Adventures of Teaching Social Studies

 Chapter Thirteen  "In 1984, the Joint Committee on Geographic Education 1  developed the Five Themes of Geography. These themes provide a useful way to organize the content of geography. The themes are: location (relative and absolute location of places and people on the Earth) place (physical and human characteristics of places) human/environment interaction (how places are modified by physical and human causes) movement (people interacting with other people through travel, trade, migration, and political events) regions (areas that are unified by common factors such as government, language, or landforms)"

 Chapter Twelve  "While the importance of teaching history to children is clear, there are many challenges in doing so effectively. Finding time in the overcrowded curriculum to teach the many required subjects, including history, is always a challenge for contemporary teachers. 1  In addition to time constraints, some historical material contains inaccuracies and omissions that the teacher must be aware of." 

 Chapter Eleven  "Civics, then, should help students understand how the government works and what the role of a responsible citizen is in that government. Character education, to help instill American ideals and to inspire students to accept their responsibilities as citizen, is also an important focus of civics education. In order to achieve these important goals, students need to have experiences in the classroom which help them to make connections between American democracy and their responsibilities as citizens in that democracy."

 Chapter Ten "The ability to make good  choices  and the willingness to take  responsibility  for the choices one makes is the foundation of making good economic decisions. According to William Glasser 1 , human beings are motivated by a desire to fulfill their basic needs. Any experience that helps to meet these basic needs reinforces the individual."

 In my classroom I would provide mock ballots therefore students are able to see what occurs during elections.  It is important that students are introduced and prepared to what is to come in their future when they become young adults.      

Chapter Nine    "Integrating technology into the social studies classroom is exciting and yet somewhat daunting for preservice teachers. The Internet, technological hardware, and software are in constant flux. Yet preservice teachers are excited about using technology and integrating it into their classrooms." 

 Chapter Eight "Helping students to develop the skills to think critically, to think creatively, and to solve problems is an important task of the teacher. Thinking and problem solving skills will be needed in order for students to be successful in school, outside of the classroom, and in the world of work."

 Chapter Seven  " Two of the most useful small group methods are  collaborative  and  cooperative learning  groups. Using collaborative and cooperative learning strategies can improve student attitudes and self esteem, promote respect for other students, and improve communication in the classroom. When students work together, opportunities for critical and creative thinking and problem solving are encouraged."

Chapter Six  " Group building activities help to promote the classroom environment of the democratic classroom community. Group building activities encourage friendship formation and respect for other students. During group building activities, students have many opportunities to acquire and practice social and communication skills."

     Chapter Five  It is important to organize the curriculum, provide assessments such as summative and formative.  These assessments will provide the teacher results for how their students are progressing with the material.  In addition, grading and reporting is important to have records on their students progress.

 Chapter Four "Opportunities for student interaction and cooperation can form the basis for increased student achievement and improved attitudes toward school, teachers, and peers. Collaborative and cooperative learning should form a part of every student’s instructional experiences. Students should have regular opportunities to work with their peers as part of a team and to experience the satisfaction of contributing to the team’s success."

 Chapter Three "Standards are critical part of instructional planning because a teacher must know what students need to learn before he or she can determine how students will learn what is required. Examples of standards include: subject matter standards, state standards, federal standards, and, most recently, the Common Core State Standards."  Standards are important to make sure the subject material is being met in the classroom.

    Chapter Two  " Elementary teachers should be aware of the history of American education and how educational reform and the movement toward educational standards have affected the teaching of social studies, as well as the other subject areas that are taught in elementary classrooms."  It is important for teachers to understand and continue to learn about what is happening in the world to teach their students.  

 Chapter One  The importance of what social studies is and different approaches to teaching social studies when in the classroom.  Social Studies is needed for students to become effective citizens.  Social Studies is being incorporated in other subjects such as mathematics, reading, and writing.  

 Black History Month is crucial for people to learn about historical figures from the past and present.  In today's society racism is still prevalent.                                                            For Life is based off of the life of Isaac Wright Jr.  He was wrongly imprisoned for a crime he did not commit.                There have been Black Lives Matter Protests because of being killed in the hands of caucasian officers.  

  Models are used to select and structure teaching strategies, methods, skills and student activities for a particular instructional emphasis.    Strategies within each model several strategies can be used. Strategies determine the approach a  teacher may take to achieve learning objectives . Strategies can be classed as direct, indirect, interactive, experiential, or independent.   Methods are the most specific ways of creating learning environments and specifying the nature of the activity in which the teacher and learner will be involved during the lesson to achieve the educational goal . While particular methods  are often associated with certain strategies, some methods may be found within a variety of strategies .  

  When I look at this comic I think of how education has evolved from the past and into present day.  In addition, the technology that we use in the classroom has become more of a necessity due to remote learning this past year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Teachers in the past provided students with simple materials that were provided to teachers.  For example, there were paper, colored pencils, crayons, rulers, etc.  In today's classrooms I have noticed there are smart boards that teachers utilize.  I notice that the teacher is holding a ruler which is how students were disciplined in catholic schools if the student was not following the rules.  The student is asked to complete his writing assignment based on what he did this Summer on a sheet of paper.  The student is telling the teacher you should know since I wrote it on twitter.  In my opinion, this demonstrates the importance that Teachers should continue educating themselves each...