Keep the Students Engeged with Lessons!

1) Direct Instruction:
-Looking into pictures, Students were asked questions and asked to make connections!
-Some of the questions were cause questions
-Students and teachers interact with each other
-Students were asked to put their hand on their head if they agreed.
-Students were asked to hug their arms if they disagreed.
-The teacher asked the students review questions.
-A teachers role is to repeat what was said by students too.
-Graphic organizers were passed out to the students about the war. They are great to be organized and see what students know and what  they need to know.

2) Inquiry Lessons
-This is problem solving skills
-Authentic real world situations
-Organize students to the question
-Hypothesize
-analyze data
-draw conclusion
-inform the class on the conclusion
-The teacher provided a calendar for students to see dates, time management, and a timeline of events

3) Cooperative Learning
-Group and cooperative skills are vital in this lesson and this video
-Students work together as a team and a group
-This develops social skills!
-Students work together to the tasks of the lesson
-A vital aspect of this is the teacher walking around listening to the groups working together
-Groups share what they learned with each other
-A brief review at the end to cover any last minute questions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Artifacts

Today is class we separated into groups, our teaching groups. We each got assigned a bag and had to unravel the details about our artifacts. This activity was amazing! I really, really enjoyed it! My group and I have three objects, a porcelain holder, used mainly for caviar, teabags etc., then we had a photo of Dr. Sminrova from her Scout days. Lastly, we had a Doctorate diploma.
This was very interesting and the task at hand was harder than imagined. The photo took us the longest and until we examined the outfits, and the background (the woods), it took us long to figure out what it was. The porcelain dish was the easiest. Lastly, the diploma was also a challenge. At first we thought it was a passport. That was not true. Then I looked up the Russian alphabet and started playing around with the letters. We discovered it was a diploma. We originally thought it was a Masters diploma but we later found out it was Doctorate.
This activity was so much fun and I can see my future students enjoying it!
It used cooperative learning by having groups work to create one clear answer.
My questions are:
1) Will it have the same effect if it is not a foreign object?
2) Will my students enjoy it as much as I did?
3) I need many objects, where will I find them all?

The Examination of Conflicts

Conflicts. This is such a broad word. There are conflicts in every day life: what to wear, a friendly conflict, a feud, or even conflict in the classroom. There are conflicts ranging from historical conflicts, like wars and tension between countries, there are classroom conflicts, who was not sharing with whom, or there are so many more conflicting areas. With any study, conflict can be added in. For dramatic reenactment, conflict can be added to the "plot" to add what the historical figure felt like at that time. Another great example is diaries, letters, and artifacts can easily describe a conflicting idea or theme from primary sources. Using people as resources, the class can study what conflicts people went through and why. "What conflict did the Native American tribes have to deal with concerning the Europeans?" is a great example and relevant for our topic.
With conflict comes cooperation. Conflicts may be short lived, some may take years, but in the end, the resolution, some cooperation must take place.
It is a wise idea to properly textually define what "conflict" and "cooperation" is before you introduce any themes or facts to the class.
I have attached a Sesame Street video describing what "conflict" is.

Native American Speaker!

Today in class we had a surprising guest speaker: Evan T. Pritchard a Native American. What was so amazing was that for our class field work, we will be teaching native Americans and he gave us first hand stories and background about the Algonquin Tribe and Native Americans. He was super outgoing and was thrilled to be sharing his culture with us eager listeners. 

He made two maps that indicated Native Americans locations, trails, and history. These maps were created by studying hundreds of previously made maps and combining them. I have included a picture of both maps and him showing them to our class. 

He then went into a lecture about how our school's town has so much historical Native American history to it. We have Washington's Headquarters in our town. What was interesting about that- it used to be a trail for the Native Americans. It was very interesting to find that information out. Some of our town houses are stone and old-fashioned and Mr. Pritchard said that these homes were built around 1695-1710. Of course, the must have gotten upgrades throughout the several years in between, but the structure is originally from that time period. What is so interesting about them is that they are built on former Native American trails also! 

Then he went around and asked us each our home location. The cities and states varied but each had some connection to the Native Americans. My hometown is by water, so the Native Americans had a trail leading up to the water to collect fish and sea life. I know exactly where the water is so that was so neat to imagine Native American walking around my town to get their fish for food. 

One interesting story was about how they found a Native American blade from the Trail times a few years back. This blade was still in tact and could easily harm whatever it scrapped against. That is how sharp they were made. Not even that, but how strong they were made- they lasted all of these years with erosion. 

Then Mr. Pritchard took our a clarinet type instrument and started improvisational playing it. It was very beautiful and I have attached a picture. After, he played the drum type instrument. This some had words to it and was a welcome song. They both sounded very authentic. after he discussed his authentic attire, this coat was a prayer coat. Each five strings counts as something and every time the wind blows,it a prayer. I thought that was very interesting.

Week 1: Social Studies Learning

As our class starts, thoughts run into and out of out anxious brains: thoughts ranging from worries, stress, anxiety, and possibly even homesick. The thoughts that connect to Social Studies Methods are whether this class will be stressful, fun, helpful, etc.. All of us students start in the same place, at the beginning of a new semester, new classes, new professors, new homework, etc. Yet, we are thrilled to be back and experiencing each day at this school.
Social Studies Methods seem like a lot of work; yet it seems very informative and very helpful towards becoming a successful teacher. Dr. Smirnova seems very knowledgeable and inspirational to help us become the best teachers we can be. At the same time, this class seems like a lot of work. What makes this work manageable is that it seems to be important and reasonable. It does not seem like busy-pointless work.
I loved the first project of teaching the class about ourselves using new technology. It is not a silly icebreaker we all are so sick of, or a pointless activity. It gives us each a chance to introduce ourselves, our backgrounds, our favorite things, and why we want to be teachers. Also, introduce our technology to the class.
Technology is an amazing, yet scary thing. Technology constantly changes. When I was in elementary school, there was the best thing: overhead protector. Now, this is outdated! Technology such as Smartboards, the "elmo", I-pads, are current and all over schools. We, as future teachers, must use and get adjusted with these newer technologies to properly use them in our class! What is funny about technology is that some of our students may be wiser with how to use the newer apps or devices because of how our generations are going. Yet, that could be a learning experience. A teacher can totally give groups a different app/device and have them create a review game/recall to propose to the class. Then by a fair and just voting system, use the most popular idea to review. This uses the topic of cooperative learning also!