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!