December 11, 2010
December 10, 2010
Final Reflection
This semester in social studies, I have learned a tremendous amount about who I am and what type of teacher that I desire to be. The cultural knapsack put my background into perspective. It helped me to understand that every person has their own cultural knapsack and that it differs in many ways. For instance, I was born in a city that was very culturally diverse versus my husband who was born in a town that was very segregated. This is important to realize because it helps me to understand his family’s values, actions, and reactions. If I am able to understand that my students will bring different experiences to create a unique culture inside of my classroom, then I can properly advocate and effectively teach my students at the level in which they will learn the most. In addition, I learned that my teaching style focuses mostly on creating a better society. Though the student is important… I see the big picture. Teachers do not just teach language arts, reading, and math… rather, they teach LIFE.
The activities that we have done in class have really supplemented my desire to integrate subjects. I have learned that social studies are the essence of every other subject. Most teachers would say reading is while others would say math. This all proves that all subjects are inter-connected. My favorite activity was the King’s M&M’s. I think I loved it the most, because it taught the students about life. They were able to connect history while diving into politics, economics and of course, social justice. This was by far the best social studies activity that I have ever participated in. Also, I enjoyed Box City because I could visualize how many lessons you could teach with it. The activity could be modified continuously to meet every social studies standard that exists!
In conclusion, this class has developed my professional knowledge in teaching. It has taught me to use primary resources to supplement my teaching and to integrate multiple subjects.
December 09, 2010
Circle Time
Yesterday in class, we had circle time! I thought it was a GREAT way to end class and reflect on the things we have learned! It was very apparent that this class has impacted us greatly! So many misconceptions have been revealed and I can most definitely say that everyone in our class is totally prepared to BUST these things up! My question was about integrating social studies and I truly think that social studies could be the center of EVERY subject!
Living History Museum
I am sooo bummed that I missed everyone's living history museums! However, I did enjoy staring at my beautiful new little babe :) I decided to be John Smith for my museum because I really enjoyed learning the truth about his character from the book I read for the Booktalk. I wanted to tell everyone about what I was learning and the myths that were being uncovered. I loved that the DISNEY movie is SO OFF BASE and I wanted to share that with every single person in the class. It's like the show myth busters... it gives you a sense of importance when you are able to bust a myth that everyone has believed for so long! My performance was a little scary. I didn't really want to do it in front of the entire class but at least I got it all done at one time.
Booktalks
Well, I'm not exactly sure where my post for this section went... but it disappeared! Anywho, I thought that the booktalks were awesome! I really enjoyed reading my book. I have learned so much about Jamestown just through reading this book that I would highly recommend it to anyone teaching about historical Jamestown. The author is actually from Virginia and used actual artifacts to support her writing. I specifically loved this book because you could use it for the book talk and apply it to any active learning activity including the living history museum and plays! Also, I enjoyed the other book that people chose to read. I especially liked the stories from the great depression era simply because I love learning about that time!
November 13, 2010
Mount Everest
Well.. how cool is Mount Everest! I loved the activity. It's fun to learn about things that never come to mind when you think of Mount Everest. When I used to think of it, my mind went straight from tallest mountain (from sea level, of course) to freezing cold to never having any desire to visit. :) Now my mind thinks about millions of things! I kind of feel stupid because my knowledge of Shirpas is about as good as my ability to explain quantum physics.... (NONE). All I know is that I bought a Shirpa knife when I was in India... and my dad laughed at me. He knows quite a bit more about the cultures of the world than I do. Anywho- I really enjoyed learning about how Everest's appeal to consumers effects everything surrounding the mountain (mainly society). This is the worst paragraph I think I have ever written... BUT I do mean every word! :)
Jamestown
My book is officially awesome. I love how historically accurate it seems! It's from the perspective of John Smith's servant... and has captured all the details... all three sides of the story... John Smith.... the upper-class men, and the indians. I am excited to finish and share it with you all!
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