To give you a bit of my background, I hail from the great state of North Carolina, where education is consistently a hot button topic. I am currently spending my undergraduate days at the one and only Gardner-Webb University, majoring in Elementary Education. I am very excited to pursue a career in the realm of public education, mainly because I see so much potential in it. I have worked with children my whole life.
The instruction of social studies has always been something that I have personally seen as a "partial struggle". I was eager and interested in learning the material, but too many times, the main method of instruction and assessment was memorization.
If there is one thing that I want to develop professionally, it is the ability to engage and assess my students far beyond regurgitation onto a sheet of paper. I've seen the difference in educators who check for mastery vs. memorization, and it is a world of difference. I want to be able to reflect on my practices and be able to better my pedagogy.
For instance, in Tennessee, the educational realm is currently handling a situation. Teachers were recently hit with low ratings for quality of education. They are currently handling the situation of trying to make often dry material fun for students to learn. In some cases, that backfired by means of low scoring.
Educational News Website "Chalkbeat" provides an interesting article about how test scores are controlling the way that students are learning. It also provides some insight on how, as an educator, you can avoid this way of instruction.
I personally never want my students to feel like they are just a test score in my eyes, because I know all too well how that feels. I know many of us who grew up in public education also feel that way. But we can break that cycle by taking advice, reflecting, and being candid with students.
I understand that it is hard to gain interest from students for certain subjects, such as social studies. However, that is when you know it is time to reflect and revamp your pedagogy. I cannot wait to grow into some of these strategies, and I hope you'll tune in for the next few months of my own reflection!
PS- Feel free to check out Chalkbeat's article here: http://tn.chalkbeat.org/2015/12/15/as-tennessee-finishes-its-race-to-the-top-teachers-caught-in-the-middle-of-competing-changes/
Hey friend! I love your blog name! Yes, when I learned social studies it was also memorization. You know, reading the chapters silently and copying down words from the glossary. Personally, I think making learning fun can boost test scores if the teacher goes about it the right way. Looking at our current situation though, I don't know if we will ever get there. I hope one day we will get back to the way things used to be where we can teach students current topics, as well as life lessons because at the end of the day test scores are not going to matter. However what you learned and if you retained it will, as well as if you can function in society as a good citizen and a well-rounded person.
ReplyDeleteOlivia,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this blog post and I think you did a really good job of expressing the major concern for assessing mastery vs. memorization. This tends to be a very fine line that teachers have to make sure they do not cross. It is a tricky concept, because I remember most of my elementary days were spent memorizing the multiplication facts, memorizing how to spell certain spelling words, and memorizing certain dates or important people throughout history. To master these concepts, I think the teaching methods should have been a little different, for instance, showing the relationship between multiplication and addition would have explained the operation of multiplication much more efficiently. However, the state required that the students should know their multiplication facts by a certain grade; therefore having to memorize them and take timed tests was how they were taught. To keep the students engaged, I think it is dangerous to force students to memorize the content. I know from personal experience, I can memorize something for a test and then the next day, I cannot recall anything on what that test was about. I am eager to learn different ways on how to approach tough content areas and get the students excited about learning!
I completely agree with you about the students not being their test scores. I have always always always struggled with taking tests, and this hit me hard all through grade school. Being seen as only my test scores, also gets me in trouble in college classes. I hate that when I work so hard in a class, and then my grade is determined by the final test. That does not test everything that I have learned in this semester. As for the article, I read an article almost exactly like that for the state of North Carolina. It is crazy how so many states are struggling with low test scores, and meeting the needs of their students. Why do you think that so many states are struggling with this same problem?
ReplyDeleteI think that as we progress more into a 21st century society, many states are finding themselves in a rut of trying to truly grasp what that means. It seems challenging to go confidently and teach what you believe to be right with all of the assessment looming over you, so perhaps you have to make a tough call. It is interesting that many many of the states are dealing with this. That's a good observation!
ReplyDeleteOlivia,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog! This sentence, "If there is one thing that I want to develop professionally, it is the ability to engage and assess my students far beyond regurgitation onto a sheet of paper" speaks volumes! THIS is the essence of the course! Maintain this perspective throughout each learning experience.
How do the points you have made relate to the NCTCS?
While writing this blog, my mind was replaying what it means to be a teacher leader. SO the NCTCS standard that refers to "teacher leadership" is what I am thinking of primarily. I also think that the NCTCS that refers to reflection is important, because I did a lot of self-reflection about my own teaching beliefs while reading this article.
DeleteGreat blog! I agree with Dr. Parker because that is the one sentence that really stuck out to me as well! I believe we are headed down a slippery slope when we are so focused on test scores and simply "testing to teach." Social studies was one of those classes that we read from the textbook, had a test at the end of the chapter and memorized important dates. It never really left the room and for sure did not change the way I viewed the world around me. I never recall discussing current issues and how it affected our lives. We did have a 5 minute kid friendly new channel that came on every morning (Channel One), but the teacher used that time to take attendance and never really engaged us with questions or discussion. I am really excited about this class and learning all the methods to make instruction meaningful. I really feel that we are going to be a great group of future teachers because of all the knowledge we are gaining in our classes. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I miss your sweet smile! Second off, I love the "teachin on a prayer", aren't we all?!
ReplyDeleteI would have to disagree with you in the fact that I think that Social Studies can be THE MOST FUN subject to teach. The problem is, so many counties and districts I feel like don't want learning to fun for students. How many people do know totally shut down in a classroom because what they were learning was not being made relevant to their lives, and wasn't being put into a perspective where they could understand it and take away valuable information from it? So many times there are students that want to learn and have the ability, but learning is plain and simply not fun.
Let's be honest, even as college students we want to have fun right?! I mean clearly Dr. Parker understands that! He has us on here making blogs, Twitter pages, and all sorts of fun stuff! Can you imagine how a six or seven year old would feel in a class that was simply taught based on test.
We all want to make learning fun and relevant, and at the same time teach students what we feel will benefit them in the future.
Good luck this semester, Olivia!