Raise our Children's Political Awareness!

I am a teacher's assistant in two second grade classrooms.  During February, both President's Day and George Washington's birthday occur.  We will be learning about some of our former presidents and some things that each of them accomplished.  This past week I was talking with a group of students about our president and they all, as expected, could tell me that Barack Obama was our current president.  However, I did not have to even go as far back as Bill Clinton before I got some confused looks.  The children had never even heard of George W. Bush.  Considering that most of these children were born in 2007/2008, it is understandable that they do not remember having a president other than Barack Obama.  However, I find it very shocking that they have never been told about any president before Obama.  Political awareness is very important because it helps us understand why certain policies are in place and how/why they came to be (5.H.2.2).  I understand that those concepts may still be hard for a child that age to understand but, introducing them to these presidents at an early age just to familiarize them with the presidents is the first step in the child eventually developing a concrete knowledge of politics.  The attached article describes how it is not just our children who do not have a grasp on politics and our economy.  This is appropriate because it shows us that we have to start at an early age to get our children interested in politics and government because they will carry this interest and knowledge into adulthood.

http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/civics

Hopefully Social Studies and Science Curriculum are Catching Up

With today's technology in the classroom, there are plenty of programs to help student's with Math and Reading (iReady) and also to assist instructors in assessing students in these (DIBELS).  However, the technology that is being developed for Social Studies and Science is far behind that of Math and Reading.  The reason for this is because Math and Reading are generally the main subjects that are tested.  It is not the instructor's fault for this being the case, of course anyone would focus on the subjects in which they are assessed.  Job performance assessment for teachers is often directly correlated with the results of their student's tests.  These tests also provide a framework for teacher's to teach by.  If a teacher knows what content will be on the end of year math test, they will focus on those things and provide their students with the best chance for success.  Without a test to assess their students in Social Studies or Science usually, a teacher does not have the same expectations to ensure that their students have an adequate understanding of these subjects.  Between the lack of testing and the absence of proper computer programs aimed at teaching these subjects, teacher's must often brainstorm their own ideas and find their own materials to integrate these subjects into their math and reading lessons.  This creates inconsistency between classrooms and between grade levels.  The following articles talks extensively about this problem.  One of the problems that it speaks about, is Social Studies instructors feeling at a disadvantage to other subjects because of the lack of material that they can access for their classrooms. At the end of the article, Scott Ellis, the chief executive officer of The Learning Accelerator, a nonprofit that seeks to expand blended learning in schools, says that he believes that with the standards of social studies and science spreading, that the marketplace will likely catch up.



http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/01/13/adaptive-digital-curricula-lagging-in-science-social.html

Social Studies Map

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills and National Council of Social Studies have teamed up to create a Social Studies Map for educators.  This is exciting because it allows for 21st century educators to be on the same page as they try to integrate Social Studies into their curriculum.  The article that I read about this in points out many specific skills that are covered in the map, the skills include, creativity and innovation, critical thinking and problem solving, communication, collaboration, information literacy, media literacy, information and communication technologies, literacy, flexibility and adaptability, initiative and self direction, social and cross-cultural skills,
productivity and accountability, and leadership and responsibility.  These skills are necessary to develop in our students both from a professional and personal stand point.  In order for Social Studies to be clearly communicated to our children and in order for them to understand the importance of Social Studies we must continue to develop new ideas and new ways to differentiate our lessons in order to keep their interest.  As technology continues to advance, it is important to integrate that into our lessons to enable an interesting and interactive way to teach our lessons.  The article can be found at the following link:

https://thejournal.com/articles/2008/07/17/partnership-for-21st-century-skills-debuts-21st-century-skills-and-social-studies-map.aspx

Effects of Standardized Tests on Different Subjects

Hello Everyone! 

I am excited to be able to work with you all this semester in Social Studies Methods.  I am a novice blogger (this being my first blog ever) but I am also excited to communicate my thoughts with you all through blogging and also to hear what everyone has to say in their blogs.

A little about me,

My name is David Benge and I am from Mount Airy, NC.  I currently live in Mount Airy with my dog Juno.  I work as a Teacher's Assistant in 2nd grade at B.H. Tharrington Primary School.  I enjoy working with children and I am continuously amazed at the growth and development that occurs within the children at such a rapid pace.

I would like to discuss the issues on proficiency in subjects such as Social Studies that sometimes may be overlooked in education because of the belief that Math and Reading/Writing are more important.  I believe that standardized testing in these subjects has forced educators to focus more on preparing their students for a test at the end of the year rather that ensuring that their students come away from each lesson in every subject with a concrete understanding of what they have learned.  I believe that these tests cause our students to be less well-rounded than in years past.  There are so many different assessments in certain subjects that it leaves less time to focus on social studies, sciences, or the arts. 

The article below discusses percentage students that are less than proficient in these subjects on the new standardized test in Michigan, the M-STEP.  If you look at the data at the bottom of the article you will see that there is a dramatic decrease in proficiency when comparing Math and Language Arts to Social Studies and Science.  In my opinion, this is not because these subjects are necessarily harder for students but there is just not as much time spent on these subjects because of the expectations that are laid out by education officials.  I do not believe that blame should be placed on the teacher because they simply do what they have to do in order to stay employed.  If the expectations were different (not lower), then the proficiency levels would show less dramatic decreases when comparing each subject.

http://www.hometownlife.com/story/news/local/farmington/2016/01/07/farmington-schools-education-mstep-testing-common-core/78437742/