Reflection

I cannot believe it is already August and summer classes are coming to a close.  The past 6 weeks have been packed with information on integrating social studies and the arts as well as writing an integrated social studies unit with a partner.  I feel that I have learned so much in this course and my view of teaching social studies has definitely shifted.  As a student, social studies was my least favorite subject and I have never felt confident in my social studies knowledge.  However, through this course I have learned that social studies can be very engaging for students of all ages if taught in a way that students can relate to.  Social studies is often a subject that gets pushed to the side during the school year because teachers feel that they do not have enough time to teach social studies.  However, in my classroom I hope make social studies a priority and to use the strategies I have learned in this course to create integrated social studies lessons.

The process of creating an integrated social studies unit was definitely a challenge and in some ways it seemed impossible at first.  This was the first unit I have ever created and it was also my first time learning about and using backwards design.  However, in the end my partner and I were able to create an integrated 4th grade social studies unit called "North Carolina's Places and Spaces".  This unit is not only integrated, but it also provides appropriate differentiation and allows students the opportunity to use technology in new ways.  I feel that it was a big accomplishment to complete this unit and I am proud of the lessons that my partner and I created.  This process has made me much more confident in my ability to write a successful unit using backwards design.

Overall, this class was a great experience and has made me even more eager to get into the classroom.  After this summer I feel much more prepared to start student teaching in just a few weeks.  I am excited to work with 1st grade students and apply the skills that I have learned in my courses so far to help these students be successful!

Reward Systems

I think that reward systems in the classroom can be an effective way to reinforce appropriate behavior.  Reward systems allow students to track their progress and work toward reaching a goal.  When using a reward system in the classroom, it is important that the reward is meaningful and motivating for the student whose behavior you are trying to change or reinforce.  If the student does not desire the reward they are less likely to exhibit the behaviors that will lead to the reward.  When using a reward system I also think that it is important that the points or rewards students earn for appropriate behavior cannot be taken away if they display inappropriate behavior.  There should be a different consequence for inappropriate behavior, or if the reward system is being implemented effectively the consequence is simply not receiving a point.  Therefore, the reward system should be focused on reinforcing appropriate/positive behavior, not punishing inappropriate/negative behavior.

In my field experience my teacher uses Class Dojo as her classroom management and reward system.  Class Dojo is a website and app that allows teachers to give students points for specific appropriate behavior as well as take points away for specific inappropriate behavior.  Class Dojo also allows teachers to share students' points with their parents or guardians.  I think that Class Dojo could be an effective reward system, however I would use it only to give points for positive behavior, rather than giving and taking away points.  With a system like Class Dojo I think it is also important that students have a goal to work toward as they are earning points.  Another teacher I observed had specific rewards for students once they received a specific amount of points on Class Dojo.  These rewards included, no shoes, homework pass, treasure box, lunch with the teacher, etc.

Each student is given an avatar in Class Dojo and this is what the main screen would look like.

In my own classroom I plan to implement a reward system that focuses on reinforcing appropriate behavior.  Perhaps I will use Class Dojo as a way to keep track of points.  I also like the idea of using "Student of the Week" to reinforce a specific appropriate behavior.  Meaning that instead of giving "Student of the Week" to the student with the most points or the student that was "good", "Student of the Week" would be given based on a specific behavior.  For example, the appropriate behavior one week may be raising a hand before speaking and another week it may be speaking kindly to other classmates, etc.  This does not mean that the teacher does not reinforce other appropriate behaviors, but the reward of "Student of the Week" is attached to displaying the specific behavior designated by the teacher at the beginning of the week.  

Self-efficacy

Self-efficacy refers to the degree to which an individual believes they will be successful at a task.  According to Maxim, students are more likely to engage in tasks that they believe they will be successful at completing (2010).  Therefore, students are likely engage more in tasks for which they have a high degree of self-efficacy.

Personally, I believe that I have a high degree of self-efficacy in cooking and baking.  I feel confident that I can be successful at cooking a great meal or baking a delicious cake.  I think my high degree of self-efficacy for cooking and baking is one of the reasons that I really enjoy being in the kitchen and trying new recipes.  I think that my experiences growing up contributed to my confidence in the kitchen.  My grandma was an excellent cook and I spent a lot of time when I was younger watching her and helping her in the kitchen.  I also feel freedom to make mistakes in the kitchen because you can always try again if the recipe doesn't turn out how you anticipated.  I think that this also contributes to my high degree of self-efficacy in this area.

I also feel that my degree of self-efficacy for teaching has continued to increase throughout this program.  As I complete each assignment and course I feel a little more confident in my ability to successfully teach each student that will be in my future classroom.  I don't know that I can say that I have a high-degree of self-efficacy in teaching just yet, but I feel that I am close.  I am hopeful that as I continue in this program and begin student teaching, my degree of self-efficacy in teaching will continue to increase.      


Maxim, G.W. (2010) Dynamic Social Studies for Constructivist Classrooms: Inspiring Tomorrow's Social Scientists (pp. 335). Boston: Pearson.

Hook Lesson Ideas

I am currently in the process of writing an integrated 4th grade social studies unit with a fellow classmate.  Social studies in 4th grade is all about North Carolina, therefore our unit focuses on teaching students about places in North Carolina and why they are significant to our state.  Throughout the unit we will be highlighting places from the three regions of North Carolina and their significance.  Students will also be given the opportunity to complete more in depth research on several of these significant places in order to create a scrapbook.  However, before we can complete any of these tasks we must grab the students' attention and engage them in the content that we will be covering in this unit.  Therefore, we need a hook lesson at the very beginning of the unit that will interest the students and get them thinking about important places in North Carolina.

I have not had a lot of time to think about my hook lesson in depth, but I am considering using Google Earth to reel the students in and hook them on learning about places in North Carolina.  I like the idea of using Google Earth because it will allow me to show North Carolina in relation to the world and the United States.  I will then be able to explain to students that over the next few weeks we will be zooming in on places in North Carolina to learn more about our state.  I have seen students using Google Earth before and it seems to be very engaging.  Students seem to enjoy watching the screen zoom in to the place of their choice, which in this case would be North Carolina.  After the introduction of the lesson I think it could also be effective for the students to explore the state using Google Earth in small groups.  Students could write down their observations of North Carolina and also any places that they find interesting.  I think this would be effective and engaging because it allows the students to make their own discoveries and learn through virtually touring the state.  I think that this activity could also give insight into places and parts of North Carolina that the students find most interesting.  This could impact the places that I choose to focus on in other lessons in the unit.

As I mentioned I still need to determine the details of this lesson, but I am excited to explore using Google Earth in the classroom and I am hopeful that I can use it to create an effective hook lesson for my unit.