Encourage the Questions

Backwards planning seems like a foreign idea. But after further reviewing the concept, I think many of the units we've created throughout this MAT program have used this same format. We start with the big, overarching questions, that lead us to our goals for the students, and then we eventually get to the individual activities and lessons themselves. We have to know what we want our students to learn first. That should be our ultimate goal when we begin planning every unit. In my opinion, the backward planning format gets the hard part out of the way. Thinking of essential questions is a difficult task, but by creating those initially, teachers make finding resources and planning activities a much easier process.

That leads me to the prompt for this week. Backward planning is a process explained in detail in Understanding by Design by Jay Wiggins and Grant McTighe. As pointed out in the pages of this book, questions are rarely the focus of a teacher's attention in the classroom. But that's the whole point of backwards design. We want to move towards a question focused environment, where students are constantly interested in asking more questions - How? What? When? Where? Why? Who? Questions are an essential part of the classroom environment and they're what fuel further learning and interest in a particular concept or subject.

So, "If the textbook contains the answers, then what are the questions?" Wiggins & McTighe

To me, this question seems backwards simply because I don't think any textbook has all of the answers. Textbooks, like any other book, are created by people and where humans are involved, bias comes into play. If a student believes the textbook is the only source for information in the classroom, the teacher hasn't done his/her job. Other resources must be brought in, in order to help students understand a lesson in a more complex, multi-dimensional way. When students are given the opportunity to read more than just their textbook, they see other elements of a topic that might be left out of the textbook. For example, in creating a unit about the American Revolution for fifth grade, I wouldn't use the textbook alone. I would also bring in actual documents from the war, short stories and books to help students make connections, and I might also consider having a historian visit the classroom to share his/her synopsis of the war with the class. By using a variety of resources, we're helping students ask more questions, which should always be our goal. When questions are asked, the teacher knows that students are eager to learn more. But the students aren't the only ones asking questions - the teacher also plays a vital role in asking and responding to questions.

So, what should the questions look like?

Questions should always be open-ended and thought provoking, where students are challenged to look outside of the textbook for answers. We don't want the textbook to be our students' number one source for information. And we shouldn't want the textbook to be their only source of information either. Some of the best stories about history come out of the actual mouths of people that lived during a particular time period. By sharing with students the different means to which they can find and receive factual information is an important part of our jobs as teachers. But I also think the way we get students interested in this information is by asking them more questions. We don't have to tell students where to find this information - we simply have to ask them questions that spark this kind of thinking. We have to encourage them to seek more details and characteristics about a certain topic on their own - outside of the textbook.

As teachers, we also have to remember that questions are an essential part of every unit and lesson we create. We can't be afraid of questions that go outside of our intended realm of learning within a unit. Every question is important and should be addressed. I say addressed because not answering a question is okay. Students have to learn that some questions cannot be answered. This will encourage students to research and explore certain topics on their own, outside of the classroom. Questions should always be asked and encouraged within the classroom. The way those questions are answered is up to the teacher and the students. Allow for creativity in both!

Ultimately, the questions that we ask are ones that students can continue answering and thinking about long after the unit is over.

High Expectations

I generally enter the classroom with high expectations. I like to think that every time I teach, I have the potential to learn something new that will equip me with another tool to add to my "teacher tool belt." Last Thursday was no different. I stayed up late finalizing my lesson plan, trying to think of each component of the lesson and how they fit together. Does the lesson flow? Do each of the elements connect? Are my goals reasonable? Is the lesson and material appropriate for fifth grade students? In answering each of these questions in my head, I was sure I had thought things through thoroughly enough to ensure that the lesson would be a success. But when I entered the classroom, everything changed.

My First Social Studies Lesson:
The lesson I taught last Thursday focused on geography in the United States. As an introduction, I chose to relate Louisiana to North Carolina, helping students see that even though Louisiana is almost one thousand miles away from NC, each of the states still share some similarities. By doing this activity, I was hoping to help students see that the oil spill has relevance in this state. Students colored in LA and NC on a blank map, filled out a Venn diagram with a partner, read a TIME magazine article for kid's on the oil spill, and also answered opinion questions about the spill during the lesson. Again, this lesson was all about the progression, going from a compare/contrast activity, up to the relevance of the oil spill on the lives of people from North Carolina. After I taught my lesson, I realized that it was over my students' heads. I had high expectations for my students, but they weren't entirely reasonable, considering I taught the lesson on the first full week of school.

I'm a planner and as you can tell from my lesson description, I had an abundance of activities planned. I honestly felt like each component of my lesson was essential in order to help students understand and connect to the gulf oil spill effecting the southern part of the United States. What I learned on Thursday is that teaching social studies is a lot harder than I imagined. It's easy to integrate other subjects in with social studies, but that makes teaching the subject a lot more complex.

Things I need to improve:

• I needed to use a book about the state of Louisiana that was on a fifth grade student's level. While I did the read aloud about the state of Louisiana, I should've had students jot down some of the state's characteristics. Expecting a fifth grade student to remember a list of characteristics and facts read aloud from a book is unrealistic.
  
• I over planned. Instead of choosing so many different activities, I should've focused my attention on one or two of the activities in order to help students connect to the material in a more effective and meaningful way.
  
• After teaching my lesson, I immediately wished I would've chosen the other states affected by the gulf oil spill to talk about as well. They were discussed, but students didn't learn anything about the other states. I could've focused my lesson on southern states...choosing important aspects of each state to talk about, while also comparing each of the states to North Carolina. That way, students would've been on their way to learning some of the states and their capitals in the southern region of the United States.
  
• I think I needed to be more directional and intentional with my activities. Rather than having students think about characteristics of each state, I should've stuck to the geographic characteristics of the state, helping them understand their cardinal directions, climate, and the type of ecosystem. Each of those elements is dependent on the specific area of the United States that's being discussed.
  
• I was naive. I thought each element of the lesson out prior to teaching, so I expected that students would understand the content right away. Specifically at the beginning of the lesson I should've helped students activate prior knowledge about North Carolina. I could've asked students questions about North Carolina, while writing the characteristics they came up with on the board. That would've helped them visualize the differences and similarities between NC and LA.

Things I did well:

• Thorough and thoughtful
• Organized and prepared
• Explicit, clear instructions
  
• Relevant activities/connections to real world
  
• Interdisciplinary - language arts, science, and social studies
• Students were given a variety of ways to respond to the material and content of the lesson - think-pair-share, small group, opinion questions
• Compare/contrast - requires higher level thinking skills

I can't say that I think my lesson was completely successful. Students learned about Louisiana and the gulf oil spill, but due to time constraints, I didn't get a chance to finish making the connection between each element of the lesson (this is a huge weakness). I think the activities were relevant and connected students to the real world, but I don't think I brought the lesson to an appropriate close because many of the students in my group had confused looks on their faces. That made me feel like a failure at the time, but I'm hoping that the experiences from this first social studies lesson will help me improve for my next lesson and into student-teaching in the fall.

I will continue to enter the classroom with high expectations because I think that's an important part of teaching. But I will also continue to be confident in myself as a teacher. One of the most important parts of teaching is trying new lessons and activities in the classroom. A teacher will never know if a new lesson is successful unless he/she tries it out with actual students. It may look great on paper, like this lesson did for me, but it could end up being a flop with actual students. In teaching this lesson, I learned the importance of actually TEACHING. I'm thankful for this experience, but I'm hopeful future lessons will be more meaningful for my students.

Annual Plan, Anyone?

When I was first asked to create an annual plan, I was clueless. As many times as I've been in the classroom, I've never seen an annual plan used. That's why it's been so difficult to tackle creating an annual plan for 5th grade social studies. And I only have to create instruction for the 3rd quarter! That said, I'm eager to learn how to create an annual plan that can be effectively used in the classroom. The idea seems simple and self-explanatory. But, creating a plan becomes tedious and difficult when you start adding in objectives and goals the students have to learn for an entire school year.


What are the benefits of using annual plans in the classroom?

1. An annual plan helps the teacher see the "big picture". Seeing the big picture is important for the teacher because there are so many goals and objectives to cover for each subject. The teacher can either choose to create a plan for one subject, or he/she can create a plan for each specific subject. I think I would use annual plans for each subject because that would help me see the areas in instruction that overlap. Interdisciplinary instruction should be incorporated into the classroom whenever possible - annual plans are a great way to see the connections between disciplines before the school year even starts. Talk about organization!

2. Using an annual plan also helps teachers clearly see the days and weeks that students will be out of school for holidays, teacher workdays, and early release days. Knowing how much time is allotted for instruction each school year is critical for the teacher to know. Creating annual plans can help the teacher see the time more clearly. The annual plan is the outline of instruction and can later be used to time out lessons and activities that will utilize the time most effectively. The annual plan is the pre-plan (the backbone of instruction).

3. When collaborating with my peers, Kristina made a great point about using annual plans in the classroom, which is the third benefit. Annual plans can be great resources to share with parents on parent-night. The teacher can share these plans with parents in order to let them know the progression of units throughout the school year. Parents might be driven to volunteer if a particular subject is taught when they're off from work, etc. Thanks for the great idea, Kristina!

What are the drawbacks of annual plans?

1. As I said above in number two, annual plans can be great organizational tools, but they can also cause teachers to over-plan. I like to think having an outline of my units for the entire school year would be enough for me, but I am a big picture person. I can foresee myself wanting to have units outlined and lessons planned before the school year even begins. This can cause a problem because I won't know my students yet. I need to remember that the annual plan is the outline and the resources and cooperative activities can be adjusted to meet the needs of any learner I come into contact with. The annual plan is the outline, not the end-all, be-all.

2. Think of the annual plan as a guideline. If it's seen as anything else, it can have the potential to make the teacher feel like a failure. Stay with me. If instruction isn't on track as far as the time element goes, or a unit seems out of place, the teacher has to remember that the plan isn't set in stone. Things can be moved and adjusted according to student achievement and understanding of the content. Again, the annual plan is a guideline! Don't get wrapped up in the details too early. Remember that elements of the plan can be shifted in order to meet the needs of the students, not the textbook or pacing guide.

What does this mean for my classroom?

I look forward to learning more about annual plans. I want to be able to interact with a plan and see how various objectives are broken down and put into quarters and units because that's been the hardest part, thus far. I also want to see the details teachers put into annual plans - what do the resource and cooperative learning sections look like?

After reviewing an actual plan and understanding the format a bit better, I can see the potential for using a plan in my classroom. I'm glad I'm getting the opportunity to create one with my peers because it seems like a laborious process. I'm looking forward to giving annual plans a try because I think the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks.

Historic Find

I like to think I'm connected to the blogging world. I have a personal blog and a lot of my close friends have blogs, so I often find myself discovering interesting articles or websites because of them. Today, I came across a random blog post entitled "Young Americans Don't Know Their U.S. History." Since I'm currently in a class that focuses on history instruction, this article caught my attention. I followed the link and discovered a Marist Poll. After reading the results of the poll, I sat and thought about the two numbers, 74% and 26%. I also read the question asked of the participants - "On July 4th we celebrate Independence Day. From which country did the United States win its independence?" I'm not sure what number shocked me more. The fact that only 74% of Americans knew that we achieved our independence from England, or the fact that 26% of participants either didn't know or named another country altogether (Spain, France, and Mexico were some of the countries mentioned in the poll). That still shocks me. This question directly relates to the original 13 colonies, so I guess I can see where someone would say Spain considering its connection to Texas and other western states. Regardless of the margin of error in the poll, the poll reinforces the importance of great history teachers.

I came across another Lauren Sausser article while I was still pondering over the poll results. The article I came across was entitled "Thomas Jefferson made slip in Declaration." I was drawn to this second article due to the fact that Independence Day was less than a week ago. The article reveals that while declaring independence from England, Jefferson slipped and called the American public 'subjects' rather than 'citizens' within the document. Think about that. Jefferson, among others, were working to create a document that would free the United States from English control, people that commonly used the term subject to refer to the American public. If you look closely at the document, you can clearly see that he wrote subject, but then quickly wiped his hand across the word, replacing it with citizen. Look at the images below. History at it's finest!









The Library of Congress released these images on Friday, July 2 just in time for the July 4th holiday. The discovery was made last year with hyperspectral imaging technology, using a high resolution digital camera. You can read the article in full from the msnbc website.

The results of the Marist poll, but also the new findings within the Declaration of Independence, prove the importance of great history teachers. As teachers, we have to stop pushing our social studies lessons to the end of the school day. Students are tired from a long day of instruction and teachers are often burned out. The key to keeping students engaged over a long day of instruction is by integrating subjects. As seen in a previous post, integration is a key part of a meaningful, well-planned social studies lesson. Don't forget that! The 26% of Americans that didn't know what state we achieved our independence from is reason enough for me to think critically about the ways I teach history in my classroom.

*Marist Poll information - 1,004 United States residents were interviewed. The poll was conducted over the phone from June 17-24. Participants were 18 years of age or older. I question the results of the poll to an extent because of the method does make me question the results of the poll to a certain extent. I think the information is still important to consider.

(Pictures featured in this post are from the Library of Congress)

NC Museum of History

I've lived in the Raleigh area my whole life, so I have enjoyed revisiting museums I haven't been to since I was in school. The expansion project at the NC Art Museum was impressive. The featured exhibits and artwork changed my opinion about art integration in the classroom. I was hoping my visit to the NC Museum of History would have a similar impact on me. Honestly, I can't even remember past experiences to the museum. The building hasn't changed much, if at all, and the replica of the Wright Brothers' plane is still hanging in one area of the museum, exactly as I remember it. The rest of my memories from the NC Museum of History have gone into long-term storage (it's tough to retrieve those)!

I had high expectations regarding our class visit to the NC Museum of History in downtown Raleigh. History is one of my favorite subjects, but I've never been a very strong history student. I'm not good at rote memorization or reciting dates and key events in chronological order, which is what a lot of teachers think history is all about. Chronology is important, but students have to know the events that make up certain wars or eras before they can put them in order. The Museum of History does a great job of teaching students about different time periods throughout the museum. One of my favorite parts was the 1920s drugstore, which was actually located on Fayetteville Street. There's a photograph of the original drugstore to give students an idea of what it may have looked like (since Fayetteville Street looks totally different today). The family that owned the drugstore gutted the building and gave many of the "insides" of the store to the museum. There's an old soda fountain, a cigar counter, a candy counter, and an area featuring medicines and other medicinal containers and bottles. This area of the museum fascinated me - it was like we had stepped inside the actual store. We were back in the 1920s looking at actual items that could have been bought back then. I think this would be a great way to integrate math and social studies in the classroom - students could consider the prices of items in the 1920s compared to the prices of the same items today. I'm sure the results would be quite surprising for elementary school students. Probably even for the teacher!

I also enjoyed the photography exhibit. As I learned last week at the NC Museum of Art, art can tell a very detailed story about a particular places' culture and the people that live there. The exhibit featured farm life in North Carolina and all of the photographs on display were from the Great Depression era. Again, students would get a great understanding of life during the Great Depression from the photographs displayed, but also from the various artifacts featured within this exhibit. Music and videos also portray life during this era as well. This was one of my favorite exhibits and really shows the power of photographs!

The Thomas Day exhibit intrigued me. I learned a great deal about who he was and I think he was an important figure in North Carolina, but I'm not sure how I could get a classroom full of students interested in an exhibit featuring a bunch of furniture. This is where I think the teacher has to do some homework, figuring out how to connect the NCSCOS standards to her students and to the actual artifacts in the exhibit. I want my students to get memories from their visits to museums, rather than just remembering the physical environment, like I did. Doing pre-museum activities to engage students in what they will be viewing and exploring at the museum is critical for an exhibit like this.

After thinking about my latest visit to the museum, here's where my expectations weren't met. First off, I wanted to see a larger exhibit featuring Native Americans from North Carolina. We have such a large Native American presence in this state, so I was disappointed to see that the two artifacts showcasing North Carolina's Native American history were in a hallway. I also wanted to see more of an exhibit showing the history of Raleigh and how it became the capital of the state. Again, Raleigh has a rich history, none of which is seen at the NC Museum of History which is right in the capital city. I'm hopeful with the addition of the exhibit, The Story of North Carolina: Forging Identity and Creating Community, more of that history will be explained in detail. I'm looking forward to visiting again because museums are like libraries - there's an abundance of information just waiting to be uncovered and explored!

And here's a little information for the teacher. The museum has a great website, which you can visit here. There are resources for lessons, pre-museum activities, and a tour checklist. For teachers that need professional development, the museum offers online teacher workshops. Other featured resources include History-in-a-Box kits, Tar Heel Junior Historian Association, virtual field trips, and NC History Resource Database.

History usually gets a bad wrap in the classroom. I'm sure if I asked many of you what your history experiences were like throughout school you'd either say you don't remember or they were boring/not fun. Teaching means the educator is taking responsibility for the content being taught - it's all about using powerful and effective resources in the classroom in order to reach each student. I'm looking forward to utilizing resources from the NC Museum of History's website in order to create a social studies environment in my elementary classroom in which students can't wait to learn!

It's all about integration when it comes to Social Studies!

Social studies is an integration of different social sciences under one umbrella. For that reason, teaching social studies effectively in the classroom means integration has to be a key component of instruction. In my opinion, each of the different sciences under the social studies umbrella create what we know as culture. The six social sciences studied under the social studies' umbrella include civics, anthropology, geography, history, economics, and sociology. See what I mean? Culture!

So what goes into creating a meaningful, well-planned Social Studies lesson?

First and foremost, I think students have to be engaged and interested in the content of a specific lesson. The teacher has to find a way to present the material so that it engages each student in the classroom. Creating an environment where students can personally connect to the content comes about when the teacher asks questions rather than telling the answers. Students shouldn't be sent to their desks to read about the Revolutionary War from their textbook. Textbooks can provide great background information for students, but should not be the sole source of information.

That's where hands-on activities come in - they are another key component to meaningful, well-planned social studies lessons. Instead of reading the textbook when learning about the Revolutionary War, students could plan a skit in small groups or each group could explore a cause of the war and present that to the class. These types of activities give students an opportunity to put their stamp on a lesson because they can be creative and imaginative. Students' individual interests are also showcased when hands-on activities are incorporated into lessons. Hands-on activities also help students understand and respect diversity - within their group, but also within the lesson or topic being discussed.

Integration is another important piece of a meaningful, well-planned social studies lesson. As I've seen in each of my field experience classrooms, social studies and science often get the least amount of instructional time. That's why integration is so important in the elementary school classroom - because time is limited! When teachers integrate lessons and units across subject lines, students get an in-depth understanding of the content being taught. Integration provides students with opportunities to read and write about a particular concept, understand art and culture, communicate and reflect on their ideas with their peers in small groups, make observations, and record data, all while studying the same topic across subject lines.

After each of these elements is explored in the classroom, I think field trips can be a great way to bring everything together. Field trips give students an opportunity to see history first-hand. I remember taking a field trip in elementary school to an open field. It sounds awful and boring, but I remember imagining the battle that took place on that exact field. I was standing where soldiers fought to preserve the freedoms of our country. That's a moving experience and one that I remember to this day. I know my teacher had great activities planned in order to get me to understand what took place on that field because it could have ended up being awful and boring. Field trips have to be planned effectively in order to affect students in this way. The teacher must plan activities where students can actively explore and engage in and with history.

Classroom visitors also seem to fit a similar bill. Getting an opportunity to listen to a Holocaust survivor's tale is far more engaging than reading an account from a textbook. Students need to be able to interact with history and I think classroom visitors and field trips are a great way to give students that opportunity. The teacher doesn't have to pretend to know everything because we definitely don't have all of the answers. When we give our classrooms up to visitors that can explain history in a more meaningful way, students' lives are changed because of the personal connections they can make with the story teller.

Meaningful, well-planned social studies units take time to plan and create because social studies is an intricate subject to teach. When creating a social studies unit or lesson, the teacher should carefully consider each student's interests, the types of activities that are incorporated into the lesson or unit, and if integration will be possible (because it should be!). These three components will help a teacher create a social studies unit/lesson that is meaningful and personal for each of the students in her class. Field trips and classroom visitors are also important to consider depending on the lesson or unit being explored. They don't have to be incorporated into every unit, but these types of activities provide students with unique ways to connect with history - past, present, and future.

NC Museum of Art

Today I visited the North Carolina Museum of Art. I was quickly reminded of past visits I had taken to the museum when I was a child. The building was old, brown, and relatively small, so it didn't take long to get through all of the exhibits. I remember when I was in elementary school I didn't have a huge interest in art, so this was probably one of my least favorite field trips of the school year. I know I'll have students in my classroom like me, not interested in art, but I'm hopeful I find ways to integrate art with the other subjects, in order to engage all of my students.

As many of you know, the NC Museum of Art recently expanded. I thought the building looked a little bit like a warehouse when we were walking up, but come to find out, the design is actually very scientific. The new building is 48-percent glass, which actually makes it a piece of art in itself (that's more my own opinion). Because of the large percentage of glass, the building allows enormous amounts of natural light in - it's actually northern light. When the sensors on the roof detect that too much light is coming in, sensors inside the museum, trigger curtains, which fall and protect the specific part of the museum that is exposed to the light. I had a hard time picturing this from the outside, so it was awesome to walk through the museum and see some of the curtains drawn.

We did a quick tour through the museum, about two hours, and received a lot of valuable information about the various featured exhibits. I'm intrigued by art - by its complexity and simplicity. It’s interesting to me how something so simple, like brush strokes on a canvas, can be featured in a notable museum. In one of the exhibits, we learned about math and art integration. Some of the pieces in this exhibit were really detailed and complex, while another, a simple blue parallelogram, stood out by itself because of its simplicity. I couldn't figure out how that figure was considered a piece of art or why it was featured in the museum. But that's how art is and that's why it's so awesome. One painting or picture can be considered art to someone and to another, it's just a few brush strokes on a canvas.

Ownership of the different pieces featured in the museum is interesting to consider as well. Try wrestling with the idea of actually owning a piece of art. What does that look like? How much does it cost? And where would the piece be housed? This is where the curator of the museum comes into the picture. They have an awesome job. Getting an opportunity to travel around the country/world looking for pieces of art to feature in the museum sounds like a great way to live. But again, cost intrigues me. I can't even imagine what a Monet costs. Or a Picasso. Bottom line, it's all about having an eye for art.

I also love history and seeing history through paintings and photographs. The exhibits that integrate social studies and the arts include the Egyptian, American, Ancient American, and European (there may be others). Giving students an opportunity to walk through the different exhibits and explore the cultures on their own is a great way to get students to think about the different cultures they've learned about throughout a specific lesson or unit. When students have the power to explore and learn certain things on their own, they are more likely to internalize the material, making it more personal and memorable to each student. I also think it's important to do activities post-field trip, in order to incorporate the new concepts and cultures back into the classroom setting. (This is important for any field trip)

After my visit, I'm also interested in various artists that I'm sure many of you have heard of. The museum features a Picasso, several paintings by Monet, and sculptures by Rodin. I never knew our Raleigh museum would feature such esteemed artists. 'The Thinker' is a sculpture by Rodin and is actually on loan from Stanford. There are a bunch of smaller sculptures by Rodin in various places within the museum as well. If you don't know anything about him, you should look him up. He's an intriguing man!

My impression of the NC Museum of Art has obviously changed. Now as a graduate student and adult, I see the importance of the arts and integration of art with other subjects. I look forward to watching the students in my class question the different pieces in the museum. I want them to be moved by the art in various ways because art is full of culture, emotion, and history. As with anything, it's important for students to have the opportunity to form their own opinions about art and it's importance, before we, as teachers, tell them anything about the piece. I'm looking forward to challenging my students to think about art in complex ways - giving them the chance to see how art fits with the other subjects learned in the classroom.

Please consider visiting the museum if you haven't been since the expansion. Visits to the permanent exhibits and the museum park are free. Check out the museum website to plan your visit - http://ncartmuseum.org/.



(Wikipedia images - The Thinker, Auguste Rodin)