Synthesis of Course

Wow... it is time to write a final blog post.  I am not ready for this class to be over because it means that all my social studies and history friends are moving on and I won't get to see them everyday.  I am a little sad...tear.  Okay I didn't really cry, but I really am sad.  We had some good times in this class.  I think we officially welcomed Dr. Wilson to Utah State.  Okay so welcomed is not the best word, but "broke-in" doesn't really sound that good.
Anyways...I really enjoyed this class.  There are so many things that I want to incorporate into my own classroom.  I think Before, During and After reading as key to help students see the value of reading.  I remember being in school and reading from the textbook, but asking myself what is the point.  With BD&A reading the students know the point of  reading and everything that is read has meaning and value.  I will use this in my classroom for sure.
Another skill or strategy I cam away with is the value of digital literacy.  The world is full of technology and as teachers, we can't just ignore that it is there.  I think we have to include technology in our classrooms.  I will probably have a class blog when I am a teacher.  It seems small, but I think it will help.  I also want to incorporate digital texts in my classroom.  The internet is a great source so why not use it.  I will also have to show my students how to find the valuable information from the internet.  There is a lot of crazy out there.
Writing strategies will also come in handy.  I will require my students to write in my class, so I have to have the writing skills and strategies to help them.  I will want to work closely with both English teachers as well as Special Ed teachers and ELL teachers so I can improve my teaching.  It is important to find ways to help all students learn.  This ties into differentiation.  I want to use differentiation as well.  It will be important to use all the resources given to me to improve myself and my teaching.
There is just too much from this class to write in one blog post.  All I can say is that everyday in SCED 4200 I learned something that I will take to my own classroom.  Everything we did in class will be "do-able" in my own class.  It makes me excited to student teach and try this stuff out.

Self-Selected Project

Last semester in my teaching social studies class there was a guest speaker that introduced me to a book called Maus.  I have been wanting to read the book ever since.  The self-selected project was a perfect reason to pick up the book.  After doing a little research on amazon.com I found that there was also another book called Maus II.  I was super excited to be able to read both books.  The final book that I read was John, Paul, George and Ben.  I got together with other social studies and history teaching students to make a book club.  We all wanted to read Maus and it just made sense that we worked together to complete the self-selected project.  My book club consists of Kayla, Rusty, Tom, Jessie and me.  I really like working with these guys.  We have fun together.  History really is the best!!!
 
Maus is a graphic novel created by Art Spiegelman.  It is based on his family history, mostly his father, Vladek.  (i just want to interject here... i had this entire blog written and then my web browser decided to die and i couldn't publish my post.  when i tried to recover my blog this is the point at which it was saved...sad:(...so just imagine how great this blog could have been) The novel tells the story in both the present and the past.  The relationship of Art and his father are explored throughout the novel.  The novel also explores Art's parents and how they met and their courtship.  The novel focuses on the early part of World War 2. 
 
Maus II is the continuation of the story of Art and his father, Vladek.  The relationship of father and son is explored further in the second book.  The story of Art's parents continues as they reach a concentration camp.  The book is very emotional between the issues Vladek has while in the concentration camp and also the issues between the Art and Vladek.  I liked the second book better than the first.  I liked the exploration of the issues that are tied to the Holocaust and the effects of the Holocaust on many generations.

John, Paul, George, and Ben is a great children's book.  It is funny and easy to read.  I think it took me 3 minutes to read the entire book.  I thought the book has value in both elementary and secondary classrooms.  I liked this book.  This book also shows the problems with falsehoods in history.

I joined a book club with several other social studies composite and history teaching students.  The book club consists of Kayla, Tom, Rusty, Jessie and me.  I really liked my group.  We had a lot of fun talking about the books and how to use them in our classrooms.  We decided that we could use all of these books in our classrooms.  We really liked Maus I and II for teaching the Holocaust and the effects of the Holocaust, but would probably only use part of each book for instruction.  Even though John, Paul, George and Ben is a children’s book it still has value in the classroom.  We decided we could use it to show the falsehoods and myths of history and how those falsehoods and myths might be just as important as the truth.

I really liked reading for pleasure.  It was definitely different than the usual.  I usually just read books that are required for classes.  I rarely pick up a book and read it for the enjoyment of reading.  There are some books that I read for classes that I like, but who likes reading a textbook?  No one…here is a secret the teachers do not even like reading textbooks. (p.s. if you ever try to burn a textbook...it is nearly impossible.  this i had to learn the hard way)

I would totally use something like this in my classroom.  I am observing a teacher that holds a book club for his students.  It is really successful.  The students are in charge and talk amongst themselves about the book.  The teacher rarely interjects, but sometimes he has to keep the students on track.  I would also want to have my students read for enjoyment.  I would provide my students with a list of possible books and let them choose which book they want to read.  I find it easier to read a book I choose, rather than a book that is chosen for me.