Finale

      A few months ago on the first day of the semester, I sat in front of my computer for my social studies course feeling extremely nervous and anxious about what was in store for me.  Now, being just a few days away from officially completing the class, I can look back in pure amazement at all I have accomplished in this short time.
       Prior to this course, I had a wealth of experience in small group and one-on-one instruction, but none in whole-class.  I was nervous to teach an entire class, but also so excited to finally have the chance to be a teacher to more than a few students at once.  I learned how to plan and implement direct, inquiry, and cooperative lessons.  I realized how important collaboration is when planning. I learned that being flexible is a necessity. Most importantly, I learned that I CAN do this.  Teaching whole class and receiving the positive and constructive feedback of my classmates and professor helped me better my teaching abilities and build my self-esteem.  I felt comfortable the second I started my first lesson, but making it through my fieldwork week and receiving the support I did built my confidence in extreme ways.  Thanks to this course, I am confident in my teaching.
        Planning the three different lesson types and using them with the second graders also helped me recognize the pros and cons of each, and when they are most appropriate.  For example, a cooperative lesson should not be done before a direct lesson on the topic with young children.  They need an introduction.  Using these lessons demonstrated how critical it is to allow students to apply and create their own knowledge.  Giving them chances to work with minimal support and with a group created meaningful contexts that can never be created with purely direct lessons.  Using cooperative approaches also reinforces the knowledge learned from lectures, etc.
          Thanks to this course and the wealth of resources I have learned about from it, I can honestly say that my social studies classroom will be based around collaboration and experience with a wide range of activities.  Students must be given the chance to work together and build upon their own ideas.  By doing so, they learn to connect knowledge, while also developing social skills.  I will certainly implement a current events lesson weekly.  Students will know that social studies is more than just dates and facts of history.  It encompasses our entire world and its cultures, people, etc. of the past, present, and future.
       Throughout the rest of my blog, you will find reflections on lessons I saw and taught and activities I completed.  I certainly gained a wealth of knowledge and accomplished a lot this past semester!

What I am most thankful for though, are the friendships I developed with my classmates.  I know they will all go on to become amazing teachers!

From Students to Citizens: My Teaching Philosophy

                Throughout my own schooling, social studies was a subject that never received the attention it deserved.  We learned all about history by listening to lectures and then answering the questions at the end of our textbook.  It was dry and, quite frankly, boring.  This negative attitude developed towards the subject due to the teaching methods associated with it lasted with me until I entered my social studies methods course as a twenty-two year old college student.  From the very beginning of this class, I learned that social studies must be taught in a meaningful, integrative, challenging, active, and value-based way.  Teachers must build upon their students’ prior experiences in order to create challenging learning experiences that allow them to “make meaningful connections and expand their experiences and viewpoints”(Sunal, 2011, p. 8).  It is a teacher’s responsibility to carefully select and plan lessons that challenge students and create meaningful contexts.  We must provide appropriate support and take the lead when necessary, but students must be given chances at “leadership in investigating ideas and issues”(Sunal, 2011, p. 8).  Making students active and engaged in a lesson is critical in providing adequate social studies instruction.

            When teaching social studies, an overarching goal should be helping students to develop the skills and traits necessary to be successful in school and life.  According to Sunal (2011), social studies is about more than teaching students about history, current events, and how it all connects to the present; it “is committed to fostering human and civil behaviors and active, responsible participation in the communities in which people live and work”(p. 204).  Due to my agreement with this viewpoint, I am adamant about using cooperative learning in my social studies lessons.  Cooperative learning helps students develop these democratic skills by bringing them together for repeated face-to-face interactions with a diverse range of peers.  By following the PIGS elements of cooperative learning, they learn how to support each other, share ideas, actively listen, and work together to achieve a common goal.  Children learn to “pull their weight” by fulfilling the given responsibilities, especially because cooperative learning makes each group member individually accountable.  They become responsible for not only their own learning, but the rest of their group’s.  Working collaboratively also helps them to develop effective communication skills, methods to resolve conflicts, and appreciation for others.  Not only do they recognize the positives of their members, but they also are able to reflect on what each person did not perform as well on.  Using this approach to learning fosters the growth of students as citizens, while also allowing them to construct their own knowledge through experience in meaningful contexts. 

            As previously stated, social studies should be taught by building on students’ prior experiences.  Due to my agreement with this, I believe in taking a constructivist approach to teaching and learning.  Constructivism argues that we develop knowledge and meaning through interactions between experiences and ideas.  As Sunal (2011) states, “meaningful social studies learning is a process of integrating and building various social studies ideas by adding, modifying, and connecting relationships to ideas.  Making relationships also includes the abilities to explain, predict, and apply social studies information to many events.  Learning social studies depends on the prior knowledge the learner brings to a situation, whether the learner’s attention is focused on the ideas being represented, and the mental and physical actions of learners as they interact with events, people, and objects during instruction”(p. 31). It is critical to follow this approach in the classroom, instead of the traditional strategies that are focused on memorization and recall.  Students shouldn’t just be able to spew out random facts; they should be able to connect ideas and explain relationships.  Constructing one’s own knowledge and developing the skills social studies is meant to teach will enable them to decide “how to be involved with social events in ways that are consistent with their values and culture” (Sunal, 2011, p. 31).   Social studies isn’t just something we need to get through school, therefore it is critical to provide students with opportunities for learning how to build upon prior knowledge and experiences.  Social studies learning can be generalized across all areas of life.

            In order to create powerful, meaning-based learning experiences, I believe that students must be assessed in ways other than the traditional methods.  In my future classrooms, students will be given the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge by creating a variety of projects.  Students can reenact various parts of history, or even a current event, by creating skits with small groups.  They can write simulated letters, create journals from the viewpoint of important figures, write poetry, build portfolios, or give oral presentations.  While tests are necessary, they will hold a small portion of my assessment techniques.  Allowing students to construct their own knowledge and display it in their own ways enables them to increase their understanding of the topic.  If I am providing a meaningful learning context, it is necessary that they demonstrate their learning through meaningful methods as well.  As students work their way through the various lessons, I will of course check that students are constructing the ideas and skills stated in my objectives.  I would use quality circles as a way to have students evaluate their learning both during and after the lesson.  Students will be encouraged to take an active role in not only constructing their own learning, but helping others to do the same. 

            Overall, I believe that social studies must be connected to the larger picture of life.  Students must be given the opportunity to build upon prior knowledge and generalize it to situations outside of the classroom.  In my future classroom, I will constantly create meaningful learning situations that are most suited to the needs of my students.  I will be fostering the growth of my class as not just students, but citizens. 

 

Preparing for the Future with Mock Interviews

                  Hello again loyal followers! It is finally that time of the semester....finals!  Instead of having your typical paper-and-pencil final, my social studies class demonstrated our knowledge of course content by holding mock interviews.   Three other students and I volunteered to be “administrators” for the interview experience, so we came into class this past Wednesday prepared to lead an interview with our fellow classmates.  In order to prepare for the experience, the four of us wrote personal stories and created interview questions on various topics: direct instruction, inquiry learning, cooperative learning, and the concepts, generalizations, and elements of social studies.  I was given the last topic and prepared my interview as follows:

                Hello.  Welcome to Citizen Elementary!  I’m Miss Perrone and I have been the principal here for the past eight years.  Prior to becoming an administrator, I taught second grade for five years.  During that time, I received my Master’s in Literacy, as well as a Master’s in administration.  I have been dedicated to my students, faculty, and staff, and take pride in the success of this school.  Our goal here is to work together, constantly creating new, engaging ways to teach our students to become global citizens.  Lessons should be meaningful and powerful. During their years here, students not only learn the basic academics, but also develop the life skills and build the foundations they need to be successful in the real world.  We are creating responsible citizens who hold the democratic values and principles that our great nation is built on.  They learn how to work together and respect diversity.  I look for teachers that appreciate a constructivist approach to learning and who set high expectations for their students.  Each member of our community must be committed to helping students become self-directed, lifelong learners who contribute to their society and lead passionate, purposeful lives.  We are not just teaching the basic subjects; we are instilling values that create overall successful citizens. 

Now, it’s time to learn all about you!  Good luck!

Warm-up:    What adjectives come to mind when you think about teaching?

1.       Which type of lesson design would you use to help students construct meaning and learn generalizations?  Why would you use this type? (should reply with inquiry!)

 

2.       Once a generalization (big idea) is formed, it can be used to make predictions of actions and events.  Why is it important to teach students about generalizing and predicting events and actions in their own lives?

3.       There are multiple ways to define social studies.  How would you define this discipline and why is it important for students to learn?

4.     At Citizen Elementary, we believe social studies is a subject area that should be taught in meaningful, value-based ways that allow students to work on social skills while delving into hands-on experiences with social sciences (history).  Give an example of a lesson topic and the format you would use in the classroom to help students learn about the founding of America.

Ending Question:  In three sentences or less, sum up your own personal philosophy. on teaching social studies.

                 Each administrator interviewed our classmates and asked the questions we created.  We assessed each hiring prospect based on their answers, personality, and overall mannerisms throughout the interviews.  I was impressed with many of the answers I received and happy to report that all of my classmates who were asked to define social studies replied with something along the lines of “social studies isn’t just about the past.  It’s about the present and the future, and knowing about our history in order to help us in the future.  It’s also about the people, cultures, and world around us.”  The interviewees also impressed me with their teaching philosophies.  Most of us agree that students must be given the chance to construct their own knowledge and have hands-on, meaningful experiences.  Despite a majority of my classmates receiving high marks on my assessment, the four administrators decided to “hire” Susan and Julia. 

                 Overall, this experience was great to have!  It allowed us to review the course content while getting real-life practice for future job interviews.  We were able to prepare ourselves and practice being in professional situations.  Having this hands-on experience in a setting as comfortable as our class and among our peers was a great first step in building the confidence we need to be successful in future interviews. 

(Pictures, courtesy of Dr. Smirnova, coming soon!)

Also, check out this short video on interview etiquette!