SSED Week Ten

     This week we began our EdTPA bootcamp session! I think I am finally beginning to understand the difference between the three tasks (and also how the fourth one would work) and how they all work together and flow from one task to another.  We did an activity in class today that was super helpful!  This week we also have been asked to look at a "kiddie lit" book and start thinking of ways to integrate social studies into the reading and teaching of that book.  This week I have also been planning my social studies lesson for teaching, and my CE was kind enough to provide me with awesome materials!  My clinical experiences at WES this week were also great.  Working with small groups of students has taught me so much about how students learn and how to reach them.  I seem to learn something new about how to more effectively impact students' learning every time I work with them! 

     In Social Studies class today, we divided into four groups and each group went through a different task of EdTPA and pulled out what they believed were the most important parts of performing that task.  I was given task four, and honestly, prior to today in class, I have never even looked through task four.  I have briefly overviewed tasks one, two, and three and pulled out what I had to know to get by but never really dissected the document and annotated it the way we did yesterday.  We didn't get to task three and four in class today.  However, throughout task one and two, Dr. Parker had an explanation of how we would go about accomplishing each of the points the students pulled out of the document.  This was super impactful because I feel like now, at lest for task one and two, I have an understanding of not only what is asked of me but how I can go about accomplishing what EdTPA is asking me to do in my lessons.

     The "kiddie lit" assignment for this week was also rather eye opening.  I wanted to get my hands on a book that I knew was something kids will enjoy, so I chose to use one that the little girl I babysit brought home.  She selects a book from the library once a week to bring home and read, so I knew this would be something that at least looked interesting to kids.  The book she chose this week was called "If You Give a Pig a Party."  I was shocked that when I looked at the standards for social studies, they can so naturally be integrated into even the "silly" literature kids love so much.  This assignment has shown me that social studies integration can be fun and simple.  It isn't always a burden! 

     I was very blessed this semester to have received a CE who shares so many resources with me!  She has given me several books that include activities, games, ideas of integration, and much more.  She said she understands that I will only be teaching one Social Studies lesson but she wanted me to see some other ways to integrate Social Studies into everyday teaching, which is something we have focused on very much in Social Studies Methods this semester.

     At Washington, the teachers I am placed with typically use me and the other students who are in the room with us to break the class down into even smaller groups so that individual students are reached in a smaller student to helper ratio.  Every time I am with a group at WES, I learn something new about how students learn.  One thing that I noticed this week as I was doing a vocabulary activity with a group was that one student seemed to have some issues focusing.  I found out, however, that if I gave step by step instruction on even the most simple things such as "Place your pencil and scissors on the table and clasp your hands in your lap then put your eyes on me," and then made sure to make specific eye contact with that student every three or four seconds while I was explaining the activity or the next step, he was significantly more focused than before.  It is remarkable that we have twenty students in the room to teach and it will be our job to learn the best way to reach each individual student and keep him or her engaged at all times.  I absolutely learned much more about facilitating learning for each individual student this week!