Class 14

I was impressed by the visual presentations.  Everyone was creative and there were some fantastic ideas.  Even with just listening to the summaries, I learned new things, such as the information about the Statue of Liberty.  It was great to see the various applications that people used in their presentations.  I am interested in incorporating them into future lesson plans.  It was definitely an idea gathering presentation time.  I think that working on the project with Tonya was also very valuable.  This assignment lent itself better to creating a cooperative lesson plan than the George Washington lesson plan did.  Tonya and I have been writing lesson plans for 3 semesters and I think we both have ingrained methods.  It was a good learning experience to understand why she did things a specific way.  I believe we melded our techniques well.  I’m not sure how it could be done, but I think cooperative lesson planning should be experienced earlier on in our education.  For me, that would have been in the science class.  It might also be interesting to do one in each class.  It would have exposed me to new ideas and methods and would have made me more confident in my lesson planning abilities.

I began this class with reservations, having not had great experiences in my past with social studies.  My eyes were opened to all of the possibilities of what social studies can be.  I value all of the activities we did and the resources we learned about.  I will definitely be a better teacher for taking social studies.  I hope to make my students’ experiences more engaging and memorable than mine.  Thank you for taking the time to help me expand my knowledge and become more comfortable with the topics I will eventually teach.

Class 13

Talking about vulnerabilities in class was eye-opening.  My top concern is not having my own children.  I have always felt that this has put me at a disadvantage.  I thought that it would give a better experience with understanding child development and relating to kids (even though I have never had any problems interacting with children).  However, my group brought up a good point.  By not having my own kids, I have a fresh slate.  I won’t be tempted to talk or treat my student’s like I would my own children.  They saw my vulnerability as a positive.  It was also interesting to hear the vulnerabilities of others in my group.  We all have our own insecurities and it was beneficial to talk about them.

I realized that I definitely need to think about how to respond to students who are having strong emotions.  Besides trying to defuse the situation and talk to the student, or have them take a 10-count, the number of strategies I have to draw upon is low.  What would be a good resource to get information from?

At this point, while I’m not in the moment, I think I could probably teach most challenging subject without an issue.  Being a scientist, I tend to fall back onto the facts.  I would need to find credible resources to give me confidence in what I am teaching.  My one concern would be with answering questions.  I worry that I would give too much information or inappropriate information for the age of the student.  I work in an area that deals with some tough circumstances.  Sometimes I think I am a little too desensitized to things that would bother everyone else and not aware enough of other peoples sensitivities.

I really appreciated having time to work on the visual field trip.  It gave us a great start on the project.

Class12

I really enjoyed using the QFT in class.  Again, it was interesting to see how we all started out with different questions but narrowed them down to similar main questions.  I can see how this technique would be intimidating for teachers because of the uncertainty of the end questions and not necessarily knowing the direction of the lessons.  But, I feel like students would understand what questions might be the most important ones to answer.  If there is a question that I, as a teacher, I did not think of I don’t see why it can’t be a learning experience for everyone.  I think it’s okay to show students that the teacher does not know everything and has to learn just like them.  It would also give students increased confidence to say that they do not know either.

I did not have a clue what massive resistance meant when we started.  This is definitely an excellent activity to get students engaged in social studies because it involves kids their age and schools located in the area.  It would easier for the students to connect with, as opposed to something that happened to adults in Alabama.  When teaching about the massive resistance would it fall under Virginia Studies or would it be a part the information learned about the Civil Rights Movement?  Would other states teach about the massive resistance?  Or, is it only something that Virginia students learn because it happened here?

 

Class 11

The continuation of planning the George Washington lesson was easier this week.  I think that might be because the other group I was working with had a firm grasp of what was included in a good lesson plan.  I was also ready to discuss my ideas.  It was interesting to find that the other group had a very similar thought process as my partner and me.  I wonder how many other groups used the same sort of sequencing.  I would have liked to see something different to diversify my ideas. However, I was encouraged that I was on the right track.

I really enjoyed the puzzle portion of the BBK activity.  It was fun to go to a different group to learn something new and report back to my group.  I can see how students would be thoroughly engaged with this activity.  The students would become an expert on the knowledge they are bringing back to their group.  It’s not a lot of information to stress over and the consensus within the puzzle groups build confidence with the knowledge they are going to relay.  Then the students get to feel important when it’s their turn to report.  It’s a good way to disperse a lot of information quickly.  It’s also a creative way to differentiate the skill levels within the classroom.  I was excited to realize that I had incorporated something very similar in my first lesson plan.

I do have a question about the articles we read.  I think that art can be a great way to teach social studies.  It can help to reinforce knowledge about a culture or society.  Having the students try to replicate art, such as weaving, using the methods of the time period being studied would bring some empathy and connection to the people of that time.  If there is an art program at the school, would you still take the time to teach the art concepts or should they be covered in art class?

Class 10

Analyzing children’s books was an eye-opening activity.  I don’t understand why some authors feel that it is alright to promote stereotypes and biases within their books, or why authors wouldn’t be more selective in their verbiage unless their goal was to offend.  Describing two people as extreme opposites because one is fat and the other is thin is completely inappropriate.  Having an image of a toddler drowning is repulsive.  If I had been reading the book that used the terms fat and thin, I would have definitely noticed as I am sensitive to that type of categorizing.  However, I am not sure that I would have seen the drowning toddler if I had not been critiquing the book.  That kind of worries me and makes me aware of the amount of scrutiny I need to utilize when selecting a book to read to students.  I am afraid that I will miss something offensive or overlook biases that I am not aware of.  It’s going to be difficult for me to stock a classroom library.  I also an not sure where I would draw the line if a book was incredibly valuable for one group of students, but slightly bias towards another.  How do you make that call?

Though I understand the reasoning behind being asked to write a lesson plan in class, it was overwhelming for me.  I am not very good with a productive struggle when I am not in the correct mind frame to work on whatever I am struggling with.  I normally like to brainstorm and think for a while before I start writing a lesson plan.  I also had difficulty using an activity that I would not have selected.  Through the process of working with a partner, I learned that I have developed a personal formula for writing a lesson plan.  I hope that this is a good thing.  Being able to discuss our lesson plans with the class and learn why some ideas are better than others will be very beneficial.  Maybe we could create a quality lesson plan as a class to better grasp what is expected?  I know that getting a sample unit plan in science was unbelievably helpful.  I do want to thank you both for your guidance, suggestions, and support as I have struggled through my own lesson plans!

Class 9

The map lesson video was fun to watch.  It was great to see the students observe different aspects on the John Smith map and then compare the map to a modern map of the same area.  I was really hoping that the students would be able to puzzle out why the older map had detailed rivers instead of roads.  It was fun to do the same activity in class to see what we would come up with.  Even though our class is decades older, we pointed out similar characteristics and had some of the same questions.  I even learned a few new things about maps that I had never thought about before, such as the meaning of the fleur-de-lis on the compass rose.

I wonder how the activity would work out if the video was shown in the classroom.  The students could try to find what the student in the video found and then try to find additional items.  Or maybe, the class could watch a video of students examining a different map of Virginia and pick out similarities/differences between all three.

It amazes me that a map that old can be so accurate without modern technology to assist.  How did John Smith learn to create a map like that?  How did he know where he was located in relation to the map he was drawing or have the spacial awareness to know where to draw items on the map?  I am directionally challenged so this skill completely baffles me.

I wish we would have had more time to look through the Jamestown lesson box or would have been able to complete one of the activities included.  It looked very intriguing and I can see why students would like to examine the primary sources.

 

 

 

Class 8

I am inspired by problem-based learning and cross-curriculum lessons.  There are some many different paths to take and an unlimited amount of knowledge and learning that can be wrapped into each activity.  How often do the students’ ideas get incorporated into teaching the lesson next year?  Can you modify the activities based on the students’ interest as the project progresses?  Because they are able to talk things out while they are experiencing, I am sure the students mention what other cool stuff they like to learn.

I’m not sure how accurate this is, but… I have heard of high school classes that take on a single project at the beginning of the year, develop it throughout the year, and end up doing dramatically better on their end-of-the-year testing than the typical class.  From what I gather, it is a student-driven activity where they are allowed to take the project down any path they feel is worthwhile.   As long as the students meet milestones along the way, they are able to fully explore the topic choice.  This would be an excellent way to learn.

As much as I would like to implement PBL and cross-curriculum teaching into my classroom, I find it completely overwhelming.  How do you ensure that the standards are met when some activities are student-driven?  How do you provide documentation that the timeframe requirements of each subject are being met?  If the lesson is genuinely cross-curriculum do you need to have specific time slots for every subject or can it be all lumped together in a way that allows it to flow naturally?  If there is a writing lesson for social studies that takes 15 minutes, is that time deducted from the language arts block?  Having a specific time table for each area of learning is so much more cut and dry.  If students are 100% engrossed in a topic, is it possible to expand the timeline for the unit and incorporate other aspects into the lessons that meet standards that were not initially in the plan?  Is social studies the best area to combine this all-encompassing style of learning?

Class 7

Going to the VMFA and analyzing the art with “I see” and “I wonder” was a unique experience.  I am a 7 second window shopper with it comes to most historical art.  My art appreciation is geared towards science museums and photography exhibits.  Looking at the art as we’ve been taught definitely made me think and wonder about the objects.  I am still wondering if the statue of the man was made out of one piece of stone and what caused the marbling effect on that stone.  It amazes me the ancient civilizations had the ability to make such intricate art the stood the test of time.

I wonder how a young class would receive the virtual tour.  I had a difficult time answer the questions because I wasn’t really sure what was being asked.  Personally, I became a little disinterested about halfway through.  It was so much more engaging to see the actual pieces that we were observing.

I wonder how effective it would be to have the students create there own art representative of the time period/culture being studies.  I would be good prep work before visiting a museum.  There would have the added bonus of having the artist present to explain their creation and purpose and answer questions after the class is finished interpreting the piece.

Are there any programs that would bring relatively inexpensive replications of historical art into the classroom?

Class 6

Worst case scenarios…

I have been wondering about how we, as new teachers,  are supposed to implement the teaching methods and assessment styles that we have learned in our classes into school systems that are unsupportive of change.  Say that the established teachers prefer to teach to the test.  They like their assessments that are geared towards Blooms Taxonomy Levels I/II and don’t want to put the effort into grading assignments that require thought and depth.  I suppose the best case scenario is that the school system allows you to teach your way as long as it doesn’t affect other teachers.  But as new teachers, where do we get the support we need?  There is no one with which to work on rubrics or assessments or plan quality lessons.  There is no group collaboration.

What if it is a school system where the lessons are synchronized across the specific grade level down to the minute?  There isn’t much room for real learning to happen.  How do you inspire students into taking an interest in the material?  If the kids don’t take a vested interest in what they are learning, they aren’t going to learn it.  They are going to memorize it during the crash review sessions directly before the SOLs and then forget it.  So, they might do well on the SOL.  But, it doesn’t give them the skills to be successful in life, such as critical thinking, comprehension, synthesizing information, expressing their ideas in various ways.

This is my mind because I want to find a way to get through to students that aren’t receptive to the traditional methods of teaching.  I want to use all of the great information that I am learning.  I don’t think I could stand teaching in a school system that is super strict with micromanaging.  It would be too painful to watch students struggle when there are so many quality resources that I could be utilized.  I want to see growth in my students by giving them higher-level thinking projects and complete formative assessments that are valued.  Knowledge tests have their place, but in the long run, it is so much more important to be able to think and apply your knowledge.

 

Class 5

This last class has made me think more about front loading for reading.  I think it would have helped me a considerable amount in school.  My comprehension skills are low, even now.  It takes me more time to process the information and I find it difficult to answer questions directly after reading something.  It was interesting to work through a process to compensate for this problem.

I wasn’t sold on the vocabulary portion until the end of the activity.  If it had been me in school, I would have checked that I could use each word in a sentence.  However, while reading the document, those words popped out at me.  The tea party exercise (I would dub it Social Studies Social) was also and interesting activity.  I was very focused on hearing all of the sentences.  It also helped me pick out key information in the document.  I wonder how a student with social anxiety would react to that activity.

Everything we did before reading, benefited me while I was reading.  I was able to focus on meaning and wonder about the information that I was taking in.  I think looking at the words after reading, would help a student to visualize how much they learned in that activity.  I wonder where my comprehension would be if I had been taught this way.