Jessika Howard's Blog

Teaching Hard History   Teaching hard history is fundamental to understanding our nation's past, present and future. When I think about hard history, I think of subjects that include oppression, violence, and trauma . I mentioned earlier is this course that the unit on the holocaust in middle school still sticks with me to this day. Although horribly sad and disturbing, it was like a car wreck I couldn’t stop watching. I wanted to hear more, see more. It was fascinating to me. Of course, we talked about slavery in school and gender equality as well which can make you uncomfortable, the holocaust just hit me differently.                 What I have learned as a human, student and teacher role is that you can talk about just about anything if you are being respectful, listening to others’ opinions, even if you disagree and being open minded that your mindset may change if you hear different perspectives o...

https://prezi.com/p/9dnopvm3mmg2/philosophy-of-social-studies/  February 20, 2024 In just these past few weeks I have an entirely different outlook on social studies and technology in the classroom. I work at the elementary level so I will focus more on the skills and importance of that age group. The believe the purpose of elementary school social studies is to enable students to understand, participate in, and make informed decisions about their world. Social Studies prepares students to become compassionate, responsible and effective citizens of their local and global communities. Lessons should be active and engaging. Social studies content allows young learners to explain relationships with other people, to institutions, and to the environment, and gives them knowledge and understanding of the past. It provides them with skills for productive problem solving and decision making as well as for assessing issues and making thoughtful value judgments. Elementary social studi...

 February, 14 2024 S upporting academic language ... In what parts of your lesson(s) do you anticipate students will struggle with the language within the text or other learning materials and content?  How can you proactively plan to address those struggles? Most of the second graders have heard of maps before but there are a few vocabulary words that I will need to address, such as a compass rose, map key or legend. I will briefly talk about different types of maps like political maps which they probably won’t really understand. As I walk around and hear discussion and ask questions, I will be to see who may need more help with the map concept. Identify at least one strategy you have incorporated in your lesson plans to support content area vocabulary and conceptual understanding that your students will encounter in your social studies unit. By using technology like the smart board, video clips from the google slides and physical maps, an atlas, a globe, and land mass maps st...

  My lesson plans this term will be Geography based for a group of second grade learners. Geography can be defined as the study of the Earth's landscapes, peoples, places, and environments. For students of all ages, studying geography helps to develop nonfiction reading skills — not only in the studying of maps, but also in the reading materials that are associated with geography. It allows students the chance to explore and understand where they come from, where they live, and all of the places surrounding them. As their awareness of the world grows, I hope the learners use their geographic skills to feel a connection with people they have never met and places they have never been. Geography is about more than physical maps. It's also about climate, land, animals,  people and their diverse cultures. Learners are full of wonder with questions about the world, so geography is naturally appealing to them. As I plan my lessons I will consider geog...

  This is my first time blogging and I am fairly nervous about it. I never have thought “Hey, maybe I’ll start a blog”, professionally or personally. I am trying to be open to it, after all it is a requirement. 😊 After reading the article on 9 reasons teachers should blog, I have opened my eyes to the benefits of blogging. It can be a great way to express ideas, be creative, develop confidence in writing, to communicate and collaborate with other teachers. I think this will take time to feel comfortable and confident, but I have to start somewhere. I particularly like reason 5. “Serve Others: Build your own library of content and resources and share it with others. Wouldn’t it be nice to create a library of useful links, articles, content, activities, etc”? I can see this being very useful.