The Highs and Lowes of Teaching

 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...

 From Student to Teacher: The Japan Simulation      Throughout my life, I've always enjoyed learning about history and geography. It's safe to safe I had a natural proclivity for the subject of Social Studies as a result. One of the most memorable units I did as a student was the 7th grade Japan unit. I remember being so excited to learn that we'd be doing the unit by simulation . I gasped, simulation? I thought. What does that mean?         I was delighted to learn that we'd be simulating "warlords' in Japan and learn about Japanese history and culture while competing on a map. Wow, just like Risk I thought! It was such an amazing and cool concept to do an interactive activity while learning the unit. I remember being amazed and engaged, and delighted to learn I'd be working with a team to be the best group there was. My 7th grade teacher, Mr. Lazzaro, did everything he could to make the unit as memorable as possible.  We'd have ba...