Reflection

As the semester comes to a close, teaching starts to become more real.  The reality of being a teacher has finally started to sink in and the necessity of learning how to teach effectively is becoming more and more urgent.  With this mindset, I have been able to reflect on the semester and recognize the tools I have gained that will help me in my own classroom. 

One of the most important things I have learned is how easy it is to incorporate effective reading, writing, and other literacy activities in a classroom.  Supporting literacy can be as simple as having discipline related texts available in the classroom for students.  Expressing my own interest in literacy can also encourage students to read.  Perhaps mentioning something new I've learned from a book I'm reading could help students realize that reading is something many successful adults do long after they've graduated school.  Incorporating effective tools during instruction and activities is another simple way to encourage literacy.  For example, when teaching vocabulary I could show how words relate to each other and give students several opportunities to interact with the words.  When helping students write, I could have students write to an actual audience, give multiple interesting writing prompts, or have students read the work of their peers and respond.  For linguistically diverse students, I could use pictures, gestures, and provide bilingual texts during instruction and activities.

In the social studies, I will find many opportunities to use these techniques to increase literacy in my students.  Reading, writing, and critically reflecting are necessary skills to understanding any social studies subject.  Activities such as analyzing documents, writing essays, and participating in group discussions will be engaging and effective with the use of the many diverse, effective techniques I have learned.  Then, perhaps students who were reluctant to read or hesitant to write will feel confident and proficient in their increasing literacy skills. 

As I prepare to teach, I am excited to implement these literacy skills and activities in my own classroom. 

Discipline-Specific Writing and Assessment

Throughout my schooling, the social studies have been tested in a variety of ways.  Early on, elementary and early junior high school teachers allowed students to express learning in tangible or creative ways.  Posters, drawings, maps, and plays were just some of the ways knowledge was expressed and assessed.  As I progressed through school, the assignments and assessments became more stagnant and repetitive.  By the time I got to high school, the social studies subjects were assessed solely through papers and multiple choice tests.  Because of my innate interest in these subjects, the boring assessments did little to hinder my excitement.  For my classmates however, the social studies classes became a challenge and burden.  

Perhaps if my teachers had provided alternate and creative opportunities to learn and express ideas, more students would have developed a life long interest in the social sciences and a better understanding of the world around them.  The multiple choice and essay assessments limited learning and critical understanding.  My junior high and high school teachers could have incorporated higher learning and interest into their classrooms if they, like my elementary school teachers, had provided interesting and creative methods for learning and assessment. 

Whether I teach 7th or 12th grade, I plan to incorporate creativity and alternate assessments into my classroom.  Multiple choice tests and well planned essays have an important place in social studies classrooms and will likely be used in my own.  Additionally, I plan to use maps, drawings, debates, plays, and other alternative assessments that will help my students develop an interest in and love for the social sciences.  The skills used in these assessments will also be transferable to other classes and real life situations.       

Affective Dimensions of Writing- Round 2

I express myself most easily through art and music.  I often pull out my sketchbook or sit down to the piano when I can't find other ways to express my emotions.  Not surprisingly, I typically consider myself more of an artist or musician than a writer.  However, I have used writing many times throughout my life to express ideas both formally and informally.

As a kid, I wrote fictional stories in an informal and nonjudgmental setting.  My older sister had an amazing imagination and big dreams of becoming a writer.  As a result, I learned to enjoy writing as well.  My mother had a big envelope full of interesting writing prompts from which we would each select our topics.  Then we would set a timer for ten minutes and begin our stories.  When the time ran out, we switched papers and began working on each others.  After switching papers multiple times, the end results were two stories written by our combined efforts and creativity.

The writing I do now is usually individual and related to a school assignment.  I rarely write for recreation now because I am often too busy writing history papers for my university classes.  Although I write primarily for formal reasons now, I continue to enjoy writing.  I especially love writing papers in response to novels.  Some of my history classes have incorporated novels into the curriculum and assigned accompanying papers.  These are my favorite essays to write because the professors usually allow for more creativity and interpretation than a typical history essay permits.

Despite my relatively positive experiences with writing, I have endured many long and painful writing assignments.  Some teachers have asked for papers that are too long, give no structure, or provide little feedback, making the writing process particularly difficult. 

Based on my past experiences, I hope I can contribute to my future classroom by cultivating an environment where students are excited and confident about their writing.  I want students to be proud of their ability to express their thoughts through writing in a variety of ways.  I like the idea my mother had to have an envelope full of writing prompts.  I have considered doing the same thing in a history classroom where students who aren't sure what to write about can chose a prompt at random from carefully selected and relevant list.  I also plan to provide both formal and informal writing opportunities for my students.  If students are too focused on a grade each time they write, they may leave out some of their creativity and unique voice.  By allowing informal writing that won't be graded, students will have opportunities to express themselves honestly and may even learn to enjoy recreational writing. 

Affective Dimensions of Reading

Reading has always been an important part of my life.  My mother, a dedicated second grade teacher, taught me how to read before I even attended kindergarten.  When I was growing up she took me to the local library weekly where she volunteered as a story time reader.  Before going home we would check out as many books as we could, using baskets to take them all back to the car.  Throughout the week, we would read each book and dutifully return them on our next visit.

Because of my mother's persistent efforts, I was often one of the best readers in my class throughout my public education.  Over time, my reading interests have become focused on books that could be considered Classical Literature.  When my high school teachers introduced me to books such as "The Scarlet Letter" and "Great Expectations", they instantly became favorites.  Similar literature has continued to inspire me.  Unfortunately, I have read less and less in the five years since high school.  I no longer can find time to sit down and enjoy the literature I'd like because I am bogged down with school assignments, work, and just trying to stay afloat amid my many obligations. 

I hesitate when I think about times in my life when I disliked reading because there are very few.  I sometimes disliked reading when forced to do it for a class; however, I often return to the same readings years later and find them beautiful and inspiring.  This was the case in my History of the Soviet Union class a couple years ago.  The professor, an ancient man with a stutter, had us read a piece of Russian literature and write an enormous paper on it.  The novel, "Dr. Zhivago", was the bane of my existence for several weeks as I struggled to get through it's lengthy and wordy pages.  This past summer however, I picked it up again and couldn't stop reading it!  I found myself very engaged in the story and meaning of the same novel that had once bored me tremendously only a couple years previous. 

I hope I can foster a love of reading in my class, just as my mother did in my home.  One of the first things I can do as a teacher is express my own love for reading.  Simply making students aware that I read for fun and enjoyment can encourage them to do the same.  More specifically, I can encourage reading for learning purposes in a history class.  Text is very important in history; however, students shouldn't be forced to read lengthy speeches and difficult documents.  Rather, I can provide shortened versions of text to students so they can understand and read more manageable historic accounts.  This will bolster student confidence in reading by giving them texts that are within their reading level.  Including novels in history classes, as my History of the Soviet Union professor did, can also engage students in meaningful historic text of a different kind. 

My name is Kate Rasmussen.  I am proudly embarking on my fifth and final year at Utah State University.  So far I have half of a music minor under my belt, the equivalent of several art minors, and most of my teaching major completed.  As you can tell from my unnecessarily extensive education, I have a variety of interests.  I love art and music and consider creativity to be my greatest talent.  I also love the outdoors.  I particularly enjoy hiking, fishing, canoeing, and just about any outdoor activity that doesn't demand too high a level of coordination or skill.  

I am also a hardworking and hopeful aspiring secondary education teacher.  I am 22, although I am often told I look young enough to be in high school.  I guess I'll fit right in!  When I graduate, I will be certified with a Social Studies Composite Teaching Major.  In other words, I will be able to teach history, geography, political science, psychology, sociology, and economics.  Economics is at the end of the list because, for the sake of myself and my future students, it is the one subject I will hopefully never be teaching.

For me, social studies means studying and making sense of the world.  I was drawn to this subject because it is a necessary and undervalued part of a complete education.  Students who understand social studies are better able to read their world and are empowered to change it.

Literacy and social studies are deeply connected.  My definition of literacy embodies skills such as synthesizing across sources, effectively expressing ideas, and having the ability to think and analyze critically.  In every social studies subject, these skills are needed.  Within social studies, students are forced to look at and understand different perspectives and come to individual conclusions.  Students also need to express conclusions and ideas in a coherent way that can be shared with others.  Literacy is a necessary tool in acquiring knowledge within the social sciences.