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/
The article is very interesting! Those numbers for students for students who are less proficient in those subjects is staggering. It will be hard as a teacher to teacher every subject we need to, but yes, reading and math are pushed the hardest. However, in a few of my classes, we have learned that by integrating subjects such as social studies, science and the arts, we can still teach the students those subjects, all the while teaching them reading and math still. Integrating is really the only way to get things done in the teaching world, but it is a process that will help students out tremendously and also the teachers.
ReplyDeleteDavid,
ReplyDeleteWelcome to blogging! I hope you will find this resource to be impactful over the duration of the semester. I started my career as a daycare worker and TA - so...I know how thankless your job can be. I think it is awesome that you can be a TA and be in teacher ed because that allows you to continually make connections between the classroom and your courses. Thanks for the article from MI. You are right - tested subjects have required teachers to move away from SS. This semester, I want us to focus on great strategies to integrate social studies so the students are not shortchanged.
JP
David,
ReplyDeleteI found the article you included to be very insightful. You are right that Social Studies, Science, and the arts are often overlooked or put on the back burner in our school system because of the heavy emphasis on teaching. I think that it is sad that we as educators have come to the point of "teaching to the test." I hope that through integration and all that we learn from this class that we can become advocates for the importance of the inclusion of not only social studies but all other subjects that tend to get left out. I look forward to working together this semester!
-Leslea Everett
Great article! The statistics at the very bottom of the article were shocking to me and really emphasizes the importance of integrating all subjects (not just reading and math). I agree with you that the teachers are not to blame, they have unbelievable expectations placed on them due to the amount of testing going on in the classroom. However, we will always have an obstacle to jump through and a challenge that we will all face, we just have to keep our focus on why we are there and that is to give our students a strong foundation. I did appreciate that the article made mention that they have some work to make things right and sort of refocus their attention. As future teachers, we must focus on content understanding and not just memorization of important dates and facts. What a great opportunity you have being able to have daily experiences in the classroom and make those connections. Hope you have a great semester.
ReplyDeleteThis was a great article! The statistics were a little surprising to me when it came to the ELA and Math percentages. Working in the school system already, we pound Math and ELA into the students' minds and only touch on what is necessary to pass the tests for all other subjects. I honestly know it is not the teachers fault because they only have so much time to focus on each subject. Most of the time, they are forced to quickly teach certain subjects due to the time constraints to prepare for EOG's and such. We as educators need to keep in mind that we need to be mindful of our purpose and give the students a strong foundation to work on. It is really sad that it has boiled down to "teach to test." This is why it is important that we integrate subjects so they are all being taught and shown to be just as important as the next. Being a TA is a rewarding job. I enjoy it as well and look forward to being a strong leader for my future students. Good luck this semester.
ReplyDelete