Blogging is a great way to reflect upon ones thoughts. In this course blogging has helped me to have my own voice and express my thoughts about our readings and my personal experiences. I have enjoyed taking the time to reflect about what I have read and learned and be able to put my own spin on what I have read. After all as a teacher that is exactly what we are going to do. We take all the knowledge and experiences and when we get into the classroom, put our own personal touch on what we have learned. I think that blogging helps an educator to reflect and make their own thoughts clear. It also helps to share your thoughts with others, maybe someone will read something that was not as clear the way they originally heard it. Perhaps your blog will help someone gain a new understanding. My experience in this course has been enhanced from blogging. It has made me think more as an educator not just as these are my thoughts. As an educator it is your job to share your thoughts, knowledge, and understanding with others. Blogging has been a great practice for this.
As far as how blogging may have hindered my experience, I can only say that, I am somewhat self conscious about my writing. By having others read my writing, it was more stressful than doing a personal reflection. However, this can also be positive. Through this course and blogging I had to overcome this. This helps to create my writing to become more professional. Which is something that I needed anyways. So really I guess this is not negative anymore, but at the beginning was somewhat of a stress.
When I entered this course, I knew that I personally liked Social Studies. When I tried to remember my experiences in Social Studies I could not recall many meaningful activities other than reading and answering questions, and doing some fun activities. What did I learn from those activities? I do not know, but they were fun. I have learned that this is not the correct approach to SS. When teaching Social Studies the Backwards Design is helpful. It is important to pick a goal and objective for a lesson, and the purpose. Then start to work backwards to plan a lesson. What do you want a student to learn from this? What should they take out of it? How will you teach them this? Then start to plan your lesson accordingly. To often students are asked to read from the textbook and not do anything meaningful in terms of learning. Then when a teacher does plan a different lesson they find an awesome activity that is fun, and try to fit in an objective. It should be the other way around. It is great to do fun interactive things with students, but you HAVE to have a purpose. Fun for the sake of fun does not give our students lasting knowledge. It does not creators students who think on their own. I guess that is the biggest thing I have taken from this class. I want to create meaningful lessons in which my students leave learning new information, and becoming thinkers of their own.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Biases in History
As a learner I am very intrigued with History and Social Studies. At this point in my life as I look back upon my educational career I am beginning to question just how valid textbooks are. As a student I was never taught to question what I learn, I was just taught to treat whatever is in a book as 100% truth. Now that I think about it, I truly wonder just how much I have been taught that is biased and perhaps inaccurate. I want to always remember as an educator to teach my students to not just except everything they are told. Questioning, unless done disrespectfully is a great way for students to learn new things. If we teach students this way, they will end up thinking for themselves, and not believing everything they are told.
I am baffled that it took me so long to realize this, and cannot even think about how many other people my age still do not have this mind set.
As I begin to teach Social Studies I will have numerous examples of biases and be able to teach students about this. Students need to know that there are two sides to every story, perspectives. I often times wonder what a child in Japan learns in school about Pearl Harbor and Atomic Bombings. Does anyone ever stop and think of the impact we have on our children when we allow biases to become 'fact'? History is a fascinating piece of life that students can use to understand the world around them. It is something that they can learn from, and grow from.
There is a growing number of English Language Learners in our school systems. With them they bring rich cultural experiences, that can bring diversity and new ideas into our classrooms. I think it is important to embrace every culture in our classrooms and use them it to learn from. By teaching students about biases in textbooks it will allow students to not see their culture and themselves as 'rigth and the only culture' or the center of the world. There is so much culture and diversity around the world, and the idea of perspectives and biases is a great way to both embrace ELL's and to teach all students of new perspectives, beliefs, opinions, lifestyles and ideas different from their own.
I am baffled that it took me so long to realize this, and cannot even think about how many other people my age still do not have this mind set.
As I begin to teach Social Studies I will have numerous examples of biases and be able to teach students about this. Students need to know that there are two sides to every story, perspectives. I often times wonder what a child in Japan learns in school about Pearl Harbor and Atomic Bombings. Does anyone ever stop and think of the impact we have on our children when we allow biases to become 'fact'? History is a fascinating piece of life that students can use to understand the world around them. It is something that they can learn from, and grow from.
There is a growing number of English Language Learners in our school systems. With them they bring rich cultural experiences, that can bring diversity and new ideas into our classrooms. I think it is important to embrace every culture in our classrooms and use them it to learn from. By teaching students about biases in textbooks it will allow students to not see their culture and themselves as 'rigth and the only culture' or the center of the world. There is so much culture and diversity around the world, and the idea of perspectives and biases is a great way to both embrace ELL's and to teach all students of new perspectives, beliefs, opinions, lifestyles and ideas different from their own.
Textbooks...not the answer the everything
"If the textbook contains the answers, then what are the questions?" Wiggins & McTighe (p. 125)
When considering textbooks and their validity, I do not think they contain all the answers. I do not even think they contain all of the right answers. Textbooks can be biased and information portrayed in them can be inaccurate. Therefore perhaps according to the makers own agenda it can contain the right answers to the questions they asked. As far as teaching students solely from the textbook, which I do not recommend, the questions within the textbook may have the answers within. Does this mean that students are learning from them?.....No it does not. I really do not think that students answering these questions teaching anyone, anything.
As we have been learning about Backwards Design in planning for Social Studies lessons, I think that what is more valid is asking questions based on your goals for the students learning. Creating Essential questions and preparing questions to get students thinking about them will result in more than just using a textbook. Students need to learn to think analytically and explore their own learning. If a textbook 'contains' all the answers, then why should students think for themselves? They not provide all the questions students should be asking themselves, but they can possible be a good supplement to lessons. (sometimes) More often than textbooks being used students should learn to do their own research, ask their own questions, and find answers to questions in this manner.
We want our children to think for themselves and learn throughout all situations not just sitting down and reading a textbook.
When considering textbooks and their validity, I do not think they contain all the answers. I do not even think they contain all of the right answers. Textbooks can be biased and information portrayed in them can be inaccurate. Therefore perhaps according to the makers own agenda it can contain the right answers to the questions they asked. As far as teaching students solely from the textbook, which I do not recommend, the questions within the textbook may have the answers within. Does this mean that students are learning from them?.....No it does not. I really do not think that students answering these questions teaching anyone, anything.
As we have been learning about Backwards Design in planning for Social Studies lessons, I think that what is more valid is asking questions based on your goals for the students learning. Creating Essential questions and preparing questions to get students thinking about them will result in more than just using a textbook. Students need to learn to think analytically and explore their own learning. If a textbook 'contains' all the answers, then why should students think for themselves? They not provide all the questions students should be asking themselves, but they can possible be a good supplement to lessons. (sometimes) More often than textbooks being used students should learn to do their own research, ask their own questions, and find answers to questions in this manner.
We want our children to think for themselves and learn throughout all situations not just sitting down and reading a textbook.
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