Social Studies is an extremely important subject. However, in many elementary classrooms, social studies is being pushed to the side if taught at all. I think this is a terrible injustice to our students. Students should start learning social studies at a young age in order to help them remember and understand more complex ideas as they get older. Social studies teaches students how to understand and make informed decisions about their world. It is important for students to learn history because it is important for students to understand where they came from, why things are the way they are, and where the future is heading. Additionally, history shows students that every choice/decision someone makes impacts the future in some way or form, and it is important for all people to learn from past events in order to prevent the negative aspects of history from repeating. Social studies also helps students to appreciate their country, and the struggles our predecessors endured in order for us to enjoy the rights and freedoms that we often take for granted today. Without understanding our own history as well as the history of other countries, we will not be able to understand and coexist with other countries.
When teaching, it is important to have a democratic, student-centered classroom. I feel that a democratic classroom is essential in order to have good classroom management. In order to create a democratic environment, the students must be a part of establishing the classroom expectations, but the students must realize that the teacher has the final say and is ultimately the one in charge. Additionally, I feel that it is important for the teacher to explain to the students the rationale behind rules.
Furthermore, I feel that it is important for teachers to have a student-centered environment. In order for a classroom to be student-centered, the teacher must realize that every child learns differently; therefore, the teacher must mold her lessons in such a way that every child can understand. Hands-on activities are a great way for a teacher to create a student-centered classroom and to create an active learning environment. I plan to use many hands-on activities such as putting on plays, conducting a living history museum, making a box city, and so on in order to create active learning within the classroom. I feel that students learn best when they are able to physically do something as opposed to rote memorization, which, I feel, causes the students to hate learning. Also, as a teacher I plan to have a cultural responsive classroom. I plan to teach my students about different people and different cultures. Additionally, I want to break many of the stereotypes that my students may possess. I want to educate my students and teach them to be tolerant of others and to be respectful of others. I hope to help them learn that people are basically all alike and that much can be learned from those whom we may find to be different.
Recently, social studies has been pushed to the side in many elementary classrooms. Administrators as well as many teachers are focusing on reading and mathematics only. However, I feel that social studies is a crucial subject for students to learn. Therefore, I will raise my critical voice to administrators and teach social studies to my students. Additionally, I will teach across the curriculum and incorporate social studies into reading and math, which is extremely easy to do, especially through the aid of trade books.
Furthermore, many of the commonly taught facts of history have been “sugar coated,” such as Christopher Columbus being a respectable man, the pilgrims being “one big, happy family” with the Native Americans, the Japanese internment camps during World War II, and so on. As a teacher, I want my students to discover that everything in history has two sides and two different perspectives and that they must discover both sides of a situation in order to try to piece together the truth. One excellent way to do this is to use primary sources. Additionally, I plan to incorporate all of the social studies disciplines into my future classroom. I think it is extremely important for students to learn about the history of their country and the history of other countries as well. I also think students need to have a firm grasp of where countries, regions, landforms, major rivers, and so on are located. Unfortunately, many students have no idea or concept about geography. Every discipline of social studies is important for students to learn in order for them to be informed citizens in a global world, and I intend to teach every aspect of social studies to my students. I do not believe that “ignorance is bliss.” As a matter of fact, my philosophy is that knowledge is power, and I want to empower my students.
The social studies class CUAI 4220 has been a wonderful course, and I feel that I have increased not only my knowledge of social studies but also how to teach social studies effectively. From this course, I have learned how to make social studies instruction engaging and informative for my students. Before this course, I thought of social studies as simply read from the textbook and answer questions. Now, I have wonderful activities and resources to help my students learn and enjoy social studies. I have always enjoyed social studies and learning about the past. My family always took vacations around the country and visited historical sites. We always discussed politics and watched the nightly news. I was taught to not know what was going on in the world was just simply ignorant. I hope to bring my passion for social studies and history to my students.
