Final Reflection

Social Studies is a very important subject for students in elementary school to learn. Social Studies teaches children about history, social skills, economics, geography, science, and the world in general. Even at the kindergarten level, children need to learn about rules and getting along with one another, respecting one another. For Social Studies to be left out of curriculum is harmful to a child's development as an active citizen in their school environment and later when they go out into the world. Children need the skills of basic Social Studies to be able to interact with one another and be active members of their classroom.

Social Studies standards are part of the curriculum for Tennessee, even though the lower grades, especially kindergarten through second, do not teach Social Studies as a subject. If Tennessee did not have set standards, the National Council for Social Studies has standards that a teacher or school could use to develop a curriculum. The NCSS also has resources for members and teachers to use when planning lessons.

There are endless resources for Social Studies activities and ideas. The internet provides good sources just by searching and many well known websites, such as NASA and the Museum of Natural History, have an education page for teachers and students.

As a teacher, knowing where to look and what to teach are only two of the important factors in teaching. Having a critical voice, for social studies as well as all subjects and areas of teaching, is vital in teaching today. Knowing when and how to assert your opinion and push for change in how and when things are taught is very important in being an effective teacher. Developing the critical voice is a lifelong process, as this voice will change as a teacher gains experience and learns more about her students each year.

Another good way to be an effective teacher, especially in Social Studies, is to make activities that are interactive and engaging for students. Using Living History Museums and Story Paths are good ways to put students in history and help them to know the perspective of the people who actually lived out the events they are studying. Learning does not have to be papers and worksheets. Students learn better when they are doing social studies – acting it out or learning about it in a group or with a partner, creating posters or becoming a character.

Social Studies can be integrated with other subjects very easily. Reading a book about history or science will combine these two subjects well. Using time lines from history to determine the time between events combines Social Studies with math. Art and music can easily be integrated by having students sing songs about events or create drawings of people or events. So, even if Social Studies is not part of the curriculum, it can easily be integrated with other mandatory subjects to students don't lose out on the critical and important subject matter they need.

As a teacher, I have learned this semester that I need to integrate Social Studies so my students will not be lacking in the various subjects that Social Studies encompasses. By creating interesting activities and keeping children engaged with Social Studies, teachers can make Social Studies fun and students will want to know more and enjoy learning.

Living History Museum

This week we did the Living History Museum. It was awesome. Kids of all ages would love this activity and could learn so much through researching and hearing about other people from history. This is definitely an activity I would use in my classroom.

StoryPath

Today we did story path in class. It was the most fun I've had in a long time with the girls at our table. We got a little carried away by what we were doing and that is one of the issues a teacher would have to deal with when doing this activity. Keeping students on task is very important. This is a very fun and interactive way to teach students and keep them excited about new material.

geography and 2 year olds

The video clip we watched of Lily was amazing to me. She was pointing out countries that I couldn't even tell you what continent they are on. LOL. So, I've decided it might be a good idea to brush up on my geography. I found a really good quiz that has different levels. Using this link, http://www.lizardpoint.com/fun/geoquiz/worldquiz.html, you can do the world quiz, which is continents and oceans. There are also options to do each continent, countries, and capitals. This is a very good quiz and is user friendly enough for kids to use too.

geocaching

Geocaching is a good way for families to spend time together outdoors. Many kids really enjoy the treasure hunt aspect. I think it would be a neat idea to make a treasure map for the kids to use when you get in the general area of the cache. You could even have them write a story about their trip if you were doing this as a classroom activity.

Block City

When teaching first graders about cultures, you could add a place of worship or business for the new cultures as you learn them. Then you could discuss as a class how that new building or new set of people will influence or change the city. This would go with standard 1.03 for culture under social studies for the state of Tennessee.

Goegraphy

I have always loved geography, especially United States geography. Learning states and capitals was fun for me. I have been up and down the East Coast several times and love the scenery, especially through Pennsylvania. Students need to learn geography in order to understand history and how people live based on their climates and locations.

Creative Social Studies

My nephew is in 4th grade at Haynesfield Elementary in Bristol, Tennessee. Last week he had to do a social studies project that I really like and he really enjoyed doing. They had a booklet with a heading on each page - food, clothing, shelter, artifacts, and a couple of others. He had to pick a Native American group of people and look up information on each heading. Then he had to write 5 sentences about each heading and draw a picture. This was the coolest social studies project I had ever seen and I loved helping him to it. He was much more excited about this project than he would have been a worksheet or doing a report. Creative projects like this are much more interesting for students than the usual reading and reporting or filling out worksheets that most classes are doing.

Speaking In A Critical Voice

Students are much more apt to learning when they are able to become involved in their learning. Acting out events are a much better way for students to learn than merely teaching them dates and names. In the same light, students learn math better when they are allowed to use games instead of working problems continually. In order to reach all children, a variety of instructional methods should be used. Teachers need to develop their critical voice to be able to show other teachers and students the importance of varied teaching methods.

Hours

I started my hours today at Blountville Elementary school and I loved it!!! My placement is in kindergarten. The kids are wonderful and I had a great time. I took a page of notes in teh first two hours, lol. I can't wait to go back again next week.

My Snowglobe

A snowglobe is supposed to have constants. Certain things in your life are supposed to always be the same - at least certain people are always supposed to be there for you. Every new day shows me how untrue that statement is. You can never really be sure who will always be there. Sometimes you know in your heart how things should be, but it just doesn't work out that way for whatever reason. So just take each day and the people in it and go with it. Live life and be a good parent - that's my new motto. As long as my kids are happy, that's all that matters.

Social Studies This Week

Social Studies this week has been very interesting. The activity we did in class today was especially fun, and I think would benefit smaller children when teaching them about our country's need for independence from England. Role playing is a very good way to show children what times were like long ago and to relate how people felt then to how people would feel now when treated the same way. This activity could be adopted to almost any grade level from 2nd all the way through High School. Over all this was a very good activity.

Life...as I know it

Every day my life changes. I don't mean small yet meaningful things that you'll always remember. I mean changes that make you step back and say, wow, how did I ever not notice that before today? Or, why can people not just listen to what you're saying? LOL Forrest Gump was right. Life is like a box of chocolates. And all of mine seem to be filled with that hard carmel crap that no one can chew. LOL Then Emmie says something hilarious and it's all worth it. Or Daniel says how much he loves football and that makes everything better. How empty my life would be without my children to cheer me up and push me on...everyday.

Block

Here we are - finally in block. I can't believe how time is flying by and how much has changed in my life since January. It's been a LONG year. Looking forward to the end of the year and the start of a new one with so many new opportunities ahead of me!

My Snowglobe

Well, it's the end of another semester and my life is like a snowglobe. Everything I've known has been shaken up and scattered around. Spring semester is almost over and it flew by. There have been so many changes in the last three months it's hard to keep up. But, I only have one year school left. It's going to be a BIG year for me and my family. A lot of changes are in store. But we will make it through them, one at a time.