Coming to an end...

As another semester comes to an end, I think about and reflect on all of the things that I have learned not only in my Social Studies Methods course but in all of the methods courses that I have take thus far at the mount. Although it wasn't always easy, I am truly grateful to both my professors and my peers for pushing me to be the best teacher candidate possible and for giving me the opportunity to grow as a student, a professional, and most importantly a  person. I have gained an incredible amount of insight and knowledge from this course and I am so proud of the improvement that I have made since beginning the journey. 

Prior to starting this course, I was very apprehensive because social studies was never my strong point and I was afraid that I would struggle to create powerful lessons for my students. However, this course gave me the confidence that I needed to be a successful social studies teacher. One of the biggest things that I learned from this class is what social studies teaching entails. It is not just about delivering the facts and getting students to learn the material, it is about helping students to become informed citizens in a culturally diverse society and allowing them to develop the skills that they need to be contributing members of society.

 Through this course, I have been able to get a clear picture of how I see myself as a social studies teacher. I want to create a safe and interactive learning environment where my students can achieve their goals, grow as individuals, and reach the highest level of learning possible. That is why my goal as a social studies teacher is to provide hands-on learning experiences and inquiry based lessons to that the students can take part in the learning and make the connections necessary to acquire new knowledge and skills. I want my students to know that social studies goes far beyond the concepts and ideas related to history, economics, culture, community, and government. I want them to relate all aspects of social studies to their own lives so that they may develop an understanding and appreciation for social studies learning. 

So, as this chapter of learning comes to an end, I look forward to being able to implement all of the methods and strategies that I have learned through this semester in the classroom. It has truly been a wonderful learning experience and although I may not be an expert on social studies concepts, I have a strong background on what it means to be a good social studies teacher and how to create meaningful  lessons for my students. In my opinion, that is what being a good social studies teacher is all about and I am so grateful that I was given the opportunity to take these courses and learn all of the wonderful thing that I have learned throughout this semester and over the past two years. 

Final Unit Plan Reflection

Well after a semester long journey, I have finally submitted my very first unit plan. I have to admit that I was skeptical from the very beginning because I had never done a full unit plan and I wasn't sure that I was prepared enough to make the necessary connections and create a meaningful learning experience. However, after careful planning, I believe that I have done a great job for my first time and I am very proud of the finished project. 

The thing that I enjoyed most about the unit plan is it really forced you to stop and think about things. How can I make each lesson tie together? How can I relate these lessons to the students' lives? Creating a lesson is not just about delivering information to the students, it's about helping them to reach a higher level of learning. Through creating this unit plan, I have realized how important it is to create meaningful learning experiences for my students. From deciding which method of teaching is best to what kind of assessments to use, each step in the unit plan is like a little milestone in the journey to reach pedagogical learning. 

I thoroughly enjoyed completing this unit plan. Through the support of my professor and the suggestions from my peers, I believe that I have the ability to create a successful and meaningful unit that will engage my students in a higher level of learning.You may notice that I included a picture of a path splitting into two different directions. It has been another great semester for me and now once again my path will be changing. Although my journey in the methods courses at Mount Saint Mary College has come to an end, I look forward to the new journey that I am about to embark on. As I look forward to student teaching, I will feel more confident because I have gained so much knowledge from these classed and I know that using the different teaching methods and strategies, I will be able to provide more meaningful learning experiences for my students. I want to thank my professor and my classmates for giving me the encouragement and advice that I needed to grow as a professional and work toward my goal of becoming a successful teacher.

Biz World

Coming to a Close-Fieldwork Reflection

Over the past couple of weeks, I was given the opportunity to work with second grade students at Bishop Dunn Elementary School. Now that our experience has come to a close, I must say that this has been a truly rewarding opportunity. At first I was a bit hesitant and a little nervous because I had never conducted a unit plan before. However, I am glad that I was given the chance to teach three different lessons.

The topic for our unit plan was money and banking. It was broken down into three main lessons. The first lesson that we taught was a direct instruction lesson. The lesson was titled "A Trip to the Bank." It focused mainly on teacher based instruction. In this lesson, we introduced the main concepts related to banking such as income, credit, checking, savings, deposit, withdraw, etc. The focus of the lesson was for students to gain an understanding of how you earn money, where you keep your money, and why the bank is so important. After teaching the lesson, we guided the students through an activity in order to check for understanding.Take a look at this video about direction instruction that I watched prior to designing this lesson! 

 

The second lesson that we taught was an Inquiry based lesson. This lesson is student-centered which means the students directly contribute to their own learning. In this lesson, the students were given a problem and had to work together in small groups in order to solve that problem. It was obvious that the students were much more engaged in this lesson then the direct instruction lesson because they were able to directly participate and contribute to the learning process. I was able to see that some students learn better through interactive participation rather then simply having things explained to them. 

The third and final lesson we taught was a Collaborative Learning based lesson. Again this lesson was student-centered so the students were responsible for their own learning. In this lesson the students needed to work together in order to figure out how to get apples from a farmer who only traded for eggs. Each student took on a specific role and helped their group to come to a conclusion. This lesson differed from the first two lessons because each student had to contribute to the process in order to achieve the goal. 

I learned so much through my fieldwork experience over the last couple of weeks. I think that the most important thing that I learned is how important it is to teach different types of lessons in order to meet the needs of all of the students. Each student learns differently and sometimes you need several different types of lessons about one topic in order to effectively communicate the idea. I am so glad I was given the opportunity to design and implement this unit plan because I feel that I have a better understanding of all the careful planning and consideration that needs to go into creating an effective unit. Another thing that I learned is how important it is to design lesson that will help students to develop essential skills. Social Studies requires students to develop critical-thinking, problem solving, decision making, and social interaction skills. These skills do not come easily to all students so it is important to create lessons that will help to foster the development of these skills. Overall, I think this was an extremely rewarding experience and I am so glad that I got the opportunity to work with these students.

 

Group 1 + 2 Exploring Goods and Services

 

Last week, my class started teaching second graders at Bishop Dunn Elementary School. The first lesson was designed as a direct instruction lesson. In a direct instruction lesson, the teacher models for the students and guides them through the new ideas or concepts. Group one's lesson focused on goods and services. The goal was for students to have a strong understanding of goods/services and how they are connected to each other. The group did an excellent job of explaining goods and services to the students. The only suggestion that I have would be to hide the answers to the questions from the students prior to asking. This gives students the opportunity to activate prior knowledge and share what they already know. It also gives the teachers the chance to see how much the students know and what they may need to focus on throughout their remaining lessons. Overall, I thought that Group 1 did an excellent job and the students really seemed to learn a lot from this lesson. 

Group 2's lesson focused on from the factory to you. Their goal was to teach students how goods get from the factory to your home and how we can be both producers and consumers. I thought that Group 2 did an excellent job of activating the student's prior knowledge. They really got them thinking about how things get to the store and what steps are involved. They also helped the students make a strong connection between the factory and goods/services. I think the students now have a strong understanding of how things are made and what is involved in getting those things from the factory to a store where we as consumers can purchase them. Overall, I think that the first day of teaching went very well and I was really impressed with the lessons of both groups!

Teaching Current Events

While exploring current events, I came across this video about a teacher who created a current events newspaper for her students. As seen in this video, the students really like learning about what is happening in the world and are able to make strong connections to their own lives. I thought this teacher did a great thing for her students by providing them with the latest news and most important headlines without overwhelming them with unnecessary information. I hope that I could have something like this for my students so that they can experience and explore current events in a positive and rewarding way.

Exploring Current Events

 

Recently, my class was asked to explore several different resources regarding incorporating current events into classroom curriculum. I must admit, after reading about some of the activities that teachers use in the classroom, I can see that there are many fun and exciting ways for students to learn about current events. One of the activities that I read about seemed particularly interesting. In this activity, students would be asked to pick an ongoing story and keep track of that story while it develops. The students would share new information or bring in follow up articles and discuss how their thoughts and opinions have changed over time. I think this is a great way to keep students actively involved in their community and to encourage them to form opinions and take a stand on a particular topic.

When I was a student in elementary school, I can remember being asked to bring in a current event news article to share with the class. Each week the teacher would have us share our article with the class and she would ask us to explain why we chose the article. She would then put all of the articles on the bulletin board to display to the class. The reason that I remember this assignment so clearly is because I thoroughly enjoyed participating. I loved learning about what was going on around me and since I was never really able to watch the news, this was a great way for me to learn about the most important events that were happening. 

As a future teacher candidate, I am definitely going to incorporate current events into my classroom curriculum. I think it is extremely important to teach children about things that are happening in our country as well as other countries. It is important for students to understand what is going on around them because somehow, it will most likely impact their lives. I believe that children of all ages should be introduced to current events. Obviously, the activities would need to be adjusted based on the grade level but I believe that teaching students about current events is a great way to get them involved in their own learning. For example, if I was teaching a sixth grade class, I would give students a current news story and have them partake in a debate. The students would need to form an opinion and take a side. After carefully reading the story and understanding all of its components, the students would be able to take on certain roles and defend their position.

Letters to Daddy: The Musical Key to Bully Free

Last week I had the opportunity to attend a musical presentation called Letters to Daddy at Mount Saint Mary College. When I first heard that the presentation was being offered, I had no idea what to expect. I wondered how they were going to execute a musical performance about bullying.


When I arrived at the musical, I found out that the cast consisted solely of children. I thought this was incredible because children understand more than anybody how it feels to be bullied and why it is so important to get the message out. I was amazed at how incredibly talented each of the children were and even though it is a small cast, they are making such a huge impact on the fight against bullying. 


The main characters in the play were two young girls whose father is a fifth grade teacher at an elementary school. In the opening of the play, the younger sister explains through song that her dad had his class write letters telling him about something in their life that causes them the most pain. Caroline, who is the older sister, gets punished for standing up to a bully in school. While she is sitting in her dad's office, she finds the letters that the students had written. Caroline and her friends begin to read the letters out loud to each other. As they read about all of the pain and suffering that other children endure, they begin to realize that everyone has a secret and although people may appear tough on the outside, they could be dealing with a lot of hurt and anger on the inside. 

Throughout the musical, the children begin to grow and learn from each other. They realize that it is okay to be different and then you should not judge someone before you get to know them. They realize that they are all unique and special. The children discover that the continents of the Earth complete each other and fit together like a puzzle. The children put the puzzle together and it becomes a heart. This scene of the musical was especially important because it delivers one of the main messages, "Put the heart back in the Earth."
This is such a powerful and uplifting message and the children did an amazing job of portraying it. 


I learned so much from this musical and it even made me get a little bit emotional. I can remember what it feels like to be bullied in school and sometimes, the pain is unbearable. Even now as a perspective teacher, it is easy to see how mean children can be to one another. It is important to teach acceptance and to encourage children to love one another despite their differences. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to see this wonderful musical and even I feel like it forced me to look inside myself and reflect on what is important in life. It was a truly beautiful message and one that I will definitely share with my students in the future.

Native American Jigsaw

This past week we have been working on an activity called Jigsaw. If you are thinking that sounds familiar to you then you are probably right. If you have ever completed a puzzle you have probably heard the word jigsaw. So how exactly does that relate to what we have been doing in class? Well,the purpose of this jigsaw activity was for the class to learn about Native Americans and the different tribes they have made an impact in history.

First, the class was split up into three base groups. Each member of the group was given a specific tribe to research. Then we were split into "expert groups" Our expert groups consisted of the people in the class that were assigned the same tribe. I was assigned the Dine' tribe so it was my responsibility to research and report to my group. After conducting research, we got back into our expert groups to share what we found. Once we all felt that we had sufficient information we taught or information to our classmates in our base groups. By each contributing our own research and information, we acted as individual pieces to the puzzle. Hence, the Jigsaw Activity.

I thought this activity was extremely useful and much more meaningful. Instead of having each student in the class research all of the different tribes, we were able to focus on one tribe and then communicate and collaborate to help each other become experts. I would definitely use this exercise in my classroom. Although it would probably need to be adjusted to be successful at the elementary level, I think it is a fun and exciting way for students to learn. It also promotes collaborations and allows the students to take part in their own learning.

The Artifact Bag

This week we had to create an artifact bag on a particular topic that could be used in a lesson designed to accommodate a particular standard. The topic that I chose was the United States Constitution. This period of history has always interested me because it is such a influential part of our nation's history and has helped to shape our society. Exploring social studies concepts through artifacts is a great way to captivate the student's attention and provides a hands-on experience that may help establish strong connections. 

The first thing that we had to do was choose an artifact to go along with our topic. The artifacts that I chose were a copy of the constitution, notes written by Thomas Jefferson, and a picture of the delegates signing the constitution. Next, we had to choose a children's picture book to supplement both our artifacts and the topic that we chose. The book that I found is called We the Kids by David Catrow. Catrow who is a political cartoonist wrote this book to help kids better understand the Preamble which is the opening to the United States Constitution. Using humorous illustrations, Catrow helps children understand and relate to the words of the preamble. 

After creating our artifact bags, we formed small groups to share what we had created. It was really fun and interesting to see everybody's artifacts and how they tied it all together. I think this was a great activity. I learned so much from researching my topic and I think this would be an excellent way for the student's to explore artifacts and their importance to particular eras in history. 

This week we have been working collaboratively to explore the world of banking. Our task was for each person in our group to explore a particular topic so that we would understand the ideas and concepts before beginning the unit. After exploring and learning about the ideas on our own, we shared what we learned with the rest of our group members. Our next task was to create a test that would assess how well the students understood the ideas and concepts of banking. 

This activity really forced us to think about what types of questions would be good for certain information. For example, some topics were very straightforward and were good for multiple choice questions. While others were good for the essay portion of the test because it was more open ended and required more explanation from the student to ensure understanding. I was glad that we were able to work collaboratively for this project because everyone contributed and helped to make this process easier. 

This assignment help me realize how much careful consideration needs to be done before creating an assessment tool such as a test. You need to consider the types of questions, how you are going to grade, and what accommodations might need to be put into place for students who are having difficulty.

On This Day

In 2001, hundreds of people began the process of filing for death certificates for family members still missing in the ruins of the World Trade Center. At this time, more than 6,300 people were still missing. 

I decided to include this historical fact because as a nation we have just come together to honor and remember the victims lost in the attacks of September 11, 2001. This year marked the tenth anniversary of that horrific event and it is important that we remember all of the innocent people who died that day. Our nation lost many heroes but their memory will always live on.

Reflection on Assessment

This past week we have been discussing assessment and why it is important in the classroom. Through careful collaboration and planning, we were able to see just how useful different types of assessment can be when completing a lesson. 

One of the biggest things that we learned through this week's lessons and projects is the difference between assessment and evaluation. Sometimes people actually confuse the two and while they share similarities, they are two very different concepts. Assessment is the collection and analysis of student data in order to make decisions about teaching. Evaluation is is the analysis and use of data by the teacher to make a judgment about a student's performance. Here is an example of both assessment and evaluation:

Assessment:  A faculty member provides feedback to a student regarding performance on an examination. The student uses that feedback to study differently in order to improve learning and performance.

Evaluation: A faculty member corrects an examination and assigns a grade of 82% to a student.

Assessment is an important part of the lesson for both the teacher and the students. Assessment allows the teacher to see how well the students are understanding. Based on the assessment used throughout the lesson, the teacher can then decide whether additional instruction is needed or if she can move on to the next topic. In addition, assessment can help the students to realize whether they understand a particular topic or whether they need some improvement. 

This week we also learned about the importance of using different types of assessment throughout the lesson. In my opinion, formative assessment is the most important type because its primary purpose is to support high-quality learning.  Formative assessment can be very helpful in tracking students progress throughout the lesson. Through feedback and periodic assessment, the students and the teacher can be sure that they are on the right track to understanding the overall idea.

On This Day!

While looking at some social studies resources I came across this website called on this day. I found it to be really interesting and quite fun! All you have to do is pick a day and the website provides you with a list of historical events or famous birthdays that occurred on that particular day! Take a look at a few of the things that were listed for today, August 18th! 

On this day... 

1789- Alexander Hamilton negotiated and secured the first loan for the United States

1810- Chile declared its independence from Spain

1850- The Fugitive Slave Act was declared by the U.S. Congress

1851- The very first issue of the New York Times was published. 

I think this would be a great website to introduce to students because it provides interesting facts and I think that students would enjoy looking up things that happened on a particular day in history. Especially their birthdays! 

Social Studies Textbook Evaluation

Exploring Textbooks

This week the class worked in groups to evaluate a social studies textbook for a particular grade level. My group chose a fourth grade New York Social Studies textbook along with the teacher's edition and a social studies workbook. Our goal was to evaluate each text to see if it matched the intended grade level and followed the National and State Social Studies standards. From doing this project, we discovered that it is extremely important for teachers to explore the textbook prior to using it in class. While the texts that we evaluate were extremely useful and clearly organized, other groups found that their texts were too difficult for the grade level and often confusing. After participating in this activity, I see why it is so important for the students to have a good textbook and supporting workbook.

For this project, we also were asked to use the Fry Readability Formula to determine the grade level of the textbook. By determining the number of sentences per 100 words and the average number of syllables per 100 words, we were able to come to the conclusion that are textbook was on the fourth grade reading level. We were surprised because the Fry Readability showed that that the book was actually on the grade level that it claimed to be. In some cases, the Fry formula shows that the reading level for the textbook is much higher then the book claims. I found this formula to be very useful and I think that it is really interesting to compare. 

Talking Through T-Shirts!

 

Who knew you could say so much without any words? Well, my latest assignment made me realize just how fun and easy that can be. This week we were asked to design our own t-shirt to answer a few simple questions about ourselves. The only rule was that the shirt could not contain any letters or numbers. All of the questions had to be answered through use of a symbol, drawing, or clip art! I really enjoyed this project because it forced me to think outside the box. Although I was skeptical at first, I had a lot of fun finding unique ways to visually represent and my thoughts on a particular question. Social Studies has a lot to do with your culture and your historical background so I thought this was a great way to give others an idea of where you're coming from and what you have experienced. 

The questions that we were asked to answer were:

1. What are the countries of your heritage?
2. What SS teaching or similar experiences have you had?
3. What has made you proud?
4. What makes you anxious about teaching? 

Here is my t-shirt design! 

Diving Into Social Studies!

This past week I started a class called Social Studies Methods for Childhood Education. I have to admit I was a bit nervous because I was never really good at this subject area when I was in school so I wasn't sure what to expect. The first class was very interesting and it definitely helped me to feel more comfortable. In this session, we began discussing our thoughts and ideas about what social studies means as well as what our experiences have been when it comes to learning about social studies. In order to do this we took part in a name tag activity.

In this activity, we all were given a piece of construction paper and had to make our own name tags. On the back of the name tag, we had to write one social studies teacher we remember and why. We also had to write what social studies means to us and what skills social studies helps students to develop. I thought this was a great way to start the class because it helped me to remember why social studies had been hard for me and allowed me to put any negative feelings behind me. I really enjoyed hearing how other people felt about their past experiences and I am excited to learn more about the world of social studies and how I can help my students to appreciate it more!