Lies My Teacher Told Me- Ch 13

This chapter talks about why history is taught through tertiary sources. Is using textbooks for teaching the best thing for a class? Having read this, my opinion has changed slightly but not dramatically. I think that textbooks can be effective tools, especially for beginning teachers. In my novice classroom, I was asked to teach a whole unit on Ancient Egypt. Although this was an interesting topic for me to teach, I knew little about this topic. I had to use the textbook to help plan the timeline for my unit. I tried implementing more facts and methods of teaching not found from the textbook but it was always my fall back option in case I needed help. This is why the textbook is effective. It helps teachers who do not know much about a particular topic teach it in a more effective way. As you become more experienced, you should break dependency on the text book gradually.

Big question: How can we keep students motivated as first year teachers who are more dependent on textbooks?

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Link: http://www.iq.poquoson.org/socialstudies.htm

Cantu Ch. 13

The use of primary sources in a social studies classroom can be a very important and effective tool. There are many different places to find primary sources, however, I find that the LOC is on of the best places to find primary sources that are related to US History. Looking through Cantu Ch. 13, I have found at least one item that I would really like to incorporate into my classroom.

When using the LOC, students have the opportunity to find rich resources throughout US History that can be interesting and are easy to incorporate into a lesson. One of the ways I would use a primary source would be to have students do a group project about an event in US or World History. They can find resources from LOC or other websites to help them create a good presentation as a group. When working on their project, something that I found in this chapter that I would love to incorporate is the primary source analysis tool. This tool will help them break down a source and help them understand it. I think practicing this skill will help them learn to analyze documents effectively.

Big question: In what ways does the skill of analyzing primary sources prepare students for real life tasks when they have a career?

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Link: http://www.loc.gov/index.html

Lies My Teacher Told Me- Ch 12

This long chapter talks about the textbooks created by the publishing companies. Lowen thinks that these companies are doing things wrong and creating books that are not adequate for the learning of students. He wants more resources in textbooks. I must say that I am not liking is later chapters as much. I do not think that blaming textbook companies would solve all of the problems. They can be useful in some situations. Although I do think that they should not be heavily used in a classroom, there are benefits to them. In my novice teaching class, my instructor created his curriculum around the textbook. This does not mean that he takes the worksheets from it and that is all he does to teach. He simply uses it as a guide on what to focus his class on. In my world history class, the last chapter was Mesopotamia then it went to Ancient Egypt. That is how we structured the class timeline. We use it more as a timeline, not a major teaching tool. That is how I would use a textbook in my classroom. I think that some teachers do not use them properly and try to do minimal work in the classroom. This is where textbooks hurt the learning of students. I believe that there can be changes made to textbooks that can help students and teachers. Involving more primary documents in a textbook can be useful. Looking through my novice textbook, I do not see many primary document sources to help me teach. I have to find these in different ways. There should be more teaching resources in the textbooks to help.

I seems to me that textbooks are heavily linked with standardized testing that lots of people have issues with.

Question: What other ways can using a textbook in the classroom be effective?

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Link: http://dynamicbooks.com

Cantu- Ch. 12

This chapter is looks at the uses of social studies subjects that include sociology, anthropology, and psychology. These three subjects are known as the behavioral sciences. I have not had very much practice in any of these topics. Like many other high schools, my high school did not require any of these topics as part of the required classes that had to be taken. Most of these topics were simply rolled into larger social studies classes. They did not have a required separate class. Although I think that there is a problem with this, I also see why it is this way. There is limited training for teachers for any of these topics. The biggest subject of these 3 is psychology and that is usually taught as a extra curricular class at the high school level. I think that looking at the way individuals and societies behave is a very fascinating topic and I would like to figure out good ways to integrate it into my classroom teachings.

One of the best ways to integrate these topics is around major events that have happened during the course of world history. My first example is WWII. You can look at how Hitler created such a great sense of nationalism throughout Germany and was able to get away with tyrannic events such as the Holocaust. Although there had always been a sense of Resentment for Jews and other groups throughout time, he was able to do some awful things under the noses of the german people and other nations. You can look throughout a psychological lens at what made Hitler have these beliefs. You can look through a sociological lens at Germany as a whole and how their society was functioning at the time. You can look at changes that occurred comparing and contrasting before and during Hitlers reign. Examples similar to these are ways that I would try to integrate these behavioral sciences into my curriculum.

Question: Why is there not a bigger emphasis on these sciences? Psychology can be very useful for almost all careers where you have to deal with other people.

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Link:http://www.socialpsychology.org

Cantu Ch 11

I have always found geography very to be a very interesting topic. I love learning about different countries as well as different characteristics of these areas. It has always been a sub-topic of social studies that I feel I have excelled more in given the appropriate resources to learn. If I had the opportunity, I would probably prefer a position as a teacher in geography instead of any other social studies topic. Having said that, there are plenty of ways to teach geography through different class subjects.

If I had a normal social studies class with a primary focus on history, I think throwing geography elements into lessons is very important. It can be a good starting point to units. For my unit Ancient Egypt, I had to make sure that students were knowledgeable of where Egypt is present day as well as key features of this area such as the Nile River and location on the Mediterranean Sea. Talking about other areas of the world should always start with a basic geography lesson to establish a base knowledge for students to grow on.

Question: Should geography take priority as a subject over other social studies topics such as history and government?

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Weblink: http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/Geography.htm

Lies My Teacher Told Me Ch 11

This chapter focuses a lot on the ending of textbooks used in the classroom. Having barely read textbooks from a high school class, let alone get to the end of one, I was not sure what to think of what he wrote. He wrote that textbooks end with optimism and saying that there is progress. While I do believe that there is progress in some aspects in history, there is not progress in all aspects. I like the idea where you can lead a discussion about what you think will take place in the future after the end of a textbook. Will things revert back to old ways? Will there be progress? I think if I ever was in this situation, I would take this approach. I do not like using textbooks in the classroom though so this will probably not happen often.

One last thought is that it is important that when discussing this with students, make sure they know how to make a difference after they decide what they think could happen to our future. Show how important civic involvement is to help this country.

Question: Why do schools focus on textbooks so often if they are proven false, in some occasions, and ineffective.

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Weblink: http://www.procon.org

Cantu Ch. 10

Economics was something that I never experienced in school. Whether this was college or high school, I never decided to take the class. I believe it is important to learn about our economy because of events that are happening now-a-days. Econ was always an elective in high school that I never decided to take.

In my classroom, I would like to involve economics by teaching about current events involving the economy as well as look at events that effected the economy in the past. You can relate this also to products that were important for trade throughout world and US history. You can link the economy to the slave trade as well as the creation of cash crops such as growing tobacco here in the US.

Question: Why is the economy not focused on more in secondary education?

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Weblink:http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111494514

Cantu Ch. 9

This chapter looked at the importance of civics in social studies education. When I think of social studies, I normally do not think of civics as a topic that is included in this subject. Reading this chapter sparked a major high school memory of mine that, I believe, relates directly to civics and several of the standards mentioned.

When I was a senior in high school, I was taking my final Government class called "We The People." This class focused on the making of the constitution as well as the rights of citizens. There was a major project for this class. This was a project about involvement in society. I do not remember the official title of it, however, the goal was to get the students involved directly with the community. We were to split into groups of 3-4 and create a goal to accomplish in the community. Many students did stuff such as volunteering at nursing homes or things similar. My group got the big idea of mimicking the Big Brother programs seen throughout the U.S. We attempted to start up our own company. This did not get very far but I believe that this shows links to civic standards of community involvement and others.

In my classroom, I would encourage students to do something like this. Philanthropy is very important and I think creating a project in a U.S. Gov. class where students had to become involved in the community in some way is a good idea and important for social growth of students.

Question: One question I have is: Does this include picketing at funerals and on road sides? Do you think there should be a line drawn? Does the picture below cross a line?

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Web link: http://www.icivics.org/games

Unit 1 Prezi

http://prezi.com/dd0czksiotqt/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

Cantu- Ch 8, 10

In Ch. 8, perhaps the biggest thing that I took from this is that a effective teacher is able to relate what he is teaching his students to their lives. What about Ancient Greece relates to our lives today? Not only does this make it more interesting, but it shows relevance and most students need to see how subjects can be relevant.

Standard 2 in Ch. 8 is very important, I believe. Being able to assess credibility of a source and analyze it is very important in history. This also links with Standard 3. I think a good idea for a lesson is to present several sources to students and have them pick which ones seem credible and have them analyze it in different ways.

Chapter 10 is something I may struggle with more during teaching. I was never that interested in Economics. I have a very basic education level with this subject and it needs improvement. I believe the best way to teach about economics in a history classroom is to relate the subject to historical events. You can ask questions such as:

How do you think the economy in England was effected after the Boston Tea Party?

Other than this, I am not sure how to implement this into my classroom effectively. I think keeping up with current events in the classroom helps with this.

Big question: How can I implement Economics effectively into my history class while not having to spend too much time on it and taking away from other topics?

Weblink: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/ancient_greeks/

CH. 6- Lies My Teacher Told Me

I believe that John Brown is a very important character in US History. It is important that students learn the truth about this individual. One of the biggest issues with teaching John Brown is that people are not sure how to present some of his actions such as the killing of 5 pro-racism men. I think the best way to do this in class is to present the facts on John Brown while keeping opinion out of it. After this, I think it is important to start a discussion about this person. Doing this, you are able to keep opinionated descriptions of this individual to yourself while your students are able to create their own opinions.

The big question: What are some ways teachers can lead an affective and appropriate discussion about John Brown and events linked with his life, or any other topic, without showing bias in the subject?

Weblink: http://www.history.com/topics/john-brown

Cantu- Ch. 6-7

Technology integration into the classroom is a key component to a teachers plan. As a Social Studies teacher, there are many ways to use technology in the classroom. As we head into the future, education focuses more and more on technology and moves away from traditional practices. The days of teaching young students cursive are all but over. Earlier and earlier these kids must learn the art of typing and using different software such as Microsoft Word and PowerPoint.

As a teacher, I need to be aware of technologies usefulness in my classroom. Not only can I use the web to search and use different sources such as LOC or other interactive sites, but I can also have students learn and use technology in certain ways. They can search the Internet for different sources. They can perfect making effective and visually attractive PowerPoint or Prezi presentations. Students can learn how to use different pieces of technology such as camcorders during group projects. I will try to incorporate assignments that are based around different types of software as well as finding sources not on big search engines such as google.

Big question: How do we keep technology from being too big of a distraction in the classroom? How do we adapt lessons effectively for students who may not have to privilege of technology at home?

Weblink: http://prezi.com

Lies My Teacher Told Me- Ch 5

Racism is an obsession throughout American history. As stated in this book, it has been a factor since the first Spaniards colonized in North Carolina. All textbooks that I have encountered have always portrayed slavery as an evil that these settlers, and later plantation owners, endorsed and took advantage of. I think that it is important to show students, not that slavery was a good thing (because it certainly is not), but why these slave owners did it. It is important to show students how this helped them and why it has been so hard to break away from slavery.

Moving forward in time, we come to the time period of Civil Rights and all of the issues that arose during this. Again, I do not endorse what happened to victims during this time, but it is important as a teacher to show why incidents such as the various race riots and beatings occurred. This is a good way to start a discussion in class. You can ask why you think whites acted in hostile ways towards African- Americans? You can also talk about why they did not go with more peaceful solutions. This forces students to critically think about it.

Big question: How can you effectively show each side of the argument on racism while staying accurate and appropriate, especially when teaching in an urban area?

Weblink: http://users.humboldt.edu/mstephens/hate/hate_map.html

Cantu- Ch. 4

One of the big things that helped me from this chapter is in the Strategies to Extend Student Learning section. The idea here that helped me was the "Wait I and II." This was helpful because I have trouble, on occasion, not giving students adequate time to think about a question. This rule is very helpful to me because I now have a base time limit for allowing students time to think about a question or answer.

One thing that I saw in this section that I do not agree with is further down the page where it says to "Allow for student calling." I do not think that this is necessary. I have seen students take advantage of this and use it as a way to target kids who are not as smart. It can lead to bullying and lower student self- esteem.

Another thing that I will incorporate is the Agree- Disagree Matrix. I think this is important because students need to be able to voice their opinions and have an effective discussion. They also need to learn to support their opinion with fact.

Big Question: Are using all of these teaching strategies essential for optimum student development?

Interactive website: http://www.readingquest.org/strat/

Lies my teacher told me- Ch 4

This chapter is about Native Americans and the lies that history textbooks tell us about how they came to this country and how their society and culture functioned. As a history teacher, I believe that it is important to share the correct ideas with the students. Taking out opinions in textbooks that call these people "savages" or anything similar is very important. What I find tricky is trying to find the right facts to share with students. Taking out bias is the easy bit. The problem is there is still disputable evidence about these people. An example of this is that there is debate about whether the natives walked over the Beringia Land Bridge or that boats brought them. The answer that people except is the land bridge, however, Lowen states that there is gaining proof that there may have been boats that brought over early explorers. Situations like these are where problems with how to teach can occur. What do you tell your students? What do you say after they have learned about the land bridge in previous years and classes? I think the best solution for issues such as this is to tell about both ways that it is being suggested about how they came to North America. You can create a debate about this after students do some independent research.

Big question: How do we stop authors from writing from a more European and conqueror based perspective?

Weblink: http://mrnussbaum.com/nativeamericans/

Cantu- Ch 3

I think the section that helped me the most is the one which focuses on developing good lesson plans. I think it is important to be very well organized in the classroom and always plan out what you need to get done and what is gonna help you accomplish your goal. Organization has always been more of a struggle for me. I need to look at the way that I teach in Novice teaching and review, among other things, my organization. If it lacks, as I suspect it may, then I need to look into ways of becoming more organized. I think that will help me become a better teacher.

Also, something that I never have thought of much as a teacher is tutoring of students outside of class hours. I think it is important for a teacher to make themselves available during the day outside of class to help students who need it. This may be during a planning period, lunch, or before or after school. I think that I should try to accomplish this when I teach.

Question: If standards are only guides to help benefit educators, why do some teachers feel like they restrict their classrooms in negative ways?

weblink: http://www.celt.iastate.edu/teaching/RevisedBlooms1.html

Lies My Teacher Told Me- Ch. 2

This chapter is very interesting. It talks about how many of the facts textbooks tell students about Columbus are false. Reading this changes how I teach a unit on Columbus because I will try to avoid a textbook for this unit in particular. I think that using more primary and secondary sources is necessary for students to understand what really happened during this time period. I think it is a good topic to do a discussion on. You can ask students what story they prefer (the textbook version or more accurate version) and why they think these facts have been changed or told in a certain way. With this, it is also important, even in a U.S. History class, to talk about happenings in Europe of this time briefly. This includes talking about the Crusades and Renaissance. I would also try to talk about earlier Europeans that discovered North America. This includes the Vikings and fishermen near Canada.

A big question not answered is: Do we want students to learn the real story of a person that America has created into a hero? Will that have negative effects on a students viewpoints towards this country and our history? Can it be counterproductive?

weblink: http://www.tripline.net/trip/Columbus's_First_Voyage-524426755021100398BBC307AA573874

Cantu Ch.2

The biggest thing in this chapter that has relevance to me is the standards at the end. I selected the standards from Oregon. I eventually want to move back out west either to Colorado or Oregon and this was the link that worked. This website seemed harder to navigate compared to the Illinois one but it was important for me to see what standards they want to have in the classroom. For history, the first one was to analyze and apply cause and effect relationships. You can create many lesson plans that work with this standard. An example would be to read or learn about a historical event such as the Revolutionary War or a more specific event inside the Rev War. You can ask, what major factors caused this war to break out and what are some effects from this war. This was a simple example but seeing the standards help you design lesson plans that are effective and involve student- centered learning.

One big question not answered is: I have heard several teachers complain about standards since I have been observing at Bradley. At what point do standards get in the way of a teacher doing their job in the classroom?

interactive website: http://www.history.com/interactives/civil-war-150#/home

Dr. Cantu- Ch. 1

This chapter had several things that I believe will help me be a better teacher and be more affective in my classroom. The most influential one to me is, "Gardner's Multiple Intelligence" As a teacher, I must be aware of the different ways students learn in my classroom. Having all the students do one task to get an idea across will not be enough, in some cases. I must be able to make sure the idea is covered in several ways of learning.

I think a method I think is very good is the "Jurisprudential Inquiry." This seems like it is similar to a debate where students pick a side of an issue that they have feelings for and find facts to support their viewpoints. This teaches how to correctly cite and present sources as well as counter and intelligently argue with a peer. I think the evaluation portion of this is very good. It forces students to think of consequences that may happen if their viewpoint is acted upon. I think this is a good method to take into a classroom and I must make sure to use it as long as the topic I present is controversial and appropriate.

A big question that I think is unanswered is: When and how is it appropriate to use direct instruction in a classroom effectively?

Link: http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=questionnaire

Lies My Teacher Told Me- Ch.1

Chapter 1 was very interesting to me. I was never aware of what textbooks are leaving out about famous figures in our countries history. The more interesting case in this chapter, to me, was Woodrow Wilson. I was aware of several things mentioned about him that many students may not know. This includes his support of The Birth of a Nation as well as his anti-black viewpoints. I was more interested to find out that he invaded Latin America and the Caribbean on numerous occasions and also had a "secret" war with Russia during the time of their revolution.

This has a major significance on how I approach teaching. Know that I am more aware of what many textbooks are leaving out, I must be prepared to add more information in different ways. It was never a goal of mine, as a teacher, to use a textbook often in my class. Having said that, there are times when it is important and now I must be prepared with alternative sources to help my students take all the information they can about a person such as Woodrow Wilson.

One question that sticks in my mind after reading this chapter is: Is making these figures into heroes worth not sharing the important details of their lives and how they negatively or positively affected the people around them as well as their country?

helen-keller-socialist3a_sally.jpg

Interactive website: http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/presidents-day/woodrow-wilson/