Here We Go Again

Today was our first day of class, Research in Social Studies Methods for Childhood Education with Dr. Smirnova.  I'm both very excited and nervous about this class. I have always found social studies to be very interesting. However, knowing that much of this class is online makes me nervous.  

We started off our first class by going to the curriculum library where Tiffany gave an excellent presentation on all the resources in the library. Tiffany as well as Dr. Smirnova showed us and described in detail programs such as: Inspiration, Kidspiration, Microsoft Publisher and more. Prior to our visit to the library, I was unaware of all the resources that were available to the Mount students. Knowing that I have access to multiple resources and also knowing how to use them allows me to feel more comfortable completing and submitting assignments online.

Next, our class went back into the classroom where Dr. Smirnova gave us a getting to know you activity. For the getting to know you activity, we were put in groups and in those groups we learned a little about each other. For example: their heritage, where they were born, where they live now as well as their perspective on social studies. This activity was important because it allowed all of the classmates to get to know one another and feel more comfortable with each other. After all we will be spending several months together.

Finally, we went over the syllabus where Dr. Smirnova explained assignments and also encouraged us to ask questions about anything that was unclear. During this discussion, we were asked, to define “pedagogy”. Although it took some time to come up with a definition, we learned that the word is defined as the science and art of teaching.

Overall, the first class was very informative and I’m looking forward to using all the new recourse that were presented to us.