BFSSKiley

toc Textbook Survey—Social Studies = = = =
 * As you peruse your content area textbook, please complete the following activities and/or questions. You may place your response on this page. **


 * 1. Write a bibliographical entry for the book using APA format. **

Zevin, J. (2007). Social studies for the twenty-first century: methods and materials for teaching in middle and secondary schools (3rd ed.). Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.


 * 2. What is the author’s background in education? **

- High school teacher in Chicago - Middle school teacher in Michigan


 * 3. Skim through the Preface and the Personal Prologue. What are 2 things that you learned about the book or author? **

- Author believes that the only topics in social studies worth teaching are those that contain or suggest questions with more than one answer - Author believes that the heart of all teaching lies in stimulating the production of ideas, looking at knowledge from others’ viewpoints, developing a sense of empathy, and formulating for oneself a set of goals, values, and beliefs that can be explained and justified in open discussion.


 * 4. Looking at the Table of Content, what are the 6 main parts of the book? **

1.Philosophy and History of Social Studies 2. Teachers and Students: a Context for Social Studies Instruction 3. Strategies for Social Studies Instruction 4.Teaching the Social Studies Curriculum 5. Textbooks and Media in the Social Studies 6. Beyond the Classroom: Professional Issues and Trends


 * 5. Which chapter should you definitely read before you begin the unit project? **

Chapter 7: Planning a Unit from Start to Finish


 * 6. Which chapter will be particularly helpful with planning assessments? **

Chapter 8: Evaluating in Social Studies


 * 7. To aid your quick review of the textbook, how does each chapter begin and end? **

The chapters begin with an overview and end with a summary


 * 8. Of all the chapters in the book, which one interests you the most? Why? **

Chapter 12: Old Concerns, New Directions


 * 9. Of all the chapters in the book, which one will you probably not read during this course? Why? **

Chapter 15: The “New Age” of Multimedia- Part II: Interpreting Moving Images and Sounds because it seems unnecessary and like a topic I already have background in.


 * 10. What is one section in particular that you would like to discuss further with your content advisor? **

Chapter 17: The Future of Social Studies Education

=**Three Trends**= Secondary social studies education is currently facing a wide array of trends that have the potential to greatly affect teachers and students alike. However, some of these trends are more prominent than others and may radically transform the way social studies is taught in this country. While some of these trends seek to simultaneously improve the way that social studies is both taught and learned, others threaten to drastically decrease the quality of education that is offered to secondary students within the social studies field. The purpose of this essay is to examine both ends of this spectrum by dissecting three of these trends and their corresponding impact on social studies education. The first trend to be explored is the increased integration of technology, specifically the internet, in the social studies classroom, and the positive effects it is having on student learning. The next trend to be analyzed will be the effect increase incorporation of the arts into the social studies curricula is having on student learning throughout the country. Finally, an examination of the specific effects that the current No Child Left Behind legislation is having on secondary social studies education will be conducted in order to highlight a negative trend impacting the social studies content area.

=**Reading and Reflection**=


 * //Writing in the Social Studies Classroom//**

After reading Kathy Griffin's article on writing's place in the social studies classroom, it is clear that her experiences of incorporating more writing into her instruction has led her to the conclusion that it definitely benefits students in their learning. In her estimation, writing does a better job of developing higher-level thinking skills than does textbook work and testing. This is because writing largely shift the responsibility for students' learning from the teacher to themselves and because they are forced to be more actively engaged with the material. This development of higher-level thinking skills is further aided when students are given a choice when it comes to the topic they are writing about. Despite her strong advocacy incorporating more writing in the social studies classroom, Griffin highlights a few points to consider before doing so. First, it is important to ensure that students are familiar with the research and writing process before assigning a major writing assignment. Without the knowledge of how to conduct proper research and the steps of writing an essay, it will be incredibly difficult for the students to produce a quality product. Additionally, Griffin notes that it is much more difficult to assess the students' writing than it is to grade a test. Therefore, teachers who are planning on incorporating more writing into their instruction must be aware of the extra work that goes into it.
 * What are the author’s main arguments or points?**

Griffin definitely supports her points convincingly because she uses anecdotal evidence and writing samples from students in her own classroom. She notes that through the writing process, her students were forced to synthesize and filter out appropriate information, thus learning the material better than had they just read it in a book. The student's themselves testified to this when they took a survey at the end of the unit. Not only did the students say they realized that writing was an important skill that would serve them later in life, but they also said they felt as though they had truly learned the material. This is because they found it more interesting and easier to learn the material through writing than through the textbook and traditional tests.
 * Does he/she support those arguments or points convincingly? Explain.**

Reading this article has given me an array of ideas for my classroom. First, Griffin talks about instituting a history workshop in her classroom that incorporates the methods of true historians that are typically lacking in a middle school or high school history class. Examples of these methods include relying more heavily upon primary resources, looking at history from multiple perspectives, examining how history is shaped by its authors, and more. Also, I definitely plan on utilizing more written and creativity-based assessments than standard format tests and exams, provided my administration allows me to do so. In order to allow students to take more responsibility for their own learning, I plan on relying heavily on group and class discussions because they students to work through material with one another, thus helping them gain a better understanding of it. Finally, when using writing as an assessment tool, I utilize peer editing and review as it ultimately makes students better writers.
 * How does the information in this reading support what you will do or do in your classroom? Site some specific examples.**

=Essay Outline=
 * 1) **Intro/Thesis:**
 * 2) Secondary social studies education is currently facing a wide array of trends that have the potential to greatly affect teachers and students alike. However, some of these trends are more prominent than others and may radically transform the way social studies is taught in this country. While some of these trends seek to simultaneously improve the way that social studies is both taught and learned, others threaten to drastically decrease the quality of education that is offered to secondary students within the social studies field. The purpose of this essay is to examine both ends of this spectrum by dissecting three of these trends and their corresponding impact on social studies education. The first trend to be explored is the increased integration of technology, specifically the internet, in the social studies classroom, and the positive effects it is having on student learning. The next trend to be analyzed will be the effect increase incorporation of the arts into the social studies curricula is having on student learning throughout the country. Finally, an examination of the specific effects that the current No Child Left Behind legislation is having on secondary social studies education will be conducted in order to highlight a negative trend impacting the social studies content area.
 * 3) **Technology in the Social Studies Classroom**
 * 4) 21st Century Skills
 * 5) Various Uses of the Internet
 * 6) teacher resources
 * 7) student research
 * 8) online collaboration
 * 9) **Arts in the Social Studies Classroom**
 * 10) Art
 * 11) Music
 * 12) Drama
 * 13) Poetry
 * 14) **Effect of No Child Left Behind on Social Studies**
 * 15) High Stakes Testing
 * 16) Lack of accountability/emphasis in Social Studies
 * 17) Surface Learning
 * 18) **Conclusion**

=Content Adviser Meeting 2=

The biggest insight I gained from tonight's meeting was that it is important for teachers to focus on the few "big picture" items that they want their students to walk away from after a unit or semester. Ensuring that students were left with one, two, three, or four big ticket lessons is much more manageable and important than ensuring that they memorized 20+ individual, minor facts.

The second insight I took away from tonight was that it is important to maintain a balance between forms of summative assessment. Though an idealistic teacher may envision themselves assigning only performance assessments such as essays and projects, it is unrealistic to think that a single individual will be able to provide each student with quality feedback in this scenario. On the other hand, students learning may not be adequately measured if the only form of assessment that is given is true/false, multiple choice tests. Furthermore, students require and thrive off of variety, so this is another important factor to keep in mind when planning summative assessments from unit to unit.

Kiley, I agree that your first insight is important but unfortunately many teachers do forget to look at the big picture. Making sure that students learn big concepts is more valuable than reguritating facts for an exam. --Ann

=Session 8- Late Work=

Despite what was written on the opening sheet of tonight's class, my policy on late work will primarily be a case by case basis. My decision to accept or not accept late work or what penalty I will assess to the late work will depend on the circumstances surrounding why the work was submitted late. For larger projects where students are given a long period of time to complete the assignment and they were required to show incremental progress on the assignment, I will be much less likely to accept late submissions of the final product. For those that I do accept, there must be extraordinary circumstances that caused the student's inability to turn the work in on time and/or harsher penalties will be assessed to their work. For small, more informal assignments, this policy will be more lenient, unless it becomes a recurring problem with a particular student.

=3 Insights From Final Content Adviser Meeting=

Our final meeting with our content adviser turned out to be quite insightful. The first insight I attained is that it is extremely important to examine various points of view when differentiating content, especially in social studies. Not only are the social studies naturally made up from various points of view, but doing this provides students with additional information that they can synthesize, and thus, gain a better understanding of the material. My second insight is that much of the initial differentiation that we do in our classrooms will be reactionary. This is because in order to differentiate effectively for our students, we must first get to know them. Finally, it was reaffirmed for me that it is so important to focus on key concepts and generalizations that are unique to each topic being covered. Covering these "big picture" ideas is not only a vital aspect to best practice, but it is also a natural way of differentiating the content we teach.

=Assessment Plan Post=

Instructor Recommendations for Reading:


 * **For Research Essay—Read Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 12, 13, and 17. Highlight as you read a chapter. Then stop and list your “Top 5 Ideas/Tips” from the chapter. Read only one chapter at a sitting. Chapters 9, 10, 11 are also important, but the main ideas and summaries may be enough at this time.**
 * **For Unit Plan and Summative Plan—Read and highlight Chapters 5, 6, 7, 8.**
 * **For Job Preparation—Chapter 16 and 17**