Social Studies Final Reflection

As I reflect upon what I have learned this semester, I know it means that my time at East Tennessee State University is over and I will soon begin my teaching career. This makes me sad and happy at the same time; I am sad that this chapter of my life is over, but I am ecstatic to know that I will be teaching soon and fulfilling my lifelong dream. Since I have been in school this year, my views of education and what should be in the curriculum has changed more than I ever thought it would. My Social Studies class has made me reevaluate a lot of views that I previously held. I have always believed that students learn better in an active classroom, but I wasn’t sure that I could incorporate active learning into such a standards based curriculum.

Through Social Studies instruction, I can actively teach my students and still meet Tennessee State Social Studies Standards. Since No Child Left Behind has been in effect, many subjects (such as Social Studies, Art, Music, and Science) have been ironically been left behind. All of the subjects that have been left out are just as important as Mathematics and Reading. Something else that is odd to me is that all of these subjects can be integrated and still successfully meet state standards, but many teachers do not want to put the extra time or effort into designing instruction to actively link subjects and standards.

I believe that it is important for students to learn Social Studies because Social Studies is such a large part of their lives. Social Studies encompasses History and Culture, and allows people to learn more about themselves and how they have changed throughout time. How can we, as humans, truly know ourselves if we do not know our culture or our history, or even other cultures and histories? Making students recall a set of dates and facts does not accurately teach them about their history or culture. Students have to explore for themselves and make decisions based on their findings. As I have already stated, students learn best when they are actively learning. If I make my students recall a lot of facts, what have they learned? If I lead them in activities that encourage thinking outside of the box, they are forced to evaluate what they know, and therefore, form their own opinions.

I believe that it is important to have a culturally responsive and democratic, student centered classroom. How can I effectively teach my students if I am not respectful and accepting of the diverse cultures from which they come from? I believe that a teacher must personally know all of their students in order to reach them on an instructional level. Knowing about the classroom’s diverse cultures allows the teacher to teach the students about the different cultures so that they are more respectful and accepting of everyone that is different from them. I also believe that students are the center of the classroom. If students didn’t need to be taught, then there would be no use for a classroom. Classrooms should be student centered and not teacher centered. Students should be allowed to share their opinions and make decisions in the classroom. A democratic classroom is a student centered classroom.

Through all of the activities that I have performed in my Social Studies class, my previously stated views have been formulated.

Education - The Ongoing Process

John Dewey once said, "Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself." I am now in love with this quote; I do not think there could be a better explanation of education. Since I was young, I have always been taught that what I was learning, I was learning in preparation for the next step of life. I believed what my teachers told me and did my best so that I could do better in the future. Since my views of the education system have deepened, and in turn, changed, I believe that education is an ongoing process. We are always learning, and just because I will no longer be a college student as of May 2011, does not mean that I will no longer be a student in life. The students that I will have in the future will teach me much more than I could have learned in college and probably more than I will teach them. While I am teaching, I will be preparing my students for the next step in life, but they will constantly be emerged in education, whether, they will believe it or not.

Putting the Social Back in Social Studies

In this blog post I am referring to an excerpt (from a book) that I read. To summarize, the author is advocating that teachers start teaching social studies in a way that entices students to be interactive. When social studies is taught, it is strictly fact recall and textbook heavy. Students believe they do not like the subject of social studies, but in fact, they do not like the way social studies is taught. While I was in school, I had a mixture of interactive learning and textbook learning. As most students, I got bored, confused, and upset with the textbook version of learning. I feel that I do not remember anything that I "learned" through a set of dates in a textbook. I do remember learning through activities, which is the way I think it should be taught. Students could gain a lot more from social studies if it was taught in an interactive way. I believe (all) people learn through doing and not from reading a textbook until our brains hurt. Textbook learning is beneficial for some people, and I am not saying that a textbook is not a helpful resource. I do believe that instruction should not be based solely on a textbook or worksheets. Students learn in a variety of ways, therefore, instruction should occur in a variety of ways.

Living History Museum

When I think of a living history museum, I think of a good way for students to interactively learn about historical figures. Every time I have an assignment similar to this one, I try to pick someone different than I have before so that I can expand my knowledge base. It is fun for students to act like someone else for a day and makes it easier for students to learn. I think this is a wonderful activity for a lesson!

Day of Giving Thanks

Since I have been in Dr. Meier's Social Studies class, my eyes have been opened to the true meaning of Thanksgiving. I have not often thought of the first Thanksgiving, except for when I am in an elementary school. Since I will be teaching elementary students I need to critically think about what I will teach them about Thanksgiving. I have known for a long time that the first Thanksgiving was not what we often think of, i.e., the Pilgrims and Native Americans living happily ever after feasting on turkey, stuffing, rolls, pumpkin pie, etc. With my family there has always been an emphasis on what we are thankful for and not, well let's remember our ancestors today. My future step-aunt has called Thanksgiving day the Day of Giving Thanks because that is what we really need to be doing. I know like to refer to this past Thursday as the Day of Giving Thanks because I need to, ALWAYS, be thankful for what I have. Setting aside one day out of the year to think of what I am thankful for is not sufficient but is a good time to gather with family and to discuss with them what I am thankful for. This type of definition is what I will emphasize in my classroom, not the pilgrims and indians because we all know that is not how it happened.

Story Path _ Mt. Everest

I think that the story path activity is a good alternative to teaching by the text. I enjoyed participating in the Mt. Everest story path. I put myself in someone else's shoes and had to see what it would be like as a Sherpa. I have background knowledge about Mt. Everest that I never had before. I felt that role playing in this way is more beneficial than reading from a textbook. Students can make their own decisions about each story. Students can become active participants in that area, and not passive readers.

Photo Diary

I had so much fun creating my photo diary. It is mentally challenging to put it together because I am not a metaphorical person; I take things very literally. I had more fun viewing everyone's photo diaries in class than creating my diary. It was fun to see how everyone displayed their qualities of an effective teacher.