Native American Tribes reflection

                                            Native American Tribes Reflection

            One of the main topics for young learners in history is the study of Native Americans. Native Americans generally take up a full unit and contain much information that students should know. There are many different ways and activities to help students retain information on Native Americans while having fun.

            During this unit, we had split into groups where we had completed a jigsaw project on Native Americans. Each group was assigned a tribe that we had to research. There are many Native American tribes throughout the world. Each tribe is in a way similar but also have different beliefs. For example, one tribe may live in teepees while another tribe may live in long houses. Their clothing may be different along with their food. Men usually were the hunters while woman stayed home with the children.

            Technology was used for this project when each tribe was show on PowerPoint. Each group gathered information about their Indian tribe and included facts and pictures. This was essential for the students so they can see what is being taught. Many teachers come up with different activities for this specific topic. For example, when I was in elementary school we had built teepees in the back of the classroom where we each put facts in it and that made learning fun for the class.

            This project can help students because they can have a chance to research an exciting Native American group and have a chance to see their way of life. Pictures can help students have more of an idea of what it was like. This can also help students learn geography and where each tribe may have been located. 

Artifact Bag Reflection

Artifact Bag Reflection

            The artifact bag activity was a great activity held and very essential. This activity helps us prepare and learn about the given topics. This can also help future teachers have an idea on how to teach students using a fun and exciting way. The artifact bags were based on the topics that we were each given. There were four different groups leading to four different units. Each group covered their unit very well.

            The artifact bags can be used in teaching a lesson for many different ways. Beginning with direct instruction, the bags can be used to teach and repeat what the unit is about and what students will be learning. Artifacts can be used to teach this and give students a visual which tends to help students learn better. Following that, they can be used to test students’ knowledge of what they may already know. They can then get into cooperative groups and put their artifacts together and assign roles on who can present the bag, who will put the bag together, etc. This type of activity can cover the three main lessons.

            You can use technology to show artifact bags by using PowerPoint. Many pictures can be taken of the different artifacts and put onto power point with different facts about the artifacts. This can help students learn about the different artifacts for the different topics. For example, my topic was about going to the bank. I had brought in a piggy bank, a checkbook, and money. I had taken pictures of each artifact and described them on PowerPoint so students can see what each of them mean and the importance to them.

            Artifact bags can be used in any type of course for any lesson. It could work well in a science 

class while students bring in artifacts that have to do with science such as rocks, plants, etc. There are 
many topics in history that students have to cover. It is important they learn about all of the topics. 

Artifact bags can help because they are fun and help students learn better by seeing the different 

artifacts dealing with the topics. 

Chapter 11

Four Goals for the Study of History.

There are many goals students should follow for the study of history.

The first goal is seen to be socialization. I believe this goal is essential for young learners because it is important students learn to work together and share ideas with one another.

The second goal is counter-socialization. Students can use this to reflect on their work with one another. This is still essential for learning history because the students can reflect off one another to continue learning the topic.

The third goal is Chronological thinking. This is important because students are learning many different topics of history and should know what they are learning in the beginning, middle, and end.

The fourth goal is Historical Comprehension. This is the basic understanding of history and all that is taught in history. This is where students can gain a strong interest in what they are learning and understanding it well. 

Mock Trial

Today in class we had mock trials for job interviews. Different individuals (4) who had acted as administrators came from different schools or districts asking questions and interviewing. Many of the questions were set up appropriate to prepare us for our future as teachers and educators.

I think a challenging question asked was the timing one. How would you know if every teacher starts a lesson on the hour. The timing depends on the teacher. This question had thrown me off a bit and left me confused.

Another challenging question was how you would change a cooperative lesson to a direct instruction lesson. This lesson was challenging because it can have a multiple of different answers and many ways to change it. Again, depending on the teacher.

I really liked how there was a question included about where you would see yourself in the future in that field and how you came about wanting to become a teacher. It gets you excited and focused and ready to answer more questions.

I think this activity was well put together and helped all of us see what it will be like to get interviewed one day and how we should answer questions and ask questions.

End of Fieldwork

After completing fieldwork and watching four groups including my own group instruct lessons I have learned so much. Each group had instructed three different lessons for their unit plans.
Generally, the first lesson for each group was the Direct Instruction. Like I had already blogged, Direct Instruction introduces the topics and goes over the unit. They go over different vocabulary and definitions so the students can understand. After Direct Instruction comes Inquiry. This type of lesson is to review what was taught during Direct Instruction and also test the students knowledge. The final lesson is the Cooperative Learning lesson. This is a review of the first two lessons and also more group work activities for the students about the unit. 

Here is the cycle:

Direct Instruction

Inquiry

Cooperative Learning

After seeing all the groups present their lessons, I have learned the many different teaching skills people use. Many of the lessons were taught both the same and different in some ways. Each teacher included a powerpoint for the Direct Instruction and included vocabulary for the students to review. For the Inquiry some teachers did a full review while others did a brief review and a longer activity. Both are fine as long as students understand the topic. For the cooperative all teachers included a fun filled group activity. Cooperative differed between groups in some ways. The main occurrence was that each group allowed students to have roles in their activities. Some teachers assigned the roles while others allowed the students to pick the roles. I think it is better to let the students pick their roles so no feelings are hurt and no one is left out. Altogether, every group did a fantastic job teaching their lessons and units to the second grade class!

Public and Private schools.

After observing in both a public school location and a private school location, I have noticed many similarities with both along with many differences.

In the public school, there is only one teacher assigned to a class where in the private school they have the main teacher and a teachers aid. In the public school they switch teachers and classrooms during their RTI intervention classes. These classes include: Mathematics and ELA. In the Private school they do not switch classes for these subjects. Everything is taught by their primary teacher in one classroom. I feel the private school way is a bit more organized and topics and subjects aren't scattered everywhere. Public schools seem to be unorganized and students are much more wild and hyper. Private schools have more of a stricter view on things because parents are paying extra for the extra care of their children.

Above is a chart of the percents of the behavior by students in the public school and private school locations. 

Here is a chart that shows an amount of students who are enrolled in public schools, private schools, or not enrolled at all. It shows that a great amount are not enrolled or are most likely home schooled. Public schools have a greater amount of enrollments than privates as well. Private schools usually cost a great amount of money which becomes difficult for some parents forcing them to send their children to public school locations. 

There is nothing wrong with public schools. You are getting just as good as an education as you are in private schools in my opinion. Yes, private schools are a bit more organized, but you will have students who struggle in some subjects and students who excel at any school you attend. 

Current Events

Many elementary schools focus on Current Events during their Social Studies lessons. Carly and I had presented a current events lesson on articles we found from Newsela. We shared small facts and then tested the students knowledge by using Kahoot. They find kahoot fun because they can each compete with one another and see what was learned. Newsela has many articles that are occurring in today time. 

Current Events are important for learners because it gives them a chance to learn and see what is happening across the world. Current events can be found in any magazines, newspapers, and even the internet.