Teaching New Dogs New Tricks

Surrounding me, these past few weeks, has been an urge to develop into a professional version of myself. For the purpose of this blog journey, it would be a wise decision to talk about learning for the sake of my classroom. Last week I touched on professional development and the importance of that.

I attended the Keeping Learning Alive! conference, and it was AWESOME! I learned so much, in ways that as educators, we might not even consider. For instance, one of the speakers held a session about "Social Studies Detectives", and how you can use pictures to help students get thinking about what is really going on during these historical events. How cool is that??

One of the techniques he recommended to the group was to show students 5-10 photos that represent key points within the unit. While looking at this group of photos, they are refreshing their memories on everything that happened, as well as seeing how all of the material flows together. This type of activity would definitely be considered a DOK Level 3 or 4 activity. And it is so simple! Throwing some photos together, and you've got yourself a deep discussion.  I plan to use this strategy in my classroom.

Another technique that the presenter brought to light was, instead of reading and researching the traditional ways, to throw photos up on the projector and ask students to find key details that could have significance to what is happening. For instance, if I held up this photo:



You would tell me you saw a man pointing a gun, sneakiness, and Abraham Lincoln. Now, this is an easy example, but the key is to get students discussing the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. It helps students to think for themselves. I could hold up a sheet of paper in front of a particular portion that someone pointed out so we could hone in on what was going on there. Again, I love these skills and cannot wait to implement these ideas.

For social studies instruction, this has huge implications. The simple method of using pictures has a large impact, especially because you are integrating the visual arts standards into your everyday class time. Also, this integration of visual arts provides students time to hone in on differentiating between topics and concepts they might be studying. This is especially important for North Carolina classrooms!

A huge portion of this crazy journey of becoming an educator has been to learn from my peers, professors, clinical teachers, and children in those classrooms. There is so much out there that can aid teachers to better their practices. It would be wise to do so, in accordance with NCTCS standard 4C: "Teachers use a variety of instructional methods" and 4E; "Teachers help students develop critical-thinking and problem-solving skills".

If you have any questions about what went on at the conference, feel free to email me at obouknight@gardner-webb.edu. I'd be glad to share the resources and tidbits of knowledge I compiled during my time there!