Sometimes we are all not that lucky to work collaboratively with a hardworking person, such as Chris. As teachers we need to be aware of group work. Like Dr. Smirnova does, we can create individual group feed back forms for each student in the group to fill out. I remember from the K-12 school days dreading group work because I was usually the person in the group who did all the work.
And then I never wanted to be the person who told the teacher that nobody in the group did anything, so I would do everything and get everyone else a good grade, which is not fair. By creating individual feedback forms, it discretely allows students to explain how the project truly went. We teachers need to prevent this feeling among our students. Properly explaining the group goals, assignment and the requirements, and reviewing collaborative work, students will be more excited to work in groups. As always, both me and Chris strive for the A and were on the same page for the entire project. We both clearly understood the goal and equally suggested ideas and created the project. Overall, I felt we did a great job!For our project we chose to do an article on the sale of cigarettes in pharmacies. Some pharmacies have decided to stop selling cigarettes.
We found the article from the Newsela website. We explored a variety of articles and both agreed on the article. Next, we had to come up with ideas for our presentation. We both agreed on using PowerPoint to introduce our idea of debates. We reviewed what a debate is, how debates are used within the classroom and how to conduct a debate. We also wanted to review the article prior to hosting a class debate on whether pharmacies should stop selling cigarettes. We chose to use Kahoot!, which we were introduced to in class by Dr. Smirnova. Both me and Chris really enjoyed the kahoot quiz on the Native American project. So, quickly we established the overall goal of the project. We created a quiz and presentation and the class had a slightly heated debate on the sale of cigarettes. Overall, I really enjoyed this project. Keeping up with what is going on currently in the world is valuable to any citizen. Conducting current events in the classroom is extremely valuable to student learning and citizenship. We as teachers should prepare our students for the real-world and that includes globally connecting them. By assigning current events in the classroom, the students are broadening their horizons and are learning about the current world. Too often in Social Studies, educators focus solely on the "history" of the world rather than present day. I remember sitting in high school thinking, "well I am glad I learned the same American history several times in my life, got up to the 1970's and never any further." It was only in my college years I started to watch the news and be more updated in current events on the global scale. Not only does the project have the students keep up on current news, but it foster cooperative group work and it makes Social Studies more meaningful. By opening the classroom to global issues, the students will gain more independence, responsibility and understanding of the world. Current events appropriately fits in with Sunal's text about teachers facilitating student's development, "curious students want to know about, to experience, to explore, and to investigate the things around them" (Sunal, p.296). Current events absolutely allows students to explore and investigate the world around them which is vital to success.
I will use current events in my classroom to prepare my students for global understanding. Current events can be used several ways in the classroom. Because events function among various categories such as: science advancements, health, and politics the assignment could be transferred among subjects within the classroom. I could have the students conduct a science current event. With a focus on Social Studies, I would either bi-weekly or monthly have the students conduct a current events project by choosing a article and following a guide for a presentation. The presentations could range from PowerPoint's, essay to videos, skits and plays. For the younger grades (1st-3rd) I would maybe use the TIME magazine to have students stay globally updated. I could also use articles that are age appropriate and pre-chosen. Then I would have the students do a mini-presentation, project, illustration, paragraph, cartoon map etc... on the article. We would discuss the article as a class. I would also introduce my students to news sites and assign "watching the news with parents" as a assignment. Under parent guidance, the students would watch the news and report on one local news story and one global news story. For the upper grades (4th-6th) I would also conduct the watching the news assignment. The articles could be pre-chosen but I would give the student a variety of articles and let them choose one for their project. The projects would be similar as the younger grades, but the students would have more responsibility and more detail in the assignments. For example, write a one page essay following a given rubric, and give a presentation. The standard that could be used for current events is:
Standard 3: Geography, Key Idea 1
Key Idea 1: Geography can be divided into six essential elements which can be used to analyze important historic, geographic, economic, and environmental questions and issues. These six elements include: the world in spatial terms, places and regions, physical settings (including natural resources), human systems, environment and society, and the use of geography. (Adapted from The National Geography Standards, 1994: Geography for Life) http://www.p12.nysed.gov/ciai/socst/socstand/home.html
As teachers, it is important to connect the standards to our lessons. Though I was focusing more on global, the standards for elementary do not s
pecify global. This standards fits because students need to understand issues and focus on the six elements. Current events easily fits into the six elements.
Overall, current events is a fun and valuable assignment for students. It is our jobs as teachers to keep our students updated and create globally ready individuals.
Links for current events:
http://newsela.com/
http://www.cnn.com/
http://www.timeforkids.com/
http://www.pbs.org/now/classroom/lessonplan-03.html: this has a great report on the importance of using current events in the classroom. A must read!
http://blog.biguniverse.com/2010/04/27/10-ways-to-use-current-events-in-the-classroom/: This is a blog with ideas on how to use current events in the classroom.
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