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 Now, this is outdated!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!