This is my last blog, I promise!

Today, we complete a mock interview in class.  This was an amazing experience for all of us.  It helped us learn what type of questions are asked at educational interviews.  The experience also helped me see what administrators go through in order to prepare for interviews.  Matt was the best teacher candidate for Cynthia, Steve, and I because he was professional, answered the questions confidently, and knew educational material and content.  In the future, I will make sure to research all types of interview questions so I can make sure I am prepared.  I will also not stumble when I am answering questions.  The interviewer should never see you stumble or get nervous.  Be confident, be your best!

My last blog

For my last blog I created an iMovie, but unfortunately it will not upload to my blog or to You Tube.  So instead, I will just talk about my overall experience in social studies methods.  I have learned so much from this course from technology to several teaching methods for the social studies curriculum.  Going into the course, I was afraid of what was to come.  Although the class was a lot of hard work and dedication, I believe it has prepared me to be the best teacher I can be.  I was able to experience how to collaborate with other teachers, how to co-teach, and how to create and present three different forms of lessons: Direct instruction, inquiry, and cooperative learning.   I have also shared my personal favorite song with everyone because I love the overall message of the song for myself, others, and students.  Always go after your dreams, no matter what!! You can do whatever you put your mind to and you should never listen to what others think!  Teaching is a dream of mine and I will continue to reach for the stars with this profession no matter what obstacles are placed in my path.  

My Blog Comments:
Rachel's blog
Matt's blog
Meghan's blog
Marissa's blog

My Educational Philosophy

Hello everyone! My name is Chelsea.

I am currently working towards a major in history and a minor in Spanish with a certification in Elementary school education and special education, grades one through six.

My educational philosophy: Cognitivism/Constructivism & Humanism

Cognitivism/Constructivism= The learner actively constructs his or her own understandings of reality through acting upon and reflection on experiences in the world.  When a new object, event, or experience does not fit the learner’s present knowing structures, a conflict is provoked that requires an active quest to restore balance.  Teachers facilitate environmental conditions and mediate experiences to support student learning.

Humanism= Humanist educators learning from the perspective of the human potential for growth, becoming the best one can be.  The shift is to the study of affective as well as cognitive dimensions of learning.  Beliefs include: human beings can control their own destiny; people are inherently good and will strive for a better world; people are free to act but must be responsible; behavior is the consequence of human choice; and people possess unlimited potential for growth and development.  There are natural tendencies for people to learn, which will flourish if nourishing, encouraging environments are provided.

I do believe my results on the educational philosophies self-assessment are accurate with describing how I truly feel about teaching.  I am a firm believer that everyone has the opportunity to be the best they can be.  With hard work and dedication, anyone can reach their greatest goals and dreams.  I will be a teacher that creates a positive learning environment where everyone feels comfortable in the classroom and welcomes every student that walks through the door.  I will establish a classroom that makes children excited to go to school.  Each day will be a new day for exploration, learning, discoveries, and educational and personal growth.  I believe students should learn through real life situations because when they are out of school that is what they will face.  I will encourage all of my students to work hard in school and become the person they hope to be.  Every student in my class will feel welcomed and feel like belong.  I will establish a class and will supply where every student feels confident to learn and is not afraid to make mistakes.  As humans, we learn through our weaknesses, strengths, defeats, and accomplishments.  I will always support each and every one of my students them with as much guidance as they need to grow as learners and individuals as well.

Artifact Bag

     Today, we had the opportunity to explore each other's artifact bags.  My personal artifact bag was on the Walt Disney movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.  I was able to find an authentic picture of Walt Disney himself, a play bill when the movie first came out, and a photograph of the premiere of the movie.  I also included a picture of my sister and I with Snow White at Disney when I was five.  Rachel's artifact bag was about economics and movies.  Her bag showed the relationship between money and movie making.  Joe's artifact bag dealt with the Wizard of Oz movie.I really enjoyed being able to create my personal artifact bag.  I love Disney and this project allowed me to learn about the history of the company and its movies.  Snow White is one of my favorite princess from the collection of Disney movies.  When I was little, Cinderella told me I looked like her really good friend, Snow White, and since then I have absolutely loved her.  When I was in third grade, I dressed up as Snow White and read the fairy tale to the kindergartners and they really believed I was Snow White.  These experiences have stuck with me my whole life and that is why I wanted to learn about the history.

Native American Jigsaw

     During the last week, our class has been learning about Native American tribes.  To do this, we completed a cooperative learning jigsaw activity.  I personally, was a part of the Lakota tribe expert group.  I actively searched and analyzed various websites to learn about the history, culture, lifestyles, hoes, language, and religion of the tribe.  I honestly learned so much about the Lakota tribe because i was actively engaged in locating the material.  Although i did learn some knowledge about the other tribes from my classmates power points, i did not learn thoroughly.  I was quickly exposed to a lot of information.  I wish i had more time to work in our base groups.
  Lakota tribe: PowerPoint
     Today, we were pirates while exploring Native American tribes.  We completed a treasure hunt that required us to race against each other by answering Native American questions.  My group worked so well with each other.  I did the recording, while Kathryn did the scanning of the questions.  Our group as a whole worked together to answer the questions and looked them up on the Internet when we didn't know them.  My group was able to finish first in the entire class and we received Native American expert certificates.  The treasure hunt kept us motivated and determined to do our best on the hunt because we wanted to win.  I will definitely incorporate treasure hunts in my classroom because they transform the classroom into an engaging and positive learning environment.

Cooperative Learning

Cooperative learning is an essential component to use in the classroom.  The six elements of cooperative learning are positive interdependence, individual accountability, group processing, social skills and face to face interaction, and lesson planning.  When teachers use cooperative learning, they are encouraging a positive learning environment that connects each and every student. If you click my link below, you will be able to learn more about cooperative learning and read my personal responses to some of the activities that are presented.

SIM !!!!

Geography and beyond

The above video is a catchy song that can help students learn the countries of the world :)

Geography is an essential component of social studies instruction in elementary schools.  Geography is one component that is a part of all 10 social studies standards, making it extremely important to teach to students.  Just like every other component of social studies, geography lessons should be meaningful, value-based, integrative,  challenging, and active.  One way to teach reading maps discussed in chapter 12 is using a treasure hunt.  For this activity, teachers would create a map for students to follow in order to find treasure.  This would help students learn how to read maps, figure out symbols, and learn how to reach a destination. This activity would be especially engaging for the students because who does not love treasure?!?! After, I think it would be a good idea for the students to create their own treasure maps so they could also practice how to create maps.  Being able to read maps is a critical skill everyone needs to learn because they will not only continue to use them through out  school, but will they use them in other aspects of life like traveling.

Think beyond tests

ENGAGE

When it comes to assessing students, teachers need to move passed just giving their students just tests and quizzes.  Social studies should be meaningful, challenging, integrative, value-based, and active.  Social studies assessment should also be engaging and student friendly.  Assessment should be made up of measurement, collection, and evaluation.  There are many ways to assess students.  Assessment could be projets, rubrics, KWL charts, portfolios, and interviews.  Tests and quizzes should be used in the classroom, but it should not be the ony means of assessment.  Even more important is to include students in the process of creating assessment.  Students should never feel scared when it comes to assessment time.  As a teacher, I know that I will make sure that every student knows what is expected of them and they will never have to feel nervous when assessment comes around.  For my journal article review, I summarized an article that dealt rubrics as an assessment.  The citation is listed below because I think it will help everybody make successful rubrics :)

Gallavan, N. P., & Kottler, E. (2009). Constructing rubrics and assessing progress collaboratively with social   studies students. The Social Studies, 100(4), 154-158. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/274788251?accountid=28089 

That's a wrap

     Today was our last day with the fourth grade students and I cannot believe it.  Our time in the field went by so fast.  It was an amazing experience and I learned so much about economics and teaching children.  Although it was a good experience, I would not recommend the BizWorld projects.  In my opinion, the project moved too quickly and presented the students with too many difficult vocabulary terms at one time.  I think BizWorld needs to think of a more efficient way of teaching economics.
     I was very proud of our students and all that they have achieved.  Even during their recess time, the students worked hard on becoming excellent companies and completed various activities and assignments to the best of their abilities.  Again, although the students worked hard, I know personally the students I worked with were not huge fans of the program.  The students wanted more opportunity and freedom to show what they were learning.
     Today group four presented a lesson that was supposed to be a cooperative lesson.  Unfortunaltey, there was really no lesson presented today, making it hard to review the college students on their set up of cooperative learning lessons :(.  
 Overall, I think every college student did an AMAZING job teaching and I am so grateful we had a group of students and teacher that embraced us into their classroom.  Good job everyone!  

OUR FINAL MOVIE 

The countdown is officially on

     I cannot believe that our fieldwork experience is almost over.  I feel like we just embarked on this journey and were all so anxious to teach.  I feel like all of the fieldwork groups have done an AMAZING job teaching the fourth grade students.  Fieldwork group four prepared an inquiry prediction lesson for the companies.  I liked how the companies had to predict because being able to predict is a skill the students will use and need for the rest of their lives.  The students predicted which movie would profit the most and who would want to see each movie.  Unfortunately, nobody wanted to see our movie but after they see it, I am sure they will love it.  One way group four could have improved their lesson would have been to make sure the companies were really following the inquiry process.  The question asked of the companies was difficult for them to investigate because they did not know much about the other companies.  Group four did make sure to introduce the lesson, present a question to the companies, an opportunity to discuss their results, and provided feedback.
     Our students were a little more focused today when we were working on the movie.  All of them wanted to type the scripts for the movie and add details into the storyline.  I am very proud of the movie our fourth grade company was able to create.  One thing I would change in the future is to have every company use the same movie making strategy and procedure.  I know our company was sad that they did not get to go outside to film their movie or actually be in their movie.
     I am looking forward to the next fieldwork session for our grammy party.  I am sure the fourth grade companies are beyond excited to see their hard work paid off.

Back to work

     After having a week off for spring break, it was time for all of us to get back to work.  Today fieldwork group four began to teach.  I thought they did an amazing job!  All of them were well prepared and confident in the front of the room.  I would have been so nervous to teach because these four college students did not have a lot of time to prepare with one another because of spring break but they rocked it.

     Today, group four instructed a direct instruction lesson plan on important vocabulary that goes along with the BizMovie project.  They then had the students create sentences using the vocabulary they had just learned.  I was amazed on how well the companies did with this assignment.  With some assistance, the companies came up with educated and sophisticated sentences using the vocabulary.  For the most part, group four followed the steps of direct instruction lesson plans.  They got the attention of the students, explained the vocabulary to the students, thought out loud, provided them with examples, and gave them a guided practice.  

     After learning the vocabulary, the companies had an opportunity to make their movies for the first time.  Our company, Sparks Fly, was not so focused during the movie making time.  Some students worked hard on the movie while others were very distracted and distracting.  Hopefully, Sparks Fly will be more on task next session.

BEST

     I thought today was group three's best lesson yet.  All of the college students were well prepared, knew the material, and engaged the students.  I honestly would not have changed much about this lesson.  Group three presented all four companies with a cooperative lesson that was unique and creative.  The companies all had a different mission that dealt with the concepts learned in BizMovie.  I think to make the cooperative lesson even better, the college students should have pre-assessed the students social skills and knowledge because they are essential to cooperative lessons.
     All four companies seemed to really work together during this lesson.  The students worked hard to create raps, poetry, and posters to present to the other companies that dealt with the economic information they have been learning.  I think the college students should have provided the companies with an example of a rap, poem, or story, so they could model what they expected of the fourth grade students.  For what I could see, the students all negotiated with one another and there were no hard feelings for anyone.  I know the students really learned about constructive criticism during this lesson because at the end, the companies were able to rate themselves and supply something they should work on in a positive way.  
     I honestly cannot believe that fieldwork is almost over.  I feel like we have been in the fourth grade classroom for only a couple of days.  The experience, so far, has been amazing and I am excited to continue.  Amazing job group three!!

Let the creativity unfold

     Today's fieldwork session was a lot of fun for the students and us.  The first part of the lesson was dedicated to preparing to record the companies' commercials and actually recording their commercials.  The students were so excited to put on their costumes, makeup, and accessories on for their commercials.  For the most part, all of the companies included the four elements of commercials they needed in their actual commercials.   The commercials allowed the students to be creative and explore the options they found best for showing what their movie will be about.
     Group three presented the companies with an inquiry question that required the students to apply their knowledge of the BizMovie project.  This inquiry activity was well designed in my opinion because it made the students review their ledgers, which they often forget about.  One thing I would have done during this lesson would have been to review the ledgers quick with the students because they can be difficult and tricky.  It is essential that we, as teachers, really make sure the students are understanding all aspects of economics.
     I found group three to be very organized and professional during this inquiry lesson.  They showed that they understood the BizMovie material and presented it to the companies in a clear and cohesive way.  I loved each and everyone of the companies's commercials because they were all unique and chose different ways to present economic information.  Great Job group three!!


My Favorite Movie Commercial 

Commercials

Today's fieldwork session went well in the fourth 
grade classroom.  Fieldwork group number three presented a direct instruction lesson on the art of making a commercial.  The students seemed engaged in the material and asked well thought out questions referring to commercials and their terminology.  
     I thought fieldwork group three was successful at keeping the students' attention.  I thought showing the Monster Inc. commercial twice was a good teaching strategy to use in the commercial lesson.  By showing it before teaching, group number three was able to see the companies' prior knowledge on commercials.  By showing the same commercial a second time, the companies saw what they were learning.  To improve this lesson, I would have provided the students with a guided practice.  There was really no part of the lesson that allowed group three to see if the companies were understanding the material.  I would also use more student friendly language.  Some of the terms used were a little too complex for fourth grade students.  Overall, group three did a good job.
     For the first time, I think the fieldwork group were prepared and successful in their lesson  Just like the rest of us, the major issue was time.  As a class, as a whole, I think we are doing great! The project is moving along nicely.  

ANIMOTO: Keep in mind this website for making commercials:)

Last day, seriously?! Thanks for your help!

     First off, I want to thank all of the other college students for helping us out with this lesson today.  As we all know, last lesson did not go as smoothly as it could for our fourth grade companies because they could not get along with one another.  Today, we presented the fourth graders with many videos on the importance of cooperation and we could not have done it without you.  On that note, thank you all so much for helping throughout all of our lessons and again to group one for setting the project up so well!! 
       Our last day as teachers in the fourth grade classroom went very well.  We presented the students with a cooperative lesson, which required them to come up with a business plan and deliver a pitch to the venture capitalist.  The fourth grade companies seemed to get along so much better this session.  Yay! I knew my field group was successful with our lesson today when the companies were actually negotiating on their own with the venture capitalist.  The students actively talked to one another and did the best they could with the economic topic.  If the students were not successful in the cooperative lesson, they would not have been able to convince the venture capitalist to invest in them, which every company was able to do.
     Being teachers in the fourth grade class was an amazing experience.  My group worked so well together and I think we did as best as we could! Good luck group three!! You got this.

Take A Deep Breath..Relax

RELAX

Hey everyone!! This is an article one of my professors sent my class! Click on the link RELAX and take the time to read it.  Trust me it provides good insights on how to become more relaxed and believe it or not, MORE PRODUCTIVE :)

Movie Explorers

Prezi

     Fieldwork was a little different today compared to our previous sessions.   The fourth grade class came to our school today and my fieldwork group had the opportunity to teach the companies in our own classroom.  Teaching in our college classroom caused some trouble for us though.  The students were fascinated by the computers that were in front of them, the students were too spread out, and the students were more easily distracted in our classroom. 

     Although the fourth grade students were a little preoccupied in our classroom, we were still able to get them to focus on our guided inquiry lesson.  The students had to decide what their movies were going to be about and how they will profit.  My favorite part of our whole lesson was our introduction.  I thought playing clips of animated movies really grabbed the students’ attention and made them excited about the lesson to come.   Our introduction also included a review of previously learned vocabulary and concepts.  I do think we should have introduced the main question of the inquiry lesson of today in the introduction.   I also found our inquiry activity to be engaging and educational.  The companies had an opportunity to explore their technology they will be using for their movies and for the first time, had the chance to really discuss their movie and storyboard.   The major problem of our inquiry lesson was that two companies were not able to work together to make any decisions about their company and movie.   If we had the opportunity to redo this lesson, I would have suggested that we include a mini lesson on how to make economic decisions as a team.   During the lesson, there were students who were very angry and even upset because their fellow teammates would not listen to them.  Although this was a problem for my fieldwork group, I think it truly showed the fourth grade companies they have to work together or their companies will not make any progress in this BizWorld project.  At the end of the lesson, my fieldwork group had the fourth grade companies reflect on heir learning for the day.  For the most part, all of the students reflected on the fact that they need to try and work together in order to be successful companies. 

     So far, I think my fieldwork group is doing a really good job of teaching the fourth grade companies.  We have made creative Prezi presentations, made our lessons engaging, meaningful, and have offered the students a great learning experience.  For me personally, I still need to practice not saying the word, guys.  Now get ready for great pitches!

No turning back!

     

Inquiry 

As I sat in my class before Social Studies Methods, all I could think about was fieldwork.   I wondered how the students would like our lesson, how would I do teaching, and how would our group do overall.  Although I had many thoughts running through my head, I was not that nervous.  I had all the confidence in the world in my partners and myself.  Before I knew it, we were in front of the fourth grade class presenting our direct instruction lesson plan.

     I could not be happier with the way our fieldwork went today.  Our students were engaged, involved, and enthusiastic.  We reviewed previous vocabulary through a money-earning contest, reviewed the word incorporate because it caused some trouble for our students, and made sure to go over the pie chart and raising capital.  My group did a great job of presenting our Prezi presentation to the students I thought.  We provided them with examples, kept them on track, asked questions, and allowed them the opportunity to provide their comments on the new vocabulary.  One thing I definitely have to work on is using the word guys to refer to the students.  This is a habit of mine, but all habits can be kicked.  My favorite part of our direct instruction lesson was the guided practice.  The students were able to feel like they were at a fair while practicing their knowledge about the new vocabulary through the balloon pop game on the SMART board.  I knew our lesson was a success when the students were able to tell us the definitions of all of the words we taught them during the lesson when we played the balloon pop game.

     For the first time, I believe my fieldwork group did a pretty good job of presenting our students with the new BizMovie content.  Our lesson was scripted, straightforward, left no room for creativity, and did not provide the students the time to explore on their own.  Although we had a direct instruction lesson, I really think our students had fun learning about this material and it showed through their excitement, willingness to participate, and their smiles.  I can’t wait for the next session.

Learn About SMARTboard: I know I will use the balloon pop game in my future in the classroom.  The students were eager to answer our questions because they were excited to play this game.  

The Show Must Go On

          When it comes to our learning, nothing will slow us down in Social Studies Methods.  On Friday, as we embraced for a huge winter storm, our class took the opportunity to meet online virtually.  We discussed the pros and cons of our fieldwork thus far and we also provided each other with helpful criticism. Okay, so after getting a ton of snow, who would have thought we would get a freezing rainstorm this morning.  I can only imagine the thoughts the first fieldwork group had racing throughout their minds.  I am sure this bad weather made it extremely hard for this group to meet to discuss their final lesson.  One member of their group was also not able to attend fieldwork.  This must have made the group nervous but as my title indicates, the show had to go on.

     The first fieldwork group prepared a cooperative learning lesson for the companies to complete in order to develop company names, logos, and slogans.  The companies also learned about stock and how to be incorporated.  Although the first group of fieldwork planned a very good lesson, it was a little disorganized.   The group did not fully discuss the material in their powerpoint and the rest of us college students were kind of confused.  The lesson was not as organized as it could have been but the first fieldwork group had the students cooperatively working together.  The students had to talk to one another, negotiate, compromise, and reach conclusions that benefited their companies. I think group two rocked this lesson to be honest even if it was a tiny bit disorganized.  They had a little bit of time to meet with each other and they still delivered a lesson that showed dedication.

     My nerves have officially set in as my fieldwork group prepares to present out lessons in the next couple of days.   I feel like my fieldwork group is as prepared as we can be.  Thankfully, the first fieldwork group did a great job of starting the project for the rest of us! Thanks group two!!

Embrace the unknown

     Today, my fieldwork group met with our teacher for the first time to discuss our fieldwork planning.  Going into the meeting I thought we were golden.  We created a presentation that was engaging, colorful, and organized neatly.  Although our presentation was good, we were urged to think outside of the box and adjust some of our ideas.  Of course it was a little disappointing to find out our presentation was not the best, but hey, we learn from our mistakes and they are bound to happen.  The hardest part for me during the meeting was that I had to force myself to unlearn material I had already learned.  It is confusing I know, but I can now say I am totally onboard the inquiry lesson planning bus.

     Enough talk about my fieldwork group and me.  It is time to focus on the true stars of today's fieldwork session.  The inquiry lesson my classmates presented to our students during fieldwork went so smoothly.  Although their first lesson was good, my classmates seemed much more confident today and it truly showed.  Their lesson seemed to flow much better today.  My favorite part of the lesson was that the students had to explore animated movies.  I love animated movies and this inquiry activity allowed the students to learn about the movie industry in a fun way.  The students were excited to take on their new roles, work as a group, and investigate the materials and questions they were given.  The students liked the freedom to explore new matieral on their own.  Even though it was an inquiry lesson, the first fieldwork group did a great job of making aure the students stayed on task.  Not only did the students learn about movies, they had a sneak peek of what the rest of the BizMovie project will entail.  The students will take on important roles and will have to work with one another to be successful.  If I had to redo this fieldwork session for me personally, I would have walked around the classroom to truly see what the companies were doing during the inquiry lesson.  It is important for children to learn about the inquiry process because they will be using it for their whole lives.

     I cannot believe the first week of fieldwork is almost over.  I am most looking forward to the lesson to come.  I have never designed a cooperative learning lesson plan and I am excited to learn from my classmates.  Group one has been doing an amazing job in my opinion.  One more day and we are up.

And the adventure begins!

     Yesterday, the experience of a semester began for me.  For Social Studies Methods, we wasted no time beginning our fieldwork placement.  Personally, I find nothing more exciting than practicing what I love to do, teach.  Although I have not had the opportunity to teach yet, I enjoyed being able to watch my fellow classmates teach their first direct lesson plan.  

     My classmates who presented their first lesson plan yesterday did a very good job of starting the BizWorld Company.   I really liked how the group praised the students for sitting up tall in the beginning of the lesson.  The group was able to focus the children on the BizWorld project and was also able to show the children what they expected of them.  The first fieldwork group was also creative when they assessed the students’ prior knowledge on important terms used in BizWorld.  The use of a Wordle engaged the students by grabbing their attention.  This technique also introduced the students to the vocabulary terms they were going to learn in the lesson.  I will definitely use wordle in the future in fieldwork and in my own classroom. The use of questioning of many students, the use of concrete examples and non-examples of the vocabulary terms, and the use of enthusiasm and dedication the first teaching group had really made their lesson a success.  None of us knew what to expect going into the fieldwork placement and I give them a lot of credit on how well they did.  Some things I would change about the lesson would be to have the teachers make more eye contact with the students, not require the students to yell so much when answering questions, and try to present less vocabulary terms because it was a lot of information for the students to take in, without writing anything down.  The first fieldwork group did a very good job presenting the needed vocabulary for BizMovie using Direct Instruction.  The lesson was teacher generated and straight forward.  The children followed the directions they were given and they had no opportunity to engage in any type of activity on their own.

     I have never taken part in a fieldwork experience like this one before.  In most of my education classes, I work with a small group of students and teach them on my own.   For Social Studies Methods, we work in groups and collaborate with one another to teach.  This is just another experience that is going to help me become a better teacher.

Click the BizMovie picture on the top of this page to visit the BizWorld website.

      

Not the "Average" Introduction

     What do you think of when you picture your first week of your new college semester?  When I envision the first week of my new classes, I automatically see syllabuses filled with important information, hear brief introductions delivered by my classmates, and I mentally prepare to jump right into the course material.  Unlike a lot of classes I have been in, Social Studies Methods was much different.  In the first couple of classes, my class and I were urged to be creative and unique.  Trust me, this was not the “average” introduction.

     Last Friday in class, my classmates and I shared out first projects we had finished in Social Studies Methods.  This project required us to break out of our comfort zones and venture into the wide world of technology.   In other classes, my introductions were brief, boring, and dry.  Most of the time I said my name, my major, and one thing that described me.  There is no way any one could have gotten to know my “true” personality through that one-minute discussion.  For this class, I was able to develop an engaging way to introduce myself to my classmates.   I created my introduction on the website, wordle.  My wordle was bright, fun, and full of detail.  My classmates were able to get to know me better because of my wordle.

     Not only were my classmates and I able to learn about each other, we got a sneak peek into the world of technology.  There is so much technology available to us and as teachers we need to take full advantage of that.  During this introduction program, I learned various websites to use in my classroom to promote learning for my students.  This introduction project was a great way to start the class because it required active listening, established a family of learners, and urged us to use our imaginations.  I look forward to the rest of my experiences, challenging and rewarding, in Social Studies Methods.

As teachers, we need to keep in mind that every single student in our classroom will be different.  Students will come from different backgrounds, cultures, and lifestyles.  Students will have different abilities cognitively, socially, and emotionally.  As teachers, we need to create a learning environmentwhere every student feels like they belong.  Our classrooms need to be engaging, fun, and creative.  We should embrace the unknown and learn from different experiences.  Our goal is to provide our students with the best education possible.