What have I learned?
Over the past couple months I have learned a great deal about integrating the curriculum. Curriculum integration definitely seems to be the way to go for the students to get the most out of what we want them to learn.
One specific thing that I learned about was authentic experiences. These experiences are important in teaching our children. Life will always be full of problem solving and offering real life investigations (in school) will help in ones life. The more real or genuine experiences can be, the more we learn. Authentic experiences should be available in all subject areas.
Another specific thing I learned about was the difference of topics, themes, concepts, and big ideas in teaching social studies. After understanding this way of organization it was easy to pick out a theme for our integrated unit. We focused on Time, Continuity, and Change in looking at the past, present, and future of transportation. I enjoyed reading about some different strategies in chapter 4 of Schell and Fisher. Some of them I already do but I also read about some that I might want to try with my next years group.
Even though this summer session has felt a bit rushed at times, I am coming out of it a better teacher. I am more educated on how to use integration in my classroom. I have many strategies and information that I get to take with me. A lot of that will come from the teachings and readings, but I also gained a lot of knowledge from my classmates. It is great to hear someone else’s ideas. I wasn’t sure about blogging in the beginning, but through learning it and working with it weekly I think it is a good opportunity. It is a great way for us to express ourselves and learn from many others
I was also unsure about blogging in the beginning. I thought it was going to be like Twitter, which I don't like. Blogging is different though. I think it is very easy to use and I really enjoy reading everyone's posts. I hope we all continue to share ideas to use throughout the summer and next year!
ReplyDeleteI am so excited, this is the first time I have been able to blog on someones blogger from my home computer.
ReplyDeleteI have come to enjoy blogging too. I would even like to try it with my 1st grade students next year after Christmas break. I think they can do this!
I now know that too that children learning is better if it comes from experiences. And as Carol has do frequently stated, Children learn through playing. Blogging is not bad, I just had a hard time keeping up with what we were supposed to be doing, especially when we were so focused on the unit.
ReplyDeleteI am excited about the ideas we have all shared this semester also. I feel like I have access to a never ending list of resources and activities because I know I have 29 other women to turn to if I need to ask for an idea. I hope that we all keep sharing even after our graduation next May.
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