I want to make social studies about the students, to teach the past and how it applies to them today. Preparing each lesson with how to make them better citizens in mind, or at least give them the opportunity to learn how to be better citizens. Instill in my students through social studies they have way more power and influence than they might think there are many lessons that lend to this type of teaching. I have always been excited to be a teacher just for the opportunity to be a good influence. I know that having this impact is not a given. I also know that most of the time you won’t even see the long term effects. Rewards do not matter to me; I know I have a gift working with kids. I am very excited about the opportunities that social studies …show more content…
I did not know this until my junior year in college. I do not want to be a teacher for the sake of just sharing education. I believe education has advantages, however I think being a well informed citizen who makes good clear decisions carries more weight in life. Teaching social studies opens the door to endless opportunities to invest in your student’s character and integrity. As educators we are not just facilitating content memorization. Stephen Lazar said it best.
“Stephen Lazar is currently a National-Board Certified social studies teacher in Brooklyn, N.Y., and is a co-founder of Harvest Collegiate High School, a new public school opening this September in Manhattan. He works with teachers throughout New York to support inquiry-based instruction. He is on the executive board of ATSS/UFT and is a member of the Teacher Leaders Network” (Ferlazzo, 2012).
Stephen Lazar stated “The best advice I can give Social Studies teachers who want to be more effective is to remember that we teach students, not content” (Ferlazzo,
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Social studies have many great lessons we can draw on to help reinforce this fro slavery to World War two and everything in between. I will not wait to just teach them acceptance as the year goes on. I want to establish this mindset from the beginning. Again I refer back to the students allow them to share what makes them different. Have them go home with a questionnaire that their families can help fill out. When they share have ways to celebrate these differences, this will benefit everyone. Then when you teach the content find ways to reapply their