Thats all folks!!!!

Taking the course Research in Social Studies Methods for Childhood Education with

Dr. Smirnova was definitely a worthwhile learning experience. I had always thought of social studies as a boring and unimportant subject. I never enjoyed social studies in school because of how boring it was. It was direct instruction all the time in every lesson. I remember how tedious it was studying for tests. I had to create flash cards and study for hours trying to memorize dates, people, facts, and concepts. From early on, I knew I did not want to be that kind of teacher, but there was only one problem; I didn’t know any other way.

           

Dr. Smrinova has taught me the value of social studies; most importantly, she made social studies fun. She taught me how to create, design, and implement meaningful social studies lessons that will motivate and enhance student’s understanding of the subject. I appreciate her admiration of technology and how she encourages her students to use it when creating lessons. Because of Dr. Smirnova’s love for technology, I have developed a better understanding of the impact that technology has on students learning. Without a doubt, I will implement technology in my lessons when I become a teacher. Additionally, I learned that a firm social studies education will deepen student’s knowledge and understanding of the past, the present, and will help them to plan for the future. When learning social studies, students are encouraged to critically think and are provided with the skills for productive problem solving and decision making that will led them to develop their own personal values and make positive decisions.

Another important thing that I learned in this class was how to write test questions. In all of my previous courses, I was never taught how to do this; in fact, I never even gave it much thought. Dr. Smrinova was the one to teach us about different question types such as divergent questions. They are the why, how, if questions and are important because they challenge students. These questions will show you if your students have a good understanding of what they learned.  Also, I learned how to write multiple choice question which prior to taking this course, I thought were easy to set up. I now know that they require much more thinking then I previously thought because the distracters cannot be too obvious. Additionally, I learned how to write true/false, short response, and essay questions. Having the skill to be able to write proper testing questions is important because it will allow you to more accurately assess your students understanding.

One of my favorite activities that I learned during this course was the jigsaw activity. This is because I was never really fond of group activities. With group activities, I feel that not everyone contributes equally. However, the jigsaw is designed so each student is responsible for teaching others as well as their own learning which is a way to ensure that all students equally contribute. I would definitely use the jigsaw activity in my classroom for all subjects.