My Final Reflection
It is hard to believe our time in this semester has come and has gone.
One of the things I enjoyed about this semester is the social studies class.
The reason I enjoyed it so much was because each week would be different- no two classes were the same and Dr. Meier had us on our toes from the beginning and involved the class in every activity.
Social studies has been pushed to the curb, but what we have found out is, it can still be incorporated into our day of teaching.
Social studies is important to teach because it includes history, geography, political science, etc. It is important to start teaching social studies at an early age. Students can be involved in simple tasks like leading the line, cleaning the room and pushing the chairs under the desk. This allows students to have a role in their classroom and will also help students develop their critical voices.
The importance of having a democratic, student-centered environment is so the children can take a part in helping "create" the rules and procedures. This shows the students they are important and their ideas matter. Our "block" class participated in the "rule making" process at the beginning of the semester and I definitely want to incorporate this idea into my classroom. We had a lot of great ideas and we were able to share these with the whole class. It also lets the teacher know that the students are helping and willing to honor the rules set.
If social studies are sidelined in my classroom (due to a greater authority) I will use the ideas we gave in our round table sharing time. I can incorporate social studies into reading and language arts, for example, reading about the Native Americans and then writing a script for a play to act out for other classes.
I think letting the children learn about their individual knapsacks can incorporate a great discussion on different cultures and the students diversity. This is important for all students to learn about and what better way then having the students share themselves.
Some great resources to teach social studies are found on our blogs. The Internet is a great tool with so many teachers sharing ideas they have tried that work. Also the activities we did in class are definitely ones we will not forget. I have enjoyed doing the skit, learning about taxation with M&M’s, using boxes to make a city, climbing Mount Everest, peeling an orange to compare flat maps with round maps, using the FQR to really learn about a topic or reading, doing the booktalk, acting out in the living museum, making our own classroom rules, and of course geocaching. (I know there are many more activities we did, but this is just a start for us to see how easy it is to do social studies in the classroom at any age.)
How can we integrate social studies with other classes are just about as simple. I taught on landforms and I incorporated music and movement, art using clay, reading a story that included landforms, and using technology to create a PowerPoint lesson and game show for review. This is just one example of many integrating social studies with other classes. I also learned about how to use the curriculum standards for social studies using NCSS and TN State Standards.
The biggest key to learning social studies for me this semester was all the hands on activities, being involved in-group work, getting up and participating in the learning process. Students will enjoy learning and the more we know, the better we can teach. This will be a learning process for me as I prepare to teach social studies to my class, but I will do it.
Dr. Meier, thanks for making social studies fun and enjoyable, and I was learning in the process!! I want to use the methods I learned in class and pass on to my students so they will also enjoy social studies while learning!!
