Winding Down the Semester

This is the last week of classes for those of us in Block 2 and it has been a very active semester. We have done several projects that we will be able to incorporate into our classrooms once we become teachers. In our Literacy class we learned different ways to get students to read and write; which in my opinion is a difficult task. Some students find reading and writing as a tedious chore. We also learned different ways of telling classic stories such as; Goldilocks and Red Riding Hood. One of my favorite things we did was creating our own book. There were so many amazing books created by my classmates. Looking back on it now everything we did in our Literacy class can be integrated with our Social Studies class.

In our Social Studies class we learned about diversity, geography, location, and so on. However, we did not learn about these things in the conventional way aka textbooks. Our professor had us doing hands on activities such as, a trade fair; a decades project; acting out scenes from the book The Help; and, other activities. Social Studies is one of those subjects that can be boring to a lot; however, I think if we incorporate what we have learned this semester we will have a better chance of reaching all students and not a select few. We also had the opportunity to create a unit which will be very helpful in the future. We now have the experience and the knowledge of knowing what it takes to create a good, fun, and engaging unit for our future students. I personally had never seen a unit taught in an elementary school until this semester at my field placement school, they can be time consuming; however, if done right they are very beneficial.

The main thing I took away from this semester is literacy and social studies really can be taught together in so many different ways; it is our job as teachers to see that we do. We all know that social studies is not one of the concentrated subjects so now we have the tools to help it become one.

The things we will take away from this semester will truly help each and everyone of us become a better teacher. To everyone in Block 2 good luck in Block 3. Have a great break and a safe and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Thanksgiving in America vs American Thanksgiving

Growing up in America is a unique journey for everyone. Throughout my whole life all I knew was being American, but as I get older I realize my "American" is much different from other people's perspectives. My unique perspective is partially due to having a family who spent a good portion of their lives in England. My mother spend the first thirteen years of her life as the youngest of five children in a prominent British family. Long story short her family ended up migrating to the United States.

Years later I came into the picture. While growing up I was oblivious to the differences of how my family celebrated certain holidays. Many of my Thanksgivings were spent at Black Eye Peas, a restaurant open on Thanksgiving. Our "family tradition" was to get together and go out to eat every year on Thanksgiving. Now that I am older I realize much of this "tradition" comes from the fact that my family does not have a strong relationship or history of celebrating Thanksgiving.

This year was my first experience hosting a traditional Thanksgiving. My husband's birthday is November 22 which means Thanksgiving is one of his favorite holidays. His upbringing was very different from mine, and his Thanksgiving meals consisted of so much food I swear there were some side dishes I have never even heard of. For 2011 I decided to take on my first real attempt at a from scratch American Thanksgiving.

My reaction: OH MY GOODNESS!!

Menu: From scratch homestyle mashed potatoes, from scratch egg noodles, from scratch pumpkin roll, mostly from scratch pumpkin pie (the pastry was frozen :) ) Turkey, stuffing (from a box because it is my favorite!)  Cranberry sauce out of a can, and gravy from a packet because the turkey juices were used with the egg noodles. 

Never before have I put so much work into so little pay out. I literally spent astronomically more time preparing and cleans than relishing the fruits of my labor. My experience with Thanksgiving produced more dirty dishes than any other meal I have ever prepared!
I have a new found appreciation for the invites I have received to go to friend's family's Thanksgiving celebrations.

Why was the 20's the decade to live in?

On November 17, 2011, in our Social Studies class we did a Decades Project. There were several groups who did research and portrayed the decade in which they felt was the best decade to live in. The decades covered were 1920's, 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's, and 80's. Every group did a really good job and we enjoyed looking at each decade, how people dressed, and things from that time. This was a project that was fun to do and has many educational benefits. The research that is done gives a glimpse into what was like during different decades. Students are able to see how things are similar and/or different, inventions, disasters, etc. Another interesting things students will be able to find is the lingo that was used in different decades compared to now. The decade that Courtney and I chose was the 1920's.

If you wanted to live in a decade without war then the 20's is that decade. In the 1920's a lot of new and interesting things happened. The following are just a few:

• Women were allowed to vote via the 19th Amendment.
• Women were allowed to wear clothing above their knees for the first time.
• Kool-Ade was invented.
• Band-Aids, Traffic Lights, The Polygraph, PEZ Candy, Q-Tips, and much more.
• The Very FIRST Miss America Pageant was held. (By the way it was completely different from today's standards.)
• Prohibition happened which played a factor in organized crime.
• Al Capone
• Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, Lou Gehrig, Shoeless Joe Jackson
• The First EVER Talking Movie -- The Jazz Singer
• Teachers made roughly $900 +/- a year
• Clark Gable, Clara Bow, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, and many more
• First Trans-Atlantic Flight

There were so many neat and interesting things that happened in the 20's before the Stock Market crashed and the Great Depression. As with any decade there were also incidents that happened that were not so great. The Women's Suffrage Movement paved the way for the following decades for women's rights and possibly the rights of others (this is my opinion).

Here is the research we did and just some of the reasons why we felt the 20's was the best decade to live in. Enjoy the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNjLzEiz2b4&feature=youtu.be

Out of Resources

We all have those days when we would like to plan a hands on field trip, but become overwhelmed with the strict regulations on school travels. Fortunately we are teaching in a virtual age. There are so many resources online for teachers to take advantage of. Instead of whining about the places we cannot go, I suggest we redirect that energy into finding ways to bring the field trip into the classroom, virtually.
Most libraries and museums now feature online exhibitions. Just a few of those are the New York Public Library and the Smithsonian. The links should take you straight to the online exhibition resource homepage.

Paper Clips

There is a movie -- documentary that was made back in 2004, that depicts human kindness and love for one another. This documentary is like nothing I have ever seen before and, I am not sure if I will ever see something like it again. I watched this documentary in Social Studies for Elementary Teachers, a class I am taking at a local university. I was not prepared for what I was about to see. I do not want to give away too many details of the documentary in case someone wants to watch it.

There is a little town called Whitwell, TN; if you want to look it up on your atlas it is NW of Chattanooga. A principal there wanted to teach her students about diversity, tolerance, and love for all mankind. She also wanted to teach her students about how the world is affected by intolerance, hatred, and evil. What better way to do this than teach the students about the Holocaust?

The Principal, Ms. Linda Hooper worked with the Assistant Principal, Mr. David Smith and English Teacher Ms. Sandra Roberts. They came up with the idea to teach a group of 8th graders about the Holocaust; what it meant and how it affected people everywhere. The students worked hard on this project; they were curious about what 6 million looked like so, they began collecting paper clips. They received paper clips from many different people; some of which had direct ties to the Holocaust, as well as, many different countries. A fact that I did not know before watching this movie was, the paper clip was invented in Norway and was worn as a symbol of disapproving of what Hitler and the Nazi's were doing.

I do not want to give away anymore details about this wonderful documentary, instead I would much rather for all of those who read this post watch the documentary. When you do please think about the message that is implied in it.

I am trying to be careful here because I do not want to take words out of someones mouth nor do I want to twist words. The information I am giving is in the documentary.

If you are curious about where you can get this documentary, it is available on Netflix. I am not sure where else you can find it. I do encourage watching this documentary.