The learning that took place within my Integrated Teaching to Social Studies Class this semester was one of the most fulfilled learning experiences I have had at ETSU. We, the Elementary Education majors here at ETSU, take what is known as ‘Block’. In our Block, we take 15 hours worth of classes on ‘how to teach’ and ‘how to do’. It is in my opinion that this social studies course was the one course above all the others where I actually learned something about ‘how to teach’ the subject, as opposed to simply learning the subject myself .. if that makes sense. I’d like to spend a little time to share with you just a few of the many things I’ve learned throughout the semester is this extraordinary class.
First off, I learned of one organization that I believe all educators need to have at least a basic knowledge of: The NCSS. The NCSS is the National Council of Social Studies. This organization, which you can find by Google and access their website, has a vast number of resources for a teacher of the social studies content. Also on their website, you can find curriculum standards, publications, or even conferences and meetings that are going on all over the United States. Also, by joining the NCSS and becoming a member, you have the right to vote on issues the organization covers and you receive the newest publications by mail. What a useful tool this organization would be for social studies instructors or elementary teachers who will be incorporating social studies into their daily routines.
Speaking of incorporation, I also learned throughout this semester just how easy it is to incorporate other subjects into lessons you are working on. For example, say we just got hired for our very first teaching position. Of course, as first time teachers, we aren’t going to want to step on any toes, but the Principal of our new place of employment does not have social studies taught in the school. How do we teach social studies without the Principal thinking we’re directly going against what he told us not to do? Simple. You don’t have to have an entire social studies lesson to teach your students about social studies. Incorporate it into other lessons. When doing reading, read about the first Thanksgiving or the Boston Tea party. When doing mathematics, pretend your classroom is its own ‘city’ and have students work with their own money (fake .. of course) which they earn from their own jobs. All that is needed is to simply scribble in the few social studies standards you are meeting in with the other standards for the lesson. Everyone is happy.
Resources make the duty of a teacher a bit easier. Having a topic in mind and knowing where you could go look for ideas to accompany that topic will save us loads of time in the long run. Resources are one very useful tool I will leave this class with this semester. We have the resources we acquired during class, the many activity ideas we got from Dr. Meier throughout our meetings, and also our blog resources, which should be a very large number of resources seeing as how each student had to have 30 resources.
We also spent a while this semester discussing diversity. Diversity is one topic I try my hardest to embrace. I come from a small town where the predominant culture is Caucasian and Christian Baptist. I did not have any experiences with diversity until entering college at 18 years of age. Through the experiences I have had at ETSU, the large amount of diversity I have come into contact with, and the information I acquired on the topic through this class, I feel much more at ease with the idea of teaching it to children. I eventually want to teach in my hometown. I want to take my experiences and knowledge of other cultures back to my small town and teach my students about the diversity they will encounter one day. I want to teach my students to be accepting and non-judgmental of others simply because they are different from them. I want to teach the students in my hometown what I was never taught.
Another topic we focused on was geography. This is, by far, my weakest topic in school. Knowing that I struggle so terribly with this topic, I was very worried about how I was supposed to teach it to my students when I didn’t know it myself. Through this course, I learned that it is okay to accept our weaknesses as teachers. We aren’t perfect. It is okay to be honest with students and tell them this will be a learning experience for both them and you. I also learned how big of an asset teaching geography is. Through the lack of education I received on the topic of geography throughout elementary school, and through the many different uses of it we studied throughout this class, I now know why it is important students learn it. Do I think it should be drilled into their heads? No. But I do feel it is necessary to incorporate geography whenever it is possible. Make learning geography fun for students, but also teach it in a way so that students will actually retain the information. I do not want my students to one day think back on their educational career and wonder how they got by when they know nothing on a topic. With geography, I know how that feels. And it is not a good feeling.
My favorite idea that I will leave this class with is an idea we learned about and discussed at the very beginning of the semester: having a democratic classroom. I had never experienced this as a student myself. I entered class on the first day, was given the rules and consequences by the teacher, and we were set for the school year. I love the idea of allowing students to participate in creating the guidelines for the class for the school year. And I love the idea of allowing students the chance to discuss how they feel consequences should work. Allowing students to take part in creating this system I believe will help them to follow it with much more ease. When students believe they made the rules, they are going to abide by them. When students believe they decided upon the consequences, they will remember what to expect if their rules are broken.
I appreciate Dr. Meier and all she had to share with us throughout the semester. I left her class with more information on teaching social studies then I would have ever imagined. Although there are many, many things I could reflect upon from my Integrated Teaching to Social Studies course, let me close with this: Social Studies is a subject I feel is necessary in students’ development and progress. It is through social studies that children learn of their past, their history, the government, and so many other topics relevant to students’ entry into society one day. If we do not teach the material covered through social studies, the material necessary to create good citizens within our students, the material needed to understand how our government and our economy work, then how do we expect our students to survive in the world on their own?
