That's All Folks.

As the semester has come to close, so does my blogging for my Social Studies Methods Class. This semester as been a roller coaster experience learning about so many different things. In the beginning of the semester I was so nervous taking this class because I had heard it was a lot of work and most of the work was challenging. One of my friends who previously took this class told me that you will know by the end of the class if teaching is really for you. Well teaching is for me. I enjoyed learning about different ways to use technology in the classroom as well as different lessons to use in the classroom.  One of my favorite things I learned this semester was using Prezi instead of using PowerPoint I think this is more interactive to use with the students in the classroom. I also learned a lot of different interactive quizzes to use with the students such as Kahoot. I think this is a great quiz to use with students because they can do in within a group or individually. A teacher could use this as a pre-assessment activity or after finishing a topic as a post-assessment activity.

Teaching the second grade at Bishop Dunn this semester taught me a lot about the teacher I would like to become. I learned to always project my voice and use proper academic language within the classroom. For example I learned to say Boys and Girls instead of saying you guys. This is something that many people struggle with and say on a daily basis. It is important to make sure that a teacher addresses the students properly within the classroom. I loved being able to teach an entire class. This experience has made me more excited to have my own classroom. Watching my peers teach the classroom made it easy for me to reflect on what I do in the classroom verses what my peers do while teaching. Getting feedback from my peers and teacher is something that will help me grow to become the best teacher I can be.

There are so many things that teachers can start using in the classroom. In my future Social Studies classroom, I would love to have the students do more things using technology. Students can do more research based projects using computer or IPads if available. Technology is going to be present in all classrooms in the future and I am happy to be a part of the future of education. I would also like to incorporate more Current Events within my future Social Studies classroom. It is important for students to know what is going on in the world and I think it is often forgotten by many teachers. Social studies should not be just what is in the textbook is read out loud. There are so many things that teachers can do to make Social Studies come alive in the classroom and make it more interesting to students. Social Studies was always my favorite subject in school which is why I am a History major at the Mount. I hope to make Social Studies one of my students favorite subject.

Good Luck to all of my peers in the rest of their education classes at the Mount and in their future careers. It has been a pleasure to work with my group and all of my classmates. I will never forget my experiences in this class because this is only the beginning of where my teaching will go. Thank you to Dr. Smirnova for showing us there are so many possibilities in education but its up to us to use them. Happy Holidays!

So many questions, not enough answers!

Yesterday in class, we did mock interviews for a teaching position. At first I did not know how these mock interviews would go. I was not sure what question our "principals" would ask, or how it would be. I was nervous about the types of questions that I would be asked. My biggest fear was that I would now know what the principal would be asking me. I actually think I handled the questions that were asked to me very well. One of the questions that I was asked was about how I would I get students involved in the classroom. My answer to this was that I would have all of my students participate in different warm up activities such as a SMART board activity. Hearing my peers answers to some of the questions was also beneficial because I was able to see their opinions on specific topics and how they would answer a particular question.  I think this experience was very eye opening because many schools do have different approaches to teaching and it is important to be familiar with all of the approaches.  This experience will help me in the next couple of years as I go on job interviews for real teaching positions.