My Teaching Reflection.....

I LOVE TEACHING!!!! Okay maybe that is a little too enthusiastic...but...I LOVE TEACHING!!!!

Every time I have the opportunity to teach a lesson in a classroom I find that it not only gives me the chance to improve on my planning and teaching skills but it also gives me the much needed opportunity to reflect on my teaching strategies and learn from the experience as a whole. This time was of no exception.

Despite prior preparation and completion of my lesson plan, I found myself on the morning before I was due to teach sitting outside reflecting on my lesson once again, making changes, and bouncing ideas off a 19 month old and a 3 year old ( I will take any help I can get.). At around 10 o'clock I found myself with a revised lesson that I could not for the life of me get to print off of the computer....I despise .doc vs. docx and Open Access.....but anyway in order to remedy the situation I decided to copy the revisions to the two hard copies I had printed previously that morning. Once that hurdle was out of the way and the babysitter arrived...I in my car on my way to teach.

My partner and I arrived at the school prior to lunch so we could get a head start on an observation project we had to do for another class. I found that this extra time I got to spend in the classroom prior to teaching my lesson was very beneficial to me because the students seemed more comfortable around myself and my partner and I was more comfortable around them and the school in general by that point.

The 4th grade activity-based social studies lesson plan that I designed and taught incorporated teaching students the essentials of a timeline and how to read one while incorporating the founding of North Carolina and European Explorers that led to European Immigration. Wow, that is a mouthful. The lesson had students explore and analyze chronology through storytelling, which they then applied to creating a personal timeline that led to the students applying their knowledge of timelines as they explored and discussed a timeline featuring European Explorers in North Carolina. Overall, I thought that the basis of the activity was engaging and that the students would have the chance to recall and demonstrate any background knowledge they had that related to chronology, timelines, and/or European exploration of North Carolina.

Implementing the lesson proved more challenging than I had anticipated only because I had to teach the lesson out in the bustling hallway due to lack of space. During one part of the lesson, the students needed to create a personal timeline using a colored marker and 5 index cards. The students were ingenious in finding ways to accomplish this task out in the hall but it was not easy because they were sitting on the grade and did not have a lot of space to lay out their cards. Location also became an issue when I needed to post the timeline of European Explorers of North Carolina because there was no place to do so that allowed the students to be able to see it and for me to be able to work with it as a guide for the discussion.

There were some changes I would make besides where I would actually teach the lesson. If I did the lesson again I would break the lesson up over a longer period of time so that students could explore the importance of chronology and timelines more not only in social studies but the application and integration of timelines in science (plant life) and in math (time segments, different ways to design a timeline). I also think that creating a class timeline that would be added to throughout the year would prove beneficial to the students allowing them to see how history relates to them and explore it from different aspects. And on a final note I would make sure that when I was making changes to a lesson plan prior to teaching I would be able to print the new lesson out instead of having to handwrite the changes but that is just me.

In the end I feel that the lesson was a success. Why? The students were actively engaged and asking and answering questions that went beyond the intended learning objectives of the lesson. As I was asking questions throughout the students were revising previous answers, rethinking their schema and reflecting on and tying in different aspects of timelines and their uses. The students, although time ran out, seemed to enjoy learning about the timeframe of European exploration using the timeline as a tool and I was amazed at the predictions, inferences, and conclusions they made all from the same timeline...in fact they made me want to explore some questions I had on my own about European exploration of North Carolina...maybe a trip to the NC Museum of History is in order.

We came, we saw, we conquered....and you can read all about it on my blog.....

Primary sources....the United States Constitution, photos of Abraham Lincoln, newspapers from April 15, 1912 or October of 1929, the Zapruder film, and so on....are an essential part of engaging students in meaningful learning tasks when it comes to learning about past....history....but are primary sources on the verge of becoming history?

In today's high tech world of digital cameras, computers, cellphones that take photos and videos, and the Internet...hard copies of primary sources are being phased out. Once hand-written letters and detailed journals documenting daily life have been phased out by phone calls, email, and blogs. Quality photographs that captured events and people of the past are still being taken but by cellphones and digital cameras which lends itself to storing photos on computers where they are either lost, or amassed in bulk but rarely printed out. It is a good thing that scrapbooking came back because at least that it producing hard copies of personal family primary sources. Newspapers are going out of print and becoming digitalized which is great considering that it allows more access to a greater variety of newspapers but who knows how long the posts will last. I am all for progress and technology but my concern lies with future who may not be able to access primary sources for history because they do not exist.

OR are primary sources being revolutionized? Due to technology advances it is evident that the way individuals access primary sources is being changed but also what is considered to be a primary source is changing as well. Today individuals can access images and the text of primary sources via the web and in most instances they do. This is a huge benefit because now educators can use access images they normally would not have access too and thus further engage students by delving deeper into a topic. I must admit that the changing and adaption of primary sources greatly intrigues me and I am curious to see what the future holds.

Historical Perspective-Well it depends on who you are talking with?

Hold on a second.... let me find the old soapbox....it is kinda hard to find in this office under all papers and textbooks....oh there it is under a social studies guide (surprise, surprise) ....okay let me just dust it off and set it up...Okay I think I am now ready.

The question asked is "What are you reactions or experiences with point of view, perspectives, or bias in history?" Let me start by stating that because of my background in history there is no quick and easy answer to this question. In fact I have taken courses devoted to studying this question and in fact have given lectures in which I further go to discuss and analyze the question delving deeper into it and looking at it through the lens of different ethnic groups, cultures, societies, and the various time periods. Like I said it is not an easy question to answer.

When I was a curator in New York and working in a private collection it was amazing to see how skewed the retelling of certain events and the recording of history itself had become because a prior historian had decided to write facts to certain stories and certain stories for certain facts without any primary sources or reliable documentation. Based off this information the local hospital decided to spend an obscene amount of money to celebrate its 100th birthday in 2005 because of these "facts" written and recorded. The hospital board and a majority of the town were pretty upset...to say the least.....when primary resources were pointed out to them noting that the hospital was not established until 1906 and did not open its doors until 1907. But I digress....over time perspectives become skewed, people want to show the positive in the past and tend to gloss over the negative. Look at today's textbooks a majority of them are usually one-sided when it comes to different events, ethnic groups, and cultures; including the discussion of slavery, the Civil War, Japanese Internment Camps, and so on and so forth.

Alright I need to stop now my head is beginning to hurt and I have not even tackled question 2. Let me say this I plan on having an integrated curriculum with differentiation taking into account the various needs of my students. For LEP students I intend to include them in my differentiation plans and will use various strategies including vocabulary picture cards, low vocab. high picture illustrations, etc...

Does Google hold all of the answers?

Wow that would be great if I could believe everything I read whether it was out of the newspaper, a book, or off the Internet. BUT in reality I cannot. "Why?" Well for basics not everything that gets published gets fact checked and in all reality the Internet is notorious for that fact that anyone can post anything they want at anytime without checking the facts or providing backup for what they may right. Case and point right here....my blog....granted it is not Wikipedia or Google but I have the freedom to right down my thoughts and opinions and someone may someday come across it and pull what they deem are facts from it whether it is certain or not. And I am aware that there are limits that go along with the "Freedom of Speech" but I have neither the knowledge or experience to discuss them in depth.

Now I realize that my above ranting may seem off topic but in this day and age we are a generation of people that expect instantaneous answers and if I cannot find the answer right away chances are if I call my Mom and she does not know the answer I "google" for the answer. BUT I "google" with caution.

Lets take a basic question for example...."When was Southold (my hometown) founded?" and "google" it. Give me a second...OK I am back...to my surprise the Wikipedia answer is not as bad as I expected but they do state, "Southold was settled in 1640 and in most histories is reported as the first English settlement on Long Island in the future New York State although Lion Gardiner established a manor on Gardiners Island in East Hampton a year earlier in 1639." Well yeah Southold is the first English settlement on Long Island but I have enough background knowledge on the subject to know that the English had actually settled Southold in 1636 when it became the "Southern Hold" of the New Haven colony in Conn. and that is documented in a primary source. Granted the information I was looking for may seem irrelevant to most but what if I was writing a school report and "googled" for the information...the information I found would be wrong.

What I am trying to get at is that yes having "google" to look up information on the fly is great, but I know that the information I find out on the Internet may not always be right and I keep that in mind when I use it. As a teacher I think that it is essential to teach students that caution that goes with looking up the answers and that is why I also think it is important that our students know the basic facts when it comes to history. Do I think it is important that a student know the exact years Lincoln was president? Yes but I do not think that they need to know the years that say Warren G. Harding was president but they need to know what number president he was and have a rough idea of the time period. Let us be honest...history is a complicated subject because what I feel is an important aspect of American History someone else would not but it is a disservice to students to not give them the depth they need when it comes to the subject and by giving the option or the idea that they can just google it is not the message to be sending.

I guess in the end my feeling is that it depends. As I have previously ranted I do think that it is important that students know basic facts and timelines but they do not need to know every single date. Yet again I also think that students should know their times tables by heart and then use a calculator.

Here is my citation because I have know clue as to how else insert it: Southold, New York. (2009, July 2). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 13:57, July 2, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.phptitle=Southold,_New_York&oldid=299887813 .

What do you mean the textbook does not have all the answers? Oh maybe I should know the questions first.

Maybe I am just a positive thinker but I cannot fathom how a teacher can effectively teach without knowing what he.she wanted to teach the students and what he/she intended learning outcomes/objectives were. That is just scary....to me it would be like saying I feel like visiting Russia but I am not going to do any research about where I am going, I am not going to learn the language, even the basics such as how to say "I do not speak Russian." or "Where is the ladies room?" in essence it is just ridiculous. Now do not get me wrong I have witnessed lessons that have left me to wonder if the teacher really knew what they wanted to accomplish or if they were just trying to keep the students busy. But then why teach if that is how you are going to teach.

Knowing the essential questions is well....essential. Not only does it let me the teacher focus on my intended goals and learning outcomes but it keeps me on track. For me history is already an exciting part of the curriculum that I look forward to teaching but I will admit that when it comes to planning out my lessons it can also be very daunting because I have alot of content knowledge and it is hard to focus in on one or two specific important areas, especially considering that I feel all aspects and a majority of historical events important. Anyone who knows me knows that if they ask a question about history...colonial American history in general be prepared to stay and listen awhile because I have alot of information I will share and usually I will go off on a tangent focusing on one faucet or another regardless of time. So for me it is...haha....essential to have essential questions not only when I plan my lesson but also to refer back to because I may become distracted and go off task whether I mean to or not while teaching.

Backward Planning-Madness or Sheer Genius?

Backward planning... whoa just typing it gives me the chills. Okay backward planning to me initially appears to be a daunting task but upon carefully examination and reflection I realized that this is very familiar to how I planned my lessons for my high-school AND preschool classes. (Hey look at that it is applicable across school grades not just elementary school.) Usually I try to start off with a theme or unit and then try to work out what goals/objectives I am trying to teach and then I begin to write the individual lessons. What I have not had the opportunity to incorporate before was the integration across the curriculum. Wait let me clarify that in preschool we did integrate as much as possible across the curriculum but I did not have EOGs looming overhead either so it did allow me flexibility in regards to time.

In essence I like backward planning strategy but I do think that it is going to take time trying to integrate goals and objectives from different parts of the curriculum into each lesson only because I do not have those goals memorized so it takes extra research and synthesis for me. I also think that the lack of background knowledge (or as what I see as being lack of background knowledge or content area) may hinder the process because usually if I was uncomfortable with the curriculum area I would check my resources first and then see how my goals and objectives would fit which is not the best method.

Yet with practice and experience I think that backward planning will be a strategy that I will incorporate when it comes to planning my lessons and that although it may create some madness for me right now in the end it is sheer genius.

My 1st Visit to the NC Museum of Art

I am embarrassed to admit that even though I have lived in NC for going on 5 years this was my fisrt visit to the NC Museum of Art. Do not get me wrong I love art it is just that I could never seem to find the time to go.

Growing up I was fortunate to go to a school that had an extensive art program; where in elementary school I would have art class 2 or 3 times a week and there were always extracurricular FREE art programs being offered. Now granted I never had a fieldtrip to an art museum when I was in elementary school but I was exposed to various types of arts through fieldtrips to local galleries, museums, and local artist guest speakers. My family also took initiative and although it was not always pleasant they would take me and my sisters to the various museums, galleries, and collections that NYC is home to. But in that aspect I was lucky....my school was and still is well funded, my parents could afford to take me to the City and I lived relatively close....2 hours but still closer than some.

Not every child is so lucky. Not every school is close enough to a well-established and maintained collection. Going on a fieldtrip to an art museum or gallery might be the only time a student will ever do that...they may not like but they were exposed to it and were given an opportunity that not every student gets. This museum visit was excellent because not only did it make me aware of this resource and its importance but it forced me to actually go and see what was there and how although it may not be the history museum it is still a valuable resource that I am fortunate to have.

My day at the NC Museum of History

It is no secret that I LOVE history. Granted I would prefer to learn about early American colonial history or early 20th century history but really any history fascinates me. Therefore it goes without saying that I love history museums and in my opinion the NC Museum of History is one of the best state run museums I have every seen. In New York most collections are housed at historical sites and a bulk of the state funded archives and collection storages are closed due to lack of funds and curators selling items illegallly underground.
In a majority of states there is no state museum open to the public. In most states artifacts deemed of historical significance are housed together in a state-ran building or archives and loaned out to private museums or collections for public viewing. Funding has been scarce in the historical community prior to the economic crunch we have recently seen so in most instances collections are either closed or privately funded until the funding runs out....this reason alone is why I find the NC Museum of History so impressive. And of course the resources they have made available to educators far exceeding my expectations, especially because a majority are available online FOR FREE.