Gateway Into Teaching Social Studies
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
As We Depart
It is sad to say that this is our last class and it is now time for my last post on the semester. Throughout this course I learned a lot of valuable content that I will take with student teaching and further experiences. One aspect that I really enjoyed from this course was blogging. Blogging seems tedious and a waste of time, but it is actually the opposite. Writing every week helps you summarize what you did on that specific week and it also helps organize your thoughts. I plan on implementing this within my classroom and I hope I have enough time to do it as well. Another attribute that really helped me excel in this course was incorporating the different means of technology. Being an ITE major I knew a couple of ways to implement technology, but this class goes more in depth with the concept. I learned how to use technology through the direct, inquiry, and cooperative lesson plans. These three lesson plans were vital to learn with teaching at Bishop Dunn. Before this class began we were required to fill out a self evaluation sheet based on the concepts that were taught in this course. There were a few pieces of content that I was unfamiliar with, but I can see the growth I made throughout the course. Some of these concepts included: the different types of lessons, using some technology tools and a few other aspects. One of the first attributes that we learned in this course were the three lesson plan formats. Through this we were asked to use them within our teaching session at Bishop Dunn. It took a little while to get the idea of how to write the three lessons, but Dr. Smirnova guided us through the process. With her help and collaboration from my peers I learned how to write a well formatted lesson. Through this course we were also asked to research some philosophy of teaching. My philosophy of teaching would follow a constructivism approach. The constructivist involves students to learn by experiencing certain aspects. This would be through the inquiry method where it states hands on, minds on. Students are manipulating materials or reflecting on their experience. According to Concept of the Classroom, "Constructivist teachers encourage students to constantly assess how the activity is helping them gain understanding. By questioning themselves and their strategies, students in the constructivist classroom ideally become "expert learners" (p. 1). As mentioned before this philosophy will help students become expert learners. Relating the concept to expert learners can be correlated to the Bloom's Taxonomy Pyramid. This concept was also taught throughout the course and is meaningful for teachers to follow by. In my other ITE courses, this concept is mentioned through the issue of technology and how to implement the vocabulary of Bloom's Taxonomy within a lesson plan. Using these key terms will help you construct a better lesson plan. This theory will help students reach a higher level and will also help reach mastery level on the content. I plan on using this through teaching because it will supply a guideline for the students and myself. Before starting this course, I knew I was going to have a hard time with teaching Social Studies because it is not my favorite subject. At the end of Social Studies I was a little more comfortable with the content and it also helped that I had a chance to look everything over. I am glad that I took this course at the end of my college career and I am happy to know that I learned a lot in this classroom. This successful course would have not been possible if it wasn't for Dr. Smirnova. She pushed me to excel and go above and beyond expectations. This outlook inspired me to be a better me. I would like to finish this last blog with a quote by Sidney Sugerman, "Teach the young people how to think, not what to think."
Wednesday, May 4, 2016
Tying It Altogether

It was now time that we implemented the questions to the teacher candidates and see their responses. Before we started the interview process, we each had to explain a little bit about our school. Which theory we rely on the most and what type of demographics we have. One by one we gave a short presentation on what we expect out of the following teacher candidates. After we introduced ourselves, we started off in our groups from Bishop Dunn. One of the first questions I asked was, "I know that you have been in Dr. Smirnova’s class, where she used the principles of Flipped classroom. How and will you use flipped teaching/ learning in your social studies classroom?" Some fellow teacher candidates were unaware of this terminology and were confused by the question. Other fellow teacher candidates came up with good answers based off of what they do know. One answer in particular caught my eye was the jigsaw method. The teacher candidates explained why this would be a good method and how they would implement it within their classroom setting. When each group was done answering this warm up questions they were then asked to pick out of the bag and read the number off the paper that they picked. I did it this way because I wanted to make it fair for everyone
in the group. Everyone in the group had different questions and they all had different answers. All of the groups used academic language that was needed for this interview and they made excellent eye contact. The one suggestion I had for the entire classroom was not use the tool Voki for all the inquiry lessons. This tool is just there to engage the students in the beginning of the section. There are other tools such as: web quests, experiments, etc. All of the administrators went to each group and presented their questions to each potential teacher candidate. Once we were all finished with each group we were asked to go out in the hallway and discuss who we would like to hire from each group and why. This discussion was in depth and long because there were a lot of great answers. We eventually made a decision and discussed some findings that we had throughout the whole classroom. As a group, we gave them suggestions and some likes from certain individuals to all teacher candidates. Through this time we not only reflected upon everyone, but we also reflected upon the concepts that we learned throughout the semester. This was an excellent way to retain all the information we learned and bring it out in a "real-life" situation. Doing this interview was a great way to end the second to last day and it also gave us tips on how to run an interview. I am looking forward to using these techniques on an actual interview. Until next time bloggers :)
in the group. Everyone in the group had different questions and they all had different answers. All of the groups used academic language that was needed for this interview and they made excellent eye contact. The one suggestion I had for the entire classroom was not use the tool Voki for all the inquiry lessons. This tool is just there to engage the students in the beginning of the section. There are other tools such as: web quests, experiments, etc. All of the administrators went to each group and presented their questions to each potential teacher candidate. Once we were all finished with each group we were asked to go out in the hallway and discuss who we would like to hire from each group and why. This discussion was in depth and long because there were a lot of great answers. We eventually made a decision and discussed some findings that we had throughout the whole classroom. As a group, we gave them suggestions and some likes from certain individuals to all teacher candidates. Through this time we not only reflected upon everyone, but we also reflected upon the concepts that we learned throughout the semester. This was an excellent way to retain all the information we learned and bring it out in a "real-life" situation. Doing this interview was a great way to end the second to last day and it also gave us tips on how to run an interview. I am looking forward to using these techniques on an actual interview. Until next time bloggers :)
Thursday, April 21, 2016
Surprise Artifact Bag
an essence of the different artifacts that the Pilgrims used. When I picked out this book I wanted to relate it to a third to fourth grade level. The lexile of this book hits right in between these two grades. This experience was very insightful because it helped me learn how to implement teaching social studies in an engaging way. I am looking forward to using this artifact bag while student teaching. Until next time bloggers :)
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Becoming Historians
Today in class we learned about engaging students in examining history. When I was in school history used to be my worst subject because I would have to remember dates. I have no recollection of teachers actually going into depth about the importance of history. To this day, history still remains my worst subject because of what it entails. Dr. Smirnova's PowerPoint, hit all the major aspects of becoming a more diverse history teacher. She depicted all of the misconceptions of this subject and the importance of teaching it as well. The first question that she asked was what are the powerful elements of teaching history. There are five key elements when discussing the importance of engaging the students. They are listed as followed:
- Meaningful: "Engaging, connects students with real-world situations."
- Integrative: "Draws on more than one discipline, subject or skill set."
- Value-Based: "Strengthens students' sense of democratic values and social responsibility."
- Challenging: "Incorporates different perspectives and draws on students' critical-thinking skills."
- Active: "Participatory, makes use of manipulative or physical environment."

All of these 5 elements are important to include within a lesson plan. I am going to go more into depth about these 5 elements and really interpret what they include throughout each lesson. The fist element is meaningful. As described above, meaningful element should connect students to real-world situations. According to A Vision of Powerful Teaching, "Key concepts and themes are developed in depth. The most effective social studies teachers do not diffuse their efforts by covering
too many topics superficially. .../Deep and thoughtful understanding is essential to prepare students for the issues of the 21 century citizenship" (p,1). This statement is basically saying that teachers should not teach too many topics. Teaching too many topics will not allow the students to convey a deeper understanding and thoughtful discussion. Instead the teacher should pick one topic to go into detail about. This will start off with a Direct Lesson and eventually make its way through until cooperative. Having the teacher distribute out a whole unit will allow the students more time to understand the material and grasp the concepts better. Which then leads into the integrative section.
Integrative as mentioned above draws on more than one discipline, subject or skill set. An example of this would be drawing ideas from: economics, geography, history, political science, and sociology. All of these subjects can correlate with one another. One way to make these connections is to look at the past and present and see if the students can make any connections between the different aspects. This will get them to relate certain aspects and will deepen their content knowledge. The one item that is important in this section would be the use of technology. Technology is becoming more prominent in the classroom and the students are relying more on technology. To intertwine technology and integrative teaching would be an excellent idea. One way that teachers can do this is by using Web 2.0 tools for the students to collaborate and work together to solve a problem. Having the students read and write will help them "add important dimensions to students' learning" (A Vision of Powerful Teaching, p.1).
The third important element that is mentioned is Value-based. As mentioned in Dr. Sminova's slide, Value-based instruction strengthens students' sense of democratic values and social responsibility. Through this section students are becoming aware of certain policies and help them think critically towards that specific subject. They do this by making decisions and making choices that are needed. According to A Vision of Powerful Teaching, "Students learn this value through discussions, debates, the use of authentic documents, simulations, research, and other occasions for critical thinking and decision making, students learn to apply value-based reasoning when addressing problems and issues." It is important to have this value-based instructions because it allows each student to speak his/her opinions on the given subject. Also it helps them realize that they need to be open-minded and use research to back up their answers. This form of debate helps students realize all of these important factors. Debating is not the only way to reach the value-based instructions. There are multiple ways to guide students through this specific section.
Second to last element is challenging your students. Challenging your students allows them to think more critically and reaches a higher point on the Bruner's scale of learning. This section can actually be seen through the inquiry process. During this inquiry process, students are being asked to research a specific topic or given an experiment to complete. Through this the teacher is challenging his/her students to come up with an answer to the problem. They are either doing this research or experiment by themselves or within a group. The teacher is just there for the students if they have any further questions, but the teacher is not allowed to help through this section. Students are discovering new facts and vocabulary and they are challenging themselves to think critically. This helps each student grow with their cognitive ability.
The last and final step is active. Active is the last step because this is where the students are putting the aspects that they learned together. Students are working individually and collaboratively during this point to implement what they learned from the previous sections. They do this by explanation and modeling for the whole class. All of these attributes can be seen through a cooperative lesson plan. In a cooperative lesson, the students gathering their ideas to eventually share with the classroom. This helps the students implement their findings and makes them state the important facts on what they learned. Having an active part through this section is also important because it develops students' social skills. All of these elements are important to include within your lessons because it helps students realize a deeper understanding of history. If these elements were included while I was in school I would've been more engaged in the different topics. As a teacher it is important to include these topics and reach all of your students needs. Until next time bloggers :)
too many topics superficially. .../Deep and thoughtful understanding is essential to prepare students for the issues of the 21 century citizenship" (p,1). This statement is basically saying that teachers should not teach too many topics. Teaching too many topics will not allow the students to convey a deeper understanding and thoughtful discussion. Instead the teacher should pick one topic to go into detail about. This will start off with a Direct Lesson and eventually make its way through until cooperative. Having the teacher distribute out a whole unit will allow the students more time to understand the material and grasp the concepts better. Which then leads into the integrative section.
Integrative as mentioned above draws on more than one discipline, subject or skill set. An example of this would be drawing ideas from: economics, geography, history, political science, and sociology. All of these subjects can correlate with one another. One way to make these connections is to look at the past and present and see if the students can make any connections between the different aspects. This will get them to relate certain aspects and will deepen their content knowledge. The one item that is important in this section would be the use of technology. Technology is becoming more prominent in the classroom and the students are relying more on technology. To intertwine technology and integrative teaching would be an excellent idea. One way that teachers can do this is by using Web 2.0 tools for the students to collaborate and work together to solve a problem. Having the students read and write will help them "add important dimensions to students' learning" (A Vision of Powerful Teaching, p.1).
The third important element that is mentioned is Value-based. As mentioned in Dr. Sminova's slide, Value-based instruction strengthens students' sense of democratic values and social responsibility. Through this section students are becoming aware of certain policies and help them think critically towards that specific subject. They do this by making decisions and making choices that are needed. According to A Vision of Powerful Teaching, "Students learn this value through discussions, debates, the use of authentic documents, simulations, research, and other occasions for critical thinking and decision making, students learn to apply value-based reasoning when addressing problems and issues." It is important to have this value-based instructions because it allows each student to speak his/her opinions on the given subject. Also it helps them realize that they need to be open-minded and use research to back up their answers. This form of debate helps students realize all of these important factors. Debating is not the only way to reach the value-based instructions. There are multiple ways to guide students through this specific section.
Second to last element is challenging your students. Challenging your students allows them to think more critically and reaches a higher point on the Bruner's scale of learning. This section can actually be seen through the inquiry process. During this inquiry process, students are being asked to research a specific topic or given an experiment to complete. Through this the teacher is challenging his/her students to come up with an answer to the problem. They are either doing this research or experiment by themselves or within a group. The teacher is just there for the students if they have any further questions, but the teacher is not allowed to help through this section. Students are discovering new facts and vocabulary and they are challenging themselves to think critically. This helps each student grow with their cognitive ability.
The last and final step is active. Active is the last step because this is where the students are putting the aspects that they learned together. Students are working individually and collaboratively during this point to implement what they learned from the previous sections. They do this by explanation and modeling for the whole class. All of these attributes can be seen through a cooperative lesson plan. In a cooperative lesson, the students gathering their ideas to eventually share with the classroom. This helps the students implement their findings and makes them state the important facts on what they learned. Having an active part through this section is also important because it develops students' social skills. All of these elements are important to include within your lessons because it helps students realize a deeper understanding of history. If these elements were included while I was in school I would've been more engaged in the different topics. As a teacher it is important to include these topics and reach all of your students needs. Until next time bloggers :)
Monday, April 11, 2016
Exploring Through The 5 E's
The 5 E's are vital in a lesson plan and in a classroom. Teachers should be aware of these 5 aspects when implementing an inquiry lesson. Let me first start off with talking about what is consisted of the 5 E's. According to Enhancing Education, "The 5 E's is an instructional model based on the constructivist approach to learning, which says that learners build or construct new ideas on top of their old ideas." When students are exploring through the 5 E's they are tapping in on their prior knowledge and using that as a "crutch" to the lesson. Wait, but what are the 5 E's? Well I'll tell you, the 5 E's include: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate. These 5 attributes should be included in your inquiry lesson to help the students build their knowledge. Another attribute that the 5 E's helps are cognitive skills. When going through each E, it helps the students develop a higher order of thinking according to the Bloom's Taxonomy Pyramid. All of these E's have a different aspect, but they all come together at the end. Breaking down each E is the best way to explain these different aspects. The first E that I will begin with is the Engage.
Engage section should always be the first E when implementing a lesson. This helps you make connections between what the students learned before and what they are learning now. The engage portion also introduces the problem or aspect that needs to be solved. An example of this was our group introducing the Web quest to our second graders. We gave the students a problem to solve and this helped us/them begin their lesson. Through this portion the students should be asked a question and this should get them to start thinking about the possible answers. This is where students "Become mentally engaged in the concept, processes, and skills" (Enhancing Education, 1). Also this section is important to bring in students prior knowledge on the subject, either by bringing up questions that were asked in the direct lesson or what the students should already know. After introducing all of these aspects it's time to move onto the second part of the 5 E's.
Which brings us to Exploring! This section is for students to develop among themselves. Whether this is making the discoveries in a group or working alone. During this E, students are identifying and developing concepts. They do this by researching the subject and/or experimenting with the different ideas that they previously learned. The students are now taking the question that was posed in the Engage section and using that question to make new discoveries. Relating back to our fieldwork experience, students were asked to do research on their mystery explorers and they had to go through the inquiry process to complete this assignment. They had to read the first article that was supplied and make a hypothesis based on it. Through this students were asked to read through other research articles and find out more information on their mystery explorer. During this section, the students were exploring new pieces of information based on their "mystery explorers." The exploring section should be done by the students and ONLY by the students. Teachers should be there to support and observe the students learning during this section.
The next E that follow Exploring is Explain. This portion should only be done when the students have completed the Exploring portion. If students are not done with that portion this will be difficult for them to complete. Through this section, students are asked to explain their findings to the whole class or a small group. Having the students explain their findings helps them review on what they learned and might even introduce new key terms. Through the students verbalizing their findings they are also creating social skills. This section is pretty self explanatory and I think is the easiest section for the students to complete. To the right of this blog is a video that goes into depth about the 5 E's. It breaks down all the concepts in a simple language and helps people understand the importance of including these different attributes.
The second to last E is Elaborate. This section goes more into depth about the given topic that the students just researched. During this section, the students "Expand on the concepts they have learned, make connections to other related concepts, and apply their understandings to the world around them in new ways" (NASA, 1). Through this process the students are building more knowledge on what they discovered and implementing them through this process. An example of this would be having the students write a letter to their mystery explorers. We did not have time to incorporate this in our lesson, but we included it in our lesson plan. Having the students write a letter helps them use the terms and attributes they learned in the previous section. You can see that each step relies on one another in order to complete the 5 E's.
Final Step: Evaluate! Last but not least is the evaluate section which is crucial in this learning method. According to Enhancing Education, "Evaluate is the phase that encourages learners to assess their understanding and abilities and let teachers evaluate students' understanding of key concepts and skill development" (p. 1). The last section allows the students to tie up everything they discovered and present their findings either to class or small groups. This coincides with the Explain section. Through this the students are asked to use academic language they learned and key details. If there are any confusion with any topics that the students researched this would be the time to clarify any loose ends.
Learning more about the 5 E's definitely helps me see the importance of this aspect. Without these E's our lessons would not be engaging for the students. The whole point of teaching is to help the students learn through an engaging and helpful way. When writing this blog, I came up with a bunch of ideas to use the 5 E's of learning through a Social Studies lens. I'm hoping that I can implement these ideas when I student teach. Until next time bloggers :)
Works Cited
The 5 E's. (n.d.). Retrieved April 12, 2016, from http://enhancinged.wgbh.org/research/eeeee.html
Engage section should always be the first E when implementing a lesson. This helps you make connections between what the students learned before and what they are learning now. The engage portion also introduces the problem or aspect that needs to be solved. An example of this was our group introducing the Web quest to our second graders. We gave the students a problem to solve and this helped us/them begin their lesson. Through this portion the students should be asked a question and this should get them to start thinking about the possible answers. This is where students "Become mentally engaged in the concept, processes, and skills" (Enhancing Education, 1). Also this section is important to bring in students prior knowledge on the subject, either by bringing up questions that were asked in the direct lesson or what the students should already know. After introducing all of these aspects it's time to move onto the second part of the 5 E's.
Which brings us to Exploring! This section is for students to develop among themselves. Whether this is making the discoveries in a group or working alone. During this E, students are identifying and developing concepts. They do this by researching the subject and/or experimenting with the different ideas that they previously learned. The students are now taking the question that was posed in the Engage section and using that question to make new discoveries. Relating back to our fieldwork experience, students were asked to do research on their mystery explorers and they had to go through the inquiry process to complete this assignment. They had to read the first article that was supplied and make a hypothesis based on it. Through this students were asked to read through other research articles and find out more information on their mystery explorer. During this section, the students were exploring new pieces of information based on their "mystery explorers." The exploring section should be done by the students and ONLY by the students. Teachers should be there to support and observe the students learning during this section.
The next E that follow Exploring is Explain. This portion should only be done when the students have completed the Exploring portion. If students are not done with that portion this will be difficult for them to complete. Through this section, students are asked to explain their findings to the whole class or a small group. Having the students explain their findings helps them review on what they learned and might even introduce new key terms. Through the students verbalizing their findings they are also creating social skills. This section is pretty self explanatory and I think is the easiest section for the students to complete. To the right of this blog is a video that goes into depth about the 5 E's. It breaks down all the concepts in a simple language and helps people understand the importance of including these different attributes.
The second to last E is Elaborate. This section goes more into depth about the given topic that the students just researched. During this section, the students "Expand on the concepts they have learned, make connections to other related concepts, and apply their understandings to the world around them in new ways" (NASA, 1). Through this process the students are building more knowledge on what they discovered and implementing them through this process. An example of this would be having the students write a letter to their mystery explorers. We did not have time to incorporate this in our lesson, but we included it in our lesson plan. Having the students write a letter helps them use the terms and attributes they learned in the previous section. You can see that each step relies on one another in order to complete the 5 E's.
Final Step: Evaluate! Last but not least is the evaluate section which is crucial in this learning method. According to Enhancing Education, "Evaluate is the phase that encourages learners to assess their understanding and abilities and let teachers evaluate students' understanding of key concepts and skill development" (p. 1). The last section allows the students to tie up everything they discovered and present their findings either to class or small groups. This coincides with the Explain section. Through this the students are asked to use academic language they learned and key details. If there are any confusion with any topics that the students researched this would be the time to clarify any loose ends.
Learning more about the 5 E's definitely helps me see the importance of this aspect. Without these E's our lessons would not be engaging for the students. The whole point of teaching is to help the students learn through an engaging and helpful way. When writing this blog, I came up with a bunch of ideas to use the 5 E's of learning through a Social Studies lens. I'm hoping that I can implement these ideas when I student teach. Until next time bloggers :)
Works Cited
Dunbar, B. (2012). 5Es Overview: "The 5E instructional model" Retrieved April 12, 2016, from http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/nasaeclips/5eteachingmodels/
The 5 E's. (n.d.). Retrieved April 12, 2016, from http://enhancinged.wgbh.org/research/eeeee.html
Thursday, April 7, 2016
Tlingit Tribe
Sunday, April 3, 2016
Putting Pieces Back Together
This past week and the week before Spring Break we learned about the Jigsaw method. I had an idea of what the Jigsaw method could be, but I wasn't completely 100% sure. We were required to read a little more on this method and really break it down into pieces on what this method was about. According to Reading Rockets, "Jigsaw is a cooperative learning strategy that enables each student of a "home" group to specialize in one aspect of a topic (for example, one group studies habitats of rain forest animals, another group studies predators of
rain forest animals)." In order to successfully do this students must meet up with their groups and collaborate with whatever material that they are supplied with. This is a great way to have students interact and help them with social skills that are needed to succeed. We had this opportunity to discover how this Jigsaw method worked in our own classroom. Dr. Smirnova introduced this method to us and wanted us to complete it altogether. The first step in this lesson was to get with our fellow colleagues that were sitting next to us at the time. Second step was to discuss in our group who wanted to do which components of the cooperative lesson. We all decided on what we wanted to be because that was going to be our expert group. At this time I was confused on what was going to happen next because I was still unsure of how this was all going to work out. After we picked our expert groups we then had to meet up with the same people in our expert groups. Finally we were altogether and that's when I realized the different components on what makes up a Jigsaw method. I like to think of it as putting the pieces back together. Once we were in our expert group we collaborated on the topic that was handed to us which was Positive Interdependence. This was the first aspect that is included in the 5 PIGS. As soon as we met up in the group "we got down to business." Our group started looking up different articles and highlighting important words to add in the PowerPoint. While they were looking up information I was beginning to started the PowerPoint and the Socrative game. I thought Socrative would be an engaging game for the students because it was a new tool that was introduced to them. The point of this Jigsaw method was to work together to complete a task with your expert groups. Once completing the task it was now time to come back together and have each expert group explain their findings with all of the class. At this time we are learning while the experts are deepening their understanding of the material. Each group had a different twist on the way they presented their material. Some groups used videos to convey their messages while others used lecturing to teach their lesson. The one thing I noticed from everyone was the use of academic language and eye contact. I can see that everyone is growing and going to become excellent teachers one day. Personally I started to feel more confident and comfortable with speaking in front of the classroom. It's amazing what practice can do. Listed below is my groups Jigsaw PowerPoint. Feel free to access it whenever you want. Also towards the end of the PowerPoint there is the Socrative game that you can access, from there you can set up an account. I highly recommend using this website in a classroom setting. This is a great way to assess students knowledge and make it into a competition. I hope you sign up and use this amazing tool in your classroom. Until next time bloggers :)
rain forest animals)." In order to successfully do this students must meet up with their groups and collaborate with whatever material that they are supplied with. This is a great way to have students interact and help them with social skills that are needed to succeed. We had this opportunity to discover how this Jigsaw method worked in our own classroom. Dr. Smirnova introduced this method to us and wanted us to complete it altogether. The first step in this lesson was to get with our fellow colleagues that were sitting next to us at the time. Second step was to discuss in our group who wanted to do which components of the cooperative lesson. We all decided on what we wanted to be because that was going to be our expert group. At this time I was confused on what was going to happen next because I was still unsure of how this was all going to work out. After we picked our expert groups we then had to meet up with the same people in our expert groups. Finally we were altogether and that's when I realized the different components on what makes up a Jigsaw method. I like to think of it as putting the pieces back together. Once we were in our expert group we collaborated on the topic that was handed to us which was Positive Interdependence. This was the first aspect that is included in the 5 PIGS. As soon as we met up in the group "we got down to business." Our group started looking up different articles and highlighting important words to add in the PowerPoint. While they were looking up information I was beginning to started the PowerPoint and the Socrative game. I thought Socrative would be an engaging game for the students because it was a new tool that was introduced to them. The point of this Jigsaw method was to work together to complete a task with your expert groups. Once completing the task it was now time to come back together and have each expert group explain their findings with all of the class. At this time we are learning while the experts are deepening their understanding of the material. Each group had a different twist on the way they presented their material. Some groups used videos to convey their messages while others used lecturing to teach their lesson. The one thing I noticed from everyone was the use of academic language and eye contact. I can see that everyone is growing and going to become excellent teachers one day. Personally I started to feel more confident and comfortable with speaking in front of the classroom. It's amazing what practice can do. Listed below is my groups Jigsaw PowerPoint. Feel free to access it whenever you want. Also towards the end of the PowerPoint there is the Socrative game that you can access, from there you can set up an account. I highly recommend using this website in a classroom setting. This is a great way to assess students knowledge and make it into a competition. I hope you sign up and use this amazing tool in your classroom. Until next time bloggers :)
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