Social Studies Manifesto

Before this semester, I felt like most people do about Social Studies.  It was the lowest on my list and I did not want to have to really teach it, because I did not really know that much about the content and what I did know about it  I did not like! However, after a semester in Dr. Meier's Social Studies methods course, I have seen how important, vital, and all around us Social Studies is.  I have learned how truly simple it is to integrate Social Studies into any subject and how important it is to give our students a good experience with Social Studies.  Up until this semester I have never had an active learning experience with Social Studies.  I had never got to relive plays, be apart of a living history museum, geocach, or do anything "fun" in a Social Studies class EVER.  I had the apprenticeship of observation theory going on in my head.  I was going to teach Social Studies just how I had been taught all through grade school and high school.  I now know that I do not have do that.  I know that Social Studies is an active subject and one of the most interesting ones if we make it.  It is full of stories about all sorts of wonderful, interesting, exciting, and thrilling experiences that have helped to shape our country into what it is today.  I know that the National Council of Social Studies has a set of standards that are always helpful to go by when planning a lesson, as well as looking at state standards too.  During this semester, I have learned that I am more learner centered and that Social Studies can easily be planned to make the students take control of their learning.  Students need to be taught to think not just crammed full of facts.  Social Studies is the perfect subject to do that in.  There are so many things that kids are told and taught that are completely false and they need to be taught to question ideas and stories to figure out the truths from the myths.  As a teacher, I must know and understand my personal invisible knapsack so that I can understand my students.  We all come from different backgrounds, but we can all learn together if we understand each others influences, beliefs, culture, and backgrounds.  Social Studies is who we are.  It is not an unimportant subject.  It is not one to be left only when a substitute needs extra busy work.  As a teacher, I plan to make sure Social Studies is not pushed off to the side.  I plan to make sure that I have a democratic classroom, so that my students feel important and feel that they have a voice inside our class.  I plan to have active learning and doing rather than absorbing.  I hope to not forget how much fun and excited Social Studies can be.  And I hope to give my students a memorable Social Studies experience so that they do not become a twenty-something year old adult not knowing the things that I have now learned only because I finally was allowed a real ,true, fun, and exciting Social Studies experience.

Putting the Social Back In Social Studiea

This article was an eye opener into how much money is spent on the social studies material industry, but how the students are not learning or understanding social studies.  Some schools have done away with social studies! I do not understand how that is even possible! Some disturbing statistics are that "one in four 8th graders didn't know why the Civil War was fought, and one in five high school seniors thought that Germany was a U.S. ally during WWII!"  That is horrifying to imagine that the students do not know the basics of HUGE events in our countries history.  Some teachers who have never had a fond social studies experience are doing the same thing to their students now by just assigning worksheets and drudging through the material to get meet the standards.  I am so thankful to have had Dr. Meier this semester, because up until this point I have been one of those closet history-haters! And I honestly think I would have been one of those teachers who through social studies to the back-burner and trying to just get it over with.  Now I know that social studies is who we are as people.  I cant wait to be allowed to teach it by using fun activities like we have learned all semester!

Living History Museum

This past week in social studies we all took a trip back in time to visit the living history museum.  This activity was such a wonderful one and I definitely plan to use it inside of my classroom.  Every student picks someone  famous in history and makes a visual for that person and then becomes their own museum exhibit.  I chose Annie Oakley.  There were some wonderful exhibits by my classmates.  I loved Jackie Oand all the others.  Everyone did such a wonderful job and it was educational too! Gotta love activities like that.

Thanksgiving

Yesterday, we all sat down and celebrated Thanksgiving with our families.  Until this semester I have had that picturesque idea of the Native Americans and the Pilgrims sitting down and celebrating Thanksgiving like all my past teachers have told me.  This semester, however, I was challenged to question those things the textbook teach and those lessons taught over and over that might be wrong.  I feel that this social studies class has helped me so much to be able to truly research and understand what I being taught.  Like Dr. Meier said on Monday, "History is his or her story."

Book Talk

This past Wednesday was our classes book talk.  I enjoyed listening to everyone's book talk.  It seems like everyone had a book that related to social studies and most made me really interested to read their book.  My book was called "Ben and Me."  It is a book about Benjamin Franklin through the eyes of his good friend, companion, and mouse Amos.  It was a very fun book to read.  While it is a fiction book, it is a very useful book to teach students about the life of a famous historical figure.  I enjoyed reading it and look forward to being able to use it and maybe some of the others' books inside a classroom.

Story Path

This coming Wednesday we are going to have a story path activity that goes along with Mount Everest and what we talked about today.  I did not know all the facts we learned today about how many have climbed successfully, how many have died, the cost, and other facts we discussed today.  I am very excited for Wednesday to take part in the story path and learn exactly what they are and how to use them inside the classroom!!

Placement Lesson

Today I finally taught a lesson to students and saw it carried out from beginning to end! It was wonderful. Of course that are many things I would have done differently if I knew yesterday what I now know. My lesson was a Social Studies lesson about the three branches of government at the national level. The students were partnered up and read from the textbook for the first 15 to 20 minutes. Then we watched a School House Rock video, Three Ring Circle. It went perfect with the lesson. Next we had a class discussion on what was read and the video. Then we did a word sort within each pair, places roles and people under the right branch. The students listened a lot better then I would have thought they would which definitely helped! I am thankful that it is over now and I know that getting in front of the students is not horrible and I can do it! I am also glad that I got to do a hands on Social Studies lesson cause the class does not get to see Social Studies being as hands on as Science or Math is in the classroom.

No longer a Muggle!!

Social Studies this week was definitely one of the best hands on learning class I have been apart of in many years! We were all de-muggled and became members of the geocaching world! Geocaching is a treasure hunt that people all over the US and other countries play with each other and a GPS.  We found one "treasure" at ETSU not 100 feet from our favorite building Warf Pickle.  Geocaching can be used inside of a classroom to teach latitude and longitude.  I loved this activity and hopefully plan to use it not only in a classroom one day but with my fiance just for fun!!

Thankful for a Break

It was to have a day off on Monday to try and catch up on all that has been given to us so far.  I am so thankful to be able to look at the calender and see that there is only 6 weeks and finals and block is DONE! It is stressful to think of what is all left to do, but alot is behind us now and that is the goal.  On Wednesday we had to turn in our photo diary of our ideas, thoughts, and ideologies on Social Studies in the class room.  I had a hard time finding the right pictures to truly get at the heart of how I now feel about Social Studies.  Here are a few of the pictures I used. 

 

Lesson in Placement

This week I signed up for our lesson to be observed by Mrs. Dosser.  I am doing it on November 4.  The lesson that I will be teaching is about Social Studies! I am excited to get to actually bring some of the things we have learned with Dr. Meier into a classroom full of students to see how wonderful social studies can be.  The lesson will cover either Tennessee's Government or the Nation's three branches.  I am trying to think of something very hands on and student centered for my lesson.  I love lessons were the students are constantly working and thinking.   I have came across a couple of vision art projects the students could do so that they would have a tree with three branches and each branch will have its specific jobs and people attached to them as leaves.  These are just some ideas though.  If anyone else might have some suggested I would LOVE to hear them. 


Thought this was an awesome cake idea that I would love to be so talented to bring in but here is the just of what  I am thinking for the art project.

So It's Official...

Social Studies is officially my favorite class during block.  Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy math and the language arts, but the way Dr. Meier has presented Social Studies to us just makes me so excited to get a chance to get into a classroom and do some of the lessons we have got to experience.  I loved the play reenactments! I feel that everyone did such a wonderful job and really truly learned more about both the Boston Tea Party and the Massacre.  I also loved our history in pictures.  I feel that this is a wonderful activity and can be taken to a different level by researching a famous historical person and doing a history in pictures of them.  I feel the way Dr. Meier has introduced Social Studies to us truly shows how easy it can be integrated into almost any subject. 

In Search of MY Critical Voice

In Social Studies we were given two different articles about having a critical voice and finding your own critical voice.  I feel that I have to find mine.  I have yet to be able to speak boldly when I need to.  I have learned when you voice my opinion or say what I feel or think. However, I am not one of those people who can say what they believe is right all that time.  I have always been one to do what they are told and follow directions to the tee.  I do not like doing something that is considered "wrong."  However, as a pre-service teacher, I need to find my critical voice.  I need to be able to stand up for my future students when they cannot stand up from themselves and the systems fail them.  I found it a very close relation between the articles in Social Studies and the one article about Valerie Claire.  If Mrs. Coughlin had not had a critical voice or the courage to stand up for her students, Valerie would have been stuck in a place where she was not learning.  I hope I can find my voice and stick to my guns, when I see how the system fails future students.

Black Ants and Buddhists

Black Ants and Buddhists is a WONDERFUL article.  It really shows us how we can use everyday normal dialogue to teach our students to think critically about their actions and other things they would otherwise not think about at all.  It was amazing to see how, when just one student stepped up and was different from the rest the class and made an argument against the norm, all students began to think critical for months after the initial incident.  I loved how this teacher facilitated such great conversation and learning opportunities for months after the black ants.  It helped the students become more responsible for themselves and each other.  It also helped them to understand that not everyone is the same, but we all can understand and be respectful of each others beliefs, ideas, and actions.  I hope if I ever have an opportunity like this one I will see it and grab a hold and let it take me and my students on a wonderful journey.  Teachers should never stop wanting to learn and I know there is many many many things I do not know, and I hope that I will have the desire to continue learning for, from, and with my future students.

What Teachers Make

This video is a poem from Taylor Mail.  Mali is a teacher turned slam poet whose mission is to inspire 1,000 people to become teachers through his poems and his life experience as a teacher.  The title of this poem is "What Teachers Make".  To me this is one of the most motivating poems I have ever heard.  I hope you enjoy.

Block Has Begun!

My last and final "real" semester of college started a week ago.  I am enrolled in the educational BLOCK.  For those who know what this may be then they understand the dread, long hours, excitement, and all the other different emotions that come along with block.  This will be my last semester before I go into a school and student teach! The thought of being in a classroom and teaching is a scary yet wonderful feeling.  I am ecstatic to start getting more hands on learning that comes with block and student teaching.  This blog is for all those student teachers, beginning teachers, and others in the education field who love what they do and are always searching for new exciting things to bring into the classroom or future classroom for many of us.  Feel free to post anything whether comment or link to any useful teacher education site.