FINAL REFLECTION

WOW! I can’t believe the semester is already over. I have enjoyed my social studies class very much and was able to learn so much from it. I feel as though the knowledge I have gained from this class will help me throughout the next few years as a venture into the teaching world. I have so much input on social studies and how to teach it, how not to teach it and its importance. I will try to hit the high points of my personal beliefs throughout this blog.

I want to start by asking, why social studies seems to put on the back burner in so many school systems across the nation. I do not understand why people think that it is not a valuable or important subject to teach our young children. Social Studies is such a broad topic and covers so much, it really is ignorant to deprive kids of this type of knowledge. For most children, if they are not taught about something in school there is a very good chance that they will never learn it.  I feel as though it is my job to advocate for this forgotten subject and use my critical voice within the school system. As an educator I feel strongly about the importance of teaching social studies in the elementary classroom and I do have a responsibility to stand up for my beliefs even when others may disagree with me. I am very aware that using my critical voice may be harder than it seems, especially during the first few years of teaching. I do not want to cross a line and lose my job for speaking my mind but at the same time I am a firm believer in standing up for myself and what I feel is in the best interest of the students.

There are several reasons that I believe social studies should be taught. First, it teaches us history. I think that all children should know a little bit about their heritage and how America was founded. I also believe that children should be taught that our freedom was not free and several men had to fight for our freedom. This not only teaches them history but teaches kids how to be patriotic and appreciate how lucky they really are and that leads kids to grow up to be better US citizens. History is often a recall subject and kids usually do not enjoy history because of this, they are expected to recall dates and places and I honestly think that it is obsurd to ask kids to be able to do this. I would much rather kids specific event took place. By asking kids to remember all this information, we put their minds on overload and it takes away from the actual learning process. The way that history is currently taught is cheating children from learning. We also cheat them by teraching them inaccurate information. I was always taught that Columbus founded America and that he was nice to the Indians but that is not true. I feel as though we should be sensitive in the ways we teach but that we should provide kids with the truth.

Social Studies is also a class that teaches children how to be culturally responsive. Without social studies children would not learn the ways of others and how to respect them. In order for the world to be a happier and more peaceful place, respect is necessary. All children should be taught how to respect others, no matter what the race, color and religion of that person. This is a topic that some people feel should be taught in the home, but the sad reality is that there are several children who are not taught manners   or respect at home. It is my job as a teacher to ensure that these values are met within my classroom.

Social Studies is underestimated. It is more than just history and geography, it also encompasses an entire other spectrum that teaches children how to grow into responsible adults. Social Studies teaches kids about economics and how the world’s economy really works. We tend to assume that adults just figure these things out as they grow up but it’s not true. People do not just figure out how business works and they usually do not just learn how to have good work ethics. These are things that they must learn as they grow up. It is easy to incorporate these topics into a classroom, by assigning a job to each students you are promoting good work ethics and teaching kids how to handle responsibilities. You can also have a democratic classroom setup that allows kids to take a vote in how they would like their class to run smoothly.  A democratic classroom not only actively involves the children but it instills so many good morals in them as well. It helps create a community of learners, it teaches them how to use their own critical voice and make their own decision, it teaches them the importance of voting. The possibilities are endless when teaching social studies. 

I could write for hours about my views on social studies and how it should be used in the classroom, but these were a few things that I feel strongest about. I have learned so many activity ideas that can actively engage children rather than just teach form the textbook, which can be very boring for kids. Activities are a fun exciting way for children to participate in social studies. There are also several literature selections for kids that are social studies based and can easily be incorporated into the social studies curriculum. I plan on using such books, because it focuses on reading as well. I want to teach my students social studies in my classroom. I feel as though it is just as important as math and reading. It does not need to be forgotten and I truly feel as though the values that are taught in social studies are things that help children grow and develop into mature and well rounded adults. I will do everything I can to stand up for my beliefs and incorporate social studies into the everyday curriculum in my classroom.

Standardized Tests

I have always been opposed to standardized tests for several reasons and after our jeopardy game I really decided that I was against them. The questions on the TCAP tests are a little ridiculous. I don't think that young children should be expected to remember so many dates and places. A lot of the material on the tests were things that I never remember learning in school. I think that the system has failed our children, if these tests are the tools that measure their intelligence and measure a teachers abilities. I do believe that kids should be tested on certain things and that they need to know the important dates in history but it is not neccessary for a child to learn every single date in US history in order to become a succesful, well rounded adult. I wish there was a way that we as future teachers could change the way in which are students were tested. The sad reality for now though is that the tests are still set up the same way and as educators we must make the decision on how to teach social studies and what we feel is important content to teach in the social studies classroom.

LIVING HISTORY MUSEUM

WOW! I had so much fun doing the living history museum. I learned so much. I learned a lot about my historical person (jeanette rankin) and I had never even heard of her until this project. I also got the chance to meet so many others at our museum and learned quite a bit in a very short amount of time. I think that this project is one that kids would enjoy doing. I think that they could have a lot of fun dressing up and they would learn so much without even realizing that they were learning. It would seem more like a fun day than it would a learning experience. The museum is one of the most exciting things that I feel like I have got to participate in this sememster and I hope to get to use it in my classroom soon.

Book Talks and SS related literature

I enjoyed hearing the book talks everyone gave in class. Some of the books sounded so interesting and I really hope to get the chance to read them. I was so unaware of how many books could tie in with Social Studies. I think that literature is a great way to introduce children to a new social studies topic, literature can often be very relatable and therefore intrigues children to want to learn more. I am truly amazed at all the options available for social studies related literature. Literature was never used in my social studies class as a child, nor has it ever been used in my field placement. I feel as though a good, interesting book about the subject area would have been very helpful to me and it would have been a lot more fun than workbooks. I do plan on trying to incorporate literature in my social studies classroom after seeing the endless possibilities that I will have available to use.

Thanksgiving

I went to a thanksgiving feast at Payton's school today. The entire class sang songs for the parents and while they performed they wore Indian vests (made out of paper bags) and feather head dresses. They were so cute but I just kept going back to the video we watched about Indian stereotypes and to our class discussion about Thanksgiving. It really started to bother me, I just can't understand why we dress like Indians at Thanksgiving but never bother to teach the kids that Indians really don't dress that way. We lead kids to believe that all Native Americans will be dressed in feathers at all times, which is offensive to Native Americans. Every year kids learn facts about Thanksgiving that are inaccurate but we let them go on for most of their lives thinking that the first Thanksgiving was as happy and peaceful as the feasts they have at school. I know we have already discussed this in class, but after visting Payton's school today, I just couldn't stop thinking about it. I feel as though our future teachers should consider a different approach to teaching kids about Thanksgiving. I have already started thinking of alternative ideas and lessons to incorporate into my classroom.
I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

Diversity and Multicultural Eduaction

As I was growing up in school, I had very little diversity in any of my classrooms. I went to an all white school and wasn't exposed to many people of other races or color. This region has grown so much and I do see so much more diverstiy in kids than when I was young. I see know how important it is to teach school age kids about the cultures of our world. I remember learning very little about other cultures as a child, I assume because of the lack of diversity in the area. I think that it is truly important for kids to learn about others and how they live, but most importantly how to respect them. There is so much racism and prejudice in our world and I feel as though the more knowledge children gain about people, the more they will be able to understand them and accept them for who they are and not judge them by what they look like. I plan to incorporate multicultural education in my classroom at every possible moment. There are several children's books that are excellent resources for introducing cultures and beliefs of those around the world. I really hope that multicultural education can influence kids and help eliminate some of the stereotypes, racism and even violence against others.

Voting

Since the elections just ended, I figured now would be a good time to discuss voting. I feel as though this is a subject that should be discussed in the social studies curriculum. I think that students should be taught how to vote according to their personal beliefs and not what others believe. They should be taught the importance of freedom and how big of a privelage it is to get the chance to vote. It is our job to help students become responsible citizens and I do believe that becoming a legal voter is part of that.

Geocaching

I am so glad that we all got inducted into the geocaching society. I am excited to get the chance to go try it out on my own. Hopefully I will get some time this summer. Geocaching is a neat little tool to use when studying geography in the classroom. I think it would be so fun to plant a little travel bug somewhere and log its journey across the world. Kids would get to learn about parts of the country that otherwise they may not known have existed. I will definately plan on planting a travel bug in the near future for my class.

Box City

Oh my gosh, can I just say I LOVE this activity. I would never in a million years have been able to come up with this idea. It is so neat though. All the ways that you can incorporate box city in the social studies classroom are amazing. This activity was so fun for me as a grown adult and I know that it would be fun for kids. Kids learn so much better when they are having fun and box city is definately a fun activity that presents alot of educational opportunities for students.

Critical Voice

Having a critical voice is so important. How can you fight for yourself or your students if you don't have a critical voice. I think it is ok for teachers to fight for their student's needs and to stand up for what they believe in. Don't be afraid to speak your mind, even when nobody else agrees with what you have to say. Be passionate about your beliefs and do stand up for them.

Social Studies in the Classroom

In my field placement, my 3rd graders have about 30 minutes a day for Social Studies. I hate that time of day. My mentor teacher is so boring with it. They always read a chapter then answer questions. After all I have learned from Dr. Meier I so badly want to do something fun with these kids. I am bored just from watching them. There are so many fun ways to teach Social Studies and I plan to use these fun activities in my classroom. I can't stand to watch the lack of energy and excitement from my mentor teacher. Maybe she will let me teach a Social Studies lesson one day.

Geography

After watching the video of Lily naming of all the countries, I realized how poor my geography skills really are. I can barely name 20 countries. So as I was doing a little bit of Christmas shopping the other day and I found a really neat learning tool for my son. He has a Leapster TAG reader and I bought him a map of the United States for it. It's a completely interactive map, it looks so cool. I hope that by exposing him to geography so young, he will have a much better geographic knowledge than I do.

"Black Ants and Buddhists"

  This was a reading that I was assigned for my Social Studies class. I am writing about my views and opinions of this reading. This was a story about a 2nd grade classroom. A student had noticed ants in the room and started to stomp on them to kill them. Other students took great offense to this because their culture did not believe in killing any living thing. the teacher was able to turn this whole incident into a lesson for her students. The students became very involved in learning how other cultures viewed killing animals.
This story raises a lot of good questions to ask yourself as you go about teaching. I loved the way the teacher took charge and made such a simple incident into an excellent learning experience. The students in this story were so driven to read about other heritages and beliefs. The students were so eager to participate and it worked really well. They learned so much by the end of the story. I think that they were all so excited because it was based on a true life event and they could easily relate to all the lessons being taught. They learned as a community. The lessons ranged from art to reading, history to culture. It was amazing! I loved this story and loved the teaching methods that were used by this particular teacher. She used critical teaching and really engaged her students in this type of learning.