Social Studies Autobiography

After kindergarten my family left Calgary, Alberta. I spent my first through twelfth grade education in Ormond Beach, Florida. Throughout those twelve years I attended a variety of different schools, both private and public. While overall I feel like the education I received was an excellent one, I find it extremely important to sort out my past experiences as I prepare to become a teacher myself. When I first began to look back on my social studies experience, my mind wandered to boring lectures and lots of facts. However, the longer I thought about it, the more I seemed to remember good memories in my social studies classrooms.

My favorite part of classroom experiences has always been activity and hands on learning. While I can now find enjoyment in sitting down to read a book, growing up I was an active child who didn’t like sitting in a desk all day to listen to a teacher lecture. Consequently, those boring, lecturing teachers are what I don’t want to become. I believe social studies is a subject that makes bringing activity into the classroom easy. I remember reading a small book on Sacagawea in fifth grade and then being able to do a live book report for the class, dressing up as Sacagawea herself and sharing with the class who I was. In seventh grade I remember a group project we did where we got to create our own mini-town. I remember the excitement in being able to creatively use our knowledge from the classroom. These two examples represent how I hope to teach social studies in the classroom. Other activities I remember enjoying were dressing up for Colonial day and writing a newspaper based around the American Revolution.

Two important characteristics of teaching social studies are a teacher’s knowledge of the curriculum and her ability to create balance between the facts and making the learning active and fun. As teachers we need to be knowledgeable on the subject matter we are presenting to our class. While at times the best way to share knowledge may be through some brief lecturing, I hope to pair any talking with an activity. I think it is important for teachers to find a good balance. My own teaching philosophy is more modern, focused less on traditional methods of lecturing in the classroom and more on student-centered learning and activities. However, as teachers, it is our job to prepare our students. Children need our guidance and instruction through the passing of knowledge-sometimes through lectures--and scaffolding.

Although many students grow up questioning the importance of history, or more broadly social studies, I strongly believe in the subject’s significance in the life of all children. Knowing about our past—eras and presidents, policies, and wars--opens our eyes to the changing world around us. It helps us understand where we are today and how we got here. It helps us to be more effective in our own relationships and as citizens of this country. Living in a democratic society, it helps children become aware of values and principals beyond their homes and classrooms. Children need social studies and we as teachers need to teach it in a way that they see its importance.