final blog

Social studies is more than facts. Social studies is about life.  It is about how people interact with each other and other things around the world. It is about how we have learned to cooperate and live peacefully. It is about how we have learned to solve our problems by wars and battles. Social studies is about learning and understanding where another culture is coming from and learning to adapt. Teaching social studies is anything, but easy with all the different stories about events that have happened. However, it is the job and the mission of the teacher: to teach social studies where children can learn.

The main focus for students is to learn. That is why they are called students. It is my .. our job to teach students, not to “worksheet” them to death or make them memorize thousands of facts for a day for a test and forget them the next.  In order to do this, we, as teachers, must accommodate the many learning styles of our students. Through researching historical people and understanding where they truly come from, students could create plays or have a living history museum. Also, teachers could set up their classrooms to bring a multicultural atmosphere into the lives of those students who live around a certain type of people.

Social studies does not have to be textbook based, but that is a good place to start. There are others who know about social studies and it is helpful to gain ideas and knowledge from them, whether it is by textbooks, magazines, articles, or the internet, using reliable sources of course. Social studies is not called “book studies” because the textbook was never meant to be relied on so much to teach this subject, in my opinion. However, depending on what sources you find, they may not be reliable, such as maps on the internet or talks of famous people such as Christopher Columbus.

Social studies should be heavily integrated in the classroom from the very beginning and usually, it is, whether anyone realizes it or not. The teacher has rules or procedures posted. I believe it is a good idea for the class to create this as a whole, in order to have some democracy and not dictatorship in the classroom. Students should have responsibilities and goals to meet at the day’s end. Skills such as these should be taught and incorporated as much as possible.

However, this is not always obtainable and there are barriers in the way. Using a teacher’s critical voice is very valuable when trying to teach a subject in a way that students CAN LEARN. Students are not in school to memorize and then forget, having a faded memory of topics covered in subjects. They should be able to recall them with interest and want to learn more about them simply through the way that the teacher presents the subject. We should remember how difficult it was for us to learn certain skills and learn how to teach these better.

Social studies is a very difficult subject to teach because it is not seen as important to some people, especially authority figures in the school system. As easy as it is to say, use your critical voice and stand up for your students’ understanding and education, it is not that simple. There are hoops to jump through and requests to be given. There are so many obstacles in the world of teaching, it may not always be likely. However, I believe teachers should keep their heads held high and keep going because I believe it will all be worth it in the end.

The Living History Museum

Well, I for one really enjoyed the museum. As daunting as it seemed, I had a really good time and only had to repeat myself about 10 or 12 different times :) I really hope people learned a lot about my character, Cleopatra! I sure did!

I am so excited about tomorrow and learning about others!

Something I would add is that students should have one question to ask the person they are listening to. I did not know EVERY answer, but I did know some and to be able to answer questions was almost as fun as talking about myself.

This is an excellent idea, however, and I will try my best to incorporate it into my future classroom!

Reading with a Twist

Well, I thoroughly enjoyed the fact, question, and response activity we did. I think it would help many struggling as well as those who are excel at reading, enjoy reading more if they had a purpose. Depending on what you read, it can be difficult to stay with the story line and sometimes you need goals to get through the book. That's what I think this activity would be very good and beneficial!

I hope everyone had an excellent Thanksgiving!
See you Monday!
I'll be the one that looks like Cleopatra! (No, seriously... I will by Social Studies time!)

Incorporating Social Studies Through Literacy

So .. book talks ... very cool!
I loved hearing all the different books that were towards social studies! Reading books is a favorite pastime of mine, one that I have had to give up because of trying to keep up with all my homework .. joy. However, I really enjoyed the book that I read and hope that many people read it because I read it in one day :) I just LOVE fiction! I really love it when it's partially or wholly based on a true story, it makes it all the more interesting!\

Have a fabulous rest of the weekend, y'all!

Learn Something New Everyday

I was CAUGHT up with my blog entries and here I was all worried that I was not. Well, "yay" for being on top of things!

So back to the reason for the creation of the blogs. Social Studies.

Something of Interest:
Just because you have prepared what you are going to say during a class discussion does not mean that it is going to come out of your mouth correctly. FOR INSTANCE (this is totally JUST an example and SO did not happen to me yesterday during class .. baha!) when a student is supposed to be talking about Christopher Columbus and instead out comes... Martin Luther King! AHHH! Things do not always work out as they are planned, but in short, that may make lessons even more memorable.

What I was trying to make a point in saying is that: I learned that facts about the history of the United States is not always correct, such as Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492. I would like to learn ways to introduce the facts in a way that is non threatening, but still teaches students to question the past and learn for the future!

I am very excited about learning about Mt. Everest this week, even if I never do have an interest in going up it and facing death itself. Good luck and God bless to those who have or are currently climbing it!

Good night!

No Longer a Muggle .. am I?

Well ... social studies has suddenly gotten interesting! Just kidding! It has always been interesting, only now there's a new topic. Geocaching. Interesting, huh? I thought so. I think that it's not only amazing that there's such a thing, but that there are so many people involved and a lot are right on campus!

It was fun geocaching the other day during class. I, personally, did not think we looked inconspicious (sp?) at all! 24 students and a professor :) anyways .. it was fun and that's what counts .. even if we did have to do it in the rain!

I hope you all had a great Halloween weekend!
Amanda

Happy Fall Break

Well, can you tell that I'm better? I'm getting cabin fever and doing HOMEWORK! haha. For those of you who did not know, I had a virus in my throat and mouth. It was only contagious if you ate after me. So, for those I have been around Monday and on.... you are fine. I have been in the house for the past week, basically and had to miss a day with my classroom and amazing mentor!

Another thought: my last two posts ... were on the same subject. I noticed it a few minutes after posting the latter. Yeah, I'm so good that I had two completely different thoughts on one subject.

Alright, now for the actual reason of this post: ideas and standards for our box city. I am in a second grade classroom, so I searched for 2nd grade activities. For Geography, 2nd grade standards: 3.01 Understand how to use maps, globes, and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process and report information from a spatial perspective. The activity that I would use would be to have the class create a box city on day one. On day two, I would have copies of a sketch of their city that they created. The students would place the compass and other map tools on their sheet. Students would work in groups and ask each other questions then plan a day together, visiting as many places in their city as possible.

Another idea is from the 6th grade standards: 1.05 Understand the role that diverse cultures and historical experiences had on the development of the world. The activity that would be associated with this standard would be to having the students look at their town in a different area, whether another city, state, or country. Students would question how the buildings would change, what shops would be different, what scenary would be added or taken away, etc.

As we have talked in class, there are endless ideas to this subject.

Have a great Fall break!
Amanda

New Teachers Turning Old

Reading the Critical voice documents made me a little worried, simply because as much as everyone hopes to bring fresh ideas and new learning styles into the classroom ... sometimes it simply is not enough. Although new teachers are taught to go outside the box and become a voice in their schools, new teachers are often pushed to the back burners in order to learn how the school is ran and how they can fit into the mold instead of creating one themselves. I am not saying that ALL new teachers become "old" fast, but some do. Those who are in a dictator school system and want to continue to have a job, do what they are told and follow the rules. They rarely step outside the box with which they are given and side with co-workers and fellow teachers rather than their own students. Others are impeccable and try their very best. Always "sticking up" for the students who are underdogs and watching out for the students' interests is the very best type of teacher. Trying to find the best methods and styles in which to teach the so called "unteachable" students, that is the type of teacher I yearn to be. And, truth be told, I hope it's one that others do to.

Fearless Teachers

When a person hears the word "teacher", most people would think, "They taught me how to read one year" or "One time we did this math this and it was really cool!" Teachers' jobs and reputations have went from teaching the basics and learning how to keep students interested enough so kids would behave to teaching chidren how to survive in this world and believing in themselves. It is sad, I believe, that teachers have been given this responsibility, however, when I become a teacher, I will more than gladly stand up for what I'm in a school building for and that is, to fight for the right for ALL children to receive an education. Speaking in a Critical Voice makes me cringe to think that there are such people who do not believe in the newfound skills others have or do not have such skills at all. Simply because two teachers teach in two different ways mean nothing. As the article reads at one point, "Every teacher has to have a solid grasp of his assumptions about how people learn and how that translates into the kind of environment the teacher will provide." Each and every person has an idea of some type of how to teach a child something, no two are alike. When new teachers' ideas are pushed to the side, this issue is only pushed to the backburner and as From Silent to Dissent says, "it only takes about six weeks for new teachers to look like old ones."

Teachers have to take a stand for their students. Simply because there is no one else with the time, energy or effort out there to do so.

That's all folks!

Dealing with Diversity

I thought the readings for social studies was very interesting. The chapter was very familiar and some of the topics I have heard spoken towards on more than one occassion. The article about black ants in the classroom was very cool. I thought it was very inventive for that teacher to take a messy classroom and a student's belief on not harming others, including bugs, and turn it into a lesson, whether they meant to or not. I suppose whether we realize it or not, we will have students with different beliefs than our own, from celebrating different holidays and refusing to say the Pledge of Allegiance to not wanting to harm insects and not wanting to eat meat. We must learn to understand and accept these things because as much as our beliefs are important to us, the beliefs that our future students have are very important to them. It is not right for us to demean the beliefs and morals of others just because we do not understand or like it. We have to accept the fact that our world inside and outside of the classroom is very different. Our differences simply may make this world, as well as our future classrooms a much better place for the future.

I hope everyone else enjoyed these topics and readings as much as I did. Now I guess I should finish the rest of my work. Putting things off ... not the best idea I've had in a while.

Have a great week!
Amanda B.

Post Number 2 :)

Annnnnnd ... it's the end of a very short weekend. For me personally, I like those three day weekends or in Monday/Wednesday class-wise ... 4 day weekends :)

Nothing major has gone on. I'm very excited about the 60 hours we have! Other than that .. maybe I'll have something better after this week has gone by!

I'm really liking everyone else's blogs! Very creative & great!

til next time.

Here's to blogging in block!

Well, here I am. Nothing much of interest has went on during my day. I did substitute for 6th grade social studies. It was alright. Kids are very tricky, especially to subs, though I must admit ... so the day became very interesting at certain times. For the most part, things were just fine. I guess that is it! I love the other blogs & it was very difficult to find a name and title, etc. Hope you like this blog of mine and have a wonderful weekend!!!