As we go on, we remember...

Finally, the culmination of my time in Social Studies methods. The class has been a whirlwind and I feel like I am still spinning, even with 90% of my work turned in. At our last meeting in class, we had our celebration of learning. The title for this night seems so appropriate. It was nice to spend time with my classmates and professor, and have time to reflect, laugh, and talk about something other than assignments. Colleen's amazing cupcakes are pictured left!

As a learner, I was never excited about social studies. I did okay in my classes, but the information wasn't exciting or relatable. I think one of the most important things I learned in this class, is that that doesn't have to be the case. Social Studies can be exciting! One of the activities we did that opened my eyes was the artifact bag. Not only did I enjoy putting it together, I really liked seeing what other people did for their's. Colleen's bag was creative and fun for me to open up and discover. I can see how this would translate to an elementary school classroom, and how much students would enjoy this kind of lesson.

I also realized while working on our unit plan, that creativity can be used in new and exciting ways. The technology available to us now leaves no excuse for students to be able to take what they learning and make something with it. For our cooperative learning lesson, students used research that they did in the previous lesson to create a Glog. I will sing the praises of Glog and how easy and fun it is to use for years to come. I look forward to using software like this in my classroom to give students a chance to learn while expressing themselves!

This course also offered a very important chance to collaborate on projects. This is something a lot of future educators don't realize will be so important. Working in a classroom now with one teacher and another paraprofessional, I can see how important it is to be able to work together. With so many different personalities filling a school, being able to work together and put differences aside to do what is best for the children is key.

On a personal level, this class really made me hunker down and become more organized. Taking this class, along with two others, meant I needed to plan and manage my time to make sure projects were getting completed in order. The constant need to blog made sure I was giving this class attention every week, even if I didn't have an assignment due. I will fully admit, I am still a terrible procrastinator, and probably will be for the rest of my life, but at least my planner is in better shape than it used to be.

Taking a class with Dr. Smirnova is always a wild ride. But the most important thing to remember is that the way the class is run is truly preparing you for the future. The demands of being a teacher go far beyond what people conceive it be. Learning to balance your time, make lessons exciting, and constantly grow and adapt are important skills every teacher needs. So thank you for putting em through the ringer!

Interviewee Trauma

Today we did mock interviews in class for two pretend schools. Colleen (or Dr. Corrigan) was the principal for Imagination School, a cooperative learning and constructivist based elementary school. Mike (or Dr. Harvard, as we so affectionately named him) was the principal for Maple City School, a direct instruction based school looking for a third grade teacher.

I interviewed on a panel with Becky (Miss Foreman), we started with Colleen. I was much more comfortable answering her questions, as I feel I am more comfortable with cooperative or inquiry instruction methods. I believe in the idea that students should build their own learning, and work together to accomplish this when possible. Colleen's questions were about how we would organize and run the classroom to make it student centered. These ideas were already ones I had in my head for my future classroom, so it was easy to draw answers.

Mike's questions were difficult for me, as I am less confident in the direct instruction method. I know that I will need to embrace it at times in my classroom to impart information about a new topic, but I don't want it to be an overused method. I know my answers were weaker to his questions, specifically about how I would design classroom to suit a direct instruction classroom. It was hard to tailor answers to his needs in a teacher candidate.

By the time I got to Mike, I was however, more confident in questions I had devised for him as an administrator. Being interested in special education, I am always ready to ask questions about the special ed population of a school or how they integrated and mainstreamed with regular ed students. I feel like a school like Mike's would not be a good for me, as direct instruction is not a great fit for special education.

Ironically, Mike hired me for his school! His biggest compliment was that my answers were knowledgeable. He also said that my confidence in my answers made it seem like I was prepared about the subject matter.

One thing I need to work on before I begin full interviews is how much I "talk with my hands." I think I gesture a lot and need o become more comfortable leaving my hands in my lap when speaking and letting my words speak for themselves. I also need to embrace the silence more while I am searching for the right word or formulating an answer, instead of using "um's."

I think this is a great experience as most teacher candidates are walking blindly into an interview with no real idea of what to expect. As we learned today, it is important to know the school you are applying for and to be ready with answers that will specifically suit their needs.