As I reflect on this class, I think of many things. I think of the projects we completed, the lesson plans we wrote, and the strategies we learned. What sticks out to me most, though, is how best practices were modeled for us.
One question I had going in to this course was how in the world do I make social studies interesting for kids?! I loved history so much that I have a degree in it, but not everyone finds history as interesting as I do. I really enjoyed stepping into the role of the student in our class because I had to work hard to analyze the content and work collaboratively to find the answers.
My favorite lesson was one of the first. We were shown a painting of the first Thanksgiving and asked to look at it for a few minutes. We were told to think about what we notice and wonder. As a teacher, it is easy to pull the students back together before they really have enough time to process it. However, we had best practices modeled to us in this situation and so many more. There were pieces that my classmates noticed and I had not. I came away with questions I would not have had if I were only given one minute to look at the painting.
I will keep this lesson and so many more in my toolbox to use when I have my own classroom. Thank you for a wonderful semester!