Katelyn+Fedewa



Hi TE 407! I'm Katelyn Fedewa, I'm from a tiny town on the west side of Michigan called Saranac (it is right by Lowell and Grand Rapids). I'm a history major with an English minor, but I also have the RX endorsement so that I can teach all of Social Studies. I have taken a year of Hebrew and 2 years of Spanish because I love learning different languages. Currently I am 22 years old and a senior here at Michigan State University, as are most of us!

A few interests about me: I am a crazy obsessed Detroit Tigers fan, very close to my family (pictured below), and a huge animal advocate. I rescued a kitten named Chance who has become my world (to the point that I bought a pumpkin costume for him for this Halloween and who is pictured below). I love music, movies, and I read constantly. I enjoy anything from young adult fiction to the classics!





I am very passionate about becoming a teacher. I have always wanted to be the one to prepare students for their futures and make them as successful as they can be. I believe in trying a variety of teaching methods and always being open to better suggestions and improvement in the classroom. I chose social studies not only because it is important to prepare our students for the citizens and voters they will one day be, but because I thoroughly enjoy the subject myself. I feel to be a successful teacher you have to be passionate about the content you are teaching, and that I believe I am.

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**Reflections:**
**Reflection: Unit Planning**

Before the last few weeks I didn’t have a clue about what “unit planning” meant. The most knowledge I had about unit planning was remembering back in high school when we would talk about “Unit 3: The Civil War.” After this class I have a much better understanding of not only what unit planning is, but how to go about planning a unit. It is much broader than simply planning a lesson, but planning a lesson comes from the questions you pose while creating a unit.

My colleague correspondence is with my former high school teacher. She is amazing and one of the reasons I want to be an educator. We have been corresponding by email. I asked her how she plans a unit and this was part of her response:

Depending on the class, I do have a broad "unit plan" that I employ. For example, in AP US History, I may have a broad unit entitled "American Revolution". Within that unit, I would figure out (usually from scratch) what I would like it to encompass. For example, we would read the text, of course, but I also like using primary resources...like Joseph Plumb Martin's narrative, the writings of Thomas Paine, Jefferson, and Patrick Henry, for example, to give the kids a better perspective. Now, in English 12, we are reading excerpts of Boccaccio's __The Decameron.__ I like giving the kids some historical context, so we have been studying the plague and the lifestyle/mores that ensued as a result of that event. We do have Common Core Standards with which we are to comply, but they are fairly broad, so educators are given some latitude in terms of how to respond to/reflect them. When I teach anything (as four filled file cabinets will attest ;), I research it. Before the advent of the internet, I would spend hours at MSU's library, ironically, finding out more about the particular subject (novel/play/historical era...whatever). I still use the library, but now use (reliable) internet sources as well. I like looking at other peoples' interpretations of literature or history or whatever is studied. I also utilize texts studied from college (save your literature/history books...they are an invaluable resource sometimes).

It went on, but this was the gist. What I learned from her response is that the word “unit plan” does not have an exact definition or a perfect way to do it. What I liked most about our correspondence was her effort to include all kinds of resources and not be restricted to the textbook. I also liked her mention of having to follow “Common Core Standards” but being able to still have some leniency because they are so broad. This has been one of my fears of having to constantly teach to specific standards. Standards are important, but I like the fact that she enjoys some latitude. I really enjoyed this colleague correspondence, not only is it nice to hear from someone who is currently in the classroom, but it is nice to keep in touch. You can never have too many colleagues and resources on your side!

- = = =Reflection: Halloween Lecture =

Lecture: What’s with Halloween? – The Traditions of a Spooky Holiday (25 minutes)

Lecture will be supplemented with PowerPoint to be displayed during class


 * Hook
 * Ask students to turn to the person next to them and tell them what they are dressing up for on Halloween and why – 3 minutes
 * Then call on three students to share with the class what they are going to dress up as and why (if they are not dressing up, ask them why not?) – 2 minutes
 * Next, ask the students what Halloween traditions they know of, write them on the board as they call them out – 3 minutes
 * Ask the students why they think people dress up for Halloween? Why do people trick-or-treat? Why do they carve pumpkins? – 3 minutes
 * Hopefully someone will mention that these are all traditions – then ask, where do traditions come from?
 * Next we will watch a brief clip from The History Channel that explains the origins of Halloween – 4 minutes
 * During the clip ask the students to write everything down that sounds familiar to their current understanding of Halloween
 * media type="youtube" key="R-VRAemIvbI" height="315" width="420"
 * Then, ask students to take a few minutes to talk to their neighbor about what they saw in the video that reminded them of Halloween
 * Next have three students share with the class what they noticed – 8 minutes
 * End lecture with discussion of how tradition and history are linked
 * Definition of tradition: The transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation, or the fact of being passed on in this way
 * Ask the students how tradition and history are linked – 2 minutes
 * Hand out crossword to be turned in the next day for extra credit
 * []

Accompanying PowerPoint:



**Lesson Plans and Other Coursework:**
[|Lesson Plan - Teaching September 11.docx]

[|Lesson Plan - Ancient Egypt.docx]







Lecture on Nazi Occupation of the Western Front: Outline and Worksheet (worksheet filled in but students will be blank) - PowerPoint also included