Social Studies Lessons
As a teacher, it is important to understand how to work with different students and different materials. This section illustrates some of the ways I work to meet the needs and interests of my students. First, this section looks at technology and the ways in which it was incorporated into my teaching, which is increasingly important as more schools and students recognize their needs as critical digital creators and consumers. Second, it looks at how to differentiate a lesson, adapting my instructional techniques to meet the needs of different students, and finally, it highlights the importance of diverse perspectives and how to incorporate those into lessons with purpose.
Technology
In an increasingly technological world, it is both important and necessary for teachers and students to engage with technology. As a teacher, I hope to continue to learn about evolving tools and strategies that effectively incorporate technology into my lessons and curriculum, finding news ways to engage students. Furthermore, it is not only important for me to use technology in my instruction; instead my students must also work with new technologies to gain the skills necessary to succeed in today's world.
Lesson 1: Using HyperDocs with Seniors
In collaboration with one of my colleagues, we created several units for our International Baccalaureate History Students that relied heavily on technology and opportunities for self-paced learning. This approach allows students to work at their own pace and care for themselves while giving me opportunities to check in with students in small groups or individually as needed. It works particularly well for engaged juniors and seniors who have developed skills in time management and focus, but this can be adapted with more direct teacher involvement to work with younger students and those who need more practice in these skills. Click here to view the lesson (or view/download below) with materials linked in the document. |
Lesson 2: Using Augmented Reality with 8th Graders
With the support of our school's technology coordinator and coach, I was excited to try using augmented reality with my middle schoolers to make their poster presentations more interactive and engaging for themselves and their peers across grade levels. Although there are definitely ways to improve upon this and foster more engagement, each year it has gotten better. This work allows for students to engage in a variety of formats (writing, drawing, video recording) and makes their audience more authentic as they know their fellow middle and high school peers could interact with what they're doing. Click here to view the lesson (or view/download below) with materials linked in the document. |
Differentiation
Each student is an individual learner, and teachers must be able to work with each learner's abilities in a classroom setting. Differentiating lessons in terms of kinds of instruction, assignments, and assessments allows for students with differing abilities to engage with the material in a way that makes sense them and to succeed in the course. As such, it is important for teachers to be aware of students abilities, understand how to work with different students, and communicate with students to help them figure out how to succeed in the course.
Lesson 3: History as a Food Fight with Freshmen
When I taught ninth grade, I developed this first-day lesson based off an idea from the Stanford History Education Group. It helps to allow students to engage with each other, starting to get to know one another in the new context of high school, while also supporting their understanding of what it means to engage with history as a discipline. After some brief introductions, we move to an activity where they have to interview each other as they portray realistic characters in a food fight mystery to figure out who started the food fight. Although I try to make some quick assessments to determine students who might be more outgoing and able to handle being one of the characters at the center of attention, providing brief roles/stories to all students helps them all be ready for the activity. Even more reserved students have a way to engage that is not necessarily putting themselves out there on the first day. The various embedded opportunities to move, write, talk, and analyze support all students to engage and actively participate in this activity while also giving our class a touchstone moment to look back on throughout the year. Click here to view the lesson (or view/download below) with materials linked in the document. |
Lesson 4: Understanding Pheromones with Juniors
In a unit about the biological approach to psychology for the International Baccalaureate program, I helped to develop this lesson about the idea of pheromones and what we know about their role in human behavior. The lesson builds in a variety of ways to engage (partner review, video, reading texts - both individually and in groups, individual note-taking, group discussions, and synthesis of information through small group work). These methods work to support students with different preferred learning styles or ways of processing information while also pushing students to dig deeply into the concept throughout the lesson. Additional accommodations and supports are offered to students as needed throughout this lesson, including opportunities to have digital or paper copies of notes and resources - including a large-text version of all documents as needed, support with text-to-speech applications or services, preferred seating and grouping to support student needs and safety, and movement breaks for individual students and the whole class. Click here to view the lesson (or view/download below) with materials linked in the document. |
Diverse Perspectives
As a teacher - and particularly as a social studies teacher, it is important to value, encourage, and work with diverse perspectives in the classroom. I place particular value on incorporating student identities into the curriculum, and in doing so, it is also important to foster a caring, understanding, and safe environment in which students can engage in real conversations. In addition, as a social studies teacher, I recognize that I will be teaching about different cultures and issues of diversity, so creating a classroom in which all students feel they can voice their opinions is especially important. Finally, as our world continues to globalize, incorporating and working with diversity during class will better prepare students to collaborate and contribute to society. Although diversity comes into classrooms in different ways depending on the demographics of the area, it is always important to incorporate diversity. Whether it means celebrating student diversity or sharing stories and connecting students with other communities of adolescents across the world, diversity and multiculturalism are necessary parts of a good classroom.
Lesson 5: Evaluating the Weimar Republic with Juniors
Part of being a critically engaged student of history is to be able to think through various perspectives on the causes and effects of key moments in history. Throughout my classes, I strive to provide opportunities for such evaluations of diverse historical perspectives. In this case, with my juniors in the International Baccalaureate history program, we spent time digging into and evaluating various impacts and effects of the Weimar Republic in Germany. Although I did not do this at the time, I also see value in assigning students to evaluate this as a historian with a particular lens - a traditional, revisionist, or post-revisionist historian, for example. Click here to view the lesson (or view/download below) with materials linked in the document. |
Lesson 6: Exploring Race with 8th Graders
In teaching early American history with middle schoolers for many years, I finally dedicated significant time early in the year to a unit to help students develop their understanding of race and racism in the United States. This unit helps to recognize our own different experiences with race and how these experiences and identities might inform our own understanding of the world. It also encourages students to think and consider different ways of viewing and understanding race as a concept in history and in modern society - as a biological fact versus a social construct. This particular lesson is the first in the unit, which dives into many of these ideas. Click here to view the lesson (or view/download below) with materials linked in the document. |