Final Reflection

     Being in this class has introduced me to a whole new way to create a lesson plan and how to integrate subjects in a unit plan. On the first day of class I had not thought about integrating subjects together.  I always thought that you teach just English at English time and math at math time and art at art time.  But after taking this class it has allowed me to see how important it is to integrate other subjects into a lesson plan so you are not teaching in isolation.  In the classroom there may not be enough time in the day for social studies so it is a good idea to try to link social studies objectives into other subjects. My opinion use to be when you hear the word social studies you think of history, dates, presidents, things that happened in the past. Now I know that when it comes to teaching social studies there is so much more involved.  Now I know that social studies involves civics, geography and history.  Before starting this class I had not heard of Understanding by design (UBD).  Wiggins and McTighe (2010) describes the UBD template as a curriculum-planning framework, which is a backward design.  Meaning that you plan backwards by identifying your results first, and then determine acceptable evidence, and lastly you plan the learning experiences.  Usually teachers would plan the learning experiences first but in UBD that part comes last.  As the class carried on and I started reading more and learning more about this design I begin to understand how this design works and then planning a unit based on this design was very challenging but rewarding.  Having to pick standards and then design the essential questions come up with evidence that shows they met the criteria and then planning lesson plans was a long process but the end result was worth it.  After experiencing this design it made me see how easy it could be to integrate other subjects into a plan.  It will take some work but the students will benefit from the integration of all these subjects.  Creating a hook lesson is also something that was a struggle because you have to figure out a good way to hook students into your unit.  Creating a hook lesson was part of creating the unit plan and after thinking about different ideas that would hook the students I decided on using props.  What stood out to me in this class was the information and resources I learned are at the history and art museum   I never knew that  those places could be resources when it comes to social studies and the arts.  What surprised me was that the history museum had history kits that they let the teachers at the schools use in the classrooms.   I liked reading about how the UBD is created and the different component of it.  I really thought it was interesting that the lessons and activities are the last things that are planned.  At the end of this class I have gained knowledge on how to integrate a unit, how to write a hook lesson and how important social studies is in the classroom.

Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. (2010). Understanding by design: Guide to creating high quality units.

Association for Supervision and Curriculum Division

Reward Systems

I think that reward systems are a good tool for classroom management.  I think it is okay to give a reward to a student if they accomplish an activity or a goal that they set for themselves.  Giving students praise or stickers or a type of toy, is a good idea because they will see that they get recognized if they do a good job.  They see that they can get a reward for accomplishing a task.  Maxim (2010) talks about how cooperative teamwork results in greater success when it incorporates reward interdependence.  This means that group members only receive a reward if the whole group accomplishes an objective.  I think in that instance it is a good idea to use a reward system.  In my field experience the reward system I have seen is that the teachers gives praise to the student when they did something right or they followed the classroom rules.  I have not seen the teacher give out any stickers or toys.  In my classroom I will use some type of reward system.  I know there are some people who feel its coercion or that you should not give one child something and not the other child.  I feel that if a specific child does something that was asked of them and they do it well then they should be reward.  I am not saying it should be all the time for every little thing but it should be for something big that the student accomplishes. 

Maxim, G. W. (2010). Dynamic social studies for constructivist classrooms. Boston, MA:

 Pearson. 

Self-Efficacy

Maxim (2010) says that having a high degree of self-efficacy means you will be successful in any given task.    It is your belief that you will succeed in any situation.  I believe that I have self-efficacy at work.  I have taught pre-k for more than five years and I feel very good in that role.  I know what to expect most times and I know that I am good at what I do.  So I feel very successful at being a pre-k teacher.   I think what contributed to this was just having experiences in being a pre-k teacher.  I would not feel like this if this was my first year teaching pre-k but now that I have had experiences with the students, parents, and other co-workers, I feel that I am successful in the position.  Achieving most of my goals makes me feel successful also.  I have achieved my Bachelor’s degree and my Birth to Kindergarten license so achieving those thins has made me have a high degree of self-efficacy in mastering those two goals.  What contributed to this would be having opportunities to go to school and take classes and also meeting the different people in the classrooms and the professors which gave me good experiences.

Maxim, G. W. (2010). Dynamic social studies for constructivist classrooms. Boston, MA:

 Pearson.

Rationale for hook lesson

For my hook lesson I am planning to start with props.  I think bringing in props first is a good way to start the students to talking and they can be interactive with the props because they will be able to touch them and pass them around. It will allow the students to see what the overall unit will be about so that they may know what to expect as the lesson goes on.  Hopefully starting with props will get the students engaged and enthusiastic about what they are about to learn.  Some items that I am thinking of using would be clay (Piedmont region)  some pictures of timber (mountain region), pictures of fish (coastal region).  These items will excite the students and prepare them for the upcoming unit.

Diversity in the Classroom

I believe that everyone has their own point of view when it comes to history.  When we think of history and how we view it we should try to look at it from the point of view of the person that it is happening to.  In the classroom when the teacher is deciding how to include diversity in the classroom she should try to see it from the point of view of that particular child.  The teacher should not try to view it from her own perspective because it would not be authentic.  When it comes to perspective everyone has a different perspective of what happened in history and there may not be one correct perspective.  If everyone has a similar perspective then there may be some truth to that perspective.  There are some biases in history that I think everyone has.  Even the person that may witness a specific historical event may have some bias of that event.  To assist a child with disabilities in the classroom Maxim (2010) suggest that you learn about each specific disability and individualize the program.  I agree with these suggestions because if you want the child to grow in your classroom you need to know about their disability and any background information that could help you work with the child in the classroom.  You also want to individualize the program so that the child will be able to learn what they need to learn.  To assist a child that is learning English as a second language it would be great to have bilingual materials for the students as well as having bilingual labels in the classroom to help the students that may not be reading English yet.

Maxim, G. W. (2010). Dynamic social studies for constructivist classrooms. Boston, MA:

 Pearson.

Understanding by Design Framework

My concern with the Understanding by design (UBD) framework is that you have to design the unit backwards.  Wiggins and McTighe (2010) believe that you first have clarity about your desired results and the evidence that shows that learning has occurred.  This is shown in this “backward design” which is the UBD framework.  I am use to finding the lessons first and trying to find outcomes that can conform to my lessons.  So my concern would be trying to create the outcomes and then the evidence and finally the activities or lessons that can go with them.  I believe that it is not used often in schools because teachers may not have any concept of where to start with teaching like this and may not have had experiences with this.  It may seem difficult to bring in other discipline areas to the framework.  I would advocate for giving time and priority in the schedule for subjects that aren't tested by making a point to mention that teaching these subjects are just as important as the other subjects that are tested.  Teaching social studies allows the students to develop critical thinking skills and gives them experiences to be caring citizens in the community.

Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. (2010). Understanding by design: Guide to creating high quality units.

     Association for Supervision and Curriculum Division

Attributes of a Well Planned Social Studies Lesson

When I think about what some of the attributes would be of a well-planned social studies lesson I think about making sure your concepts and themes are fully developed in depth and not just superficially.  Making sure the topic you are covering is not just glossed over but really talked about so the students will understand.  Another attribute would be that you are able to add in other subjects besides social studies into your lesson plan.  This will allow you to cover a range of disciplines.  A third attribute would be making sure that your goals (which are your desired results) correlate with the assessment you are given.  Being able to assess what the desired results are makes for a well-planned social studies lesson.