Geography

Ohhhhhh Geography .... where do I begin?

I clearly remember one thing about geography: It was required.  I had to take a strictly geography class when I was in 7th grade, and it was one of the most dreaded classes of my day.  Was it the subject matter? No.  I was actually interested in geography.  I would have loved to have learned more than I did out of that class.  Well then, why was it dreaded you may ask.  Because it was sooooo boring.  That class dragged on for days it felt like. *Sure .. I was only 12 .. everything dragged on .. but not like this*  That class was strictly book.  Nothing interesting or fun about it what-so-ever.  All material came straight from the book, was shown on the board via overhead projector, or "terms" were written on the dry erase board for us to copy.  All we did in this class was read, take notes, quiz, take notes, test, and begin again.

I now realize the potential this subject has and all the fun activities I missed out on when I took the class.  There are so many interesting things you could do with your students to help them not only UNDERSTAND geography, but WANT to learn more about it, and actually CARE what it is they are learning about.

From my previous experience in the subject, I honestly didn't believe there was anything you could do to make the material for this class interesting, much less fun.  I now realize different.

:)

*Critical Voice*

I don't know about anyone else, but after reading about critical voice I feel that I never really understood what a "critical voice" was.  Heck, I'm not totally sure I do now.  Not yet.  What I do know, however, is that every teacher needs one.  And that every teacher's critical voice will be different.  How I feel about a topic may be very different from how you feel about it.  How I teach my class my be very different from how you teach your class.  In Reading 24, the one about developing critical voice, the "Yes, but ..." questions are what really caught my attention and pulled me in.  They did this because, even on the first page where a few of the questions are listed, I thought, "Man ... I've wondered that same thing".  How do you know if you should do what you're told to do or do what you feel is right?  What if that means possibly losing your job when you have bills to pay, families to care for?  How do you know when you should speak up about the teaching strategies your school system wants you to use if you don't agree with them?  I really feel like these are questions we are never really prepared for during our degree programs, undergradute or higher.  It is where that critical voice comes in I suppose.  That is why it is so different from person to person.  As it develops, you develop the answers to these questions on your own: within yourself.

Theatre and Social Studies :)

I must say that I loveddd class on Monday!  I though those two "skits" were the cutest things ever, and definitely something I would LOVE to use in a classroom of my own one day!  Not only were they fun to do, they were actually quite informational!  When I went through school, my elementary teachers taught strictly "by the book".  No joke .. I can barely remember ever getting to do any type of fun activity when it came to the subject of social studies. It was all text. memorization, dates and times and names, and then test after test.  Middle School I never really had "social studies" per say, it was more of a Geography class.  I didn't enter into another History class until I hit High School, and it was taught by the football coach who tended to favor athletes  (I played volleyball) soooo ....... not much went on in the learning department.  Needless to say, i'm not all that knowledgeable when it comes to the social studies topics: history, geography, etc.  When, as a college student, I can participate in and watch those plays and actually learn something, I have full faith that my elementary students will as well!!