Hey everyone,
The book club meeting RR is due tuesday (the 19th) at midnight as usual! Please post them so our DD can get prepared for thursday. We are reading Chapter 4 (p 91-96). The jobs are as follows:
DD: Alyx (me!)
Notetaker: Alex M.
Connector: Danielle
Summarizer: Emily
As history teachers, our goal should be to help our students see history as relevant to themselves and to the world in general. This final chapter highlights what it believes is the essential question for history teachers, which is how we can create a curriculum, lessons, and assessments that achieve the goal we set for ourselves. However, teachers also have to “learn” along with their students. Each generation of students will be different from the next, and we as teachers need to be able to adapt to these new classrooms. We shouldn’t be afraid to take risks in the classroom, not only for our students but for ourselves as well.
ReplyDeleteA fear I have as a future teacher involves the use of a textbook in my classroom. Despite my best efforts to use other materials and practices, I fear that at some point the textbook may become the default source. At some point, I won’t be able to properly go over material that will appear on a state test. At some point, I may get too exasperated with my students that I just assign work from the textbook for them to work on silently. This happens in the classroom – I’ve seen it during my fieldwork, I’ve experienced it as a student, and it will most likely happen to me. I’m not going to lie but reading through this book has made me feel as though, when these days come, I won’t be doing my job as a teacher, that I will have failed in some way.
I suppose the key is, as the book says, to be reflective. As the book says, we should be learners, questioners, challengers, protectors, listeners, experimenters, and observers in our classroom. These will all serve as valuable tools as we “lay the foundations” for our students to look at history as something other than irrelevant and useless. Doing this will help them throughout their lives.
I really, really thought this last chapter brought up numerous key ideas for teachers, old and/or new. I keep hearing from my mentors that teaching is something you, the teacher, learns how to do daily because not every day is similar. To see this specific section at the end of the book was inspiring because it helps reiterate what I’m learning in classes, what I see in classrooms, etc. In addition, the chapter states a lot of key ideas that I value deeply when it comes down to teaching. For example, teachers should “be reflective” and “we should be learners, questioners, challengers, protectors, listeners, experimenters, and observers in our classroom.” Although the quote makes me feel a little overwhelmed at how many roles a teacher plays in the classroom, I am in 100% agreement with what was stated. I believe that teaching isn’t just standing in front and lecturing, I want students to be active! Teachers have to move around with their students and be able to see what works and what doesn’t work for their students. Also, I love that the textbook also states that teachers should be experimenters. This goes back to a discussion I had with one of my peers in a TCH course, he stated that the best way for history teachers to teach is through lectures and PowerPoints. How boring! I don’t think that I could ever teach a classroom that would have students sitting and taking notes for 45 minutes straight. Teaching is experimenting, and I’m actually scared that once I start teaching, I will be forced to teach through a PowerPoint lecture. I see so many of mentors do that now, and I detest it so much. I want teaching to be active, fun, and hands-on. I understand that not all classrooms can be that way, but I do not want students to sit and watch my “verbal pollution,” as a student once said to me during CPD. Experimentation shouldn’t be frowned upon or something that teachers are scared of doing. I am all for pushing the limits when it comes to lessons. This book has definitely helped me by adding to my “tool box,” however, I am fearful that once I do start teaching I will not be able to use any of these and I’ll fall into the pattern that I see a lot of my mentors doing during CPD. I get burnt out just thinking about it!
ReplyDeleteChapter 4 brings up a bunch of great things on what the best practices should be in regards to teaching social studies.
ReplyDeleteI especially preferred that the chapter used a chart to distinguish what needs to be done in the classroom. The chart is split into two categories; one is increase and the other is decrease. one example I really liked was in the increase section it said use of supplemental resources, including young adult fiction, non fiction, informational texts, poetry, periodicals, historical newspapers and artifacts! In the decrease section is stated the use of the textbook as the sole source of information. This is something that is always talked about in how to improve the classroom in regards to social studies and capture students attention, yet it is rarely done on a wide scale. Many teachers are confined to the textbook and strongly believe it is the one source they need, which is highly unfortunate.
The chart goes on and on and addresses great aspects that teachers should be doing in the classroom.
This chapter is short, yet it still provides a teacher planning diagram that I believe to be very helpful and something I will use in the future. The diagram suggest questions for the teacher to address such as Why am I doing what im doing in my classroom? Which then branches off into theory base, survivor base, activity base and mandate base. These bases provide aspects that need to be addressed and applied to in every lesson created by the teacher. the Theory base also breaks down in to needs for learners, best practice research and theory inside my head. I believe that a teacher can take this planning diagram and make it personal for herself -- something I will plan on doing in the future.
All in all this chapter was a great way of reiterating great points and ideas that social studies teachers need to keep in mind.
LF
I sense so much fear here in terms of worry about the future. Will you have bad days? Will some lessons not meet your expectations? Absolutely on both counts. I think Emily hits on something important here about being reflective. This is a process. YOU are a process. That is what is, indeed, important here.
ReplyDeleteDanielle's Post:
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part of this chapter was easy to decide considering it was a pleasingly short chapter, was highlight the “Best Practice.” It states, “The search for any one best way to teach children is doomed to fail because it is a search for the impossible.” Furthermore it goes on to present an increase and decrease chart…
For example and increase would be, to use a supplemental resources, including young adult fiction, nonfiction, informational texts, poetry, periodicals, historical newspapers, and artifacts, while a decrease would be to solely use the textbook. The author also brings up the point that their goal each day was to find activities that would engage learners and the danger with this is that they can miss critical content and process in our quest to find another great activity. This spoke to me in the sense as student teachers I feel we are constantly trying to think of ways to do exciting stimulating activities and thus we may be ignoring teaching “critical content.” Where as if we can find a way to get learners interested in the content itself these exciting activities may actually create themselves.
Sorry this was a short response…it was a short chapter!!!
My post: This was such a short chapter! But it still brought up great points regarding the incorporation of the textbook and classroom strategies. It discussed the use of the textbook as almost being the worst idea ever! It made me feel pretty nervous, only because although I do not plan on using the textbook every day or anything, I do plan to refer to it and use it for homework, etc. Is that a bad thing? Aren’t textbooks provided for a reason? I can remember back to my toughest classes and the best thing for me was to refer to the textbook. I just hope that that text in my classrooms I will be able to find a happy medium between the incorporation of the textbook and of other strategies and other literacy tools. Another fear I have, which we discussed a little in our last Book Club meeting, was too much emphasis on strategy studies and graphic organizers and worksheets, etc. Is there a point where students are going to get tired of worksheets and other strategies? Of all of the acronyms and graphic organizers? I absolutely think there will be. I also worry about graphic organizers in general; will this type of note-taking hinder student success? Will it limit the growth of critical thinking and analytical skills? In my classroom I will have to find a happy medium that requires students to create their own organized note-taking style as well as finding a good amount of incorporation for textbooks, worksheets, organizers, and other strategies.
ReplyDelete