Social Studies education explores a variety of historical contexts through a wide assortment of topics such as: Government, American History, Geography, World History, Economics, Psychology, and Sociology. It is often unliked and overlooked in America, and is taught from kindergarten all the way through twelfth grade. Social studies is the interdisciplinary approach to look at people and social issues objectively, to enable us to make informed decisions as citizens. It is important to teach this subject matter in a variety of ways that engage all modes of learning. I believe with the information I have learned and applied in my field placement I am a great teacher candidate. When people typically think about Social Studies, their opinions …show more content…
There are a plethora of teaching methods that provide and engage an assortment of students. The first method of teaching according to Cantrell is the exposition method. This method is leader centered, and it can be used to present information when time is limited (Cantrell, n.d., p.3). There are many benefits to this method of teaching. For example it is great to use when one has to give directions, exposition can also be used to wrap up an activity as well (Cantrell, n.d., p.3). One way in which a teacher can lead the exposition method is by simply conducting a powerpoint, or bringing in a guest speaker. This method is great for students who learn through the interpersonal mode of intelligence. Another engaging method of teaching is the discussion method. This method of teaching is an open form question, where learners express their opinions as well as review factual material (Cantrell, n.d., p.4). Discussion method of teaching is great to implement in the classroom when you are trying to introduce a new topic, help learners make inferences, and lastly to involve the learners cognitively (Cantrell, n.d., p.4). There are many ways to achieve this method in the classroom, for example you could create a small group discussion, or even a think pair share. This style and method of teaching is great for students who learn through the verbal-linguistic mode of intelligence. A key aspect of getting the students engaged and focused on the lesson at hand is the hook. The hook is prepared before one presents the information, and it is supposed to draw the students in and get them engaged in the lesson. There are a variety of hooks, in this paper I will highlight two of them. One type of hook is reviewing for previewing. In this hook students recall key points of a previous lesson and make connections or predictions about the topic they will be
I took this course as an elective, I am actually a psychology major and a minor in mathematics. I would have never thought that a teacher is a part of the field of human services. My whole life I have always wanted to be a teacher so I can change children’s lives to something better. My goal as a future teacher is to be like Ms. Rain from the book Precious. I want to educate children to be a well rounded individual. I want to push them to their goals and teach them that if they put their mind into something they can always achieve it. My main goal is to teach my future students the importance of education. Especially college education because although many people do see the need of getting a college degree, it is important if you would like a well paying job. Without a college degree you could be making only minimum wage or only a little bit over the minimum wage. Someone who works many hours and still makes little to no money to
Fortunate was I, to grow up in a rural community where almost everybody was the same. I blended in, was like almost all others. I have always felt I received a good education that prepared me fairly well for college and later family life. However, I had no idea how others in the world lived. I grew up in a nice part of town, where everybody I knew was married, middle-class, went to either the “big Lutheran” or Catholic church in town, and the vast majority had occupations relating to agriculture. Fast forward, I’m now a junior high social studies and science teacher living in that same small town. Here, a few ideals guide my teaching practice. The first is to instill a quality work ethic in the students; the second, to teach them to do
Dr. Kim Stringer, Pediatrics-Child Development, reached out to me to meet to discuss assisting a student with qualitative methods of research, mainly key informant interviews. The student’s project focuses on attitudes about autism. I wanted your thoughts before I proceed with anything.
The key aspect of teaching is engaging the students. I can testify that I learn best when the teacher is involving me, as well as others, in the assignment. Making the material personal is a useful skill and helps the students learn at a faster rate.
One important aspect of building this bridge is to understand the various learning styles evident in the classroom. Teachers tend to have their own preferences, or strengths, concerning their styles (Thompson, 1997). According to Thompson (1997), teachers noted for their excellence tended to teach in ways consistent with their own styles but found ways to reach students whose preferences differed. These ways included finding material and activities that spurred the student’s interest, and once the student was engaged, allowed the teacher to facilitate the course material. One method is for teacher’s to create learning centers with resources and materials that promote involving the different intelligences (Giles, Pitre, & Womack, 2003). Giles, Pitre, and Womack (2003)
Teachers can use the sociological imagination to build upon their teacher identity. C. Wright Mills (1959) defined the sociological imagination as the “vivid awareness of the relationship between personal experience and the wider society”. In chapter two of Teaching for Success, Olson (2010) explains the interactions between the individual and their navigation through world around them (CITATION 33). With these concepts combined, the teacher would ideally be up self- aware of their inherent characteristics as an individual—e.g. skin color, ethnicity, socio-economic background—that can’t be controlled, and how they are placed within society. These factors influence the teacher’s background, environment, and lens thus affecting their ability to present curriculum to the class. In chapter six of Teaching for Success, Olson (2010) defines teacher identity as “both the active mechanism that organizes your prior and current experiences into coherent understandings of and for yourself as an educator and the actual, resulting bundle of
Instead of teaching us how to do projects and essays, how to use the quadratic formula, how to understand the concept of war, teach us instead the art of persuasion. Teach us the ways of entertaining an audience, the dilemmas that the world faces. Teach us that there are an enormous amount of issues in the world and they come with an abundant amount of solutions. To learn how to engage an audience is to learn how to teach one.
Shaver, J. P. (1992). Epistemology and the education of social science teachers. Paper presented at the International Conference on Subject-Specific Teaching Methods and Teacher Education. [Online]. Available: ERIC Database #ED355143.
These authentic learning activities are more engaging for the students and allow for a wide range of learning styles. It is imperative that all teachers attempt to integrate these experiences into their classroom as often as possible. These activities usually take more time and energy to plan and implement, but the benefit to the students make the extra work worthwhile.
What inspired me to teach was moulded by my own experiences of school life. I was fortunate to have teachers who were driven by helping me to achieve and prepare me for wider society. I thoroughly enjoyed my education and thrived in every opportunity that was presented to me from being a Team Leader for younger students, to completing my Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award, to being awarded Head Girl. I have gained leadership skills and been a positive role model. This has further enhanced my ambition to pursue my vocation of teaching. My dedication to Sociology has led me to develop an understanding that is complex and curious of the world; this knowledge I feel can be shared with students so that they too can see society from other perspectives. Through work experience and observations, I realise that teaching can be challenging because of its physical and emotional demands. I want to increase my student’s sociological awareness and trigger the same passion I feel from this subject. The aspects I enjoy most within sociology are psychological and criminological theories, and studies whic...
In the educational philosophy of social reconstructionism, learning takes place through both affective and psychomotor experiences. Since the majority of subject matter will be hard for many students to comprehend due to its intensity and honesty, students will need to develop strategies for dealing with discussions on controversial issues. In order to be best prepared to hold discussions about these issues, students will need to understand that there are multiple perspectives and beliefs on each topic discussed (Philosophical Perspectives in Education). These affective experiences result in a variety of learning taking place, including increasing one’s perspectives in inquiry, dialogue, and multiple perspectives through learning about other
Active involvement in class discussions and incorporating technology are techniques that could be used when trying to engage student’s interests. Interactive based learning provides an opportunity to become actively involved in the discussion instead of just listening to an instructor throw huge amounts of information their way. Using technology is a way for students to become active in their learning. Tools such as interactive white boards enable children to engage in classroom games, view websites, and review problems step by step. As technology is advancing students rely on teachers integrating technology into their lessons more frequently. In traditional lectures the teacher gives a large quantity of material, but if the student is not paying attention, does learning occur? By incorporating learner response devices where students can electronic...
Social Studies education is a subject in today’s schools that is undervalued. The study of social studies in schools help young people develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world (Seefeldt, Castle, & Falconer, 2010). When participating in social studies class children are learning so much about who they are, where they came from, how to succeed in the world, and more. Most of what we teach daily includes an aspect of social studies. But, since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 de-emphasis or nonexistence of elementary social studies is the national focus because of high stakes testing (Sunal, & Sunal, 2008). Social studies
Instead, EL students benefit in learning new content knowledge when an instructor methodically produces a lesson with a systematic I do you do approach; while purposely adding visuals whenever possible. Modeling content knowledge can be accomplished when the instructor writes the objective or provides an outline of what the lesson entails in student friendly vocabulary for each lesson where students can visually see. Next, the instructor should discuss what the end goal of the lesson is through hand gestures and changing the speed and tone of the voice to elaborate key concepts. Additionally, teachers should provide visual vocabulary whenever possible. Playing videos, word walls, or showing pictures of key vocabulary in a lesson will help students who struggle with differences in language grasp what is being asked of them more clearly. Lastly, instructor should show examples of projects and essays for reference. This will allow EL students to visualize the end product; allowing them to organize their ideas and
The second step in developing an engaging lesson is to focus on the instructional strategies used to help the students understand the material. It is at this point, the teacher decides what activities they will use to help address the “big ideas” or the “essential questions”.