Welcome to the official 2014 class blog of SEED 415, Social Science Special Methods. This blog is the place to record your reflections on the class and to exchange ideas on making social studies classes what they should be--the most interesting, most exciting, most important classes your students will take.To get us off to a good start, please share here one of things you remember best/enjoyed most in any of your high school or college history classes. Anything that particularly helped lead you to choosing history/social studies as a major?
By the way, it would be a good idea for you to become a "follower" of this blog so that you are alerted to new posts as soon as they appear.
My favorite history class during high school was my APUSH class. My teacher used a lot of hands on teaching and projects that allowed us to research what we were interested in while still sticking to the content that was required by the state of SD. The activity that sticks out most to me was a game called Livin' in the 20s. There were cards that had different scenarios and it determined your life. It was interesting to see the different outcomes during the 20s for different types of families. It gives a sense of realism to history and that makes it much more practical to learn and easier to remember. Because my teacher was able to make history so memorable and interesting to learn, my love for history grew and I know i'm in the right program here at Northern so I will love what I teach someday!
ReplyDeleteHigh school history classes didn't feel like school to me. I enjoyed my time in class and this carried over to college courses. I wanted to be a history major because I love learning about history and I want to pass it on to future generations.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite things about college history courses was the "round table" or seminar guided class. I also enjoyed, in these classes, the opportunity to present and lecture on a selected topic.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part about history classes in high school was that they were actually fun compared to my other classes, mainly because I often times knew the information beforehand since I have always loved learning about history. I've always loved history and realized not that many of my friends or other students did, so I thought that hopefully I could get more students interested in it if I were to become a teacher. I've wanted to help make more enjoyable to others who don't view it as fun. My favorite thing about college history classes as just been the wealth of information I have received that I didn't know about or didn't learn from the high school history classes.
ReplyDeleteI had an awesome teacher who was wonderful with kids. For one project we had to make a replica of some famous structure. I chose to construct my masterpiece out of cardboard, and made an attractive Eiffel Tower. Also we made state and national maps for geography. Lectures were fun especially if we were able to shirt-tail a trivia game directly behind our class lecture. I loved history before this class in the eighth grade, though it was their that I found my gift as a teacher. This one man became my mentor, and inspired me to travel the road of history education once out of high school. After I graduated he retired, though I have always been able to chat with him, and glean from his past. So I would say that I was blessed to have such a great history teacher.
ReplyDeleteMy high school History teacher had a big influence on my desire to major in History here at Northern. I remember looking forward to his class and learning new information about World History. He made History fun and exciting for me. I am glad I have chosen to further my education and allow others to learn about our past.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part of history class from high school was the fact that my teacher was very passionate about history and wanted the kids in the class to learn from it. He would not just have us read from the text book but was interactive with his teaching, we would have projects that were enjoyable but they were productive in our learning as well. I liked history before i had this teacher but they inspired me to look further into history beyond what i would learn in the class room. The passion of my teacher was a big help for me choosing to become a history ed. major.
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ReplyDeleteChapter 2 comments: I particularly agree with the aspects of utilizing humor and the ability to share one's own weaknesses when instructing. I am certainly not a seasoned veteran of teaching, however, what I have learned thus far is that when I am able to make students laugh I feel I am connecting with them on a personal level. In addition to this, I have no qualms admitting to students that there are just some things in class that are just plain and simple dull. However, if we can slog through this particular chapter or concept, I'm sure we can still find something relevant or noteworthy to take home. I feel in doing so, I'm able to relate that even their instructor doesn't always have to eat, breath and sleep everything about the class or subject matter. But at the end of the day, it is still important to attempt to understand and "take home" a few significant concepts, despite not being enthralled by the subject matter. I feel this shows the class that I am human and not just some figuring head droning on relentlessly.
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