The Highs and Lowes of Teaching

  Content Curation: What Resources Can We Use?     Finding sources we use in a social studies classroom  can be difficult. With the proliferation of the internet bringing access to an abundance of new resources, discerning which resources at the best fit for the classroom has never been more difficult. Gone are the days of just the single textbook. With this newfound freedom comes plentiful opportunities for new resources for students. Here are 5 that I like to use. PBS ( https://opb.pbslearningmedia.org/subjects/social-studies/?rank_by=recency ). PBS is a fantastic resources to use in a social studies classroom. Not only is it reliable, but there are many different things you can do with this resources to adapt to your classroom.  For example, in social studies, you have access to everything you would need no matter what subject area you teach! As social studies varies so much in content from grade level to grade level, PBS is a great resources ...

  Student Engagement and Keeping Attention     Ask any teacher, student engagement at the middle school level is what we live and die on. Creating student engagement is challenging with middle school students. At 13, hormones abound and puberty taking over, many kids are off the wall or at their most defiant point in their lives. Creating engagement is critical to any successful learning in the middle school environment.     One way engagement can be created is a welcoming attitude! Community is everything in classroom development, and creating a warm and welcoming atmosphere is key to making students feel welcome and that they can engage to begin with. With this first step, students can take the first steps to feeling comfortable and ready to be engaged.     Another way to keep students engaged is through lesson plans. Lesson plans come in all shapes, forms, and variety. There are going to be days where you *have* to get through some more "boring" con...

         Many ideas come to mind when one thinks of Korea. From the musical escapades of K Pop, to the high stakes of a K Drama, to Korean BBQ or fried chicken, to Samsung and Hyundai. Korean pop culture has impacted American in many distinct ways from entertainment, to beauty, to cars. However, many people don't know the history behind the peninsula.      A depiction of "hallyu" the Korean Wave     My own history with Korea starts recently. In July of 2022 I applied to be an English teacher in South Korea at a "Hagwon", a Korean after school academy common for foreigners to teach at. I didn't know much about Korea at all, but by the time I moved to Korea in September of 2022 I remember wishing I knew a little more beyond the surface. After spending time living in Korea until February of 2023, I visited museums and other culture history sites that lead me to wonder more about Korean history. Despite majoring in history myself, I discove...

 Project Based Learning in the Classroom      Think about your time in Social Studies class. Many people have different experiences. Some would say "I only read a textbook and took notes". Others would say "I did a lot of fun things in social studies from simulations to debates". Many Social Studies teachers battle the stereotype of the sit and read the textbook teacher. For decades, this stereotype has been long ingrained in public perception of what a social studies teacher does, especially at the high school level. Different kinds of learning can make for a more dynamic classroom experience not just for the students, but also for you as an educator. Take project based learning as an example.    Project based learning is defined as a "student centered pedagogy that involves a dynamic classroom approach through active exploration of a topic". This idea centers around the idea that student exploration and investigation with inquiring skills is a different ...

  Citizen Journalism in the Classroom      Citizen journalism defined by Oxford as "the collection, dissemination, and analysis of news and information by the general public, especially by means of the internet." plays an increasing role in the classroom in 2023. The conversation around citizen journalism is ever evolving. With the rise of the internet and false information spreading like a California wildfire, it's more important than ever before that the students of today have the skills for the needs of tomorrow.          Some of the pros of teaching citizen journalism include building those critical thinking skills for students. While fake news and misinformation spreads across the internet, it's important that students learn and practice their own fact finding and information. This way, they can look through the "mind" of a journalist and see how do people come up with stories? Furthermore, this can help build up critical thinking s...

  Seeing Success and Student Work     Success comes in many different ways. Some students crave it, others long for it, and a few have no clue what success looks like to begin with. A common complaint many students have is not seeing the fruits of their labor. I'm sure every teacher is familiar with the outcries of "is this graded?" or "when are you handing it back?" or "how do I do better?". Many students, after working tirelessly, feel they don't see the success and learning they've put in, which can lead to a decrease in motivation or a "why do I care if you don't seem to care?". As a Social Studies teacher, there's nothing more imperative then building up student success and showing why their work does matter through a variety of different strategies including timely feedback, work shown on the wall and hall, and multiple opportunities with different skillsets.     One of the most critical things I've observed in seein...