New Trends in Education

Of the trends discussed in this week's class, which seem to you the most positive? Which the most negative? Why?

What Your Education Teachers Didn't Tell You

This week's class is called, "What Your Education Teachers Didn't Tell You." Did the content justify the title? Did you find today's session helpful as you prepare for your own teaching career?

Days to Remember

From what you learned in class today and from your own experience, comment on the value of having students create History Day projects and/or having special activities for Constitution Day. Do the benefits seem to you to justify the extra time necessary to help students prepare such projects?

Leading Good Discussions

Unless the schedule has been changed, today's class should be about leading good discussions. Please comment here on what you did in class, and note what you think is the most important thing you learned from the class.

Before the semester ends, make sure you have added to your electronic portfolio a lessonplan for a good discussion.

Unknown Topic II

Once again, I am a bit uncertain as to your schedule at Central. Please comment here on what you did in class, and note what you think is the most important thing you learned from the class.

A couple of you are a bit behind on blog posts. Please catch up!

Games and Activities

I believe today's class will be devoted to a presentation of your history/social studies games. If so, post your game here. I'll move it over later to the "Gluing Students to Their Seats" blog.

Unknown Topic

My original schedule had you beginning your "games and activities" projects to share with the class. Since the Central students weren't around Tuesday, my guess is Mrs. Gehrts reivsed the schedule and had you doing something else.

Please comment here on what you did in class Tuesday, October 14, and note what you think is the most important thing you learned from the class.

As if by magic....

One of the most important keys to good teaching is the ability to create a classroom environment conducive to learning. I think today's class session was one creating an effective learning environment. If so, consider the learning-environment factors discussed in class today and in the assigned chapter of TSSFFAP and note here which of the positive-environment-building factors you think you are/will be particularly good at? Which do you think will be more of a struggle for you? If that's *not* what today's session was about, tell me what you did learn in the class session.

Once around the race course

Few things are more important to classroom success than good planning. What did you learn from today's class session and/or the reading assignment that you think is particularly important to remember when attempting to plan effective classes/courses?

By the way, comments on the last post were particularly good. I think Jason's last point is a good one: a teacher must have solid subject area knowledge, but they need the relationship stuff too. My guess is that some of you have seen the pendulum swing too much to the "affective" stuff in some of your classes and sense a need for a more content-based approach. It would be a good idea to talk to the Central teachers to see what they think about this issue.

Eric's point on the bad kids from stable families and great kids from not-so-stable families is a good one. There's some interesting research on this. One study tried to measure the effects on divorce on students. It concluded that what really matters is the community as a whole, not an individual family break up. In neighborhoods where families were generally stable, a divorce didn't have a measurable effect on the kids directly involved. In neighborhoods where divorce rates were high, kids exhibited all sorts of negative behaviors whether their own parents' marriage was stable or not.

Molder of Dreams

How did you like the Guy Doud video? What did you think particularly useful in his advice/comments on teaching? What about his teaching makes him an appropriate "teacher of the year?"

Classrooms Full of Stars

Based on today's class session and the clips from Chris Pirlet's class at Aberdeen Central, does it seem to you that theater games would work well as a social science teaching technique? What do you see as positives and negatives about theater games? Do you think you will use theater games yourself when you teach? Why, or why not?

Welcome!

Welcome to the official 2008 class blog of SEED 415, Social Science Special Methods. This blog is the place to record your reflections on the class and to exchange ideas on making social studies classes what they should be--the most interesting, most exciting, most important classes your students will take.