Holeigh+Ries


 * //Lesson Plans//**

1. Cooperative Learning: http://db.tt/Jmynkmf8 2. Simulation/Role Play: http://db.tt/zT98FsBO 3. Discussion/Debate: http://db.tt/Khc5Z6kN 4. Student Directed Project: http://db.tt/aqYYAD73


 * //4 Artifacts of Structural Enhancement//**

1. Humanities-Based Lesson: http://db.tt/m5h9k5so 2. Assessment Samples: http://db.tt/tIvvgTh0 http://db.tt/uE4RIDQq 3. Classroom Procedures Plan: http://db.tt/ZLvJMTUN 4. Resume & Cover Letter: http://db.tt/VdRwECBP ; http://db.tt/M946lLNa


 * //4 Artifacts of Teaching All Learners//**

1. Focus Student Portfolio: http://db.tt/GCjCG35f 2. Special Education Artifact: http://db.tt/YLKRhKPo 3. ELL Artifact: http://db.tt/39eCvJtO 4. Differentiated Instruction Artifact: http://db.tt/loogp9Xx


 * //The Three-Age System Power Point & Handout//**




 * Week Fifteen: Micro-Teaching Reflection**

For the most part, I was happy with how my lesson plan worked in our classroom. I think it effectively defined and explained my content (the Bronze Age/Three Age System), offered a practical and engaging activity, and situated ambiguous timelines within the larger scale of history, providing an overview for the students that they could relate to through prior knowledge. I was more comfortable speaking on front of the class than I have been all year and enjoyed working with the groups one on one. I think they responded well to me as a teacher answering questions and I was able to guide them through any questions that they had.

If I could go back and change parts of my lesson, I would make the activity directions much clearer. A few of the groups had trouble finding my handouts, and understanding exactly what I wanted them to do. However, in my defense (haha), I know that some of them did not read the directions on the handout the first time through, as I was able to answer their questions by pointing out exact sentences I had included. While I think my activity was good and dynamic, more explanation would have been ideal.

This "delta" also leads into the biggest negative of my lesson, which was that, due to nerves, I left out a giant portion of the instruction I had intended to deliver with regard to the activity. During my practice, I had included a portion where I spoke very directly about what exactly each of the three parts of the activity meant, in themselves and as a part of the timeline as a whole. I got ahead of myself and managed to skip over this portion, which increased the confusion. This just cements my need to get more comfortable speaking in front of my peers. I am happy that I progressed in this over the second semester of class (as this was a big concern in my PGDP), but one can always use more practice. Another negative was that I didn't budget my time as much as I should have, which led to some groups having to wrap up earlier than they would have liked. This was a consideration that got lost in the shuffle of planning my lesson. When in the classroom, I would always be mindful of how much time I have (because it is fixed, while our class meets for two hours so I knew I had some leeway), but this serves as a nice reminder all the same.


 * Week Thirteen: Teaching the Terrible**

While teaching topics that are emotionally devastating and hard to understand can be a very daunting idea to teachers, I think lessons like these, when done well, can be the ones that students remember forever. Which, I think, is the point. Offering the tools to help students learn about hardships that may be unlike anything they have ever known will often result in meaningful discourse and a foundation for future education, personal experiences and choices. Providing these tools in a group context can be a big help by itself in terms of providing a stable atmosphere in which to communicate about what is being covered that day in class.

Of course, this context will not be enough for everyone in a given class. That is why structure and an outlet for response are the two most important elements, to my thinking right now, about teaching the terrible. Prepping a class for what they will be learning is a must in these situations, as it gives sensitive students the chance to opt out or prepare and warns apathetic students that negativity and aggression will not be accepted in any way. While these elements may sound simple, and should ideally always be in force, there isn't a lot of room for error when teaching the terrible. Students who allow themselves to be open and emotional could be very hurt by negative push-back from their peers. This isn't to say all push-back is bad; when it is delivered in a manner that leads to dialogue and teachable moments, it can be worthwhile.

The second element I will always incorporate into these types of lessons is an outlet for response. This can come in many forms: discussion, writing, artistic projects, etc. I think if the the terrible part of the lesson is paired with an emotional response from someone who lived it, many students can relate and benefit. For this reason, I think pieces of art, excerpts from memoirs, songs or anything else representative from a terrible event should be used to teach said event. Then, the opportunity for student response can be framed by the piece shown, or be used as a reference point during a discussion. Showing students how others have grieved or relieved other emotions gives them options if they need to do the same thing.

I can't lie and say that I relish the idea of teaching the terrible, as I am emotional and sometimes don't know what to say when I am profoundly moved, either in a positive or negative way. However, I think the ability to teach this content effectively lies, like most aspects of teaching, in making the content relevant to our students. Using modern example of war, oppression, and tyranny can be a great way to introduce the terrible event itself, but the follow through comes in allowing an outlet for students to discuss and emote about it. Pieces of art/writing/etc can add another layer of humanism to subjects that are sometimes too abstract, or perhaps are too overwhelming. I think these connections to personal experience allow for many more students to be touched by the terrible in a constructive, meaningful and critical way in a learning environment.


 * Week Twelve: Panel Reflection**

I found the panel to be very comforting in terms of establishing a group of teachers who have been there, done that, and made it out the other side without becoming jaded. Granted, the teachers we spoke with are still rather young, but I think the first few years will be the hardest, and here they are, making it happen. It was also exciting to listen to their stories and relate to them on a professional level, even if we haven't spent much time in the classroom yet. I feel like this experience really helped to show us what a professional community can be like, and gave us an example of the relationships we may foster within our class in the coming internship year and into the future.

Much of this, obviously, connects to me on a professional level, just in terms of the situations that these teachers have already faced, both in the classroom and outside of it, when deciding which career moves to make within education. (Moving to a new state to further education, creating a tutoring business.) Hearing from teachers who have had different experiences at this point really cements how many different opportunities there are in education, if one is willing to move physically or emotionally to follow them. I really enjoyed hearing from a teacher who is at a rural school close to where she grew up (which is my dream) right alongside a teacher who has moved a thousand miles to complete his education goals.

While I felt that we covered a lot of introspective and interpersonal ground during the panel, I was left wanting to know more about the day in-day out realities of teaching and trying to stay organized as a person. Some of this came through, but being able to hear more about daily lesson plans, unit plans, the best ways to warm up a class, how to integrate fun new project ideas, etc. would have been great. I was also personally very interested in the organization aspect because I try to be very organized, and I have read some books that detail the type of paperwork we're going to be dealing with, and it sounds rather daunting. So for me, I would have loved to hear how these teachers organize their desks, bags, folders and home offices to accommodate the workload without it being a huge life intrusion.

I found myself relating very much with Allison, because of the trajectory of her education and career up to this point. I also grew up in the area and have many preconceived notions about what neighboring school districts are like, which could come into play for me during my internship. I really hope to work in rural schools (although Williamston is definitely closer to the suburb type of school than say, Dansville, where I grew up) and have the type of connection to the kids and community that exist in those situations. I also hope to learn from her ability to make connections during her internship that led to her getting a full time job. I think networking on this type of scale is attainable for someone who is more introverted like myself, and I hope to live up to the challenge.


 * Week Eleven: Morality**

a. Cultural relativism is the belief or acknowledgement that there is a fundamental diversity in moral principles, which is to say that there is not a standard by which all morality is measured across humanity. This can apply to many types of standards across society, such as the example provided in the text about the "right" diet and exercise regime for a people to follow. Ethical relativism derives from cultural, but applies specifically to morals in society, and which are considered to be "good/correct" or even better than others. This relativism decries the idea that there is an objective standard across all societies that defines morality. An example of this is the application of our society's morals on the actions of the Nazis during the Holocaust.

b. Given that ethical relativism denounces a moral standard across the world, it is probably both a good and bad way to think about ethical issues in a pluralistic society. On the positive side, our society is composed of many, many different types of people and cultures that all have practices and beliefs that may run contrary to our own. In order to get along and practice tolerance, sometimes an open mind is needed, even if some ethics come under fire. However, when it comes to murder and rape and all the bad stuff, living in a pluralistic society makes it impossible to rely on relativism for the sake of avoiding chaos. Just because Jeffrey Dahmer thinks it's cool to kill and eat people does not mean his moral code can thrive in a society full of people who wish to not be killed and eaten. This can also be applied to current events, which feature many countries involved in genocides like the Holocaust. Not being able to declare these things "bad" and immoral is dangerous and harmful to entire races of people.


 * Week Eight: My Fictional SIRS Assessment**

Ms. Ries is a very warm, caring person who tries every day to be a better teacher for her students. She takes some time to fully show her personality, but once she does, she reveals herself to be a great listener who is funny and inviting. She always asks how her students are doing and seems to know a lot about what is going on in their lives. She tries to be approachable as a person, not just as a teacher, which makes it easier to talk in her class because she is not intimidating.

In class, we use lots of movie/tv clips, passages from books, and music to make connections to the material that we are learning. These help us remember things better and are interesting, entertaining, or both. Ms. Ries lectures a decent amount of the time, but she uses power points and pop culture to illustrate them. We also do a lot of hands on projects that allow us to take on the roles of the historical figures we learn about. She gives us many different formats to choose from, so we don't end up writing the usual boring paper or making posters. We also have discussions about controversial events in history, which sometimes get heated. Ms. Ries does not allow students to judge each other, only our arguments. She encourages us to steer away from negatives by asking questions in order to understand the thought process we all use.

While Ms. Ries's classroom is a place where we feel comfortable talking about things and answering questions, she sometimes does not discipline as well as she could. I think this is because she is sometimes caught off guard by new situations, but she has improved very much in this regard since the beginning of the year. She often uses humor to diffuse situations, which usually cools things off a lot, but can also lead some to believe that she is too nice in these instances. Ms. Ries's classroom is very organized and she has many resources available for us to use in and out of class, including books and movies. She often recommends these when we take interest in certain events or people and encourages us to have conversations about them. She also uses these mediums to create lessons that allow us to learn about a time period not only through its history, but also through its culture. I have very much enjoyed this class because I have been exposed to things that I didn't know could connect to history.


 * Week Seven: Cuong's Vietnam Lesson**

a. Among others, Cuong used classroom discussion and cooperative learning during his Vietnam lesson. We utilized groups to research different components of the war and then to talk about different perspectives and roles of the major players. At the end of the lesson, we participated in a whole class discussion to analyze those perspectives in order to understand the events and turning points of the war.

b. I think using multiple types of instruction was very helpful because it reached different types of learners and helped us make different connections to the material. Being able to see and hear the lecture presentation allowed us to get a timeline and straight facts, while injecting ourselves into different perspectives allowed us to take ownership of the material. We also were able to go further in depth with people, places, events and terms that define the war itself.

c. If this lesson were taught to other grade levels, I would rethink the type of lecture that was presented. While I loved it and found it very helpful and interesting to watch, I don't think even all high school students could follow along completely because it was so detailed and content rich. This could be adapted very simply by breaking the material down into a simple PowerPoint presentation. I would also form a more detailed/strict discussion framework for the whole class discussion, for example, if I were going to use the lesson in a middle school classroom. I was a little confused as to what we were doing myself, so I can imagine that many students would have been lost as to what all was expected of them.


 * Week Six: Culturally Relevant Pedagogy**

a. To Ladson-Billings, a culturally relevant pedagogy includes: academic success, cultural competence and critical consciousness. Academic success is defined as academic excellence in this article, the kind of excellence that results from student accountability and reinforcement that molds a student into a good learner. Ladson-Billings found her study that using student culture in their education causes them to take ownership of their learning because of increased relevancy. This causes students to achieve academically and to develop cultural competence by being comfortable with the material that they learn through. Lastly, Ladson-Billings points to critical consciousness as a very important part of this pedagogy, because critical analysis shapes effective citizens. Teachers who constantly reinforce analysis create students who can effectively question their society and offer useful alternatives and solutions.

b. I find it helpful that this article points out common sense ways of reaching a broader audience of culturally diverse students. Ladson-Billings cites "good teaching" as the "simple" framework for getting the ball rolling in cultural education, and I think this is very true. While there is definitely more to it in this case, any teacher should be capable of inserting the students' interests and culture into education in order to provide relevance and show students how they are capable of functioning in their society.

While I think that different cultures and classes need to be worked into educational pedagogy more than they are, I find it troubling that this article reinforces the idea that public education is a hostile environment for anyone not white and middle class. This makes it sound necessarily awful and out to target minority cultures, which I think is kind of a terrible way to raise students to believe. I think everyone should have a role in their classroom community and should be treated equally, but this article makes it seem that public schools are purposefully denying these things to minority groups.


 * Week Two: Cooperative Learning Assessment**

For this group assignment, I would implement an assessment that is straight forward, simplistic, and focuses on the positives of each member's contribution. While more formal/complicated projects would require a more complete assessment to create a framework for the kids when "grading" one another, I think this activity requires a simple statement from the group as a whole, providing the teacher with a list of who completed what. This way, students don't have to take into consideration a ranking system of how efficient each group member was across a spectrum of participation, which can end up being a lot of work and serve as a way to detract points from a classmate one may not like. Focusing on a group statement of positives forces every group member to be accountable, but is quick and easy, and clearly lists the contributions made. I have had this kind of assessment in a college class for a rather complicated project, and it worked great because it continued the accountability of everyone to add what they accomplished while not taking up time that could be devoted to the activity one is learning from to begin with.


 * Semester Two: Week One: Media Matters**

1. This article establishes the significance of media in many ways, both on a broad scale for the world at large and on a small scale, as we will use it in the classroom. In today's age, with the internet and infinite types of handheld devices available, people are constantly connected to each other and media through news sites, blogs and websites like Twitter. This opens everyone to new ways of gathering information, many of which can be skewed, slanted, or downright factually incorrect. While this is a problem for everyone, it is especially salient for students, who interact with this information in many ways. Much of what they read is for entertainment, and with news being as readily available as entertainment, students are less inclined to question what they read. This can be very detrimental to people who are trying to learn about themselves and their world**.** Teaching media literacy allows students to interact with their world in a way that is efficient and valid.

2. To create a lesson plan, I would use //The Breakfast Club// in a psychology class to teach about the ways teenagers behave and mature through their experiences. It could also be used in a history class to develop the changing idea of the American teenager in the face of transitioning world politics and social norms. I think this movie is excellent in its writing and acting, as it really exemplifies (in a humorous and engaging way) the experience of teenagers in American schools, while also being poignant and eye opening to the realities different kids face.


 * Week Fourteen: Maps**



1a. This map is by Willem Janszoon Blaeuw and his son, Joan, completed in ~1635. Blaeuw was one of the most well known Dutch cartographers, and this map in particular was known for being one of the most accurate of the time period. (http://www.historicmapsrestored.com/product1173.html)

b. This map is distorted in terms of the Western world, which is not surprising, given that many people had not been across the Atlantic at this time in history. The map depicts the whole world, but most of North America is missing and the United States is missing many of its key geographic features (the west coast in particular). South America is also very basic. The East side of the map is much more detailed and the continents much more closely resemble what we would expect to see on a map today, although Australia and the surrounding area is also skewed. This map serves to place the rest of the world in relation to Europe (foremost) and Asia. Antarctica is also shown to be a massive continent, taking up the entire southern portion of the map.

2a. Of these different maps, I find the Molleweide map to be the most accurate. This map places the continents in the "correct" order, as defined by the location of the prime meridian and equator, shows most of the land masses as true(r) to size, and attempts to portray them as existing on a curved surface instead of a flat one.

b. I think any of these lessons would be excellent for use across many levels of classrooms, but my favorite is the first one, which requires the students to split into groups and draw a map of the same, well known location. I think this activity makes a variety of points, including that it's difficult to draw things to scale, that deciding what to include and what to leave out can be problematic, and that some people find certain areas to be more important and therefore a map can contain bias. I think this lesson also includes portions of many of the other lessons, including the one about projection and the chart that shows distortions of continent size, but on a local level that students can grasp and relate to.

I have chosen to base my lessons/activities around the Civil Rights Era.
 * Week Thirteen: Differentiated Instruction**

//Kinetic Activity:// A mock sit in could be staged at the school, allowing students to experience the situation in the face of administration playing the role of "aggressor". The class could come together to decide on an issue that would warrant a peaceful protest and they would have to abide strictly by the practices followed during peaceful Civil Rights campaigns. This would get them out of class and give them something to reflect on throughout the unit as a whole. It would provide a basis for conversation and some semblance of perspective for further study in the unit.

//Solo Reading:// I would assign an excerpt from Martin Luther King's letter written in a Birmingham, Alabama jail, detailing non-violent protest after being accused of being an extremist and law-breaker. The letter is a point by point rebuttal to the white clergy who accused him, written calmly and rationally. A set of questions would be provided with the reading, intended to guide a class discussion at the conclusion of the individual reading. The ideals of non-violent protest could be used in contrast to the truly lawless and extreme riots that broke out in Little Rock over integration of Central High School.

//Music:// Much of the music made about the Civil Rights movement fell distinctly into two camps: one that represented the hope exhibited by leaders like Martin Luther King, and one that painted a picture of the turmoil and pain experienced by so many. I would use two song to highlight this, by choose Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come" and Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit". The former is a story of Cooke's life facing adversity and racism interwoven with the feeling he has that someday it will all change. The latter is an allegory for lynchings in the South, mocking the grandeur and tradition of the area. Sam Cooke - [|A Change is Gonna Come] Billie Holiday - [|Strange Fruit]

//Interpersonal:// I would assign parts (or even the whole) of //Warriors Don't Cry// by Melba Pattillo Beals, which is a memoir written by one of the Little Rock 9, detailing the reality of integration. The book was written when Beals was an adult, so it includes many newspaper headlines and passages, as well as an intensely personal account that spares no details. This could be used as the basis for a conversation on bullying in current events, to draw connections between the experiences for today's students, most of whom do not have a frame of reference for anything like integration.


 * Week Twelve: The Learner**

1a. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are differentiated by the factors that influence them. Intrinsic motivation is derived from enjoyment for the activity itself. That is, students with intrinsic motivation have the ability to see why what they are learning is important to their education as a whole. I have experienced this type of motivation in my lower level TE courses, which I knew I needed as a foundation to enter the classes where I would learn to lesson plan and manage a classroom. Extrinsic motivation is determined by external factors that result in favorable or desirable circumstances, such as a reward. This is huge motivation for school athletes, who must meet grade requirements to stay eligible for their teams.

1b. I noticed that much of Mr. Pineda's classroom motivation was extrinsic in nature. Many of the students, on an individual level, seemed a bit bored by the material, but participated because their teacher is so encouraging and rewarding with most of his praise. He also mentioned several times that Haslett students have parents who highly value education and therefore teach their students to feel the same way, and also to respect their teachers. Being influenced in this way by parents who would be upset at disrespect or poor performance usually motivates students to do well and behave responsibly. I also noticed possible intrinsic motivation as a result of Mr. Pineda's storytelling. The stories help make dry material more interesting and relevant, which makes students see the point of learning and offers them enjoyment by listening to someone who is so good at holding the attention of an audience.

2a. A multicultural education strives to provide all students with equity and opportunity to achieve, despite what class, race, gender or culture they may come from. 2b. Part of the point of this education is to incorporate different experiences into the classroom, especially those experiences that are representative of minority cultures. I plan to do this by teaching from different cultural perspectives. For example, teaching from the perspective of women throughout history is something that often is not integrated wholly into a classroom. I could also teach from the perspective of different minority groups and use holidays and historical events from different cultures to highlight this perspective. Especially in a classroom that is not diverse, providing context and information about different cultures would provide a multicultural educational experience to allow students a better chance at interacting with others when they enter the world outside of high school.

3a. Differentiated instruction is a methodology that supports the use of varying instructional strategies based on the diverse students within a particular classroom. This requires that a teacher be flexible and know much about a group of students and their learning styles, likes/dislikes, abilities, etc, in order to gauge which instructional strategies will best work with a given set of students. Because students vary so much across these spectra, lesson plans may have to be modified for every hour to ensure they will reach the broadest amount of students in a class. 3b. I feel that the //content// and //process// that I employ will need the most consideration for my differentiated instruction. Across classrooms with students who work at different levels, I will have to manipulate my content to work for everyone from AP classes to those filled with exceptional students. This will also effect the process/instructional strategies through which I deliver the content to different groups with different abilities.

4a. I feel that the most pronounced multiple intelligences in myself are linguistic/verbal and interpersonal. I work well with determining what others need/want and I have always excelled at classes involving language and literature. 4b. I think that many of these intelligences get overlooked in school, but will focus on intrapersonal and spatial intelligences. Many secondary education students have no idea how to analyze themselves and come up with the best way to regulate how they do things, which leads to a lot of stress and trouble completing school work. Giving students the time and guidance to learn how they learn and operate best is imperative to balancing an ever more complicated life. I also think that many students have a difficult time recognizing patterns and relationships across concepts, especially across different classrooms and subjects. Taking the time to focus on interdisciplinary connections can be very helpful in terms of context and development of how to anticipate patterns and relationships across a broad variety of subjects.


 * Week Eleven: Subjectivity v. Objectivity**

1. The difference between subjectivity and objectivity often seems apparent and easy to grasp at first, but can become muddled by the slightest misplaces phrase. Objective opinions merely describe what is going on in a situation; these descriptions can be positive or negative, but they are not presented in this manner. They are simply facts. Subjective opinions deal with statements that carry an underlying idea of wrongness and rightness. They may still be facts, but they are presented in a way that judges and skews the situation. I liken these words to the idea o linguistics, wherein some commentary on language is prescriptive (descriptive facts) and other is proscriptive (which seeks to set a standard of what is correct and incorrect).

2. Impartiality in the classroom is key because we will be working with students who are still shaping their own opinions and learning about all the different ways to believe and live that exist in the world. These two things are the basis of critical thinking and interaction, as people require facts to make educated opinions. Keeping things objective, both from the teacher and the other students, is imperative to allow students to think deeply about a multitude of different topics. Loaded language can skew a student's perception of something to the point where they don't want to continue learning or where they can become so shut off to a different opinion that they are aggressive and learn nothing, despite being engaged. In either scenario, educational progress is not being made because of the road block of the loaded language.

3a. While it is important for everyone to remain impartial, it is especially important for teachers, as we are seen as the deciding voice, the most educated, and are therefore the voice with the most potential sway over young minds. Students, if given impartial information, may not question those in authority and will operate without all of the facts. Worse, those that know there is another side will feel alienated in an environment where they should feel comfortable talking about social issues.

b. The best thing I can do as a teacher during an election year is to be as objective as I possibly can and never divulge my own beliefs. I was raised with the idea that teachers should never give their own viewpoint on controversies, at least in K-12 classrooms, whether those teachers agreed with me or not. For all the reasons I have listed here, and those we have talked about in class, it is wrong to take critical thinking away from students. Therefore, I can see myself making a comparative chart of the candidates, one that lists their platforms and political positions, in order to educate those who may be curious about what the differences are. This chart would not include personal life details or loaded language. To keep it as impartial as possible, I would possibly keep my handwriting to check marks in corresponding boxes of what each candidate is a proponent/opponent of. Especially in the first couple of years, when I am learning how to hide my beliefs, pointing students to a chart like this keeps me almost completely out of the equation and allows them to draw their own conclusions.


 * Week Ten: Controversy In the Classroom**

A. Many obstacles and excuses exist to teaching about controversial topics, and they exist in many different perspectives. Teacher costs such as as time, potential risk, and lack of student experience often times add up to controversial discussions not being deemed worth the effort to include. Subject perspectives are also important, as this discipline is so broad that many have differing definitions of what should be taught and to which age groups. Some teachers don't feel that controversy is appropriate for certain classes and age groups. It also takes a lot of knowledge and ability to teach about some controversial subjects, which becomes daunting to teachers of different experience levels. School culture, that is, the goings on and norms of certain schools, also affect if and how controversy is taught. Many classrooms have become so attached to their textbooks that it can be impossible to break out of what is contained within its pages. Open and accepting classroom environments are required for such discussion, and this cannot always be found. The status of social studies as legitimate study is also in question in some areas, which leads to a reliance on texts (which must mean something is legitimate) and a reluctance to spend a day just talking about controversial topics, despite how much actual thinking is going on in either scenario. Lastly, political bias plays a big role in controversy in the classroom. This bias exists as traditional political spectrum differences and in a more abstract way, in which things ultimately become better in society of progress, which assumes that controversy irons itself out and is not a problem in the meantime.

B. Werner is very convicted in his beliefs that controversy is worth addressing. He mentions in the article that controversy has been found to make social studies more interesting to students, therefore promoting learning. He also quotes a letter that he agrees with, in which the letter writer is adamant that controversy teaches students to think analytically, opens them up to new experience and decries "safe" education as being morally cowardly. Werner doesn't necessarily ally himself completely with this letter, but I think his inclusion of such an example is indicative of his support for it.

C. Honestly, I feel that I will strive to teach controversy, as I also find it important, but I'm not sure how adventurous I will be about it in the beginning, for all of the reasons listed in this article. I know I won't have the experience right from the beginning to be completely successful, I won't want to totally push the envelope when I'm still getting used to things, and I don't know that I will have my time budgeted appropriately yet to incorporate something like this into a lesson. I would like to say that I'm going to jump right in to the things that I'm convicted about, but I also know that those things should be implemented correctly and in a way that enriches the subject matter, so I would give myself some time before tackling extreme controversy.


 * Week Nine: Whoooo Are You? Who Who, Who Who.**

a. What is your temperament type, what are the specific letters associated with it, e.g. INTP? //Guardian// b. In your own words, summarize the personality type in a paragraph or so. //Guardians are serious and traditional, routine-driven and practical. They are good managers, believe in law and order and stick to procedure. They are also slow to accept change and rarely are the first to try to something new. Guardians are trustworthy and usually easygoing and are very good at keeping things running smoothly in almost all facets of their lives. I think most of that relates to me very much, especially in the way that I stick to and enjoy routine and how I resist most change.// c. Give some famous examples of your personality type according to the test ... how do you relate? //Jimmy Stewart, George Washington, John D. Rockefeller and Clara Barton are all example of Guardians, and I feel I relate to most of them very much, because they strove to help people, which is very important to me. (I'm a little curious about Rockefeller, what with that Robber Baron stuff and whatnot.) Jimmy Stewart, although an actor, was very philanthropic, is often described as one of the kindest men in Hollywood, and worked very hard at his chosen occupation and during World War II as a pilot. Clara Barton was a teacher and nurse during the Civil War and is best known for starting the Red Cross.// d. Searching the page, locate where the Keirsey site suggests ideal jobs for you; how well does education match these suggestions - if not at all, what job(s) fit best? //Guardians enjoy working on teams where every member pulls their own weight and where they can help others, which definitely sounds like a match for teaching to me. This personality type also genuinely cares for the people they work with, which is very important when dealing with students.//
 * PERSONAL Q's:**

a. Take the test, then (if you feel comfortable) post the coordinates of your location. //Economic Left/Right: 2.88 // // Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -0.82 // b. Considering the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election, who are you closest to - if this is surprising, how so? //I'm really not close to any of them, but at a stretch, Ron Paul and John Edwards. The former isn't surprising, the latter is a bit, but they are both north of the horizontal access on the right, while I am below it.// c. Click [|this link]to find the analysis of the vertical and horizontal spectrum test ... who historically and internationally do you best identify with? //It appears I identify with Ron Paul and Ayn Rand, and the international chart does not have any entries for my quadrant.// d. In a paragraph, how does this relatively simple (but better than most other tests) exercise illustrate the diversity of belief and reality of compromise in our political system? Further, how can our (essentially) 2-party system function in a healthy manner? //This test illustrates that people are ultimately much more complicated than the brands "Republican" and "Democrat" or even "conservative" and "liberal", which is probably something we should all take into consider when making decisions about who we really want to elect. Simply choosing someone from the party you believe you align closest to isn't enough, as you may not belong in the party at all, or the candidate may be in one party or the other despite many conflicting stances. Personally, I used to believe I was much more conservative when I was younger, but I ended up placed on the compass where I knew I would be at this point in my life.//
 * POLITICAL Q's:**

//I'm not sure how the current 2-party system is ever going to get it together, but the compass shows that compromise should be easier, given how much people can fluctuate on any given issue and how fluid placement on the compass can be. While we feel our parties have both become very extreme, it is clear that most of our politicians are authoritarian and closer on the scale than we would imagine. The big decisions always stand out for their extremes, but taken all together, most politicians are very close to one another, and this// //should__ function as a way to come to compromise.//


 * Week Six: Should Columbus Day Be Celebrated?**

This is an incredibly complicated question, and one that many people don't realize they aren't aware enough to answer. Because many elementary/secondary schools focus on Columbus as a way to introduce the New World and begin American history, most people don't know until college that there were many negative effects that resulted from Columbus' exploration. While things such as slavery and disease and mistreatment of the Native Americans/Indians come into play as America is established, it's funny to me that these things are left out of this era of history.

I don't really have a problem with Columbus Day being celebrated, because most don't even recognize it as a "real" holiday. We all go to work and school (right? Unless I'm unaware of people observing this) and actual celebration is relegated to small areas, where it is viewed as an ethnic holiday, as Josh discussed in class. Maybe this is a matter of semantics, but I feel that the day is more a celebration of an idea than an individual man and the positives and negatives of what he did. Personally, I feel that using Columbus as a figurehead for admiration or condemnation at all is a bit off, as he was sponsored by a monarchy. He may have been in it for the money and glory, and been a jerk (see his journal entries in Zinn), but so were most of the people who lived in countries concerned with building an empire. Something I always try to remember when I'm studying history is the context of the time. We can discuss, perhaps judge, and learn from it, but we also have to put ourselves in the situation to understand it.

That isn't to say that I don't find this situation to have value for a moral discussion, because I very much do. There is a lot that can be discussed here in terms of genocide and imperialism and basic right and wrong, and I think all of those things should be incorporated into any lesson teaching Columbus. What I prefer to take away from this debate, and what is also the point I took away from Zinn's chapter, is that to condemn or celebrate Columbus (or the idea he represents) are two sides of a coin that can only be viewed at the same time if balanced. Perspective in history is one of the most important things we need to keep in mind as educators, both from the point of view of the victors and the victims. As I mentioned in my first paragraph, so many people are unaware of the perspective of the native people that Columbus stumbled upon, and that, for me, is the real point.


 * Week Five: Defining Curriculum**

1. Formal Curriculum: My lesson plan for last Thursday, which introduced soldier slang as a part of Civil War battlefield culture Delivered Curriculum: When talking about a theme in an Edgar Allan Poe short story, a student brings up another horror story/novel with the same theme, which helps to explain the point of the lesson without being something the teacher intended to cover Learned Curriculum: A student quoting a line from a speech by Abraham Lincoln that was presented in class on Facebook Hidden Curriculum: Students forming the opinion that representatives from the military giving out information in schools is bad, based on their teacher's decision to not allow them to present in her classroom Null Curriculum: The Modern Middle East, it would seem, haha. Also, pop culture, which can have as much bearing on what kids learn and retain as anything taught in the classroom (in good ways and bad ways)

2. The diagram of the hierarchy of curriculum suggests that, in the grand scheme of things, the teacher's input is not a large part of the equation. This is a paradox, given that, of all of members of the hierarchy, only students and teachers are in the classroom every day, working with the material and each other. Most of the national/state standards that dictate the majority of what will be taught in the classroom is decided on by politicians and special interest groups. More local requirements are overseen by school boards and administration, leaving the majority of teacher input to reside actually in the classroom and with unit/lesson plans. This can be a good thing, as they decide how students will learn on a day to day basis, but if they have received a curriculum that is flawed or missing crucial information, they start out the year struggling before even stepping foot into the classroom. This isn't to say that teachers can't band together to be more involved on a school or district-wide basis, but their effectiveness can often be impaired by politics, which most people/groups have trouble overcoming.


 * Week Four:** The Modern Middle East

A. I took World History at MSU a couple of years ago, so my knowledge of the modern Middle East is rather lacking because I've forgotten most of it. I remember more about its ancient history, in terms of how racial/religious tensions became so embroiled, but I very much need and want to know more about the history over the last century or so. This includes history, but also the economies, as I know nothing about that, and the geography because I could always use a refresher on that.

B. I feel that modernity in countries that are still developing exists on a sliding scale. What is modern for them is probably something we take for granted here, and what is modern for us is still in the works for them. In terms of calling the region the "Middle" East, this is also a matter of perspective, as this description exists for us because of our geographic location. Geographically, people who live in the Middle East do not have this perspective.

C. Learning about this area and its history is incredibly important for students in the United States because we are now so caught up in conflicts that stem far back into history. That history is ours and theirs, sometimes overlapping, and sometimes not. Our economies are also interconnected at this point, which will have ramifications for the future. Overall, I feel that this area is often glossed over in standard social studies classes, which is ironic given how much bearing the events there have on our lives here, in many different ways.


 * Week Three:** Planning, Managing and Motivating

A. Scope and sequence, in education, outline how broad a state thinks the curriculum of a school should be, and in what order that content should be presented to a class. After abiding by state requirements, school districts can then create their scope and sequence to include additional content that they feel is important. Some schools allow their teachers to create the scope and sequence of their classes, while others plan these things for their teachers.

B. Working in a school that predetermines its scope and sequence can be a disadvantage because the teacher cannot devote extra time to things that they feel are important (especially when they are new and have just experienced what is necessary to know to succeed in college). This constraint can be annoying or feel counterproductive as well. For example, a long-standing curriculum could be boring to the students and without having the independence to change the scope/sequence, a teacher can't as easily introduce new topics that may motivate the students into learning more. However, having the scope/sequence predetermined makes things easier for new teachers in a couple of ways. When entering your first classroom, teaching a standard that you didn't have to make up (with little experience) can take off some of the pressure of being a new teacher. Additionally, new teachers can ask others in their department for help with lesson plan and teaching ideas because they have already taught the same material.

C. Not having a predetermined scope and sequence can be very freeing to new teachers, who can be brimming with ideas and techniques that they can't wait to try, but also need independence with the material they are teaching. On the other hand, a new teacher could be very overwhelmed by having to create the curriculum of a class that they have never taught before. Not having a strong outline of what works can lead to unorganized lessons and poor classroom management.


 * Week Two:** Lesson Planning

I think that a lesson plan can take on a much broader meaning than the typical "outline of a lesson for a particular class, to teach a particular aspect of the curriculum" definition. Lesson plans can be short and concise and aim to teach something very brief, or they can be composed of a whole unit or semester's worth of information, to convey many themes of a subject. A small inspiration like a quote or a movie can act as the beginnings of a lesson plan. Teachers need them to stay organized in terms of what they want to teach and what they have to teach by the rules of the state and school curriculum that they are working with. They can also be very helpful in determining the flow of a class period and for marking how much time is needed to get an idea across.

While these outlines are something I very much want to learn how to effectively create, I also look at them as just that: outlines. As helpful as they are, they can only account for the foreseeable variables that a teacher can manipulate in the classroom. They don't necessarily account for students needing extra time or a different aspect of the material in order to really grasp what is going on. Alternatively, they also may not include great ideas that the students themselves may have for a project idea or a topic of discussion/insightful point that may have been something the teacher had never considered (my high school English teacher called this example a "genius point" and she kept tallies of them on a small whiteboard with the student's name, haha).

A. My favorite memory from high school social studies was 10th grade US History. I had always found the subject interesting, but in this course, our teacher encouraged us to research what we were interested in as opportunities for extra credit. I ended up looking into the conspiracies behind JFK's assassination and learned a lot while also becoming incredibly intrigued in the fact/fiction of history.
 * Week One:**

B. My worst memory from high school social studies was 9th grade World Civilizations. I found it very difficult to follow as it wasn't at all organized and the focus seemed to be on the most mundane points of whatever area we were studying. We watched very long movies that didn't keep anyone's interest and led to the class completely checking out.

C. As illustrated by my memories from high school, social studies can very quickly become the most boring subject to any student, if taught in such a manner. On the other hand, history also holds the keys to the most interesting and world-changing events, which impact where and how people live today. Just as one needs to know basic algebra to complete complicated problems, students need to know the beginnings of histories, cultures, geographies, economies, and timelines of the United States and countries across the world. While not everyone needs to know calculus, everyone should have the basic knowledge of why the world is the way it is, and students won't learn this sufficiently outside of social studies classes.