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.