Technology - eep!

We live in a world where technology seems to move by the minute.  Every few weeks, something requires me to create an account at some website or other in order to access information, share my ideas, or otherwise make the most of the internet.  So it really only makes sense that future teachers create professional learning networks to help with learning how to teach.  At one level, it helps me to learn what technology is available.  I knew little about blogging and had never used RSS feeds or Twitter until this semester.  Now, I easily recognize the value of these sites in bringing technology into the classroom (although I am not completely sold on Twitter yet; we'll see how it goes).  Twitter and professional blogs have also swelled my list of useful websites to help with preparing extraordinary lessons or simply preparing ordinary graphic organizers.  At another level, my PLN has helped me to see "through the eyes of a teacher," so-to-speak.  Some of the professional blogs that I follow offer insight into teachers' lives, rookie mistakes, and simply the joys involved in teaching adolescents.  I look forward to one day having my own blog that qualifies as a "professional" viewpoint!  I thoroughly enjoy blogging and only wish I had more time to do so.  Timing has been my only noticeable problem so far, as I never seem to quite meet that 5pm on Saturday deadline for weekly posts.

I have subscribed to a variety of professional blogs:

• History Tech is one of my favorite blogs that I am reading.  Glen Wiebe posts a few times a week with links to websites that help with teaching history.  He also reviews the sites so that teachers can enter them with an expectation of what they will be able to do.
• Outside the Cave shares various thoughts from the perspective of Stephen Lazar, a social studies and English teacher in the Bronx.  He talks about what works, what does not work, and various difficulties related to teaching in an inner-city school.  His posts are sometimes heavily opinionated, but they also contain some deep insights that reflect true challenges in schools.
• So You Want to Teach is the blog of an experienced band teacher who is currently working with two first year teachers.  Through this interaction, he has reflected on what skills he sees as successful in teaching and what "rookie mistakes" he observes, especially in classroom management.
• The Scholastic Scribe still confuses me a bit.  Melissa posts often, but posts frequently relate to subjects other than education.  To that extent, I think it is an entertaining blog to read but not necessarily helpful as part of a PLN.
• Tween Teacher was a cute little blog that posted some intriguing thoughts about teaching and working with middle school students.  A few of Heather Wolpert-Gawron's posts leave me still pondering her questions a month later.  Unfortunately, she has not posted much in the past month.

I am also following 5 professional Twitter accounts:

• glennw98
• jdthomas7
• mooresclassroom
• mr_johansson
• TheSwish

Variety: A Heavy Word

Variety: A social studies teacher's biggest goal, help, and trouble all in one word.  Sound simplistic?  Well, I can think of many different ways just off the top of my head in which variety is important to middle school social studies classrooms.  Variety comes in many forms in this kind of classroom.  A variety of students fill the desks, with a diverse set of backgrounds.  They come to learn a subject that seems to run the gamet of topics, from history to economics to psychology and more.  To add further variety, students learn the many of the other "core" classroom subjects within social studies lessons (historical responses to Darwin's theory of evolution and Uncle Tom's Cabin as an influence in abolitionism, to name a few).  I see the biggest impact of the word "variety" as three roles:

First, teachers strive to achieve variety in intentional lessons and assessments.  This helps to address students' varied learning needs and strengths.  For example, some students prefer to listen to teachers speak, while others prefer small group discussion as ways to learn and explore new information.  Vonny, a physics teacher, surveyed students to find that student preferences include all types of learning and review, suggesting the value in many different methods.  Similarly, assessing student learning through a variety of methods (tests, essays, presentations, various performance assessments, informal assessments, etc.) help to ensure that each student can faces an assessment that meets their strengths.  Some students are excellent at memorizing facts but not at creating something new from the material, while others can write excellent essays but find multiple choice tests tricky.

Another way variety fits in the middle school classroom is in Social Studies' natural tendency to include variety.  I know my middle school social studies classes included units on geography in addition to history.  It only makes sense that the teacher would use different methods to teach the fifty states than he would use to teach the creation of the U.S. Constitution.  If I remember correctly, the former involved more memorization, while the latter involved the creation of a class constitution.  This variety also increases motivation, as it is easier to sit through the "less interesting" material when there is hope of a more interesting subject or sub-subject to come.

Finally, has the potential to create problems when students change schools.  Since standards in MN currently apply to ranges of grade levels, different schools and districts may decide when to teach each subject or topic.  This means that a student coming from outside the district may have already learned some topics planned for the upcoming year and missed some topics that the district teaches in younger grades.  My school had that problem because its middle school attracted students from a wide variety of parochial and public schools in the East Metro area of the Twin Cities.  Some students learned Geography in sixth grade, while my school focused almost exclusively on Minnesota history prior to middle school.  How can a school/teacher catch a newcomer up on prior knowledge and include the student in regular lessons without overwhelming or boring said student?

This has been a very long ramble, and it seems fairly unusual.  Why, after all, would I choose variety as such an important concept to discuss?  Well, probably because it created my love of social sciences years ago and frightens me now.  I loved the ways in which social studies allowed me to learn about history, today, math (economics), science (psychology), literature, and more.  My families took me to many museums, which emphasize the many different ways in which social sciences play an active role in many aspects of life.  On the other hand, variety means that I as a teacher will need to be constantly on my toes.  I'll need to pay constant attention to my students needs and simultaneously act upon these observations.  So, in spite of the many details of social studies, one generalization currently stares me in the face: Variety is essential.

Banned

In the wake of Banned Books Week, it seems necessary to zero in on the concept of banning or otherwise forbidding the use of certain texts.  To be honest, I have mixed feelings on the subject.  I understand that parents may not want their children to read certain texts.  On the other hand, many banned books contribute to literacy and understanding of difficult subjects.  For example, the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, number one on the ALA list of most banned books of the past decade, motivated many children to love reading beyond texts required for school.

You may wonder why I bring up the subject of banned books in a blog focused on teaching middle school social studies.  In response, I'll name another book on the aforementioned list.  My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier tells about the difficulties families experienced during the American Revolution.  The narrator, Tim, must decide whether to support the British with his father or to join the rebel troops like his brother.  I remember reading this book in middle school class and can easily see myself encouraging students to read the book.  For that matter, a carefully selected chapter from the text could make an excellent reading assignment in a social studies class to help students better understand the human story of the American Revolution.  Unfortunately, this book has been banned in some communities.  Students lose this opportunity to discuss the book.

Books are not the only texts subject to disapproval.  Social studies teachers use many primary sources.  If authorities ban Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (another book with potential use in a social studies classroom), they may discourage speeches central to the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates and other speeches that include similar "issues."  In a geography classroom, a teacher may wish to use the Guns, Germs, and Steel videos to discuss the history behind different cultural interactions and the values inherent in some "primitive" cultures.  On the other hand, many parents and authorities may dislike the videos, citing the violence and clothing as inappropriate for middle school students.

So this leaves me with a dilemma.  Should a teacher intentionally censor history, geography, and other social studies classes to appease parents?  Or should a middle school teacher use controversial texts and other resources because careful reflection suggested that the students are developmentally ready for the ensuing discussion?  As much as I would love to achieve a clear conclusion, said conclusion escapes me.  Therefore, I must ask readers to continue the discussion: how do you think a teacher should approach controversial texts?