Lauren+Blakely

==Lesson Plans and Artifacts: Everything is re-uploaded with my name on it just in case something gets linked elsewhere, or an artifact that is not mine appears. If it does not have my name on it, it is not mine.== [] (Student Focus presentation)

My Micro Teach
My micro teach about Political Cartoons, I thought went really well. I had good, solid information that was simplified. I hit many different types of learning; oral, visual, kinectic, and I also forced students into higher order thinking. I also taught myself a bit about political cartoons and think I am better equipped with understanding, analyzing and creating them. I believe I had a good spread of republican and democratic cartoons, and was prepared content and material wise. And overall I'd like to say I killed it, even though I am aware it's not going to always be that easy. The one major critique I would have about myself is my speed. I tend to talk fast, and I can hear it when it begins and in my mind I tell myself to slow down, but for some reason once it starts, it's hard to stop. I just need to be able to conscienceously stop and take a breath. Good times to do this are when we're flipping slides or a student has a question. But when you talk so fast, students are going to have a hard time writing down all the important side notes that were not necessaricly put on the slide show. I should also look up categories that are most talked about in political cartoons, because to be honest I really do not know the details of super-pacs, and that's why i pushed back on Jim to tell us, because I would not have been able to. So in that sense just becoming more aware of everything you may run into. Just some simple questions or problems that could arise. What if someone becomes offended by the political cartoons. I think this problem would be averted by the spread of democratic and republican cartoons I had. I think it also very important if a student were to take issue, to remind the student that an author is using exaggerated images to express an opinion. Another problem that I had thought about before I taught the lesson, was what about the student who creates the extremely inappropriate cartoon. I know that it wouldn't be a problem in the 007 class, but in high school you never know who might want to be the smart ass of the day. I thought of Santorum and his gay remarks, or Newt and his affairs, and all though these are legitimate concerns, they can be imaged in very inappropriate ways. As of now, all I could think of doing is patrolling while students are drawing and nixing any issue early. If it somehow passes by, simply and quickly addressing it, and then speaking to the students afterwards. But I feel like it's very easy to talk about what I would do, but in reality I have no clue what I would really do.

Teaching the Terrible
When teaching the terrible, a teacher must keep many factors in consideration. Each class has a different mix of students, and each class might have to be taught differently. I believe small group discussion with personal reflections are much more intimate than large group discussions when teaching such sensitive subjects. I think smaller groups also are more comforting than larger groups, especially for those who are shy. And a personal reflection afterwards also speaks to those students who still did not feel comfortable speaking out loud, or who did not get to say every single thing they wanted. But with small groups, I do believe the teacher needs to be more alert, joining the groups, and doing rounds. Just too make sure students stay on task and are being respectful of each other. Teachers do not ever want to teach a lesson where a student walks away feeling disrespected. In order to make sure a conversation is generated a teacher may want to show clips, hand out guiding questions, or while joining groups throw some ideas out to get students thinking. These questions could consist of: how do you think the people of the time felt, if this were to happen today?, how would you feel?, What social injustice do you think is being done?, Do you think the world, leaders, etc. did enough to stop it?, What do you think should have been done?. It's also important for a teacher to humanize themselves, and show that they have feelings about the situation as well. By modeling their thoughts, hopefully students will do the same as well. I think also having a back up plan to teaching the terrible, in case all else fails is also good. If small groups do not work, the personal reflection is there to take time up. If students are just refusing to participate, wait time I think is especially important. There is a reason that the students do not want to speak, and maybe with teaching the terrible that needs to be respected. I do not think this is a topic that you can respectfully push students to speak out loud about, but I think it is a good place to teach students to speak up for what they believe. And that can be simply stated if students are just resisting. But I haven't had an experience yet, where all the students just refuse. Eventually one will speak, and then the rest will chime in. I also think subjects about teaching the terrible are the ones where you get the most participation. The terrible sparks more emotions than Lord of the Flies would. The terrible is around us all the time. Terrible events are occurring even presently, that students need to be aware of. They need to be aware of the killings and tyranny in Syria, but they also need to be aware of the starvation in Somalia (which isn't a terrible violent action, but still terrible). So in order to get students talking about the violent injustices that humans inflict on one another, like the Holocaust, get the students started early talking about the injustices that mother nature inflicts on humans, like the Famine in Somalia. And hopefully by second semester students are comfortable enough in the classroom to talk about the heart of the issue, with out hesitation.

Teacher Panel Post
I think over all the panel was good, but emotionally I wasn't really attracted. I would have liked to hear more "horror stories" and how they resolved any conflict, especially during their internship year. Even when they talked about topics like classroom management, I didn't feel like there were any personal stories, just tips in what to do and how to do it. I would say their struggles in finding a job though is probably what worried me the most. I would say over all though they all had a very cool demeanor, and they didn't seem to get their panties in a bunch with the problems that they presented. They all seemed extremely cool and collected with the situations presented. Like I said earlier I would have preferred to hear more about their internship year and not so much about after it, just because my worry right now isn't my actual concern right now, but my next year work is.

I don't know who I would relate more with on the panelist board. They all had traits that I feel I could relate to. I really don't aspire to be like them, other than to aspire to be as successful as them. This panel was short and I didn't feel enough of a personal connection to say I'm like one, or would want to aspire to be one. I'm sure they are all great, but you can never know unless you watch them in their classroom. And to be quite honest the only thing they made me think about is the first day of school and dealing with parents. They all had some good information, but I don't feel like I have created a legacy or identity in my mind off of this panel. They have some good procedural ideas, but I didn't draw my identity from what they had to say.

**Ethical Post**
** A. What is the difference between cultural relativism and ethical relativism? Give an example of each. **

Cultural relativism is the acknowledgment everyone has different beliefs, values, and morals (or lack there of). Ethical relativism, deals with cultural relativism, but says there is no logic for a divergence in beliefs, and that everyone should live by the morals they themselves hold.

In a pluralistic society I believe it is more important to be more culturally relative, than ethically. From what I was deriving from the paper, so hopefully it is right, when one is ethically relative, a superiority complex begins to emerge. In a country that is pluralistic, conflict occurs when one culture claims superiority (for instance the civil rights movement). That way by being culturally relevant, over ethically, it seems that a more tolerant, accepting community is built.
 * B. In a pluralistic society such as ours, why or why not is ethical relativism a desirable way to think about ethical issues? **

** C. Specifically thinking about “teaching the terrible” in social studies classrooms, how might ethical relativism prevent (or enable, if you can make the argument) a meaningful analysis of events such as the war crimes of the Nazi regime? ** I think if you study the Nazi regime ethically, all one has to say is they were wrong, but by studying it culturally, students would have to dig deeper into the thoughts and ideas of the regime. They would have to study and understand why the Nazi's held the certain culture they did, and how that affected their actions.

(I may be way off on all these, I was a little confused with the paper)

**Week 6**
- Gloria Ladson-Billings' conception of a Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: a) Briefly summarize Gloria Ladson-Billings' conception of a Culturally Relevant Pedagogy. b) What do you find especially helpful or troubling about the claims being made?
 * Choice 2 **

 Gloria Ladson-Billings defines Cultrally Relevant Pedagogy as an opposition committed to collective, not merely individual, empowerment through three ideas: academic success, maintaining cultural competence, and developing a critical consciousness.

Academic success: Ladson-Billings says that as teachers we want students to "choose" academic success, and one one to do this is to stop making them feel good at start tailoring our work to students' academic needs. I see it a lot in my placement, teachers just giving students points left and right and holding their hand through assignments so they can just get it done. Instead of holding their hand, I would like to see teachers address their students needs more. They are only crippling the student by making them feel good. Ladson-Billings also points out an example where at teacher plays to her students personalities by challenging them to find ideas and concepts that were meanigful and useing their power to influence their peers. I believe playing to the personalities of your students is extremly important to filling their academic needs.

Maintain Cultural Competence: I agree with needing students to maintain their culture, and that some schools can be hostile to different cultures. I believe code switching is extremly important, and the acceptance of dialouges other than standard english is also important in order to respect students cultures. I believe though that saying schools that don't allow sagging pants or a hat rule is done to create a hostile enviroment towards the African American culture. I don't even believe you could say sagging pants is part of the African-American culture, it is just a style of dress many people choose. It is originated in prison, it is not a culture I believe we should grasp onto and accept. When it comes to dress in schools, I am a huge supporter of uniforms, but saying that the African-American who gets a dress code violation for saggy pants and hat, is not because of the hostile biases towards his culture. I think Ladson-Bilings stretched that point to an extreme.

Developing Critical Consciousness: This is extremely important in all students. Students need to be taught the order of higher thinking no matter what race or social class. When there is an injustice anywhere, students should be questions it. Are youth should constantly be trying to better themselves and their environment and sometimes that can't be done without questioning.

Overall Ladson-Billings makes extremely good points. But I have to say that this is not just lacking in the school predominantly African American. These are lacking in all low-income schools, urban and rural, and even sometimes suburban schools seem to be missing the boat on cultural relevant pedagogy. These three ideas should be utilized in every classroom, no matter what the culture and race. By emphasizing on these three points teachers would hopefully have an easier time teaching and students an easier time learning.

Week 7 Two teaching strategies used in Coung's lesson were cooperative learning and lecture. I believe the cooperative learnig was much more effective than the lecture. It allowed us to self teach which helped me remember the content better. The cool thing about the lecture though was the point of view Coung used. You dont often hear about the side of the Vietnamese. During the role play discussion i believe allowing us to research our character instead of watching the movie would have been more helpful and productive. I really found that the video did not contain enough information.

Week 2
A part of cooperative learning is letting students present/promote the part of the project they did. I think a very simple solution to keeping students accountable for their portion of the work, would be to simply have students present only their assigned part. If the student does not have the information he/she was supposed to have, simply record that and move on. Students should know the expectations of the assignment, and it becomes their choice whether to do it or not. I believe if you clearly state the rubric, expectations, and procedures to the lesson/project, there is no problem having the group record if someone did not do their share. I then do not believe that the group should be punished for the individual that did not do their share. In co-operative learning that we are doing, we are in a group, but we are doing very individual work. So to summarize all that: students present only their part of the project, and if it is not completed it will be recorded that a specific group member did not pull their own weight. I believe this could be a solution to making group work less stressful.

Week 1
The article about media in today's world, establishes the influence quite well, bringing up many grande points. Although I do agree that students may almost be to intertwined with technology, I also believe that teachers need to start upgrading their styles of teaching. In my 302 class we concentrated a lot on '21st century teaching'. This video has always stuck out in my mind.

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If we want students to begin locating countries and states, we need to do what interests them. Games, but not just board games. Electronic games that are interactive, it seems as if students need a screen. They have been raised with a screen in front of them. Just talking at students does not work well anymore. Give the students a visual, a fun hook, something that they would do in their own time, to tie their life into the classroom more.

If I were teaching an American History class, hands down I would use the John Adams series on HBO. I think not only does it follow one of the greatest presidents, but it also depicts colonists life, role of the women and family, the way, the congressional conventions. You get a little taste of everything, and on top of that I believe it is the best presented series out there.

Reflection **Week 14**
1. Locate and link to an “old” map (define that however you want) that you consider clearly distorted … but this is more complex than a simple exercise in googling images or copying anyone else from class:  a. Try to locate the map’s date, authorship, nationality, language, and other background information.  b. Explain the distortion that you see AND explain WHY the distortion exists according to the question on the top of page 23 in Segall’s piece //Maps As Stories About The World//.

This map was created by Thomas Bradford in 1835. He was from America, I'm thinking English ancestry from his last name, but I could not find anywhere to say for sure. He is the creator of one of the first Atlas' though! And many of his maps are very famous. In this map, I feel like it is okay to say that there is clear distortion. The west coast of Michigan has been sliced down and the Wisconsin Peninsula has seemed to gain a few acres. The mitten seems a little swollen as well, and our state appears to be tilting, which may be due to the missing West coast. I find this funny that the West coast is missing, because this was the period where the western coast was being settled, so it was not uncharted territory, but maybe being new territory caused the distortion. The cartographers were not knowledgeable of the area, causing the distortion. Also, having the huge lake may have cause some troubling times creating maps. It is hard to tell how large a state is, I can only imagine trying to measure the size and shape of a lake without an eagle eye view.

2. a. Of the following maps, which one do you find most accurate and why: I think Miller's Cylindrical map is the most accurate. Gall's map totally distorts Africa, amongst other things. Peter's map is too small to really tell anything about it. And by curving the countries, as if they were on a globe (in Mollewiede's map) makes some countries look smaller than I believe they actually are. Miller's Cylindrical map, although flat, I believe represents the best size and placement of the continents. I am aware that the article said flat maps are most distorted, but I believe are best proportioned to teach. But then again, no map will ever be able to represent the globe spot on, so they are all distorted.  b. The proposed lesson were said to be for upper elementary, yet they could work well in a graduate school; they have great utility. What of the proposed lessons do you find most helpful in teaching the constructed nature of maps and WHY? I think activity 5 is the most helpful and versatile for any grade. You can make this activity age appropriate, but comparing old world and new world maps is useful in any grade level. In younger grades it is good to show basic maps, and teach about how old cartographers didn't really know exactly what the world looked like. And once airplanes and satellites popped up, it became easier to represent the world. But with older students you can really dive into the activity and start asking the questions. Why did these two authors represent Spain differently even though the maps came out the same year, why were some cartographers so off in old world maps, what is still wrong with new world maps. It is such a versatile lesson, I think it is the most useful.

**Reflection Week 13**
<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Pick one of the following units: **Prohibition all my activities would be useful hooks except for interpersonal activity** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">B. Propose a lesson, activity, or what-have-you that addresses the following mode of learning:

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">a. Kinetic Activity: A good hook for a kinetic activity for Prohibition would deal with banning something, like during Prohibition. You could have students walk in and ban all blue pens. You could make students get their pens out and confiscate all of them, claiming they caused poor work. Hopefully there would be a mix of backlash and well as subservience. This way students are feeling, possibly in a lesser degree the same frusteration that those during prohibition experienced, and hopefully through this will be able to connect to the lesson.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">b. Solo-Reading: This is an article of the pros and cons of drug prohibition, which I believe is similar to our past prohibition. []

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">c. Music: Alcohol Blues- 1919 Bill Murray

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<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">d. Interpersonal: <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">I would give students each a paper with a vital role from the Temperance Movement. Some people might get specific leaders for instance (Wayne Wheeler, Lyman Beecher (both activists in the Temperance Movement) or Rabbi Wise, Emil Rother (both anti-temperance leaders)) Other students would receive general roles like factory, middle class worker who goes to the saloon after work, house wife to the husband at the saloon, house wife to a family with no alcohol problems, general store owner, a German immigrant. All specific roles that had a stand on the Temperance Movement. I would then hold a "city council" meeting, where the leaders from both sides would give speeches about their stance and the general public would support or boo and also be given a chance to state their grievances. I would act as the town mayor. The students would be given the roles in advanced with links to help their searches about their roles.

**Reflection Week 11**
<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">1. What is the difference between (objectively) describing a controversy and (subjectively) engaging in one? Describe and define in contrasting terms, in your words, don't copy and paste from the web. ;) **

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Objectively describing a controversy is similar to listing a set of facts. Avoiding colorful and exaggerated adjectives could be a potential way in staying objective, and omitting feelings is also pertinent. When describing a controversy, a teachers tone also needs to be kept "lecture type". Monotone isn't necessary, but getting worked up or really excited might show how you lean in the issue. When you begin to engage in a controversy though you begin to express feelings and begin to use adjectives, even if you do not notice. When people begin to discuss and analyze controversial situations, people start becoming more passionate in trying to get their side across. In a classroom though, the atmosphere needs to be open, and yes you have your opinion, but let's see what else is out there. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">2. How does a teacher’s ability to maintain an impartial tone help students engage in critical thinking and productive interaction? How does loaded language prevent social and education progress in classroom? **

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">When leading a controversial discussion as teacher, you need to remember not all the students think or feel the way you may. And my staying impartial, it make the situation more comfortable for everyone, no matter what their opinion. Students are more comfortable disagreeing with their peers than they are their teacher. Especially if a teacher responds to a students remark that may not agree with the teachers, the teacher needs to to make sure they don't have a condescending tone. I believe the best role for teachers in a controversial discussion is to objectivly describe it and then let the student subjectivly engage, only there to mediate and add guiding questions. This way, students will hopefully feel more comfortable expressing their opinions, knowing that the teacher is not going to "look down" upon them if they disagree about a point. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">3. a. Explain why it is imperative that educators are able to maintain impartial tones and objective dispositions within the class room. ** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">b. Give a positive example (either based off of something real or hypothetical) of how you as teacher could handle controversy as it pertains to the upcoming 2012 election (you will be teaching in an election year, wink). E.g. One student yells at another OR students claims, nihilistically, that studying politics is a waste of time… got? **

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">I would say I answer question 3 within question 2. I think in the upcoming election year it will be very important to look at candidates and party platforms and allow students to analyze each subject, before any controversial discussion would happen. Therefore I am hopefully preventing students from pulling comments out of there ass and participating as well informed participants. But in the likely hood that students do get out of hand, how I would handle the situation would be dependent on the class. I was in an AP Us History class where during a debate two students started a back and forth firing match, that led them toe to toe, but they both stayed with facts, even though they were in each others faces basically screaming, and my teacher let in go on a for a minute. And I don't disagree with how she handled this, no students were being personally attacked and both stayed their ground only stating facts. It worked out well though mainly because of the small class we had. In a normal 25 person class, if two students became toe to toe with each other during a discussion or debate, I would probably stop the discussion, let the students cool themselves, and then let each one try and explain their stance. No rebuttle, just a stance clean and clear, and then move on to other students. I think that each situation though depends on the class and depends on the students, and could be handled in a numerous different ways.

**Reflection Week 9**
A. What obstacles and excuses exist to teaching about controversial topics? The obstacles and excuses that exist to teaching about controversy, seem to be few, but big ones. The biggest excuse teachers use is the time issue. It is true that in order to set up a thoughtful discussion, lesson, or debate time is needed. But teaching about controversy could even be something little, like having students write how they feel and then pair and share (this could even be used as a hook). Another reason teachers steer away from teaching about controversy, is because how closely they teach from the textbook. Textbook authors pick and choose what content they add to their books, which leads to textbooks favoring the majority. This can lead to very smooth lessons, especially in classrooms that have menial amounts of minority representation. The biased textbooks leave out controversy all in all.

B. According to Werner, is controversy worth addressing? Why or why not? Controversy is worth addressing in the classroom even though limitations on it are abundant. One of the jobs as a social educator is teaching students to think critically about politics and public issues and introducing the controversy that does exist in social studies (to ignore it would be a misrepresentation of history). These two jobs as educators are clearly stated in Werner's article, and are reasons why we should be teaching controversy in our classrooms.

C. Interact with the text: how do you envision your future practice as a teacher relating to controversy? I believe Werner is correct when he says it would be a misrepresentation of social studies to not teach controversy. Like stated in the first question, I believe that slipping small activities into every lesson that result in critical thinking and analyzing "issues" found in the unit is important. I believe if we foster critical thinking and allow students to speak their mind and feel comfortable doing it, teaching controversy will come naturally, and it will not have to be a huge ordeal. On top of that though, I do still believe taking time to plan classroom debates and discussions is also important, but is not needed every unit, if you are doing some opening and closing activities. Pair and shares and personal reflections are two easy ways we can teach students to take a stand, and speak their mind, making it comfortable for them to talk about controversy. It's an important issue, and teachers need to stop straying from it.

__**PERSONAL Q's:**__
a. What is your temperament type, what are the specific letters associated with it, e.g. INTP? b. In your own words, summarize the personality type in a paragraph or so. c. Give some famous examples of your personality type according to the test ... how do you relate? 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?
 * __POLITICAL Q's:__** *(This can be kept to yourself, but be sure to answer these in electronic writing to show your instructor that you have done this.) a. Take the test, then (if you feel comfortable) post the coordinates of your location. b. Considering the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election, who are you closest to - if this is surprising, how so? c. Click [|this link]to find the analysis of the vertical and horizontal spectrum test ... who historically and internationally do you best identify with? 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

My temperment type was an Idealist (NF). An idealist to me, kind of seems like someone who is 'one with themselves' type person. They are very peaceful, kind hearted, strive for fullfill their fullest potential, nuture others, hold themselves to a high integritiy, enthusiastic and do not like conflict. To be honest, they kind of seem like a modern day hippie. Which is fine, I was just kind of surprised. I feel like I am totale opposite. I am blunt, sometimes mean, sometimes do not mind conflict, so I was a little surprised by me being an idealist. I do though believe in striving for the best in myself and I am very enthusiastic about what I want to accomplish and strive until my goals are met. Some famous idealists are Ghandi, Oprah, Princess Diana, and George Orwell. I do not relate to Ghandi, other than with enthusiasm to accomplish his goals. But I heard Princess Diana was sometimes mean, so that's kind of relatable and well George Orwell seemed to like to cause some ruckus and I also like to stir things up. Some jobs include teachers, counslers, mediators, artists, and entertainers, other jobs are those in leadership positition. This personality trait is ideal for those going into education.

After doing this test I laid right on the socialism line and about four points south of the cross. Meaning I am pretty on, as a Libertarian. I am not surprised so much, but I did think I would lean more right in terms of economic issues, because I would say I am pretty conservative when it comes to fiscal issues. There was really no one close to my dot, but Ghandi and the Dali Lama were the closest, which also matches up with my personality quiz. To be honest when I looked at the history analysis (and I believe I looked at the right one) majority of the historical icons were in a cluster in the Authoritarian Right quadrant, showing not much diversity and more controling personalities than expected. I mean granted there is natural diversity amongst that clump, and there are a few oddball icon, like Ghandi and the Dali Lama that do not fit in, but for the most part there is no real great suppotr for diversity in government from what this chart shows.

**Reflection Week 7**

 * Columbus Day History**
 * Day 1**

Topic: Intro and Native People in the Americas
 * Objectives:** There were people before Columbus


 * Event:** Introduce the next two weeks and have students fill out a KWL chart on their previous knowledge of Columbus. Questions students want to know will be properly addressed throughout the next two weeks.

Short lecture on the indigenous people from the island. Small clips from Columbus’ journal describing their way of life will be used.


 * Assessment:** There will be a prior knowledge activity


 * Day 2**

Topic: The beginning of Columbus


 * Objectives:** Learn about Columbus’ past and what his original mission was
 * Event:** Short video on Columbus’ heritage, mission and voyage. Students will be given guided notes to fill out during the video. []

Students will partner up and half will create their own proposition to a king a queen. Sheet would include how many men, ships, supplies needed, and what would happen to the land that was found. Then they will “proposition” their partner, who is the king and queen.


 * Assessment:** Observation of each group propositioning one another and the guided notes will be turned in to see if students were able to complete them


 * Day 3**

Topic: Columbus in the Americas


 * Objectives:** Columbus’s days on the island


 * Events:** Pull out KWL charts and ask students what they have been taught happened on the islands Christopher Columbus Inhabited. Short lecture on what Columbus did on the island, settled the Indies. Do a jigsaw activity with different diary entries. Diary entries will be simple and more in the positive light. Have students discuss these have discuss how they think life was.


 * Assessment:** At the end of class students will write a one paragraph reflection what they thought of the diary entry they were given

Columbus Day History
 * Day 4:** How the others saw Columbus


 * Objectives:** To learn the other side of Columbus and not what has been created by curriculum
 * Event:** Students will break up into groups again and each will be given a video to watch from []. Readings from Bartolome` De las Casa. We will come back together as a class and talk about what the students just heard, did they know that there was mistreatment on the island. Hand out more Columbus Diary entries that are geared more towards the actions Columbus admits to.


 * Assessment:** Students will have an exit card with one thing new they did not know about Columbus otherwise


 * Day 5:** Debate on Columbus


 * Objectives:** Participate in a meaningful debate


 * Event:** Split the class into two groups. Within the two groups there will be a Columbus as a hero and Columbus as a villain. Groups will be chosen at random and students will be forced to debate with sides they might not agree on. For the first half of class each side will prepare a debate, all resources may be used, books, computers, readings. The second half of the debate will be on whether we should portray him as a villain or hero


 * Assessment:** Students will be assigned an essay reflection. Do they believe Columbus should be a hero or a villain? Was the debate helpful?


 * Day 6:** The affect on the Indians


 * Objectives:** What happened to the Natives


 * Events:** Role playing. Each group will be given a situation in which Natives died. They will be given time to create a skit that portrays that form of death. Examples could be slave labor, diseases, murder


 * Assessment:** Did students properly reenact the situation they were given, were they in character?


 * Day 7:** The aftermath of Columbus


 * Objectives:** What happened to Columbus after the original settling?


 * Event:** PowerPoint lecture on Columbus’ second and third voyages and what happened to him when Francesco Bobadillo arrived, the poor conditions of the island, and the arrest of Columbus. Then a group discussion, how would you like to live on the island? Would you trust Bobadillo, another Spaniard coming in? What do you think a suitable punishment would be? Do you think the same thing would have happened if it wasn’t Columbus?
 * Assessment:** Have students gather events that are similar to Columbus and the west indie islands and bring them to class. Examples would be the colonists in America


 * Day 8:** Conclusion


 * Objectives:**


 * Events:** Students will be given a short quiz on facts of Columbus. T/F, multiple choice, and fill in the blanks will be given. It will end in a essay of how Columbus and what they learned, how they feel about Columbus day, and should Americans celebrate Columbus Day?


 * Assessment:** Formal quiz and essay to be turned in by the end of class

**Reflection Week 6**

 * "Should Columbus Day be celebrated?"**

I think there is a necessity in not so much celebrating Columbus himself, but the day that America was found. I think with in celebrating that a lesson should be taught on who found America, and the preceding events after that. If Columbus would not have found America, somebody else would, and who knows if they would have treated the Indians the same, history tells me that if it was a white man I have no doubt they would have. That is why I say celebrate that event of finding America, the who is not as important, if it wasn't Columbus it would have been someone else. Once you touch base on American being founded, you can dive a little deeper into what actually happened when America was found. You explain that many indigenous people to the island were enslaved and died off, that the treatment by the white people was all but horrid, and that we did not "find" America, we took it over. I think balancing this lesson is hard, like someone in class said, without Columbus we wouldn't be here. I mean that's a little far fetched, someone would have found it, and then we would owe our gratitude to them. That's why I believe we should celebrate the event of finding America and not so much the person.

**Reflection week 5**
e.g. Learned Curriculum: an example would be such and such... (you can use this grid on the wiki to help you be creative: http://thefacultylounge.wikispaces.com/Types+of+Curriculum )
 * 1)** Give an example of each type of curriculum discussed in the reading. You can do just give a heading and a written example, don't worry about paragraphs.
 * 2)** Answer this question in paragraph form: What does figure 1.2 (Curriculum and the Stake Holder diagram) tell you about a teacher's position in the "Hierarchy of Curriculum Influence?" - what roles does the teacher really play with curriculum?

1. **Formal Curriculum:** could be in the form of a syllabus
 * Delivered Curriculum:** could be an unplanned discussion or a planned powerpoint
 * Learned Curriculum:** After your lesson on financial decisions, students know how to balance a check book
 * Hidden Curriculum:** After a lesson on Communism from an American textbook, students believe that everyone lives poorly
 * Null Curriculum:** In aCatholic Religion class you are not taught the similarities amongst all religions

2. The Curriculum and Stakeholder Diagram seems to show a clear message that when it comes to teaching and planning curriculum, teachers might not have much of a say. They can plan a unit plan, but even then it appears that administrators and parents are butting into their lesson plans, maybe telling them how to teach or telling them what needs to be added. It seems that the teachers do all the dirty work, being pushed around by everyone who tells them what's right, even if they may have never stepped in a classroom themselves. If I were given the chance to change this diagram, I believe that teachers, along with curriculum leaders should be at the top above all elected officials and high ranking office positions. The high ranking office positions aren't really in it for the kids, just look at what is happening in Texas with their curriculum.

**Reflection Week 4**
a) what you know & want to know about the 'Modern Middle East' (e.g. Histories, worldviews, economies, geography & etc.) b) what do the terms, "Modern" & "Middle East" mean? c) Why is this subject important for citizens of the United States to study?

What I know about the Modern Middle East all comes from a class I took last year. I learned a lot about misconceptions of the modern middle east culture. The one thing that really sticks out in my mind is Umm Kulthum. She is known as one of the best singers from the early 1900's. Since girl singers weren't received positively. So her father, after discovering her talent, disguised her as a little boy and they traveled together to showcase her talent. When she about sixteen she was discovered by a then famous singer and taught classical repertoire. She soon moved on to performing famous composers music. She later met a poet named Ahmad Rami, who ended up according to the word on the street falling in love with her. His poems he wrote for her, was his true expressions of the love he had. She would have nothing to do with him though, romantically that is. Her golden peak was in the 1950's, when began performing for big crowds. She was given the highest honors by the King Farouk I in 1944 for her talent. Kulmuth performed mainly in Eygpt, but was so popular majority of hte people in the Middle East listened. She was like amongst everyone, and when on, she brought towns together. People would gather around whatever radio they could find when she came on. For a moment the people of the middle east came together. Below is a short youtube clip of her singing.

[]

Modern to me, when speaking of the Middle East, is the time when Napoleon left Egypt. That's when I learned it as, but to others Modern Middle East begins when World War 1 ends and so does the Ottoman Empire (which was the Empire that expanded over Majority of the Middle East and into Northern Africa in the begging)

[] (that's the empire just before it broke up!)

The term Middle East to me basically means a region to me. There are so many different cultures that you couldn't pin it as that. So to me it is simply a region where a handful of countries are found.

The Middle East is important not only because the students should learn about all the main regions in the world, but because of the effects the Middle East has had on the world and vice versa. The world has shaped the Middle East into what it is now. And America has had a huge part of what people like to call the "mess". Since the Middle East is one of our main points of interest in Foreign Affairs, it should not only be taught in history but government as well. Not only that but culturally, students need to learn that there are more things in life than eating a hotdog. They should know that in some regions hotdogs don't even exist in many homes. So for many reasons is learning about the Middle East important to the kids.

= = = = = = =**Reflection Week 3**= //A. Planning, Managing, and Motivating// asserts that “Without planned units, daily lessons lack focus.” According this text, what should units be developed around? > B. Use the answer to the question A. to explain why a teacher’s practice must be theorized – why do educators have to think long and hard about teaching units? > C. What practical benefits does a thoughtfully planned unit have for teachers and students? > D. How can unit planning compliment a well-developed teaching philosophy?
 * Units should be developed around the curriculum provided but also, four elements in which lesson plans should be created around to create the best focus possible. These elements are Teacher, student, environment, and content. When planning a lesson, teachers should take these element into great consideration. They should also be developed around the essential questions that need to be asked.
 * There are many reasons teachers have to think long and hard. One simple answer is to make sure they cover the curriculum. But also the teacher needs to think about the needs of the students and the environment they are in, in order to produce a lesson that will be successful. A teacher could try and do a battle re-enactment in her classroom, but if it's too small or that year the children are to immature, there is no way it will work out. The best lesson could fail, because the four elements Schwab talks about are not all being thought about.
 * Thoughtfully planned units in short usually are successful. This means the students retain information and they understand the concepts of the unit trying to be taught. For the teachers, when a planned unit becomes successful he/she may now have a firmer grasp on what works for the classroom and what doesn't.
 * A teaching philosophy I believe creates the unit planning. Your beliefs and thoughts on how you are going to get the message of the unit across comes from the your teaching philosophy. If you follow your philosophy to a T and are passionate, units plans will surely reflect that.

**Reflection Week 2**
What is a lesson plan? Why do teachers need them? Are they always useful?

A lesson plan is a map for teachers to use to guide them through different units. Units meaning what the content that teachers believe (or more so sometimes the set curriculm believes) is important for the students to learn. It allows teacher to get their ideas down on paper and organize their thoughts before the actual unit. It also helps teachers see the goals they have set up (maybe sub consciously) and the process in which they are going to accomplish these goals. Without lesson plans, teachers would be winging ideas from class period to class period, and I'm not quite sure how successful a class would be with no set plans or goals would be. That being said, I think lesson plans are very useful if done correctly. In order for a teacher to create successful lesson plans though, they need to get to know their class. What the students like, methods in which they will learn best, what will absolutely not work. Once teachers gain an understanding of their students, lesson planning should become easier. Maybe teachers realize this year the students get more distracted than usual, so they aim for more hands on activities, the next year the students do find with big group discussion so we aim for a more inclusive student ran classroom. Although my reflection has high hopes for every lesson plan if done correctly, I am aware of the reality that some lesson plans will fail and at that time you best be on your feet or those students are going to walk all over you for the next 47 minutes.

Reflection Week 1
A) D<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">escribe and post your favorite memory from a social studies class from middle/junior/senior high school; (B) Describe and post your worst memory or experience from a social studies class from middle/junior/senior high school; and (C) Describe and post your rationale for why you want to teach social studies and what particular reasons you find compelling for having students study and learn social studies in schools.

I believe social studies, history in particular, is a very hands on subject. In all areas of social studies, hands on activities may help student stay engaged and help them retain information learned. When I was going into my senior year in high school I went to William and Mary to take a summer history class (I know pretty geeky) and it was one of the best classes I have ever taken. I know it is not possible for every high school to visit old battle fields and slave plantations, but there are field trips in every city that can be used to help enhance different lessons. Instead of strictly reading out of a text book and having discussion my classmates and I were able to travel to areas where real events took place, and having a tangible lesson like that has really ingrained what I learned that summer into my memory. I think if teachers looked around to see what their city had to offer they too could create some pretty intense hands on tangible lessons.

My worst ever social studies experience comes from 5th grade. That class was probably the worst class ever and the teacher was as boring as staring at dust. Our lessons were as predictable as they could get, the only thing that changed were the page numbers from the book. We would sit for the first half of our history class and read out of the book as a class, and then the second half she would go through the book again and basically just paraphrase what we had read. Talk about awful. Watching a still lake would have been more interesting than Mrs. Klein's fifth grade classroom. In her defense though she was a bit older, and I am sure that was how she was taught to teach, but like Sir Ken Robbins has preached, times are a changing and we have to change with them. Plus you could expect such a boring class, I can be honest and say I don't think I paid attention at all, except for the lesson about Paul Revere (I remember that one for some odd reason).

I have always wanted to teach American History, since I could last remember, but my class at William and Mary really set my mind to it. Social Studies, I'm sure is thought by many to be a boring class. But there is so much potential in the subject, teachers just aren't utilizing all the opportunities that surround them. If Social Studies teachers had to teach with out a text book, I bet classes could be so much more interesting, since many teachers who rely on text books would not have that convenience. Plus students need to know the important juicy facts of our history. They need to know where they come from to appreciate who they are.