Finale

Well it's been a journey. It was a stressful one. Not because of the fieldwork. In fact that was quite easy and really should be the entire basis of this class. No, it was everything else. But here I am, having aged five years in one but I am complete.


I learned a lot from this class. I should mention right now when I say class I mean fieldwork, as I learned nothing but the true meaning of pain from everything else. I learned classroom management and how to improvise. The mock congress turned out wonderfully and I can not wait to use it again. Even the ice breaker went well.

I think that having such a great group of student certainly helped. It's important to temper one's successes with the knowledge they are very rarely yours alone. On that note I would like to especially thank my partner, Mr. Awe, for his hard work and dedication.

It's been a hard road, but finally I have finished my methods classes. Once the ePortolio is done, then I can finally rest. It feels like I haven't sleept for five years. This must be what George Washington felt like after he finished his public career.

Artifact Bag

Today I shared my artifact bag. I had three items in a bag. They were a pen, a tricorn hat, and a copy of the United States constitution. The "students" (read: My classmates) had to guess what the topic we were covering was based on the artifacts. I found the whole exercise to be lacking, personally. I don't know, maybe I just didn't do it well, but it felt pointless. I think there are better and more engaging ways to introduce a topic.

Mock Interveiws

Today I participated in mock interviews where three of my peers played the part of  principals looking for perspective teachers. Each principal represented a type of lesson; one was direct instruction, one inquiry base learning, and one cooperative learning.

I started with the cooperative learning principal. It was a nice warm up. I did very well in the interview. Then I met with the direct lesson principal. This also seemed to go well. Finally I met with inquiry learning principal. This was the one I was most nervous about, but I think I did well. The answers just came tumbling out of me.

Finally, after much debate, the principals announced their picks. I was picked by the cooperative learning principal to be the new I.T. person at their school. Later I learned form a friend I was among the top three candidates for all of them. Overall it was an enjoyable experience.

Inaccurate Headlines

Read the headline of this article.

Now, you probably thought this was a case about whether a girl could use her assistant dog in school or not. To those of you with even a passing knowledge of disability law in the United States, that may strike you as odd. The reason for that is, this was not a case over whether the girl could use her dog, but whether her family could sue a school for not letting her use it. The headline is written in a way, however, that makes the case seem bigger, and more inflammatory.

The best headline is, in fact, the one at the lowest lexile level. It reads, "Fluffy white dog waiting outside court is the topic of conversation inside". Even that is a poor headline as it is too vague. It created a lot of confusion when I presented it to the class. I bring this up because that is exactly what happened when I used it for a current event lesson in class.

Telegram 6 from the Classroom

We had our final day in the class today. [Stop]

I will miss this group. [Stop]

They were a fun and intelligent group of students. [Stop]

They were sad to see us go. [Stop]

One girl even cried. [Stop]

It was the girl who hated congress. [Stop]

I think she's just emotional in general. [Stop]

I wish we had more time. [Stop]

Alas, we must move on. [Stop]

Telegram 5 from the Classroom

We had our inquiry lesson today. [Stop]

It started off okay. [Stop]

We had to do a lot of review. [Stop]

We forgot to ask questions after we showed the video. [Stop]

Whoops. [Stop]

It got good when the mock congress started though. [Stop]

One bill passed and was vetoed. [Stop]

They could not overturn the veto.[Stop]

Two bills failed to pass. [Stop]

One bill passed and was not vetoed. [Stop]

The students were extremely enthusiastic. [Stop]

Perhaps a little too enthusiastic. [Stop]

Overall very successful.[Stop]

One girl claimed to hate congress. [Stop]

Mission accomplished. [Stop]

Telegram 4 from the Classroom

We had our first lesson today. [Stop]

I think it went well overall. [Stop]

The students were surprisingly into the lesson. [Stop]

They wanted to know all about the line of succession. [Stop]

My nerdy interest in government really helped there. [Stop]

Even if I did fumble and nearly mix up where the secretaries of defense and state are. [Stop]

The projector broke for awhile, as predicted. [Stop]

We managed though. [Stop]

The independent practice was mixed up somewhat. [Stop]

I am looking forward to the next lesson. [Stop]

Lesson Planning

When I said in the telegram that having to teach both an inquiry and cooperative lesson plan in an hour and fifteen minutes was difficult I wasn't kidding. I'm not sure we'll be practically able to. That's why my partner and myself have agreed to basically drop the cooperative plan and focus on the inquiry.

The inquiry lesson is a mock congress where student write and pass bills. The teacher then can either veto or approve them. If they are vetoed they can vote to overturn the veto. It shows them how the real congress actually works. I'm pretty proud of this lesson plan, and I can't wait to try it out.

Telegram 3 from the Classroom

Observed the class ruing an inquiry/cooperative lesson plan. [Stop]

Students' chattiness can be harnessed for good. [Stop]

Will proceed with plan for mock congress. [Stop]

There is an area of concern however. [Stop]

It is difficult to teach both a inquiry and cooperative lesson in a little over an hour. [Stop]

Also, the projector is terrible. [Stop]

Really, that might be a bigger concern. [Stop]

Telegram 2 from the Classroom

It is the first day of teaching today. [Stop]

I will not be teaching for a while though. [Stop]

Instead I observed how the class was during a lesson. [Stop]

It was a direct instruction lesson. [Stop]

The teachers had to cover American history. [Stop]

It was from the 1600s through the end of the civil war. [Stop]

Again, they had to teach this during one hour and fifteen minute session. [Stop]

I do not envy them. [Stop]

At all. [Stop]

The students seemed attentive, which is good. [Stop]

A little chatty though. I will have to watch that. [Stop]

I will continue observing for the inquiry/cooperative lesson. [Stop]

Pumpkin

I came up with a good ice breaking activity for the class. Well, I say came up with, really it was used a popular idea. The idea is simple. You take a beach ball and on each stripe write a question. These questions are things like: What is your favorite season, What sports do you play, Do you have any pets, etc. Then you toss it around, and the person who catches it answers the question that faces them. Then they toss it to someone else.

It's a very fun getting to know you game. Some of the questions will be getting to know you questions. Others will be questions getting to know their knowledge of government and history. There is one thing though. Apparently they don't sell beach balls this time of year. So I ahd to use  a plastic pumpkin. At least it's festive?

Telegram 1 from the Classroom

Have made contact with the school. [Stop]

There are seventeen fourth graders. [Stop]

They are energetic and talkative, but willing to learn. [Stop]

The students greatly enjoyed the pumpkin game. [Stop]

The teacher seems nice. [Stop]

I think I'll enjoy working with the students. [Stop]

Will update again in the future. [Stop]

Ruminations on Why We Teach Civics

We must always ask ourselves why we teach what we teach. Does it have value? Civics certainly does. We live in the United States of America. It is a democratic republic and thus relies on its citizens being well educated and for them to make good decisions (I will withhold commentary on the current election). This education of our citizens and their civic duty must start early. It may make me sound like a corny PSA from the 1950s, but it's true. Without civics we can not have a democratic society.

Jigsaw

Today in class we did a jigsaw activity. That is where you group up into two groups and then break off join someone from the other group who shares your top Then you work together to create a presentation. Then everyone returns to their original groups to present the topic. That way everyone learns about it.

I enjoy jigsaws generally. They can be fun and are an easy way to impart information quickly to a large group without using whole group instruction. I think i will use them in my teaching.

Changing Standards

I recently did a presentation on the history of the Mohawk nation. My classmates did presentation on other Native American tribes. Back when I went to school we learned only about the Iroquois (like the Mohawks), because New York. It is nice to see other Native Americans are taught as well now. Sometimes standards change for the better.

Introduction

Social studies has always been my favorite subject, even in elementary school when it wasn't my best (I chalk that up to the written components.) My older brother had always been a history bluff, and so I just absorbed all he told me. So it was that I loved to learn about history. In high school at one point I even knew all the federal departments that had cabinet positions. Not because I had to, mind, but because I wanted to.