What I have gained throughout the semester

What have I learned throughout the semester? Well, I have honestly learned a lot. Before taking this course, I thought social studies was just history but I have learned that it is so much more. I learned that social studies includes geography, economics, English, art, and religion. I have learned how to effectively teach all of these using direct, inquiry, and cooperative lesson plans. I have also gained a great deal about technology. My favorite application to use is just plain Google Docs. This is my favorite application because it allows for multiple people to look at and edit it at the same time. This comes in handy when completing a cooperative lesson or group project. I believe that learning to use different technologies is very beneficial as a teacher. This gives the teacher the opportunity to teach the students in the class about these different technologies because we are now living in an age where the use of technology is predominant. This course has made me a better social studies teacher.

Mock Interview Reflection

Today in class, we were part of a mock interview. This interview was to prepare us for what an interview may be like for student teaching or to get a full time teaching job. Before going to this interview, I was nervous because it felt different being judged in a way by my peers. I was not entirely sure on what to expect during the interview. I thought the interview itself was easy but I found the questions to be difficult. Kelli asked a very difficult question about creating an objective regarding the American Revolution. This question may have been easier if we were given the grade level and a bit more information. Christine and Lindsay both asked very interesting questions. The question that they both asked was in regards to if they came into my classroom, what would they see me teaching. I thought this led to a very thoughtful answer that allowed me to show what I understand about the different types of lessons. Overall, I found this experience to be beneficial because it allowed me to reflect on my learning and experience in the classroom.

Current Events and Newsela

Recently I completed a current events project with Kelli. I found it difficult to find recent articles that were interesting but could also relate to the unit plan I created for the 4th grade students at BDMS. After hearing Lindsay and Nicole speak about women today and how it relates to women from the American Revolution, I got the idea to do my project on children and education. Once I got this idea in my head, I went to the Newsela website and started searching for articles that talked about children or education. I find this website to be very useful to explore and read about current events. One of the Five Principles of Teaching include relating matter to real-life events. By doing the current events project, the students are able to relate what is happening today in the world, either in the United States or other countries.

In my future classroom, I would adapt this project to any grade level. I would look on Newsela and find articles that relate to the topic we are doing whether it is geography, economics, or some other social studies lesson. Newsela has a wide variety of articles to chose from that can be easily related. The best feature about Newsela is how you can change the lexile levels so make it grade appropriate. This is also beneficial because you can change the lexile level if you have a reader who is at a lower level or a reader who is at a higher level. Another great feature of Newsela is there is a built in quiz and short answer response that you can have the students complete as a quick assessment.

My current events project was based on children and education. Each article was about how people are being educated or how they are not being educated. I related this to the American Revolution by posing the question about how the students feel children during the American Revolution were taught or if they weren't taught at all. This sparks an interesting discussion and also brings up the question of whether or not everyone is entitled to an education and if each country requires children to be educated.