Many Social Studies teachers feel conflicted in New York State with these new Common Core Standards, C3 Framework, NCSS Standards, and the actual Social Studies Framework. To an outsider I could understand the confusion and disdain for the current state of affairs of the education system. However, as I have gotten closer into the system I have become a better judge of the situation. Therefore, I can proudly announce to the populace to “Keep calm and carry on”. For the situation if one was looking from the outside may seem dreary and hopeless, but as an insider I can now assure those weary parents that this system is not a broken system. Many teachers argue “Why should I teach reading and writing skills if I don’t cover English?”, but again
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Writing and reading critically is essential to historians, as is it to future citizens. Shanahan ideas towards literacy are universal in that literacy instruction is very important no matter which content area is being taught. My goal as a teacher is to ensure an informed and well educated populace. To ensure this possibility it is helpful to teach students how to think critically about the world they are entering. An “interpretive lens” Shanahan calls it in regards to being able to engage in what she calls “informed citizenry” (Shanahan, Cindy. Pg. 1). The skills learned through social studies help future citizens understand other cultures and perspectives they may encounter. When deciphering information in the newspaper Shanahan suggests we should “engage in disciplinary reading” which requires “specific instruction” which only Social Studies teachers are “primed to provide” (Ibid). Shanahan offers strategies to accommodate different learners to thinking like a historian. Historiography or what helps historians do Shanahan defines as “an interpretive field that relies on evidence gathered and analyzed after an event has happened” is useful for not just historians to understand the world around them independently through the help of a teacher is …show more content…
By getting students involved in the process of historical thinking we are developing a greater sense for critical thinking down the road. Sometimes life’s lessons are not in a book, and therefore that is why I support the strategies of a hands-on approach. The skills historians use to think critical, to analyze information, discerning for bias, and being open to multiple viewpoints of certain events, and so on all are noteworthy skills needed for the real world. In the future when we confront problems as a global community we look to those who have historical thinking skills. Literacy is more than being able to read and write proficiently. Literacy is being able to critically look at the massive amount of information presented before us day in and day out and being able to register this information, discern fact or fiction, and being able to apply our previous understandings to these new
Writing and reading critically is essential to historians, as is it to future citizens. Shanahan ideas towards literacy are universal in that literacy instruction is very important no matter which content area is being taught. My goal as a teacher is to ensure an informed and well educated populace. To ensure this possibility it is helpful to teach students how to think critically about the world they are entering. An “interpretive lens” Shanahan calls it in regards to being able to engage in what she calls “informed citizenry” (Shanahan, Cindy. Pg. 1). The skills learned through social studies help future citizens understand other cultures and perspectives they may encounter. When deciphering information in the newspaper Shanahan suggests we should “engage in disciplinary reading” which requires “specific instruction” which only Social Studies teachers are “primed to provide” (Ibid). Shanahan offers strategies to accommodate different learners to thinking like a historian. Historiography or what helps historians do Shanahan defines as “an interpretive field that relies on evidence gathered and analyzed after an event has happened” is useful for not just historians to understand the world around them independently through the help of a teacher is …show more content…
By getting students involved in the process of historical thinking we are developing a greater sense for critical thinking down the road. Sometimes life’s lessons are not in a book, and therefore that is why I support the strategies of a hands-on approach. The skills historians use to think critical, to analyze information, discerning for bias, and being open to multiple viewpoints of certain events, and so on all are noteworthy skills needed for the real world. In the future when we confront problems as a global community we look to those who have historical thinking skills. Literacy is more than being able to read and write proficiently. Literacy is being able to critically look at the massive amount of information presented before us day in and day out and being able to register this information, discern fact or fiction, and being able to apply our previous understandings to these new