Reich College of Education

Throughout my educational career at Appalachian State University, I have had the wonderful opportunity to enroll in the many enriching courses offered within the College of Education and the Social Studies Department. Each of these rigorous courses were incorporated into a broader, comprehensive plan for my education as a future teacher, and each of them served to better my ability in Social Studies and Education as a future high school history teacher. We have covered many relevant subjects within these courses, and I have learned a considerable amount about classroom management, how to incorporate diversity, and how to become the best teacher I can be. I have been exposed to the impact a teacher can have, especially when we consider and embody representation for each student’s background and identity, whether it be ethnicity, socio-economic class, gender, or other factors. I have also been exposed to many different teaching strategies that, if utilized, will improve the student’s education: in-class conversation and debate, hands on learning with activities, and group work with research-based projects all represent innovative teaching strategies that I will incorporate into my future classroom. These ideas also move towards a more thematic understanding of history, as opposed to simply memorization.

Through the History Department at Appalachian State, and the many classes I took to attain a degree in Social Studies Education, we have explore thoroughly many pertinent topics within American and World History. These courses combined, have helped me to develop an exhaustive and complete understanding of how our present day is effected and shaped by civilizations, people, and moments from history. This knowledge and understanding is invaluable as I strive to create thematic understanding of history for students in a way that encourages a deeper understanding of history. My time at this university and the courses I know have a background in will be indispensable when I start to create lesson plans and a curriculum that explain the bigger picture of history and encourage students to engage with the history itself to reach their own conclusions. This past semester, I am enrolled in a Sports and Latin America History class, Women and Law, and a History of the Mediterranean class. All of these courses offer insight into topics that I will be covering regularly with my students. Not only do these courses represent an overview of what people, places, and events should be covered in my future classroom, but they also model the way a history classroom should be conducted. The professors at Appalachian State are examples of how to facilitate learning, so that the student is director of their own education.

At Appalachian State, I have learned how to design a history classroom that places students at the spearhead of their own education. Using creative lesson plans, engaging activities, group work and projects, and an innovative, thematic-based curriculum, I hope to establish a world of learning and understanding for my future high school students. I have also learned the importance of recognizing and inviting diversity to create a classroom culture that is inclusive and welcoming to students of all backgrounds and identities. Furthering emphasis on diversity, we have been taught strategies for teaching students with diverse needs and abilities.

I am currently enrolled in a class called CI 3400: Policies and Practices in Educational Assessment. This class revolves around teaching future educators the appropriate ways to sincerely assess the students: how to build tests, projects, activities that result in grades that truly reflect the student’s mastery of the content area and how to utilize activities, homework, or other, less structured happenings, to gauge where the student’s understanding is at. We have spent a great deal of time exploring the differences in formative and summative assessments to practice in our own classrooms so that the results from the assessment are accessible to not only the teacher, but the student, parent, and administrators.

I have learned through this classroom to use even the smallest interaction with students in over content related material to gauge their level of understanding and mastery over the content. I am currently fulfilling an internship at Watauga High School in a 10^th grade Civics and Economics class. This is an incredible opportunity to work alongside of an educator within my field and target age group, to witness the way these classrooms can best be conducted to facilitate student learning. I have new experiences in how to recognize different needs of students, and how to work with students individually to bring them to their own personal new level of comprehension. Throughout the internship, I have watched the teacher take her students from a rudimentary understanding of Civics and Economics, to a complete grasp of the important concepts and conversations, over all. The educator I am working with is aware of her student’s backgrounds, and has a working knowledge of each of her students personally. She consistently tailors her curriculum to directly address the needs of her students. Before she teachers each lesson, she reviews her plans for that day to ensure what she has ready is actually benefiting the students in her classroom, and that it will actually improve and add to their education. This teacher also takes into consideration the diverse needs of her students based on their diverse socio-economic backgrounds. This is imperative in a Civics and Economic classroom because access to resources can be key to certain projects. When she identifies students who do not have these resources, she ensures that they are introduced to the opportunities they have available through the high school to utilize sources and technology.

 This internship represents the first time I have had the incredible opportunity of working within a high school social studies classroom, and I have learned a considerable amount. It is astonishing just exactly how enriching the experience of simply being in a classroom can be. While we may take many, valuable courses on teaching strategies and subjects in history, nothing compares to the opportunity of witnessing a professional educator carry out these ideas and concepts to her own students.

My educational career in Social Studies, Secondary Education at Appalachian State University has truly prepared me for a career as a future educator in a history classroom. I have had many opportunities to personally experience the way that experienced teachers effectively incorporate appropriate strategies and techniques to develop a curriculum that is inclusive and comprehensive. Through my internship, I have had the chance to start practicing these effective strategies to improve classroom morale and encourage classroom management. I have also had exposure to developing lesson plans to focus on thematic understanding and hands on learning.

 As a future teacher, I hope to develop a history course that encourages students to feel empowered through their learning, and to hand over the control of the education to the students themselves. I have learned to build a broad thematic curriculum that connects with students from diverse backgrounds, and I am excited to take what I have learned here with me as I seek to build a career as a professional educator. Appalachian State University and the Reich College of Education have truly prepared me to become the history teacher that I have always wanted to be.