's wind, rain, and horrific flooding. Facing death, they are rescued from an attic air vent by a kind, elderly musician and a scrappy young girl--both African American. The chaos that ensues as storm water drowns the city, shelter and food vanish, and police contribute to a dangerous, frightening atmosphere, creates a page-turning tale that completely engrosses the reader. Based on the facts of the worst hurricane disaster in U.S. history, Philbrick includes the lawlessness and lack of government support during the disaster as well as the generosity and courage of those who risked their lives and safety to help others. Here is an unforgettable novel of heroism in the face of truly challenging circumstances.
Picture
0 Comments

Mathstakes:  308 x 43

4/28/2016

0 Comments

 
Mathstakes - or Math Mistakes - are an attempt to encourage students to find and correct mistakes.  Most are introduced with a visual prompt, but there is no other word prompt outside of the visual.  In addressing the visual, learners must first find, or construct, what they believe the problem.  They must then figure out what was done in the visual to solve the given problem.  The problem and solution are always provided in the visual.

After this, learners are charged with the task of determining whether the solution is appropriate.  If so, they must defend it; if not, they must explain - or teach - a better process.

Use the worksheet (right)
to report your reasoning
​for the picture provided:

  • Write the problem as you understand it.
  • What solution is given in the picture?
  • Decide whether the solution is (yes) or is not (no) appropriate.
  • In the box you chose, explain why you think it is correct or incorrect.  If "no", fix it.
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

Out of the Wind

4/27/2016

0 Comments

 
We will begin a new read-aloud book today.  For me, this one is a special one.  I wrote Out of the Wind because I simply had to get my post-Joplin-tornado experience out.  The summer that followed the May 2011 tornado was one I, and countless others, will never forget (A preview is available on my Hoggatt the Author site.).
Picture
It is a warm spring day.  Graduation just ended. Then suddenly,
“This is a tornado warning, in effect for Jasper and Newton Counties…”

It’s May 22, 2011.  The deadliest, most damaging tornado in 50 years
is about to tear into Joplin, Missouri.

Written from multiple points of view, D. Ed. Hoggatt’s novel
will tug at the reader’s emotions and spirit.
​
​Join Carly, Madison, Hailey, Mark, and William on their incredible journey…
In this nearly 300-page book, I explore the tornado that swept through Joplin on May 22, 2011.  I wrote the book in first person, but with five people telling their own version of what is happening:
  • The first narrator is a high school junior named Carly.  She just watched her boyfriend pick up his diploma at graduation, and she is about to drive home, when she hears the storm sirens.
  • Another character is her friend Madison.  Madison is sort of the anti-Carly and has a completely different outlook on life.  She considers the sirens to be just another overreaction by the weather people.
  • A ten-year-old girl named Hailey is at home when the power goes out.  Her family hunkers down in the hallway of their house as she worries about her dad getting home safely from Wal-Mart.
  • A boy from Carl Junction, William, rides in a pickup truck with his grandfather behind the wheel, when he spots a lump lying in a nearby ditch.  Considering the storm that just passed, he wonders if the lump might be a storm victim.
  • The fifth character, Mark, is a young paramedic who takes interest in two boys who have suddenly been thrust into a very imperfect world.
I also utilized present-tense voices in order to draw the reader into the situation.
​

In the background is the account of one church's response to the tragedy.  The church's building provides a central hub for many of he characters as they interact with members of the community and volunteers from outside of Joplin.

I have loved writing every one of my books for kids in the intermediate grades, but this is an insider story that has not been widely told.  It is a fictionalize version of the many accounts I myself witnessed and was a part of.  More than that, however, Out of the Wind is the story of Joplin's real spirit following the storm.  Surely, goodness and mercy can come out of the wind of a horrific storm.
​

Picture
0 Comments

Return to the Art and Joy

4/26/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
This year, I have been honored to represent Cecil Floyd teachers in Superintendent Ridder's teacher forum.  After school, yesterday, we met for the final time for the 2015/6 school year.

One of the interesting items for which we offered out feedback was a letter that he is preparing to send to Joplin teachers in the next few days.  I have been impressed with the direction Ridder has taken in his first year as Joplin's interim superintendent.  He recognized very quickly the need for teachers to be given more professional respect, and he will acknowledge in his letter a researched need to return the art and joy to our classrooms. Without the art of teaching, our students are reduced to numbers and lines on a bar graph, and teachers become robotic, little more than characters in someone else's script.

Ridder's letter to teachers will say this: 

One striking find from the research is what we are calling the "inspiration gap."  The art and joy of teaching and learning is missing in many of our classrooms and buildings and in our district and community for that matter.  And, our research is clear - It's negatively impacting our kids.
His acknowledgment of this deficiency is certainly refreshing.  It has been a long time in coming to a district which has attempted to address its problems by adopting a strictly scientific process.  Granted, that trend is nationwide, but it has been met in Joplin by much political and professional resistance.  Those times, which played themselves out daily last summer, are behind us.  The momentum is forward, and the joy is returning to the staff.  That should be good news to anyone in the community with an interest in our public school system.

They say that change in education is inevitable.  For a while there, it seemed to be inevitable on a weekly basis, with new expectations and programs pummeling teachers from every direction.  Now, we are moving in a more logical direction - one which empowers the local district, which in our case is empowering classrooms, which empowers the students themselves.  It will be interesting to see where we go from here.
0 Comments

Music Appreciation:  Step in Time

4/25/2016

0 Comments

 
Students are often called upon to read "chorally".
That is, they read together simultaneously

as a group.

Repeating this practice assists young readers with reading fluency - the speed, accuracy, and inflection of  oral reading.

Why not, since it's called "choral" reading anyway, actually read the chorus of a song? ​
0 Comments

Infographic:  How Deep Is the Ocean Really?

4/24/2016

0 Comments

 
Sometimes we think we know all there is to know about our planet;
​it's amazing how much we do not know.
0 Comments

MAP Testing

4/23/2016

0 Comments

 
A comic has circulated through social media.  In it a teacher is confronted by her students with the following question:
Is this the test to test us for the test to see if we are ready for the test?
Sometimes it does seem, both inside and outside of education, that testing has taken the helm in our schools. Blogs with graphics like these dot the internet:
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
This week, we experienced the ultimate fourth grade testing experience - MAP (Missouri Assessment Program) testing.  This may not be the forum to discuss current testing trends.  It is the forum to communicate my desire to teach my students to want to learn for the sake of learning and bettering themselves, and not simply to pass a high-stakes test.  That doesn't mean we haven't put forth our best effort to do our best to put our best foot forward, which is our goal for all of the things we do.  I can't help but think of Abraham Lincoln's quote:
Whatever you are, be a good one.
That's basically what my dad always taught us boys - to always do our best, to always be the best we could be - and it's something I want my own children to learn.  While we really do not wish to fail, we also do not wish to achieve anything less than our best!
Picture
0 Comments

A Persian Proverb

4/22/2016

1 Comment

 
He who knows not, and knows not that he knows not, is a fool; shun him.

He who knows not, and knows that he knows not, is a child; teach him.

He who knows, and knows not that he knows, is asleep; wake him.

He who knows, and knows he knows, is wise; follow him.
1 Comment

OPTS:  Eggs

4/21/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
In an attempt to address the eight Math Practices in the graphic at left, I will expose the class to One Problem to Solve(OPTS), one of which is displayed below. Students will discover and create their own problems, while being guided by the teacher.

Picture

Watch this video and describe the situation:
Write down the first mathematical question that comes to mind.

As a class, we will decide on a central question to work on.

Make three smart guesses to answer the central question:
a guess too low, a guess too high, and a guess in the middle.
​
​Place your guesses on the number line.

WHILE WE'RE ON THE TOPIC

Learn more
about eggs:
Picture
Can You Really Cook an Egg on the Sidewalk?

Picture

What information is necessary in order to answer our central question?
Picture
What information is provided above?
​
What tools might you need to solve the problem?

​What strategies might you use?

Solve to answer the central question.

Picture

How close was the actual solution to your estimate?

What would have helped you achieve a more accurate estimate?

Picture

​Did you make any mistakes along the way?
Fix them.

How might you avoid such a mistake in the future?

Explain your work to someone else.  Did s/he do the work differently?
​Can you explain the process using the other person's methods?
0 Comments

Oklahoma City National Memorial

4/20/2016

0 Comments

 
April 19, 1995.  Twenty-one years ago.

The current Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum is full of things to look at, read, and interact with.  It is clearly one of the most advanced and intriguing museums in the world.  Not only that, but this is a museum with appeal to multiple demographics:
  • the survivor who needs to connect with the moment in time when her life changed forever
  • the rescuer who needs to remember that with frustration comes hope
  • the interested visitor who wants to learn more about the event
  • the investigator who wants to immerse himself in an analysis of the crime scene
  • the legal analyst who wants to study the court records of a high-profile case
  • the young student who wants to experience an event through many eyes
​Here is a museum that interacts with visitors and takes the time to teach many lessons, including the lessons of how to react to bullying and violence, and much more.  I highly recommend paying full price to visit the museum in Oklahoma City.  Don't just visit the outdoor memorial; go inside!  You will leave a different person.
0 Comments

Oklahoma City Bombing:  21st Anniversary

4/19/2016

0 Comments

 
April 19, 1995.  Twenty-one years from today.

Twenty-one years ago, a young man named McVeigh parked his rented moving truck on the street behind the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. Inside the truck, a bomb would soon detonate and change the lives of countless people.

One hundred sixty-eight people dead.

I taught second graders just four miles away.  We heard the explosion.  We felt the concussion.  We experienced the emotions.

Confusion.  Fear.  Confusion.
I relayed my story - my personal experiences with the 1995 terrorist attack - yesterday.  My experience with being the one responsible for leading the school into a red alert, locking the outside doors.  My wife's experience of holding the one-year-old who was infamously photographed in the firefighter's arms.  My grandmother's experience of panic, thinking "they" were "blowing up Oklahoma City".

It is a history that needs to be remembered, studied, and learned from - one evil act counteracted by hundreds of thousands of generous responses in return.  This, like Joplin's response to the tornado, five years ago, was a defining moment - a moment when we found out who we were.  In Oklahoma City, they call that response "The Oklahoma Standard".

We'll continue to look at my pictures of the Oklahoma City National Memorial, today.  I'll take our fourth graders inside one of the best museums I've ever experienced.
0 Comments

Book:  Rain Reign

4/18/2016

0 Comments

 
Here is another of the Mark Twain Award finalists for 2016/7 - Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin.  Martin successfully depicts a young girl with Asperger's Syndrome and her abusive father.  This book, from the author of The Baby-Sitters Club series, does not hold back and brings out some frustration in the mind of the reader.

From Goodreads:
Rose Howard has Asperger’s syndrome, and an obsession with homonyms (even her name is a homonym). She gave her dog Rain a name with two homonyms (Reign, Rein), which, according to Rose’s rules of homonyms, is very special. Rain was a lost dog Rose’s father brought home. Rose and Rain are practically inseparable. And they are often home alone, as Rose’s father spends most evenings at a bar, and doesn’t have much patience for his special-needs daughter.

Just as a storm hits town, Rain goes missing. Rose’s father shouldn’t have let Rain out. Now Rose has to find her dog, even if it means leaving her routines and safe places to search. Rose will find Rain, but so will Rain’s original owners.
Picture
0 Comments

Mathstakes:  Tickets

4/17/2016

0 Comments

 
Mathstakes - or Math Mistakes - are an attempt to encourage students to find and correct mistakes.  Most are introduced with a visual prompt, but there is no other word prompt outside of the visual.  In addressing the visual, learners must first find, or construct, what they believe the problem.  They must then figure out what was done in the visual to solve the given problem.  The problem and solution are always provided in the visual.

After this, learners are charged with the task of determining whether the solution is appropriate.  If so, they must defend it; if not, they must explain - or teach - a better process.

Use the worksheet (right)
to report your reasoning
​for the picture provided:


  • Write the problem as you understand it.
  • What solution is given in the picture?
  • Decide whether the solution is (yes) or is not (no) appropriate.
  • In the box you chose, explain why you think it is correct or incorrect.  If "no", fix it.
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

Spelunking...For Real this Time

4/16/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
Nearly 100 years ago, three men by the names of Browning, Gilmore, and Ford discovered a cave in Noel, Missouri; in 1927, just two years later, the cave was opened for the tourism business; and in 2016, fourth graders from Joplin took their turns at exploring the passages of that same cave, now known as Bluff Dwellers Cavern.

First, we had to get there:

It didn't take long for students to get accustomed to the cave setting.  It's probably doesn't have much in common with Hoggatt Cave, but there were some similarities.
Beyond the entrance, students were witnesses to a host of cave formations (speleothems), including drapery, cave bacon, soda straws, stalactites, stalagmites, and columns.  There were more exotic formations forming underwater in the cave, as well.  The Cave Duck, which has sat in its position for over 70 years, was not the only critter we saw; we also saw a couple of species of bats, and a some of them actually took a fight plan that included the airspace just inches above our heads.
The cave guides gave our classes high marks of praise for their polite demeanor and their manners.  Our host, Mary Jane, even called Principal Hennessey to relay the message that we were so well behaved.

Of course, any time they fall asleep on the return trip is good for me!  I could as easily snap pictures of the boys in the back, but here's what we have for the bus ride back to school:
0 Comments
<<Previous

    Anthem

    The Hoggatteer Revolution
    is
    an extensive,
    award-winning, 
    inimitable,
    digital platform
    for Encouraging
    ​and Developing
    ​the Arts and Sciences

    in the beautiful, friendly

    LAND OF THE FREE
    AND THE HOME
    ​OF THE BRAVE
    This site is described as
    "a fantastic site... chockablock full of interesting ideas,
    hilarious ane
    cdotes,
    and useful resources."
    Picture
    Picture
    ...to like, bookmark, pin,
    ​tweet, and share

    about us...and check in regularly for updates, posted before DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT, daily!

    Picture

    History in Residence

    Elementary Schools:
    ​Bring Mr. Hoggatt
    into your classroom
    for a week
    of engaging
    ​
    and rigorous

    ​history programming
    ​with your students.

    ​LEARN MORE

    BUILDING BETTER
    Bible Classes

    Churches of Christ:
    Plan for weekend sessions to train the congregation to become more engaged
    ​ teachers and students.
    LEARN MORE

    Picture
    Picture

    Intercom

    GigSalad Member Since 2022
    Book Mr. Hoggatt Securely
    ​for Your Event
    ​at GigSalad.com.

    Picture
    Follow @DEdHoggatt

    Email Mr. Hoggatt
    Picture

    Trophy Case

    Picture
    Master Teacher, since 2021
    Picture
    Recruited Lincoln Presidential Foundation Curriculum Writer, 2022
    Picture
    Retiree, 32 years serving Joplin and Oklahoma City Schools, 2022
    Picture
    Selected Participant for 2020-2022
    Picture
    Selected Honoree/Celebrant, 2022
    Picture
    Outstanding Achievement, 2022
    Picture
    Ancestry Classroom Grant, 2018-2022
    Picture
    2021 Missouri History Teacher of the Year and National History Teacher of the Year Nominee
    Picture
    Recognized in Joplin Globe, February 2021
    Picture
    Teacher Institute Participant, 2019
    Picture
    Summer Residency Participant, 2018
    Picture
    "The Bus Stops Here" Grant, November 2018
    Picture
    Summer Residency, 2018
    Picture
    Recognized 2017
    Since 2017
    Picture
    MSTA Media Award, KOAM-TV's "Manners Matter", Featuring Our Class, May 2017
    Picture
    Third Place, 2016 Film Festival
    Picture
    Recognized 2016
    Picture
    Slide Certified, 2012
    Picture
    2009 Outstanding Class Website
    Picture
    2005 Nominee
    Picture
    2005 Joplin Teacher of the Year and Missouri Teacher of the Year nominee
    Picture
    2004 Recipient
    Picture
    2002 Excellent Education Program
    Picture
    2001 Nominee
    Picture
    1996 Outstanding Classroom Video
    Picture
    Grant Recipient, 1993

    Picture

    Fireside Chats

    Picture
    Choose Your Platform:
    Anchor
    ​Apple Podcasts (iTunes)
    Breaker
    Google Podcasts
    ​
    Overcast
    Pocket Casts
    RadioPublic
    Spotify
    Stitcher
    Picture

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012

    Picture

    Checks & Balances

    Links to external sites
    on the internet are for convenience only.

    No endorsement or approval of any content, products, or services is intended.

    Opinions on sites are not necessarily shared
    by Mr. Hoggatt
    (In fact, sometimes
    Mr. Hoggatt doesn't agree with anyone.)
    Picture

    Lobbyist

The Hoggatteer Revolution

H

O

P

E

Picture