Jordyn's Blog

 Learning in the open is not a comfortable feeling. Everything I've ever had or achieved that has been worth while has come with some form of temporary discomfort. When I first started this course I had no idea that I would be observed while teaching. I also had no idea what a blog was. I honestly cried when I realized what I would be doing in this course. That isn't pretty - but it is the truth.  As I dove into this course I discovered that I really enjoyed learning in the open. It was a relief to see other's lesson plans and be able to learn from what they were doing. It was helpful to read about different perspectives on topics. I feel like a stronger educator after taking this course. I think the best part of this course was learning that we are all more alike than different. Once we can get past discomfort there is so much more room for learning and growing. This course made me think about my students in my classroom and how even they are probably uncomfortable sharing...

 Social Studies is a subject that is often left behind or  put on the "back burner" in the early years of education. This is not surprising - the demands of teachers and students are so high to preform well on standardized reading and math tests. Teachers and students are feeling the pressure to become proficient in reading and math and the days never seem long enough for everything.  With that being said, I still believe it is important to be creative in finding ways to incorporate social studies throughout your day. The best learning happens when students are interested in the topic and forming their own questions about the topic. When teaching social studies it is important to me to include social studies in all areas of my instruction.   Social studies teaches students about the events that have happened in the past and the events that are happening in our society now. I think it's important for them to know the facts and give them to tools to develop their ...

 Teaching difficult history to young students is no small task. When I think about difficult history I think about how uncomfortable it makes me as an adult. This makes me consider how difficult it must be for my little first grade learners to take on this heavy information. When I think of my first graders I want to keep them innocent as much as I possibly can. I am sure I am not the only person who feels this way, which is what makes this topic especially difficult for me. Students need to hear hard history. During the video Teaching Hard History: How and Why they talk about how when students go to high school they spend a lot of their time unlearning what they've previously been taught. This often happens again in college. This really made me think hard about my own instruction. I asked myself - how can I teach my littles in a way that is authentic and beneficial to their future but without scaring them about the world around them and the abilities of humans good or bad. What I ...