Putting it All Together

 

At the beginning of the Social Studies methods course, I had little knowledge about the three instructional teaching approaches, assessment in teaching, the importance of cooperative learning, and integrating technology into the classroom for young students. Now, I have learned about all of those aspects of teaching and I have succeeded in learning various technological tools to use in the classroom. I want to learn more about technology tools such as Smart Board Notebook and interactive activities. I learned how to blog, insert videos, photos, and images and I now recognize the tremendous resources there are for integrating technology into the school curriculum. Through the BizWorld project, I learned about economics with second graders as I planned and implemented lessons, activities, and celebrations of learning. I believe the collaboration with my peers and the cooperative learning with the students was the best learning experience I had received from the course. Taken what I have learned and experienced form the course, I will create a social studies classroom that promotes an engaging learning environment. Students will learn social studies through meaningful experiences by connecting with their world and expanding it. I plan to create my social studies community of  exceptional learners through challenging, value-based, and purposeful learning activities and lessons with a hands-on approach. The more students do, the more they will know. 

Teacher Job Interview

Our class conducted a teacher job interview this week. My classmate, Michelle and I were the interviewers. We posed as a principal and an administrator for the interview and the rest of the class posed as teacher candidates. I interviewed two groups and asked them questions regarding direct instruction methods and assessment. The questions served as part of an overall review for the course and helped us think about questions that may be asked of us in an authentic job interview. I also read classroom scenarios to my groups regarding classroom management and instructional approaches. I thought the scenarios were the best part of the interview because we thought hard to figure out what we would do in each given situation. I like the collaboration of this activity because of its authenticity; in real life we may be faced with a classroom situation that we will have to collaborate with others to rectify. I thought the mock interview was a good activity for all to see the different ways of viewing and thinking about the instructional approaches and assessment in teaching. After the interview, we advised the interviewees about a real interview according to what Michelle and I learned at the principal panel meeting for KDP; dress professionally, speak confidently and enthusiastically, make eye contact, shake hands with all panel members, and be yourself are the most important things you should do in an interview. Through this role-play activity, we taught each other by contributing to conversation regarding the questions and received an experience which mimics what our teacher interview will be like; personally, I believe it was a great way to conclude the course and bring all we have learned together.