COVID NEW YEAR

On Friday, March 13, 2020 we were told that we would not be going back to school on Monday. It's been a year and a lot has happened. A lot of bad things happened. A lot of bad things. 

I'm exhausted from all the bad things.
Death, sickness, bankruptcy, etc.

I made the choice a few days ago to reflect on the GOOD things that have gone on in the past year. In some ways, the lockdowns and quarantines have forced me to improve some aspects of my educational life.  That's what this post is all about. Some of these things might have happened, and others most definitely would not.

Here are some of the good things as I reflect on the COVID New Year.

I Wrote (finished writing) a book: When I got back from Afghanistan, I was working full-time for the Michigan Army National Guard. I opened up a Google Doc titled, "Leadership" and every once and a while, I would open it up and write a few sentences about something I have been dealing with. After I left the full-time gig I would check on it every few months, reminiscing about all the great times and great friends I met while doing that job. When we closed school, I opened up that document and realized I had a lot of content! I organized that content and it will become a book this spring! Thank you to Darrin Peppard and Road to Aweome LLC for taking a chance on me!

Watch for, "LESSON 1: Leveraging Leadership in Everyday Life" coming in May 2021.

It will be available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
You will be able to order an autographed copy at www.johnvandusen.com

Blog Series: When we closed down, we weren't supposed to cover any new material with our students. We had gone from the Proclamation of 1763, through the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, War of 1812, Westward expansion, Mexican/American War, and were just about ready to start in on the Civil war. I had a lot of material to go back over, but I also wanted to do something that would help in the following years.  So, I wrote a five-part series on the Declaration of Independence and a 10 part series on the Consitution. I put them in a Wakelet along with a podcast to go with it (See below). If you ever wanted to know the down and dirty of those two founding documents, check them out.
Declaration 
Consitution

America's Start Podcast: Along with the blog series on the Declaration and Constitution, I basically did an "audio blog" where I read them aloud. Again, if you want to know more about our founding documents, you can listen on your favorite podcasting app! America's Start Podcast

YouTube playlist: I am not good at relaxing. While I was quarantined for 24 days (Close contact....10 days +14) I started a Youtube Playlist called, "Teacher PD" with fast lessons for busy teachers. I did short videos on:

- Rocketbook
- Socrative
- Pear Deck
- Getting more steps at work
- Making better lists
- Growth Mindset

It was a lot of fun..and A LOT of work! But, I had the time. Check out the entire playlist HERE.

Pear Deck: This has been an AMAZING tool to help engage students, especially while we were virtual. Basically, it's a way for students and teachers to interact with Google Slides in real-time. I have used it A LOT in the last year, and 366 days ago, I didn't even really know what it did. Now I do and I use it all the time. I even use it when I'm teaching for the Army. I will never get to meet my Army students, our course will conclude before we will be allowed to be face to face. I know it's EXTRA hard to be a virtual student. I also know that Pear Deck makes it better.

Socrative: This is a fast and easy tool for making online quizzes. Again...watch my video above! You can make multiple-choice, true/false, and short answer questions. Students take it online and it's graded automatically. It's very user-friendly. 

Head Freshman Football Coach: This year's football season was a complete mess. We had two solid weeks of practice, followed by two weeks of not being able to see our players, followed by games, cancelations, and uncertainty. My team was able to play three games (two were against the same team, back to back with a week in-between). 

In our first game, we were down 20-0 at one point, and we looked like Freshmen who were playing in their first game. It was rough, to say the least. However, we caught some good luck (and recovered a fumble) and ended up winning the game 22-20. My players were ecstatic! We lost game two 12-0, and then headed off for game three against a JV team. 

We grew up A LOT as a team that night, and as young men. If you would have watched the first offensive series, you would have thought we were going to get beat 70-0. But we didn't. We dug deep and found a way to complete.  With the last play of the 3rd quarter, we went up 13-12. We had the other team in a 4th and 2. If we stopped them we would be able to run a few plays and run out the clock. 

Their sophomore quarterback tried to sneak the ball but was knocked back. He landed on his feet and squirted around the right edge for 4 yards and a first down. They ended up scoring on that drive and we just didn't have enough in the tank to take it back to the endzone. Freshman vs. JV's is a big difference. I am VERY proud of my team. They have that FLIVVER HEART!

With these GOOD THINGS that have happened during a terribly exhausting and precious year, I'm optimistic that 2021 will be full of GREAT THINGS!

www.johnvandusen.com

Transition from STEM to HISTORY

It has been a LONG time since I wrote a blog post. Way too long!
I have been concentrating on other things and the blog has taken a backseat. Some of the other things I have been doing:

The STEM Teacher Podcast:  THIS has even taken a backseat because I am no longer teaching STEM! I have revived it though. Instead of pushing out an episode once a week, I am on track for once a month. You can find it wherever you listen to podcasts. The link to Anchor is above.

The Kingsford Flivver Flash! Podcast: This has been a TON of fun! I started this podcast to highlight the amazing things surrounding Kingsford football. If you like high school football, Michigan, or the Flivvers, check it out.

The Kingsford Flivver Flash! Blog: I just started this after reading an article that said if you want to increase your podcast audience, start a blog. That article pushed me back into this blog too.

Changing Jobs
I was incredibly blessed to be hired as the STEM teacher for Woodland elementary. I can't express how it has changed my life. With that in mind, I struggle with elementary students. I like to think that I was very good at teaching the younger students, but it took everything I had, every single day. I would get home and have NOTHING in the tank for my family.

When I had the opportunity to apply for the 8th-grade history position, I jumped at it! Sent in my letter of intent, stoped in to see the principal, etc. I made it widely known that it was my dream job. When I was told I was selected, I could not contain my excitement!

Two reasons 8th-grade history is my dream job.

1) I get to teach the "Masters of the Universe!" Just ask an 8th grader and most of them have everything figured out. Everything. So teaching someone who already knows everything is a challenge and a reward.

2) The content for Michigan 8th-Graders is the founding of our country. From the treatment of the colonies under King George III to the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, Constitution, Bill of Rights, War of 1812, Manifest Destiny (We do play the old school, "Oregon Trail" game!), the Civil War, etc. I love every bit of it! The opportunity to put students into the Constitution almost every day is amazing. With the craziness of our world and the media spin, it's awesome to be able to go to our founding documents for true answers.