NCSS Reflection

           The NCSS stands for National Council for the Social Studies. They have outlined six guiding principles to help social studies professionals develop ethical decision-making, create equitable learning environments, and support democracy. The six principles are integrity, justice, authenticity, civic engagement, responsibility, and democratic values. These principles serve as a framework for social studies professionals at all levels to reflect on their practice, make informed decisions, and engage in meaningful, authentic learning that promotes democratic values. 

The first principle integrity means professionals should act with integrity being honest and truthful about knowledge claims in their schools, curricula, and classrooms while working to model and demonstrate respect for the dignity and integrity of every student, the content, and the community overall. The second principle justice means professionals play a vital role in shaping citizens who can contribute positively to society by focusing on justice, human and political rights, resource distribution, and various aspects of humanity. This includes teaching the rights and responsibilities of community members and selecting curricula that foster a just and equitable learning environment. Authenticity is the third principle in social studies education. Authenticity is essential, as educators must be honest and genuine in their interactions with students, content, and the community. These educators create real opportunities for students to engage in discussions that connect to the world beyond school and prepare them for active participation in future society. Civic engagement is important for a thriving democracy. Social studies professionals play a key role in fostering the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors necessary for students to participate in government. They teach democratic citizenship, civil liberties, civil rights, and human rights,  explaining the importance of active citizenship in democracy. By doing this, social studies professionals model the characteristics of good citizens, upholding dignity and rights in their classroom. Responsibility in social studies involves making ethical decisions related to content selection, curriculum interpretation, and pedagogy, all while educating for democracy. Social studies professionals are accountable to students, families, colleagues, and the broader community, ensuring their decisions are democratic and just. They engage in thoughtful deliberation to make choices that best prepare students for active participation in democracy, while also continuing to develop their own professional growth.

Teaching students social studies is creating the foundation for their civic and democratic identities. They will take these tools with them for life. Young people learn skills that go beyond the classroom and will impact their everyday lives. 

Reflection Lesson 6

     This week's lesson focused on paragraph shrinking. The lesson was going to start with a poem about Thanksgiving being the week of. Then we were going to learn about the parts of paragraph shrinking. After learning about finding the important parts in the reading I was going to show an example using a story about a queen. The students were then going to try it with me with a story about a boy looking for gems. After the anchor chart was complete we were going to read a short book. The lesson then would have ended with an exit ticket practicing the paragraph shrinking on their own. Unfortunately I was absent from this lesson due to feeling ill. For next time, I know that as a group we had a solid lesson plan so even without me the lesson was still able to be taught.

Reflection Lesson 5

     This week we taught affixes. Specifically prefixes, suffixes, and root words. We started our lesson with an ice breaker. This week we asked what Thanksgiving traditions if any were their favorite because not every student celebrates, we asked a second question of their favorite holiday. All the students said that their favorite holiday was Christmas. Then we went over what a prefix, suffix, and root word was. We made a chart with examples. The students then listened to two books that were all about prefixes and suffixes with examples and told the meanings of each. The student took the words in the story and wrote them down on sticky notes to cut apart the parts of the words. They used their cut up words to stick to the chart under prefix, suffix, and root word. For an exit ticket we had the students fill out a worksheet with words that had prefixes and suffixes and they separated the words into columns. I think that we could have focused more on the meaning of the prefixes and suffixes. 

All of the students showed that they have a strong understanding of prefixes and suffixes. They can easily identify and break apart the parts of the words. I think that we could have focused more on the meaning of the suffixes and prefixes and incorporated this into the lesson. We could have had the students separate the word, tell us the meaning and then change the prefix or suffix to make the word have a new meaning. 

This week I learned about classroom management. One student talks quite a bit and has the answer every time and calls out the answer. The other two students sit there quietly and whisper the answer to themself because he takes over. Reminding him to take turns with answers and maybe having them put thumbs up for understanding and different techniques that aren’t formally raising their hands to share or talk. 

In the future, like I said last week, lessons should be planned with more than one focus point. Some lessons get simplified and we focus strongly on more topics and there isn’t much expansion. So like I said this week we focused more on identifying the parts of the word. In the future more topics can be focused on at one time. 

Reflection Lesson 4

      This week we used a word map and the PAVE organizer to teach vocabulary. This week I started with a Thanksgiving trivia and then pulled words that I thought the students were unfamiliar with. We used these words to fill in the word map chart. I showed them an example with the word harvest. I put up my sticky notes to show the different parts and what I expected. Then I gave them words to do the same. They did two words each with teacher guidance and we put the sticky notes on the chart and shared our word maps. Then I read the story, Happy Thanksgiving, Curious George. I instructed the students to write down words while we read of any words they were unsure of or had never heard before. They then used one word they picked from the story to fill out the PAVE chart. The students enjoyed the Trivia and putting the sticky notes on the chart but they didn’t write down any words while we read so we had to go back into the story to find them words. After the exit ticket we went over the sentence expanding. I explained what it was and the where?when?how?why? questions to help add details. I showed them a basic sentence and how each question was added to the sentence to make it more robust. I then had a few examples for each student to try. 

This week one of our students was absent. So we only again had two students to teach. Both students did a good job with the anchor chart. After seeing my example and doing two examples themselves and seeing each other's work they were ready to try on their own. Both students filled out their PAVE maps successfully and correctly. 

This week we were expected to do two SLO’s and I think with the limited time we had it was hard to fit in explaining and doing it on their own. I think next time I will try and combine the lessons together. With the sentence expanding we could have done an explanation and tied it into using the expanded sentences in their vocabulary. 

In the future I can use the idea of connecting lessons together. Everything should be taught in depth but then connecting the lesson through activities can also be helpful. 

Lesson Three Reflection

        This week we did a much better job with our time management. There wasn’t extra time we needed to fill. We read a story called How do apples grow and taught the students QAR. We went over our expectations that we have established week by week and our agenda for the hour. We started by introducing the students to the topic. Using a chart we explained what the different kinds of questions there are and what they mean with examples of how the questions look. We then did some vocabulary before reading because this story was above grade level for the students. For extra clarity it was best to have some background on the specific words in this book. After the story about growing apples the students used QAR questions to build knowledge on the book. Finally the students filled out an exit ticket based on the anchor chart from the beginning of our lesson about the parts of QAR and did a fun activity to close up and connect back to our story about labeling the parts of the apple. The students really enjoyed labeling the apple activity. Again this week one boy was absent. 

Having only two students has been a bit of a bummer but it’s easy for us to see what they are doing and guide them through what they don't understand. One student was very involved in the lesson and was answering most of the group questions while the other students have been more shy week after week and needs to be asked to answer questions. She rarely answers by herself. While doing the exit ticket we try to have the students do as much on their own as possible so we can see what they learned by the end. This week I noticed that she was having trouble understanding the questions and even after multiple suggestions she was still struggling to understand what was being asked. We reminded them both to use the chart that was hanging up for them to help with the answers. 

I learned that students sometimes need different ways of the question being asked to understand. The students have shown that they are very different in their learning styles and personalities. I think we have a variety between our three students. Even though the girl was struggling with the exit ticket she eventually understood what was being asked and completed it to the best of her abilities. 

I think in the future this will make me more aware of students' diversity when it comes to learning. Although we followed the same steps to teach both students they both learn differently and understand the content and questions differently. 

Lesson Two Reflection

         In this lesson we focused on predictions. We read the story 7 Ate 9 The Untold Story. One student was absent so we only had two children. In this lesson we still went very fast through our activities. The students were engaged the whole time and enjoyed the mystery in the story. We all sat between the students to help guide them through the prediction worksheet.

Both students successfully completed the predictions worksheet. They made predictions before, during and after reading. Then they used the text to determine if these predictions were correct or incorrect. After they determine if they are correct they pull evidence to the text to support their predictions. 

This week I learned that the students need to be prompted in a way to get more information. While making predictions we needed them to find reasons for their predictions. The students try to give very general answers. When finding evidence in the book students tried to put answers like they knew this because they read the story or the story told them. We needed to further explain that they needed to explicitly tell what in the story proved their predictions. 

In the future I think I will take more time to explain exactly what I’m looking for in their answers. I think just reading the questions and giving an overview isn’t enough. It may be helpful to have an example of exactly what I’m looking for using a common book instead of the one we are working on so they can’t just copy my ideas down. 

Lesson One Reflection

     This lesson was focused on story maps. The kids were expected to fill out a story map based on a book read to them. The lesson was fully completed and the students had understanding of the work and did an excellent job of pulling out the information to fill in the chart. Unfortunately we got a little bit of a late start so I had to improvise with the students at first. This also was an opportunity for me to get to know them a little more before the start of the content. 

    All of the lesson objectives were met. The summative assessments were all filled out completely correctly and fully. One boy was especially eager to answer all questions and knew all the answers straight away. Another boy was having a hard time focusing in the room and needed to be asked to participate. 

    From this experience I learned that sometimes lessons don’t always go as planned. In this lesson I had to think on the spot. My lessons started a little late so I had to fill the time with students before we started. Since this was the first visit I took this time to get to know them and do a more in depth introduction. 

    In the future I could work better on time management. The lesson was a little out of order and there was extra time. The lesson was planned well but the time allot for activities was quicker than anticipated. In the future I will plan the time better for the lesson.