AEDU 316 Teaching Social Studies

The changes are meant to help the student to have a better understanding of the social studies in preparation for middle school. For instance, every grade in elementary level has the Map and Globe skill as the next to the last topic to help the student learn how to use maps to retrieve social studies information. Additionally, the syllabus gives a more detailed approach, which the teacher must address fully. The information processing skills as mentioned earlier is also one of the vital changes (GADOE, 2016).

Since I have been a Para educator working with special education students for the past three years, many of my chosen dispositions were already in place. Now that I am in my second eight weeks of student teaching I still hold true to the dispositions that I choose in the beginning. The only disposition that I had no knowledge of was number 9-Utilizes standards and curriculum guides to create learning goals. This disposition is one that I learned once I was placed in the classroom with my co-op teacher. There was a variety of exceptionalities in my special education classroom and along with those exceptionalities came different learning skills. Those exceptionalities encompass the disposition that students learn in many different ways. This also hold true in the general classroom. There are visual learners as well as kinesthetic learners. This is why teachers must engage their students in many different ways. In my lessons I use a variety of learning techniques such as journals for those students who like to express themselves through writing, and cooperative learning exercises such as concept mapping. Concept mapping helps students connect terms in the material with the theme in that part of the lesson. Videos are also shown to launch a lesson. This helps the

Benjamin Franklin once said, “Be civil to all; sociable to many; familiar with few; friend to one; enemy to none.” This single quote allows individuals to define and understand Social Studies and its relevance to their lives. Social Studies is indeed the study of people. It allows students to acquire knowledge and become active citizens. In 1992, the National Council for Social Studies (NCSS) stated that Social Studies is the integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence. This field includes various disciplines like sociology, political science, anthropology, economics, history, law, civics and geography. As a result, the primary purpose of Social Studies is to help young people to develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a

Social Studies is a very complex subject for educators to teach and for the students to be interested in learning, this is because it includes so many different disciplines. Not to mention, society is rapidly changing socially and technologically which affects what social studies content is being taught to our students( Passe,J 2002). In past years students were forced to learn at a relatively low cognitive levels, it lack the full meaning social studies that could be transferred into real life situations. It is because of this

This course has such impact knowledge about exceptional students. It helps teachers who choose to be in special education field understand most common categories that students have, and what kinds of teaching strategies teacher shuld use to able teach them.

Today, Ms. Laura Garner did a professional development on Differentiation. It was amazing! I’ve read professional articles and books on this topic, but never actually saw it up close as a participant. I was not just a participant but I was an active participant. I was engaged in the learning process. In fact, every teacher in the room was actively engaged in the learning process. Everyone was not doing the same activity, but the topic at hand was the same for all participants. Thus, instruction, in a classroom, should not be one size fits all. It should be catered so the needs of each student that enters into a classroom to learn are met and more importantly, students’ weaknesses are not highlighted for everyone in the classroom to

UDL is a set of principles for lesson design that gives all students equal opportunities to learn. UDL focuses on three core principles, representation, expression, and engagement. These principles are used to help teachers design motivating and engaging lessons that increase the participation of all students, especially those with special needs. It involves “how to teach the content to make it accessible (representation), how students will show what they learned (expression), and how to motivate all students to do their best work (engagement)” (Spencer, 2011, p.11).

How will you differentiate or adapt your lesson to meet the diverse needs for EL, special needs, and academically underachieving or high achieving

Since the bond between students and teachers is stronger and students feel more safe and comfortable in their environment, then they will be more willing to seek help. Gina Badalaty, has two daughters who have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP), multiple learning disabilities and speech-language challenges. When the school her daughters attended moved into the responsive teaching approach, she was nervous for what would come. To summarize Badalaty’s experience with the new changes at her daughter's school, she said, “...they are both performing exceptionally well at age-appropriate academics. Most importantly, they actually enjoy school, doing their coursework, and seeing their friends. I’m convinced that responsive classroom is an educational approach that benefits teachers, students, and parents by creating an inclusive atmosphere in which children can learn and thrive”(Badalaty). From Gina Badalaty’s experience, it is easy to see that the teaching approach in which schools use to promote learning is benefiting children in many ways. Students with dyslexia and dyscalculia also can benefit immensely from the responsive teaching approach. Dyslexic students can benefit from active teaching since the teacher presents first and then explains what was just presented. With this students with dyslexia have more time to organize, prioritize and filter new information (Stevens). Students with dyscalculia can really benefit from the student practice, instructor guided part of responsive teaching. Here students with dyscalculia can use manipulatives, have more space to write out problems and even be able to talk out the problem (Morin). Students with ADHD can also benefit from this learning style. Teachers that have students with ADHD can simplify the instructions and can post classroom rules on the wall so it is very clear what is expected of them (Weaver

Swanson, Wanzek, Vaughn, Roberts, & Fall (2015) states “there is research to suggest social studies classroom instruction has the potential to improve reading outcomes for students with learning disabilities” (pg. 428). As a current third grade educator, I concur with this finding.

The most effective methods are also the ones that adapt to the students’ needs, and aids in their understanding of the complex topics that social studies covers. As Stephen Lazar expressed in his statement to Education Week, “to be more effective is to remember that we teach students, not content,” which is a fundamental goal that teachers should strive to achieve (Ferlazzo,

Students can be introduced to the multiple aspects of economics and how to understand the economy as they prepare to become a part of it as they exit the high school setting. It is in these social studies classrooms that students can learn to become functional members of society. Where they can learn to adapt and grow with the world around them instead of remaining blind to everything around them. All this, but none of this is possible if the teacher, myself, does not realize how important these classes can be. Lesson should be fun, yet still educational. The lessons should focus on the student’s interest, but still keep the TEKS in mind.

Having a minor in special education, I am gradually incorporating elements of differentiation and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) into my pedagogy. Although I am familiar with the theoretical foundation of these teaching philosophies as a new teacher, I want to ensure that the fundamental teaching practices are securely in place before I expand my practice to incorporate additional strategies such as UDL. At this point in my practice, I attempt to provide students with multiple means of representation by including power point presentations, reading aloud, and creating opportunities for both group and individual study. Since my experience in the IFX, I have become more accustom to scaffolding verbal directions and providing clear pathways

My social studies lesson was over the season on Spring. When I did this lesson, it was just two days after the first day of Spring. I chose to do this because of its relevance at the time. The students were very excited about the change of the seasons and were very eager to learn about Spring. It was evident that my students were motivated to learn because they were constantly participating in my lesson. In the future I will continue to include activities to keep students involved during my lessons. Having fun activities helps the keep the students motivated and eager to learn. Having relevant topics that the

The integration of social studies, would support primary grade students through activities and experience who they are in the social context. Furthermore, the social experiences in the primary grades stimulus character. According to Mindes, “Character is an individual’s approach to ethical issues” (2008). Consequently the curriculum of social development is crucial for younger children to develop social development of self. In the primary grades the curricular should focus on self-development in a social context. Which should start in the classroom and the people in