Blog: Yay or Nay?

When I first learned our class would require us to create and maintain a blog for a six-week course I was not sure what to expect. I have never written a blog, nor have I ever written anything that, literally, anyone can read. I was, in a word, intimidated, and still am, if I’m being honest. However, through writing this blog, as well as reading my classmates (wonderful) thoughts, I can’t help but notice the benefits. I feel that when you write something for the whole world (wide web) to see, you are writing it because it means something, and is important. This idea is absolutely true when it comes to this course, and the profession of teaching in general. It made me think about the important topics we were learning in class and reflect upon them. This wasn’t always easy, but it was always beneficial once I did it. One of the most surprising, and saddening, aspects of this course, was seeing what a small part social studies play in many classrooms. It is not, for many teachers, a course that is taught year round. It made me realize how important social studies is to students today, and how vital it is for me, as a soon to be teacher to remember this when I have my own classroom.

A Meaningful Social Studies Lesson

During the past year (almost!) of graduate school I have found myself thinking back to my own experiences in elementary school. To be honest, I don’t feel as though I remember as much as some of my peers do, (the only thing I remember from kindergarten is that my teacher was mean), however I remember enough to know Social Studies was one of my favorite subjects in elementary school. I loved learning about places and people, and I loved looking at the clothing of the people from the “olden days”. I think I enjoyed Social Studies so much because of the meaningful lessons my teacher’s created, incorporating field trips and fun activities. I also remember Social Studies being incorporated in other subjects, and that helped capture my interest. I remember writing and illustrating stories I had written in the perspective of people during various time periods, such as during the pioneer or industrial years. By integrating Social Studies with Literature and Art, I was able to take new information and use it in ways I enjoyed, such as drawing and writing. When teaching all subjects it’s important to integrate with other subjects when appropriate so that the student are able to get the most out of each learning experience. This is especially important with Social Studies because it is often (unfortunately) a subject put on the back burner with some teachers and if incorporated with other subjects they have deemed “more important” students will get a more complete and rich education.

What's MY Positive Attribute?

Sarah, Traci, Erin and Michelle’s unit presentation today got thinking about my positive attribute that could contribute to a classroom. Of course while the yarn was being passed around I was scrambling to think about my positive attributes. Neat? No, not really. Cooking? Ha! Loud? Hmmm, depends on whom you ask. Luckily the yarn never reached me (clearly thinking on my toes isn’t my positive attribute either), but when sitting down “my” characteristic hit me. Patience. Not necessarily in the waiting sense of patience, but patience in people. This isn’t always a great thing, I’ve been called a pushover and have a hard time saying no, but I feel it will work to my benefit in the classroom. No, of course I can’t be a pushover in the classroom, but I can take my patience and make it benefit my students. Because of my patience with others I really want to have a good rapport with everyone. It upsets me to have problems with people and I am more then happy to work with others in order to overcome issues. This will be helpful as a teacher because it’s important not to hold grudges on students, because even if you try not to show it, students will pick up on it. I hope that my patience will let me have a relationship with my students that shows them I want them to be successful, and set backs in behavior or academics will never stop me from wanting to help them be as successful as possible.

Points of Views and Perspective in History

Teaching students of different cultural backgrounds can be somewhat daunting in more then one way. Of course there is the language barrier, which needs to be accommodated for, but in history, there is also a content issue. As a teacher we want to create lessons and talk about topics in a way that is as unbiased and, at times, as general as possible. However there are going to be topics that a student of a different culture may view differently than the other students. If their cultural background makes the student bring different views into the classroom, this should be addressed, and often encouraged. It’s important to tell the whole classroom that everyone, no matter their backgrounds, will, at times, have differing opinions or believes then their classmates. They should realize that their differing opinions or views on events are always welcome, as long as they are not hurtful to others. This way the other students will be able to see that not everyone thinks the same way, but this is not a negative thing, but instead a positive thing that can work for everyone in the classroom.

Benefits of an Annual Plan

One (and there are more than one…) of the nerve-racking aspects of becoming a teacher is my fear I won’t teach my students everything they need to know. All the information we have learned regarding teaching over the past year (!) has been fantastic, but I can’t help wonder, “How am I going to teach it all?” By working on an annual plan I am actually feeling more confident in my ability to teach everything I am expected to. In class it was mentioned that our annual plan will essentially be an outline, and over time will grow to be a more complete plan, with more resources for the different units. I love the idea of building upon one section of the annual plan each year until, eventually, you have a detailed annual plan that you know to be successful in the classroom. At times, however, I can’t help but wish I could fast-forward past the time of unknown, but I have yet to see the invention of the time machine anywhere in our textbooks.

My First Post!

I am excited to start this blog on education, because with the exception of a few non-educational blogs (http://smittenkitchen.com/ - I don’t actually cook at all, but I like looking at the pretty food pictures, and http://perezhilton.com/ – horrible, I know), I don’t know a whole lot about them. I certainly don’t have experience creating one, but think it will be a great tool in sharing my experiences in becoming an educator. I think it will be a great way to review my peer's experiences as well, comparing them to my own. So here's to stepping into the wide world of blogs...