- Conferences & Workshops
- Independent Development
- Thoughts on Worldmindedness book review
Attended:
Teaching American History - D.C. and the Surrounding Area Travel Experience - Summer 2013
Sites visited included -
The Museum of the Confederacy and the home of Jefferson Davis
Colonial Williamsburg
Gettysburg Battlefield
Antietam Battlefield
Harper's Ferry
Monticello
Mount Vernon
D.C. Memorials
The Spy Museum
The U.S. Holocaust Museum
The Newseum
Ford's Theatre
Lincoln's Cottage and
The U.S. Capitol
Teaching American History - World War I: The American Experience
Reflection -
Attending the professional development seminar focusing on the American experience of WWI reinforced the importance of teachers being life-long learners. Not only was the content presented at the session valuable, I was also introduced to some new teaching methods as well. The seminar also allowed me to work collaboratively with other teachers and learn from their experience and different teaching approaches.
The most valuable content I learned from the seminar focused on local history. Often lessons focusing on wars are taught from an international political perspective, which overlooks the affects of conflicts on society and locally. Introducing students to the ways the war affected local societies should make the topic more interesting and pertinent to the student’s life. It is easy for students often feel detached from history because the events they study are often distant when considering both time and place. Introducing students to local history makes the study of a topic more relevant and accessible because you can talk about places students are familiar with and have seen themselves. Using the primary source documents presented at the seminar from the National Archives at Chicago would be ways to incorporate the study of local history. Arranging for the local historical society to bring historical artifact into the classroom would also enhance student interest.
The most valuable content I learned from the seminar focused on local history. Often lessons focusing on wars are taught from an international political perspective, which overlooks the affects of conflicts on society and locally. Introducing students to the ways the war affected local societies should make the topic more interesting and pertinent to the student’s life. It is easy for students often feel detached from history because the events they study are often distant when considering both time and place. Introducing students to local history makes the study of a topic more relevant and accessible because you can talk about places students are familiar with and have seen themselves. Using the primary source documents presented at the seminar from the National Archives at Chicago would be ways to incorporate the study of local history. Arranging for the local historical society to bring historical artifact into the classroom would also enhance student interest.
At the seminar I was also introduced to a couple of valuable teaching methods. The approach to teaching primary sources that I believe was most beneficial required students to read a primary source using the acronym SOAP as a guide to evaluating not only the content of the primary source but also the subtext. This approach required student to identify the speaker, occasion, audience, and purpose of a primary source. This method would help students understand that to analyze a primary source they must look beyond the face value.
The other teaching method I was introduced to, that I will most definitely use in my classroom, was the four corners activity demonstrated when discussing the balance between security and freedom of expression. Allowing students to choose what they feel is the best description of an issue and then having them move in the classroom to form groups that will then discuss their perspective and share it with the class would be engaging. The activity is also beneficial because it would help students conceptualize difficult ideas and conflicting perspectives. This activity is also very adaptable. It could be used for a variety of topics and positions.
Overall, the professional development seminar was quite helpful in introducing me to new content about WWI and different teaching methods that could be utilized when teaching a variety of topics.
DuPage Valley Social Studies Conference - February 26, 2010
Session 1: Pericles and Democratic Athens
Session 2: Politics, Words, and Purpose: Whose Lexicon Do We Use?
Session 3: The Partition of India
Teaching American History - Teachers Fall Workshop - September 25, 2011
A Historical View of Two Presidents - L.B.J. and J.F.K.
I plan on enrolling in an online gifted education certification course in the fall as well as attending two AP history teaching seminars and finishing my Master's thesis.
Independent Professional Development -
Technology:
I am a member of the SMART Board Revolution website, and use this resource as a reference when developing SMART Board activities and assessments.
Online Learning:
This semester I have participated in Ashland University's monthly online Saturday webinars focusing on American government and foreign policy. I really enjoy online webinars and conferences and I am looking forward to participating in more over the summer!
Teaching:
I am currently reading and working through the companion workbook for:
Teach Like a Champion - by Doug Lemov
This book provides countless methods and teaching techniques to encourage engagement and motivate ALL students. I am really enjoying working through it and would love to get a group of teachers together next year for a book study.
Thoughts on Worldmindedness:
In their book, Social Studies and the World, Merry M. Merryfield and Angene Wilson offer a strong rationale and a variety of objectives for teaching global perspectives in world history. Their rationale is multi-faceted and is largely predicated on the importance of understanding an increasingly integrated and connected world in the 21st Century. Global education is multi-disciplinary and focuses on the past, present and future. According to authors, the aims of a global education is to prepare students to participate in human affairs, both local and global. To do this, teachers should seek to teach students to appreciate the similarities and difference of both diverse cultures and perspectives, understand world systems, examine global issues and actors worldwide, and also examine international power structures.
Teaching world history also prepares student to participate in cross-cultural interactions and aims to reduce prejudice. Like all social studies education, the study of world history should incorporate changing technology in to the classroom and give opportunities to students to develop their research and thinking skills. The most significant objective for teaching global education is creating cross-cultural awareness and respect for multiple perspectives. I believe that these objectives are unique to teaching globally.
While the authors' rationales supporting global education seem logical and positively aimed at encouraging student to contribute to the world in a positive way, teaching global perspectives has also been criticized. While Merryfield and Wilson identify and counter many criticisms of global education, it is important to be aware that some topics are controversial and local community issues should be considered when choosing course topics.
One response to the criticism of global education that I disagree with is the concession that because global education focuses less on Western civilization and places the U.S. within world history, it “de-exceptionalizies American history” (21). In many ways global education can help student appreciate American history, as students come to understand the value of living in country that offers the benefits of educational opportunities, political stability, and security.
Merryfield and Wilson frequently use the term “world-mindedness" to describe their overall teaching philosophy. They recommend that student should develop an awareness and ability to participate in cross-cultural interactions. It seems the skill set that accompanies worldmindedness, according to Merryfield and Wilson, can only be learned through engaging in cross-cultural interactions. Having spent two years abroad, the teaching philosophy really speaks to me. I believe it is essential when teaching global education to seize opportunities to gain exposure to different cultures, even within the United States. These experiences are invaluable in teaching how diverse cultures affect people actions, and international relations. Exposure to another culture fosters an appreciation and eventually an ability to approach situations from various cultural perspectives.
I feel that the only negative aspect of the teaching philosophy of worldmindedness is that it is exclusive in requiring teachers have had cross-cultural experiences and can apply what they have learned from these experiences in the classroom. While I believe the meaningful experiences with other cultures certain help teaching of global education, I don't think they are absolutely essential. I often discuss my own experiences living in Thailand and Brazil when I am teaching. I know drawing on these experiences helps me be a more effective teacher, but I do not think these experiences should necessarily be a requirement for social studies teachers. Teachers who are interested and open to cross-cultural experience can certainly teach effectively as well and also work towards gaining cross-cultural experiences for themselves and their students when they design their curriculum.
Overall Merryfield and Wilson's book has made me conclude that world history is best taught from a thematic approach. This allows student to understand the importance of historical events and developments over time and relate what they have learned to the present. Possible units of study for a world history class would include the study of economic systems, political power and institutions, technology, the environment, and cultural units on social organization and religion. In each of these categories it is essential for students to understand how systems changed and global connections were made throughout history.
I believe teaching social studies should focus on many levels of student identity and teaching from a global perspective allows for this. Students develop as individuals, community members, American citizens and most importantly citizens of the world. The activities Merryfield and Wilson describe to help students identify how their own perspectives and experiences shape their worldview would be quite helpful but could also incorporate reflection on how American culture and institutions shape an individual’s worldview. I understand one goal of global education is to appreciate how culture influences individuals, however sometimes it easier to identify cultural influences when considering a larger group.
