Alright guys, this is my first ever blog post, which me luck.
Today was my first day of my Social Studies Methods (SSED 307) class, and as a requirement for the course I am supposed to post regular blogs as I prepare for my career in teaching. Please bear with me as I go through this new process of blogging. There was a lot of new information for me today since it was the beginning of my classes. Not only did I start Social Studies Methods, but I also started Fine Arts Integration (EDUC 311). It was a bit of an overwhelming day with all of the new information and with me trying to get acclimated to these classes. However, I am hopeful for this semester.
For SSED I read an article today (http://www.socialstudies.org/positions/powerfulandpurposeful), about the importance of social studies to students. A lot of this information was already kind of in the back of my mind but this article really brought it to light and clarified things for me. First of all social studies is a huge part of our lives and we do not even realize it. It impacts us everywhere, from our day to day interactions to the whole world around us. It is important for students to get this in their learning. In the small scale it helps with their critical thinking and problem solving skills. And helps them to learn to be responsible and respectful people. On a larger scale it helps them to understand the world and be more informed about it. This way they can be better participants in it. As teachers we need to make sure this is apart of students education. I learned that social studies is getting pushed into the background and schools are not putting much focus on it. This is an injustice and this is why we have so many people who do not know or understand their world and what is going on in it. Students need to be taught this and we as teachers need to take our leadership role seriously and advocate for social studies for the betterment of our students.
Savanna,
ReplyDeleteThis blogging experience is totally new for me, too. I was not sure what to write about, and I had a hard time starting my first blog. It was intimidating. The article was quite eye opening as far as what exactly social studies' purpose is these days in the life of a child. I never realized until this class that I was thinking about teaching social studies how I had been taught. I am sure that this class will teach us many new and great ways to teach social studies. I love that social studies can teach problem solving and critical thinking skills, and that they can use those skills for the betterment of our society.
Savanna, I can relate to you about being overwhelmed with both classes yesterday! We definitely took in a lot of information and we will have a very busy semester! However, I think we will learn a lot during this semester that will help prepare us for student teaching. I blogged all semester in 250 and it is not as bad as you think. It will get easier overtime and become a habit after a while. The article we read was very powerful and definitely opened my eyes to what is going on with social studies around us. It is crazy that so many school districts are cutting social studies out of their curriculum because it is very important in our everyday lives. We as teachers need to make sure that we bring this light back into the schools and make an effort to teach our kids about social studies which includes problem-solving, decision-making and questioning things that happen in every-day life. I am exciting to see where this semester brings us!
ReplyDeleteSavanna,
ReplyDeleteI know the beginning of the semester is incredibly difficult. Hopefully, once the semester gets going, things will fall into a routine for you. I would suggest dividing up your work load so you "check something off" every day of the week. Keeping your work load in attainable chunks is really the best day to work through classes. In future blogs, be sure you follow the checklist to a higher degree so I know you have covered all required components of each blog.