Reflection for Chapter 6, TPCK
I found this chapter to be somewhat interesting. It seems difficult to define what social studies is. It includes so many things! There is history, geography, politics, economics, citizenship, and even more. In first grade, our focus of social studies looks most at the last part- becoming good citizens. We also do timelines and mapping.
When using technology, I think it’s fun to create timelines on the computer. It can be a great visual way to show changes in something over time. I also use GoogleEarth to introduce maps. The students love to find their house and the school. It gives students a general sense of how maps are different depending on what you are using them for. By looking at and comparing different areas, students get a sense of different landforms and how cities and towns may look different. The more difficult task, I believe, is using technology to promote good citizenship.
The chapter had many great ideas to use when teaching history. I liked the idea of finding historical documents, letters, and pictures. I can understand how looking at these would spark an interest in students. In these troubling times, it also provides a way for students to leave the classroom and see artifacts without costing any money.
Using technology as an avenue to teach social studies seems to be based more on researching materials, rather than creating them. The focus of the chapter seemed to be on using the internet as a resource. The chapter did not talk very much about using computers or technology to create maps, write historical documents, or learning how to communicate better. I did like the idea of students who are learning about the government to have access to their local politicians. This would be a great way to get them involved in their community.
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Thanks for all the great resources! I enjoyed playing around with the classroom architect from Charmaine's. It will be perfect for our mapping unit. I found some great interactive sites from James' resources also. There were some fun language arts ones, even though that isn't your topic. These were on the Rockingham website. That is a great site.
ReplyDeleteI also liked the current events aspect of using technology in social studies. I did not know that President Obama blogged or did weekly videos. This would be really cool to show my students.
The web is as up to date as tomorrows newspaper. Architecture…What would you like to create and/or breakdown? You can do it all on the web. But of course you will wear your eyes out and become anti-social because you won’t have time to talk with anyone anymore. What will the new word be in wikapedia to replace intrapersonal communication, because we won’t ever look at anyone again. So much for eye contact. Sometimes I feel like we will all go blind from staring at out computer screens and have to feel our way around the world.
ReplyDeleteI wish that some one could organize the resources that are available on the web more clearly. One site with everything you need as a teacher. May be I will so it in my spare time. Life would be some much easier.
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