Final Blog

I truly had an amazing experience in Social Studies Methods.  I learned so many new techniques that I am very excited to use in my future classroom.  I learned how to make a collaborative lesson plan adding to direct instruction and inquiry based lesson planning.  Taking this course I have learned that social studies is a very hands on subject.  It would also be a great subject to have the students work in groups. In the beginning of the semester I was nervous about the national and state standards because they are always my weak point. By the end of the semester I feel confident in finding the proper standards for my lessons and writing goals and objectives. I have learned new things using Smartboard and new ideas from my fellow classmates. The different micro-teaching activities that my classmates showed us all brought new and unique ways to teach social studies. Like I said in my field work blog, I was stressed getting the activities done, but overall it was a wonderful experience.  I also enjoyed watching the other groups teach their lessons to the class.  I feel the most important aspect of this class was learning how to put a unit plan together. Unit plans are one of the most important things you need to know in order to teach a class because your lessons and activities are based off of them. I was disappointed in myself this semester by allowing myself to fall behind on individual work.  When it came to group work I was always prepared and had my work done.  If I could do it again I would make sure I would stay on task because I let myself become overwhelmed this semester. 

I'm have enjoyed my past two semesters with Dr. Smirnova and I am very thankful for everything she has taught me. This is a shout out to Dr. Smirnova: Thank you for everything. I'm going to miss coming to class.

Role Play Interview

We had a day in class where we were able to do mock interviews.  There were four students that were administration from different school districts looking for teachers to hire.  They went around to the different groups asking questions based off the type of learning their school preaches.  I found the questions they asked us intriguing.  I liked the starter questions because they asked us what type of animal, bird, or color represents a teacher.  I thought this was a cool way to start the interview because it really made us open our minds and think outside the box. What I found hard about it was that if we had an opinion about the type of learning we had to say what we thought the administrator would want to hear. For example Jen was direct instruction and one of the questions was why is direct instruction the best type of teaching practice? To me direct instruction can get boring but I had to come up with ways to make direct instruction look great. 

Overall I really enjoyed this activity because I got to hear all the different types of questions that put me on the spot. It really got my mind thinking and showed me I have to step my game up for the real thing.

Field Work

Field work was a very stressful time for me. We had a short amount of time to get everything ready and our lessons were back to back in days. I had a lovely time working with my group but I felt that when we combined groups it was very chaotic.  Having all those girls with everyone having all different ideas became frustrating because I felt like we could not get to a full agreement. 


When we got into the classroom I was somewhat nervous because it was the first time we were teaching in front of an entire class.  Our first lesson was a direct instruction and we made a Prezi for the class.

We started the lesson off by singing a song based off the children's song "Old McDonald."  The students really seemed to enjoy it and sang along with us.  

The students were well behaved for my group and listened intently.  They were also eager to answer our questions.  We did not have a worksheet for them to follow along with so we had them write definitions in their notebooks. Since our time was cut the students were rushed so I feel they were not able to write everything down to absorb the key concepts.  Our wrap up to the lesson was very short, but I had prepared a Wordle for the students to look at and pick two words.  The concept behind the Wordle was to have the students tell the class the definition of the word they chose.

I feel that in the short amount of time we had our lesson went very well.  The Prezi was engaging and the students stayed on task. If I was to teach this lesson again I would make sure we have the right amount of time. I would also have a worksheet created for the students to follow along and fill in as we go.

Our second lesson I felt did not go well at all.  The lesson was an inquiry based Artifact Bag, that was thought up by half of the members during a convention they went too.  I felt the people who were not part of the planning (myself included) did not really understand what was going on when we were trying to get everything in order. I also felt that there was a lot of arguing online about what to do and what artifacts to use. Since the lesson was thought up the day before going to the classroom we were not able to use real artifacts. We only had print out versions of the artifacts, which would really not allow the students to get that hands on experience.  When we got into the classroom we broke the class into groups of five or six giving each member an assigned job.  This is where we lost control of the class. The teacher informed us that was the first time they were working and groups, which explained why the students were all over the place.  Each of the teachers ended up working with a group to make sure they stayed on task by asking them questions and trying to engage them in their resources.  In the group that I worked with the girl who was "time keeper" did not know how to read a face clock. She lost interest in the activity until a timer was put on the Smartboard. When the groups presented their findings they read off the sheet and did not explain how they determined what country their artifacts came from.  If I were to do this lesson again I would get hands on artifacts so the students can actually see what they look like. I would break the class into smaller groups and try to form the lesson so I would not find the same problems

 The final lesson went much better then the second lesson.  It was a collaborative lesson on making a manor.  The students task was to create a poster of their very own manor by drawing and placing stickers on a poster board.  On the back of the poster they were to make a poem using the word "Manor."  Before we started the lesson we asked the students what it meant to work in groups.  We continued on by asking if anyone had ever been on a team.  Most of the students had been on some sort of team before so we were able to ask them what characteristics made up a team.  For this lesson we broke the class into much smaller groups and based it off where they sat.  This avoided the class from getting up and moving around because that is what made everything so chaotic the last time.  There were nine teachers so we made nine groups so each teacher could work with one group. The group I worked with worked very cooperatively with each other.  They shared ideas and took turns drawing.  The three girls kept telling me how much they loved this project.  When it came to present they were very eager to show what they had drawn and what poem they came up with. When we were leaving my group members hugged me and said it was their favorite lesson. It made me feel good because this was the lesson I came up with so I felt accomplished. 

Teaching these three lessons really opened my eyes to what teaching a full class is going to be like.  I saw that things do not always go as planned but you can not have a mental break down you just need to keep going and improvise.  I saw that it takes much planning to get lessons and materials together foe a class. Even though we only taught three out of six lessons I feel I would be able to go back and teach the entire unit being more prepared this time around.  I truly enjoyed my field work experience and learned a lot from it.

    

     

Current Events

                 

                  

                 

     

I think it is important to have current events in the classroom. When I was in school we did current events every Friday in almost every grade. In first grade the class received the above magazines. We would look through them on our own and then read the articles out loud to the class. In sixth grade we were required to get our own current event and write a paper on it to share with the class.

I would use current events in the classroom because it is good to have students keep on the news. I think I would do it the same way I was taught because it is very engaging,

Bullying

I watched the web cast for the Bullying Convention.  I found it very interesting because it seems that cyber bullying is happening more and more.  Facebook and other social networks have become the source to why children are committing suicide.  Parents have also made fake profiles to hurt a child that upset their child.  Sadly bullying happens everyday.  I myself was bullied in high school in person and online. Educators need to be there for their students that way they feel like they have someone to go too.  Schools should promote a safe environment to their students do they feel comfortable going to an adult.

Article Review

I truly enjoyed this article because it was a full blown hands on experience the whole way.  The method of teaching this social studies lesson was having the students do everything together on their own after the teacher gives them the information they needed to know.

            This article had five different treasure hunt strategies to strengthen children’s perceptions of the past.  The first strategy was to conduct a personal home furnishings inventory. The students had to chose a room in their home and use a home finishing inventory chart given out in class to describe what they see. When the form is completed the students should be able to figure out the time periods the furniture is from.  This is a great activity because it allows the students to ask their parents the history behind their furniture if they have a real old piece in the house.  The second strategy was the “then” and “now” class museum. Students would be looking at a Sears catalogue from 1897 and comparing it to a catalogue from present day. They would then be asked to bring in examples from the olden catalogue like a wooden spoon and have items from the new catalogue. The class would be set up as a museum to show the differences.  Strategy three was plan an old object with new uses and this allowed the students to look at outdated models of different items and think of ways they could be used today. Strategy four was plan a grandparents day where the student goes through their grandparents garage or attic to look for “treasure”.  The last strategy was a neighborhood treasure hunt. The students can break into groups or work alone to figure things out about their neighborhood. A treasure hunt list would be provided in class and they have to answer the questions.

            What I like about this lesson is that it allows the students to do all different things.  It allows them to get involved, research new things, interview their parents and grandparents and learn about the past.  What I don’t like about this activity is that some of it may be hard for students. I was thinking that if the students home only had modern furnishings or they couldn’t go to a grandparents house they might miss out on a lot of things. Personally my favorite one was the grandparents strategy because when I go through my grandma’s house I always find cool things, but thinking about it, it’s hard to get to my grandma’s house because she lives over an hour away.  I would find the neighborhood treasure hunt difficult because my neighborhood was built twenty years ago, so many of the items on that list would be impossible for me to find. 

            Overall I believe this could be a great activity but the teacher would have to do a little research about the students before it could be assigned. I think if the students can’t use their own homes then something should be arranged for them to go to a museum or an old historic house for them to conduct this activity. The idea behind this activity is great but it just might need to get tweaked for all the students to do it.

What is the difference between assessment and evaluation? Why are authentic assessments important?

Assessment:The evaluation or estimation of the nature, quality, or ability of someone or something
Evaluation:Act of ascertaining or fixing the value or worth of.
Authentic Assessment is important because it asks the students to complete real world tasks.

Do the formative assessments in the lesson assist the teacher in tracking students' progress toward constructing the lesson's major concepts? How?

I think formative assessments do help the teacher in tracking a students progeress because it can be done in the form of Observation, Journal, Check for Understanding, questions, Note-taking Pads, Thumbs up/down. It is for the teacher to keep a record of the students so they can go over what needs to be completed.

As you reflect on this chapter and what you see in the field placements for the program courses and what you read in the news, articles, or hear on the radio, does it appear that standardized testing impacts what and how things are taught in the schools? What needs to be changed in how students are taught and assessed in today's schools?

Sadly teacher's have to teach to the test and there is no room for "fun." I always hear that the state tests control the way the classroom works because there is sucha  pressure on teachers to make sure the studetns pass. I think there should be less standardize testing in schools becaause the studetns don't have anny room to breath.