Blog #1
Learning Experiences
I have learned so much in the first month of classes, and it's so exciting to know that this time next year I will be incorporating these tools in my student teaching classroom! We started the semester off talking about concepts and topics, then transferred into generalizations and guiding questions. This is something SO beneficial to students at any grade level. Having good generalizations that hook your students is key to having a solid unit. As we built through our unit in class, I see how each portion is a building block on the central focus of the lesson. I'm very anxious to get my placement back and implement this during my clinicals!
Another learning experience that was very rewarding to complete was the Wisdom From Experience project. I completed my interviews with second and fourth grade teachers from Cleveland County Schools. I asked each teacher questions about integrating social studies in the classroom, tools for keeping students, engaged, and ways to make the standards relevant to student learning. Each teacher provided me with many resources and tools to use when I am student teaching and then becoming a first-year teacher. Relating to the NCPTS, standard three focuses on teachers knowing the content they teach. Both of my teachers emphasized the importance of making social studies relevant to students so they will connect with it more. One recourse my fourth-grade teacher uses is called Scholastic Reading; students read an article related to news events happening in the world and answer questions and listen to podcasts on the topic. Mrs. Galloway said her students work very well with the program and assessment showed. The technology used in the classroom relates to standard 4, that teachers integrate and utilize technology for instruction.
Outside Learning
Continuing to talk about the Wisdom from Experience project, both teachers agreed that there is not an ample amount of time for social studies instruction to happen in the classroom. I did some research on some of the programs that my teachers use for integrating the curriculum into the Language Arts standards. Scholastic Learning and North Carolina Social Studies Weekly are both great programs that combine social studies into language arts articles that keep students interested and informed on world events. I also found this really cool website that lists out ideas for incorporating social studies into language arts classroom. Methods such as read aloud, calendar tracking, and discussing current events were just a few great tools. I will attach the link below. :)
https://thecornerstoneforteachers.com/social-studies-in-literacy-routines/
Future Classroom Connections
There are so many things I've learned in the past month that I will 100% use in my future classroom. Creating units utilizing concepts, generalizations, and guiding questions will grasp my student's attention. This ensures students are not just memorizing facts, but actually retaining and learning the information. Sadly, when I was in elementary school, I do not remember learning a lot about social studies. I want to change that when I have my future class and integrate social studies into any subject I can.
