Integration of Technology in Social Studies

How to Use Technology in Your Classroom With a Focus on Social Studies:
Technology is a great tool to be used in a classroom and when properly used, engages students and helps them learn. A Smart Board can be easily used through the day but especially during Social Studies. If you are working on a project about another city, state, or country then google earth is a great place to view the area. There are a lot of great apps for the iPad out there now that can create flash cards or ask you questions to prepare you for a test. It's amazing what's out there for children these days but it's up to the teachers who must be willing to try new things so that they can teach their students something new.

Reflect on Your Experiences:

I was really hoping to see technology used in my practicum setting but unfortunatly my teacher doesn't use it because the school can't afford it. My teacher is also a little apprehensive about using her computer so she doesn't know how to do much which I'm sure is the reason she doesn't use the computer that much during the school day. The only time I see the students using the computer is during Literature Centers and what they are doing on the computer is just a age approproate game. I wish that I was able to see the technology take place so that I would better understand how I could use it.

When I was in middle school my teachers had just gotten Smart Boards put in their classrooms. I remember them being so excited to use this technology in their classes and even though they were a little overwhelmed by the Smart Board, they tried their hardest to learn how it worked so that we would benefit from it. I remember being more interested in lesson because of the Smart Board because we were able to do so much on it and the information came up so clear where as if the information was being written on the board you had to make sure you sat in front just so you could read what the teacher was writing. I think that with the Smart Board it allowed a lot of time for class discussion because the teacher was no longer wasting time writing information down on the board, she was able to devote more time answering questions.

Future Use of Technology in Your Classroom:

In my future classroom I hope to have a few pieces of technology in my room to use when I teach. I would love to own a Smart Board because I feel as though I could create such fun lessons based on that piece of technology and I feel as though the students would be more engaged as learners. I would love to have virtual field trips and explore the world through google earth. There is so much we can do with technology in the classroom that to have the technology and not use it to it's potential is a shame. I have my own iPad and I would even bring that in once or twice a week to either assess or build prior knowledge on a topic. I would love if my students could just play some games on it too, just enough for them to get comfortable using the iPad. I think that since I grew up with having a computer in the house and eventually getting my own, I want my students to learn how to use a computer right from the start. And to do that I need to model it for them and teach with the computer and share information about the subjects we studying through technology.

Great Youtube Videos:

Useful Websites:

http://www.archives.gov/

http://www.pbs.org/teachers/classroom/k-2/social-studies/resources/

http:/4teachers.org/testimony/gathers/index.shtml 

http://www.netc.org/earlyconnections/kindergarten/curriculum.html

http://www.teacher.scholastic.com/professional/bruceperry/using_technology.htm

PBS Teachers

Welcome to Social Studies in a Kindergarten Classroom!

Have you heard of PBS Teachers? Well if you haven't then you are surely missing out. PBS Teachers is a great website for teacher resources. And the best part about it... it's FREE! 

So what exactly does PBS say about itself:


"PBS Teachers is PBS' national web destination for high-quality preK-12 educational resources. Here you'll find classroom materials suitable for a wide range of subjects and grade levels. We provide thousands of lesson plans, teaching activities, on-demand video assets, and interactive games and simulations. These resources are correlated to state and national educational standards and are tied to PBS' award-winning on-air and online programming like NOVA, Nature, Cyberchase, Between the Lions and more."

Fast Facts:


- the website is broken up by grade levels which makes it easier to find a certain topic you're looking for
- resource tabs include: the arts, health and fitness, math, reading and language arts, science and tech, as well as social studies
- a featured column on the main page that displays the current news
- teacher discussion chat rooms are a great place to share ideas
- pbs teachers blog is a great place to find and share resources


So How Can You Use It? 


Next week my Kindergarten class is learning all about Transportation in their community. So I thought it would be a great idea to see what PBS Teachers had on my topic. I simply logged in and then typed in "transportation" in the search box on the upper right side of the screen. Once I hit search there were 160 matches that were found. I scrolled down to the 7th activity called, "Taking A Ride." Hit the "details button" to see what the lesson has to offer. Next I clicked "view resource."

Displayed is a great detailed list of what the activity is and what you will need. I think Kindergartners will love this activity and that's it's very age appropriate. I think I would take the lesson one step further and ask my Principal if I could take the students on a tour of the community near the school and then come back and draw what we saw on the poster board. When you take the tour you could even make bus tickets for the students to give the bus driver!

For the full lesson plan click here. 

Pixton Comic

Here is my Pixton Project. During the time I will present this will be around November so my students will be learning about things they are thankful for and what it means to be thankful. This Pixton Comic can help give them ideas.




The next comic is for the students. Once they have viewed and listened to the comic above they are going to draw 3 things they are thankful for.

Formative Assessment in School

What is formative assessment? 

- Wikipedia states that Formative Assessment is a range of formal and informal assessment procedure employed by teachers during the learning process in order to modify teaching and learning activities to improve student attainment. 

Why do we use them?

- Formative assessments are used after new topics are learned to see what the students have learned up to a particular point in time. 

What are the different types of formative assessment?

• Summaries and Reflections 
• Students stop and reflect, make sense of what they have heard or read, derive personal meaning from their learning experiences, and/or increase their metacognitive skills.
• Lists, Charts, and Graphic Organizers
•  Students will organize information, make connections, and note relationships through the use of various graphic organizers.
• Visual Representations of Information
• Students will use both words and pictures to make connections and increase memory, facilitating retrieval of information later on.
• Collaborative Activities
• Students have the opportunity to move and/or communicate with others as they develop and demonstrate their understanding of concepts.
Reference:

 25 Quick Formative Assessments for a Differentiated Classroom

Conditions for successful formative assessment
1. The student and teacher share a common understanding of what constitutes quality work.
2. Both student and teacher can compare the student's performance.
3. Following the assessment, teaching and learning activities are adjusted to close the gap between
the student's performance and the standard. 

What do I remember?

When I was in school I remember always being evaluated by tests. My mom quickly became concerned because my test scores were never good. I wish my teachers would have taken the time back then to assess me in different ways so that it wouldn't always look like I didn't understand what I was being taught. To this day I am not a good test taker but if I'm presented another form of showing what I know such as writing a paper or building a project then I would be assessed much differently and a higher grade would be reflected on me. Because I have had such issues with being assessed, I'm going to make sure I assess my students in various ways. This will not only encourage them to do better but it will be a confidence booster to those who may not do well taking tests but excel in other ways.