Georganna's Blog

This weeks resource highlight is  Teaching Tolerance  ! This site is a great source for all teachers, however, I think it is most suited to social studies teachers because some of the subjects we have to teach can be very complicated and sensitive. Please ignore the eye rolls - I very much need to work on the faces I make when I'm thinking!

In Social Studies I feel like it is often assumed that students have prior knowledge of some of the seemingly small details that actually are critical to the students understanding of the topic at hand. For instance, we might assume that when we are talking about the government, culture, and landscapes of Italy or Germany or Latin America for example, that our students will have some prior knowledge of some aspect of those places. But if they have never seen the Latin American languages, never eaten Latin foods, have never had any exposure to any Latin cultures, then they might not be able to compare and contrast those countries as well with Europe as some other students may be able to, putting them behind according to the GA Standards. Subjects Matter ch. 11 helped me to understand ways to combat this, starting with a culture of trust and honesty. If my students don't trust me or feel comfortable with me, they will be less likely to ask questions when they don't understand ...

8 Close-Reading Strategies... One of the biggest problems students face when learning about Social Studies is a lack of understanding of assigned readings. Whether it be from not being able to read on grade level, or the more likely culprit, a lack of background knowledge and analytical skills needed to digest the texts, students are suffering. The linked article discusses useful strategies to help students "get" what they are reading, and though it is primarily targeted toward Social Studies teachers, it can also be used in all other subjects in one way or another. The first strategy mentioned says to have students identify and write down vivid and/or expressive words used to describe what is being discussed and explain why those words help to emphasize the main point of the reading, helping students drill down to the most important part of the assigned text. Another strategy is to have students "wreck their text." In other words, assign a reading (best if on ...

A rya! I hope you enjoy my rendition of "ABC's of Mathematics".   I will warn you: my subject areas are Science and Social Studies so if I sound like I ’ m not completely confident in my pronunciation of some of the terms …  that ’ s because I am not! The important thing is that we are both learning something and expanding our minds. With books like these, you ’ ll change the world!