Matt Sestak

[kingsestak]

National Identity (Blog #10)

It’s weird to think that schools from different nations teach national identity differently. Here in the U.S., it’s what we practically learn the very first day of school. How “great” the United States is and how far we’ve come from the very beginning. We learn about the various people and events that have shaped this country. Compared to the U.S., the Northern Ireland schooling system focuses more on the nature of human societies than specific people or events that may have shaped their country. It’s weird to think of a school that teaches this way compared to how I’ve grown up in school and countless others as well. But as I write this blog and think, it makes sense to think to study national identity in that way. Just because you don’t learn about the people who DIRECTLY influenced your country, doesn’t mean you won’t grow up to be patriotic or whatever. It’s a good way to learn about the nature of early humans and their societies to get a better view of how your country came into being. This practice will help give students a better understanding of evidence of how a country properly develops. It’s a different way of learning, but using both methods of teaching will help give students a well-rounded understanding of the specific people who shaped their country and how society helped contribute as well.

[kingsestak]

Educating for Democracy (Blog #9)

There are many different ways to describe a good citizen in a democracy, especially here in the United States. We often put a good citizen as one who is knowledge about the government, the way it words, and to constantly strive to fight injustices we have in the country. These teaching and explaining what a good citizen is, we must know that the way we teach that drastically shapes the way our students may think and act. Going out and actually participating in activities relating to the community or government agencies helps the students understand the importance of engaging in their duties as citizens. This gives the students the feel that they can actually change or influence their community rather than be sitting back and feeling they can’t do a thing. It helps give them a purpose within society. For me in high school, we never went out and did any kind of civic affair to help build that sense of citizenship. It was pretty much expected of us to do those things when in reality, we didn’t know where to start or how. To help guide our students towards that feel of citizenry is the goal as educators. We shouldn’t guide them in a way WE want them to. We need to guide and show them the importance of being a good citizen without fully influencing our own ideals on them. 

[kingsestak]

American Heroes (Blog #8)

When given the task to write down names of “famous” or “well-known” human figures, my answers probably look the same as fellow students in my class. Upon reading an assigned article, I found that there have been studies conducted as to why students put down the names they first thing of. It appears that race and gender are just a few reasons. For many, many years, African Americans have been left out of history books and only mentioned as slaves. It wasn’t until the numerous African American civil rights leaders that stood up against racial injustice did African Americans get the first steps towards better recognition in history texts. But even today, African American recognition isn’t as talked about in classes than other subjects. 

[kingsestak]

Great Planning Equals Great Preparation (Blog #7)

Planning helps teachers organize for the future and want they are going to teach their students for the year, semester, unit, and so on. Planning also helps manage the classroom in a more level-headed way. If teachers did not plan their lessons, then the classroom would be a haphazard place for the students and will not be a good environment for learning. Planning helps teachers whenever a student comes up with concerns and/or questions. A teacher’s planning is very much affected by the standards set up by the state, as well as the school district. Each will provide the teacher what the students should be learning in a specific grade (i.e. 9th-grade students need to be learning world history). Even though the standards are set by the state and your school district, that leaves you, as the teacher, with plenty of room to make it work in your classroom. It is up to the teacher to implement the lesson in the classroom.

[kingsestak]

Learning Targets (Blog #6)

Teachers need to have certain goals for their students on how they can effectively teach the content of the class. These goals may have influence from state standards and the school district themselves, but it ultimately rests on the teacher how he/she will help the students learn the content, specifically social studies. How can we be certain the students are actually understanding the content? How a teacher will teach his/her class will depend on the class itself and they’ll adjust their teaching methods accordingly. Assessment is a huge factor in recognizing students fully understanding the content and then using the content to grow deeper in knowledge. Using assessment, we can see how much a student knows prior to the lesson. For example, we can see how much a student knows about the Civil Rights era by simply asking them to fill out a sheet with questions regarding that era and then using their answers to judge how much content you need to go through. Assessment can also be during the lesson or unit to help them keep on track and helps you gauge whether or not you need to change your methods. A summative assessment helps the students show what they learned and brings all the different parts together. Assessment is tricky because there is no truly right way to assess a student. Each assessment type has it’s own strengths and weaknesses and has its own goals. Finding the right assessment type for our students is a key part when first starting and will likely change throughout the year. For the social studies subject, it’s been a common goal to have our students know and understand the content rather than memorize and then forget a few days later. It all starts with the enthusiasm the teacher brings and help make the content relatable.

[kingsestak]

Democratic Citizens (Blog #5)

There are many different views on what makes a “good citizen.” When someone says the term “good citizen,” there are countless examples that are given. Liberals on the left would say a good citizen will critique structure and call for change. Conservatives on the right would say that a good citizen will make the connection between citizenship and character. There is no real way to define a good citizen. As teachers, we are in charge of shaping our students into good citizens. But the question remains, what kind of citizen are we teaching them to be? Participating citizens and justice-oriented students are just two different types. In this week’s reading, we read about these two different types and how schools try to mold them into these kinds of citizens (Schmidt, 2007). The reading shows that each school varied in its type of citizen they want to shape their students into. It also showed that participating citizens don’t quite have the abilities to analyze any social problems within society because they weren’t taught to. The type of citizen that schools are teaching also depends on the kind of teacher is teaching the class. The choices we make in and out the classroom has an impact on all different levels within our lives and society. 

[kingsestak]

The Learner (Blog #4)

The key to being an influential and effective teacher is knowing your students. Know each of your students and understanding how each of them works will better prepare you to facilitate knowledge and to best help them become effective learners. Teaching in middle/high school because this is the transition period that students will start to go through, called adolescence. Not only are their bodies going to be experiencing change, so too are their cognitive abilities. As they progress further in their studies, students will be able to grasp abstract concepts and different possibilities in a multitude of areas, such as social issues or real-world problems. Students will also start to form more intricate social groups. Kids that come to classes will prior knowledge on a subject, such as history, can easily make a connection to a lesson that is related to that prior knowledge. That is if the prior knowledge is correct. Encouraging a growth mindset will help challenge the students and help them grow in multiple areas of not only their education but their lives as well. Praising effort and not ability will help grow this mindset. Knowing each one of your students professionally and how they work can help you become an effective teacher.

[kingsestak]

The Social Studies (Blog #3)

“We should make social sciences irresistible for students. What drama is more exciting than studying about people who make a difference in our lives past and present?” 

This is a quote from Bruce Larson’s book “Instructional Strategies for Middle and High School Social Sciences.” It’s a very powerful quote as much people don’t see why social studies is a big deal. Little do they know that being well versed in the social studies will make them a more competent citizen and help contribute to society in a leadership aspect. Classrooms with students who are engaged and interested in social studies will actively pursue activities that will help develop civic competence. Teachers are compelled to make a curriculum that will help engage students’ minds and interests. Curriculums can come in many different forms and are influenced by many factors, such as the state, district, and so on. Teachers, as well as myself, need to realize that it’s impossible to teach the entire context of history, civics, geography, and economics in their career as a teacher. This is where the enthusiasm and curriculum come into play. Enthusiasm shows students that what they are truly learning is worth learning more and going deeper. Setting goals as a teacher (and student) would be a great way to show you if you’re on track or not. This goes back to civics. Learning about where you come from and the people who influence you is a very cool thing to do. Teachers need to start stressing the need for this, especially in society today. It’s important that teachers who are excited to teach civics, do it well to help their students. 

[kingsestak]

Technology v. Social Studies

There’s a lot of talk about how technology and be integrated within classrooms, especially social studies classes such as history. We get two kinds of history that teach their classrooms in very stereotypical fashion. One way is making a powerpoint that the teacher just reads off of and absolutely no interaction between students. The second is where the teacher has the students read from their history book, take a few notes, and then do a chapter quiz. Both ways barely give the students an opportunity to have real interaction with each other and doesn’t give the students to grow any kind of interest. It’s hard to say how a teacher can bring technology into a history class effectively that promotes learning and engages the student’s attention. Each classroom is going to be different than the next so teachers must be adaptable to their environment. One of the strategies that was in our weekly reading stated this: “Teachers should use technology to foster local and global social interaction such that students attain multiple perspectives on people, issues, and events.” That’s a unique thought that teachers need to take into consideration. Using technology to give students different perspectives. Then, we need to assess the students to really see if the way we’re bringing in technology is effective or not. Integrating technology is always going to be a huge challenge within the social studies subject, especially if technology keeps developing the way it is today. But with great challenges comes great people who are certainly willing and able to take the challenge and find an effective way to inspire and help their students.

[kingsestak]

New and Old Challenges

As a future social studies teacher, I know I’m going to face a lot of challenges. One of these challenges is getting the students to really buy into what I’m teaching them. It all starts with the enthusiasm that I bring to class. If I don’t show up excited to teach social studies, then it will reinforce the idea that social sciences aren’t worth the time to learn. I need to show my future students the importance of learning social studies because it not only makes them fruitful citizens, but it also prepares them for their future education studies. To do that, I need to have a good, structured classroom that promotes a “minds-on” atmosphere. No longer can we teachers just make a simple powerpoint and expect our students to learn based off that and reading the textbook. We have to engage their minds and make them thinking as to why they are learning this. I want to develop my students into critical thinkers and to learn how to “think outside the box.” Showing my students that knowledge and reality exist within themselves and not outside/independent of them, much like what behaviorists may think. Taking the constructivist approach, I welcome openness to the class and students think critically about the questions they have. Taking this approach isn’t easy. It’ll take may hours of tinkering with and then reflecting on what worked and what didn’t work but I’m up for the challenge. 

[kingsestak]

Finals week Reflection

With finals week here and the spring semester coming to an end, I’d thought I’d do a little reflection over this teaching course. It helped open my mind to all new types of technology and methods of teaching that can effectively help other students learn. Though technology won’t solve all problems, it gives the students another ability to learn in a way that is unique to them. All students learn differently. Some students prefer the old ways of teaching while others love the new methods that are being taught in today’s society. This class made me think outside the box and to really try to add these new methods within my own classroom someday. 

[kingsestak]

Dead Week

As my teac 259 class is wrapping up this week, one thing that I want to talk about from last week’s class is the hand’s on exercise that we did at the very end of class. I thought it was cool that the whole class could interact with the presentation and write down notes while the presentation was being given, but I didn’t see the point in the presentation itself. It just seemed like there was a lot of information that was thrown out at us and I believe most of us didn’t take the presentation too seriously. It was a great idea but I think the problem was that there was too much information and not enough time to cover all of it. 

[kingsestak]

Guided Learning

Last class, we spent the class teaching a 20 minute lecture over our specific subject field. To be honest, I completely forgot about it making a lesson plan and just found some notes from one of my history class and gave a hectic lesson over the Reconstruction Era. I felt like I was very disorganized and obviously that’s completely my fault. Even though I just came up with a lesson plan on the dot, I feel like I did pretty well trying to engage the students (or the members of my group) in the lesson plan. If I had to change anything, I would definitely plan out my lesson plan because and try to make the lesson fun! Also, I kinda said a naught word within my lesson and as I soon as I said it, I was disappointed in myself for it. I want to be the best and most professional teacher that I can be and the use of inappropriate is totally unacceptable. I would also change that in my lesson plan as well. 

[kingsestak]

Quizlet

Got to play around with Quizlet and I found that it’s a pretty neat way to help someone study for a quiz or test. It’s basically like making note cards that you can use whenever there’s a huge test coming up. Teachers can use this a study guide for a test in their classrooms. You, as a student, can also share it to your fellow students who were too lazy enough to make their own note cards or even study for the test days in advance. The problem I have with this is the fact that you have to “memorize” the information (if you hadn’t already known it) instead of knowing the information, which is becoming a huge problem in today’s educational world. Regardless, I made a little quizlet myself so click the link below and check it out!

[kingsestak]

Universal Design of Learning

For my teac 259 class, we did a couple of reading over the use of the universal design of learning. What I learned from it was that schools, offices, and buildings nowadays are being built to include all kinds of physical and mental disabilities. I think that we’re becoming a society that’s more aware of these kinds of disabilities is the reason why more places are UDL designed. It also helps reach out to these students to give them the proper education they deserve. How dope is that?!

[kingsestak]

Maker March

Class this month has been pretty interesting to say the least. My teacher called it “Maker March” and what that really means is finding/imagining/making a bunch of technology that you can use in your class room. Before spring break, we had a class where we played with a bunch of different little pieces of technology.

In one group, we got to hook up some fruit to a controller and used those pieces of fruit to play Tetris! Just the thought of using fruit as a controller is hilarious and ingenious! I found it kind of hard to try to bring this new kinds of technology into my history class, but the whole point of this month was to try to imagine new ways we can use technology in the classroom rather than using the same boring powerpoint that all other classes use. 

[kingsestak]

Week 9

Things are starting to kind sorta crazy in class this week. March seems to be the busiest month in my Teac 259 class, which isn’t bad because the assignments spread out in a way that we’re not all overwhelmed. What I’m sort of excited for is coming up with new ideas to use technology to help teach students within our subject area. My group is currently trying to make an app that lets the user play as one of the presidents! I’m really excited to start working on this idea!

For my Tech of the Week assignment, we got to play around with Kahoot, a website where you can create and take quizzes. You can create a student or teacher account, which I don’t see why there’s a need to have. The short quiz I made was over some of the major battles in World War II. If you want to try out my quiz, then just go to kahoot.it and type in the code (728659)!