Teaching Social Studies Through Rock and Roll
Dr. Brad Maguth Here is a great idea that my advisor/former professor is integrating into his teaching: using rock and roll to teach history, politics, and civics. I always say that if everything went smoothly, the poets (or songwriters) would have nothing to write about. Check out the article about Dr. Maguth and what he is up to...and remember if it is too loud, you're TOO OLD!!
Teaching Social Studies Through Rock and Roll
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**MS. Ricker and mr. O'connor Podcast on Inquiry learning and web quest**First Podcast!! This weeks topic is on inquiry learning, a constructionists approach to teaching and learning; and problem based learning (PBL). All of these approaches to teaching and learning are geared toward the student becoming the facilitator of his/her own education, with guidance from the teacher. The student becomes actively involved in the learning process as they begin to discover, or inquire, how to solve a problem or come to a certain conclusion about a specific topic. The teacher, as stated above takes a secondary role as a mentor or facilitator of the lesson. This type of teaching could all be done in a library, honestly. I could give students a subject and within the time allotted they can return with their findings using books, magazines, journals, and so forth. Sounds familiar doesn't it? If you went to school that had no computers in it yet, that is the way it was done. But what would it be like if we threw in a couple of computers into the mix with an internet connection? Well, check it out... WEB QUEST The most commonly used method of inquiry learning through the use of technology is a web quest. "A WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented online tool for learning, says workshop expert Bernie Dodge.This means it is a classroom-based lesson in which most or all of the information that students explore and evaluate comes from the World Wide Web. Beyond that, WebQuests:
(from http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/webquests/index.html) (sorry about the highlighter...Diigo does that to text...) Using a web quest in the realm of Social Studies will be invaluable to me as a future educator. Due to the wealth of information the internet brings to our finger tips, understanding history is a matter of a couple of clicks of a mouse button. Students can now explore through a ton of resources and quickly understand any given topic. Here is an example of a web quest that I personally developed for a lesson:
This is the best webquest site I have found so far (all disciplines are there): http://zunal.com/index.php This sister site for teachersfortomorrow.net is studentsfortomorrow.net. Check out this web quest from that site. It is over-the-top! I have to admit, there isn't much to my first web quest! However, I will get better at creating one the more I work at it. I thought about implementing this type of learning for a long time. I think it is an imperative that education begin moving toward alternative approaches to education. This has to begin from the bottom to the top, from kindergarten to the University level. Flipping the Classroom and web quests are just the beginning techniques. Education is slow to change, but the world outside is not. It is important that educators begin to develop the kind of student who can think critically about a problem and come up with a solution. After all, when a person steps into a career, they will find nothing but problems to solve. A doctor or a mechanic both are faced with difficulties to overcome in their respective fields. Students need to be urged to become proactive and own their education. We need to ready our students for their future. Technology, married with the use of the inquiry learning technique will allow educators to do this. My friends at teachers for tomorrow have a lot of wisdom on this-check out this blog.
“I’m as Mad as Hell and I’m Not Gonna Take This Anymore!” A Tale of Copyright InfringementPeg Fitzpatrick, the queen of social media, is pretty positive...she's positively ticked off! Someone took her posting on her blog and made it their own. I like how she approached the issue. A lesson to be learned here... http://pegfitzpatrick.com/2012/07/04/im-mad-as-hell-copyright-infringement/
My blog buddy and I were doing some research on problem based learning and web quests for our Instructional Technology and Implementation class when she unearthed a gold mine! This is simply one of those sites that I find weighty and full of resources for both an educator and a student. Check it out: http://www.studygs.net/index.htm OK, this dates me...On The Fritz (1985) by Steve Taylor Steve Taylor came along before we were politically correct. He was a master of satire. Here is just a taste...and yes I linked it to education. Educators are responsible for what we teach our students. We could find that what we teach has unintended circumstances! Ripped off image from the web. This is part of the semester where the serious side of technology must be discussed. First off, we have standards! While I knew that the State of Ohio had technological standards for their classrooms, I didn't know about the International Society of Technology in Education (ISTE). ISTE is not only a society that is interested in technology in every classroom but they set the agenda for schools across the globe with their generalized but visionary standards. This site offers a vast amount of resources for implementing technology in the classroom. The website offers a very large community who blog and trade ideas. There are also various ways that this market place of ideas is communicated: through the blog, video, literature, and even pictures. Their blog, Community Ning is a social networking site for the education community as a whole. It is an attempt to bring professionals in the educational world together and learn different techniques from one another. With a vast amount of resources, ISTE has become one of my favorites to go to find ideas to use in the classroom. EthicsIn this digital age, we have found ourselves continually being challenged on an ethical level. If educators choose to use the internet for their students to compile information, isn't it in the best interest for the students to filter out the negative influences that can be obtained within a few clicks of a mouse button? How do we protect our students from online predators or scams? Is it unreasonable to have the school district to force students and faculty to sign an AUP (Acceptable Use Policy)? What is cyber-bullying? With any digital device, from iPod Touch to lap top computers, every item has the potential to work on good things or bad things according to what the user puts in the computer or device. As educators we need to teach students how important it is to yield their devices correctly and protect them from any potential threats. Students need to learn to use appropriate conduct while in use of their devices. They need to clearly understand that there are consequences to inappropriate conduct. But hopefully the benefits of technology out weigh the bad occurrences. Bullying is not a new concept. However, cyber-bullying has been at the forefront of educator's minds since the Columbine incident. There has been a nationwide campaign to instruct students and staff alike on this subject. This campaign is a proactive approach to stop the problem within our culture. I would like to say one thing about an AUP: sign it! It protects both you and your employer! Some people have expressed that it is an invasion of your privacy. I can understand that, but what are you doing at work that constitutes the administration not to trust you? CopyrightIt's Not Yours! Copyright doesn't mean that it is your right to copy!! As educators, we walk a fine line when we "borrow" things or ideas to teach a lesson. We must be careful not infringing on what lawfully belongs to someone else. Students are drilled on the issue of plagiarism throughout their academic life. How much more should an educator be responsible for handling lesson material properly. Unclear on what or how to teach with copyrighted materials? See this website: http://www.usg.edu/galileo/skills/unit08/credit08_11.phtml See Teachers for Tomorrow website for articles on SOPA and PIPA:
http://www.teachersfortomorrow.net/1/post/2012/01/sopa-and-pipa.html This is an impressive speech. I have thought a lot of the ideas that he brings up and have wondered why nobody is addressing them. It is frustrating to be an educator when you want to teach in a particular way and then you are faced with standards, evaluations, and other impediments. Understand that I am for common core standards and accountability. These are needed, but to what extent do they become the overlords of education! I think its time we begin to really look at what motivates us to learn and teach--what kind of passions make us want to be educators. I like where Sir Ken Robinson is going in his speech! I think he is very practical and encouraging.
Teach Thought Blooms Taxonomy For iPads! The blog that I read was on the use of iPads within the classroom. They even teach Blooms Taxonomy on an iPad! This blog looks like it is filled with ideas for technology and education. I enjoyed the variety of subjects and will continue to use them as a source for my professional growth. There are a lot of good ideas here! Check it out!
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I am......a teacher certified in AYA Integrated Social Studies Archives
July 2014
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