Using Maps and Research to Discover the Roots of the Renaissance

   Over the past semester, I have been working with a partner on a Unit Plan on the Renaissance.  The Renaissance always intrigued me.  It was a time in History where culture and human development had exploded after years of immense suffering.  The rebirth of the arts lead to a cultural revolution that spanned for over a century across many countries.
     What many students do realize is that trade and influence between Western Europe and Asia caused this rebirth to occur.  Arabs were moving in and out of Europe trading resources from Asia with the Europeans.  I hope to help my students realize that this exchange was essential to spreading the Renaissance.  The computer has revolutionized the way students learn about any subject including the Renaissance.
     To begin my spreadsheet process, i have found three standards from the NJCCCS that will assist me in enabling students to better understand the connections between the Middle East and Western Europe.  The first standard that i decided to choose involves the use of geography, people and places.  This will allow students to see a broader scope of the world and how Italy played a key role as a port region for many merchants.  Students will be able to see that places like Florence and Venice, coastal cities in Italy were prime spots for trade with the Middle East and other parts of Asia.  I combined that with the NETS-S standard that invokes Research and Information using online databases.  online databases are credible organizations that help spread knowledge and information about particular topics.  For my class on the Renassiance, this would be a valuable tool to show the relation between cities and accessibility to water.  The next standard i chose involves looking at history and culture of the places of interests. Without knowing the changes going on in middle east society, students would be unable to know how advanced many of their civilizations were.  Students will also see how civilizations in Africa also helped spread the Renaissance through their trade.  I used them together with the research  and fluency standards to build a strong research foundation for students.  In order to know more about a topic, students need to be actively engaged through group and individual work.  Working together using the online databases force the students to be actively engaged in the research process and learn how to think like a historian.  This is one of the major goals of all social studies teachers.  Students will definitely enjoy this process because it enables them to be the one making all the decisions and evaluations. 
Along with the research component, students would be to evaluate which resources online are credible and which are not!  There are a variety of false sites produced by individuals who wish to decieve people.  Students who are living in this digital age are now forced to what is true and what is false information.  I would require students to back up their information and learn which sources can be considered credible.  The information required would be placed in a powerpoint presentation and the students will be required to present what they have learned about the topic.  The next and last component is the Gutenberg printing press.  This technology helped spread information about the renaissance and helped merchants spread new ideas throughout all the ports in Western Europe.  Often, underestimated, the printing press was a revolutionary piece of technology that impacted the entire world.  It helped make the world seemed smaller because it made paper products and sources of information easily accessible. The strategies i have decided to employ is the projector with smartboard technologies for students to present their findings and disucss how the printing press changed life in Europe during the Renaissance.  
     The majority of the teaching strategies i have employed are incredibly student focused because i believe in the power of students teaching themselves.  I honestly feel that group work and individual assignments help students evaluate and analyze the various materials that will be presented in class. Giving the students the opportunity to teach themselves is rewarding and incredibly helpful for our youth.   It will help them be more collaborative and independently research their work.  Our students have the potential to use technology to teach themselves.  Students are able to figure out complex technological issues on a daily basis.  There is no doubt in my mind that they can handle learning about how trade and merchant class led to the increase of Renaissance ideology.  This is a good time for students!

Renaissance Spreadsheet 

Microsoft Word and the "Review" Option

Honestly Microsoft Word is one of most well constructed computer programs on the market today.  Microsoft word contains various options that greatly enhances a writers ability to create documents. Getting away from the standard writing function the program excels in utilizing, word also allows the user to make flyers, programs and pamphlets that could benefit both students and teachers.  These options are great but i believe  the program's best functions involves its use of the "review" tab.  The review tab allows students to make comments on each others paper in an organized and coherent matter.  More importantly, in the digital age we are living in, teachers can make comments on their students papers via email.  many schools issue their students an email account that is used directly for school purposes.  students send their papers electronically for their teachers to submit and review.  The review tab in microsoft word helps social studies teacher better organize their students papers and make positive comments on their work.  The function also allows for formative feedback which will help the students keep track of their progress in the long run.  Personally i love this function.  I use this program to review both my papers and my peers in order to give them better feedback on the work product.  I wish to use this function frequently as a teacher because i believe it can benefit the student's academic progress. 

Online resources that benefit the Social Studies Classroom

The internet has revolutionized the way people: communicate, find news, complete work and find information.  The internet has caused the digital age to flourish and as a result changed the way humanity functions. While the internet has caused many problems, it has provided many blessings for educators.  The internet provides many free resources for educators to utilize in the classroom.  For example: educators can utilize the "online stopwatch" tool that can be found simply by typing it into a google search.  The online watch does a countdown to which students can see how much time is left in the activity.  This allows students to realize the teacher is not simply trying to give the students enough time or they are robbing them of a couple of minutes and seconds.  Another online resource that can be helpful is turnitin.com.  This site allows teachers to make sure their students are not copying any of their peers or online resources that are available to them.  It saves teachers painstaking amount of time to check their students papers word for word. Turn it in.com also teaches student the meaning of academic honesty and accountability.  Students are meant to have their work be a product of their efforts and not merely a copy of someone else’s work.  Lastly the “hark a vagrant” comics page is a great tool to teach students history.  Kate Beaton is a history teacher who utilizes her artistic talents to make complex historical events into funny comics.  All these resources are great tools for the social studies teacher. 

Online news in the History Class

I was never that big into reading the news in high school but i really got into it in college.  Online news is a great way for students to keep updated about current events and learn some of the important occurrence going on in today's society.  One of the standards for social studies regards active citizenship.  Active citizenship involves students being updated on current events and approaching the topics in class.  One idea I had would be having one day of the week be devoted to current events in relation to the past.  We could have a weekly current event project that involves students looking up a current topic and discussing it in class and hand in a one page write about it.  Current events force students to be aware of what’s going on in society.  They will have to form an opinion about the event and interpret its consequences.  This also reinforces a teacher i once shadowed idea that "History is all around us.  We just need to open our eyes".  I believe that using online news in and reinforcing it outside the classroom will inspire students to be updated about the situation in the world.   There have been a lot of radical changes in the world these past few years.  If we don’t open our eyes and learn about them, we may never know. 

Interactivity #5

It was my pleasure to interview Mrs. Doe, a 9^th grade social studies teacher in the Montclair School District.  During the interview, Mrs. Smith told me of her familiarity with both the NETS-S and T standards.  Mrs. Smith is quite knowledgeable with the newest technology standards for education and has often integrated them in her classroom.  Mrs. Doe is often referred to as the “go to” person for technology in the classroom.  Her department relies on her to teach how to use the newest technologies in the classroom.  When asked about utilizing the standards in her classroom she responded by saying: “I have used many of the standards in my classroom but not all.  Many of the standards involve too much time and I have not been able to get to them just yet”.  Her honesty concerning her use of the standards reassured me how much she believes in the NETS-S.  She hopes to one day incorporate more the standards in her unit plans but as of now between all the extracurricular activities she runs and the modifications from the NCSS, NJCCCS and CCSS there is not time to fit all the standards from NETS.  The school has heard of NETS-S but it has not enforced the use of the technologies in all the classrooms.  The reason is mostly due to time constraints and improper technology use in the classroom.  Surprisingly most of the teachers in the school have not heard or wanted to use the NETS-S.  When asked why Mrs. Doe responded “most teachers are already overwhelmed trying to implement their individual content area’s standards.  Technology standards just add more work”.  She continued saying: “teachers do promote the use of technology in the classroom, but on their terms.  Its easier for them that way”. 

To be honest I was shocked that the school district heard of NETS-S and T standards.  Most school districts do not seem to care about adding them into the core curriculum.  These standards are seen as burdens and obligations rather than beneficial for the students.  I am not surprised because teachers have a lot on their plate.  Many of them have families, other obligations, after school activities and their own lesson plans to write.   It is very hard for them to keep up with all the rapidly emerging changes in NETS.  As a future educator I would promote the use of NETS in the classroom because it is the future of how our students are going to learn.  Technologies are rapidly being creating and they are altering the way students learn.  We must adapt NETS standards in order to teach our students how to adapt to the new technologies and how to learn using them as resources.  We would be doing a huge disservice to our students if we didn’t implement them in our lesson and unit planning.   

For the Spreadsheet, please click the following link: Woodrow Wilson: Prophet of Peace

Photo Story: A unique activity in the Social Studies Classroom

During my Social Studies Methods class, we were discussing the importance of implementing technology in the classroom setting to enhance a student's comprehension of the material.  Our professor introduced us to photostory 3 a older program that enables students to be the historian in the classroom and document important features about a particular topic.  In order to practice using this program in the class, our professor made us make our documentary.  My partner and I decided to do Leonardo DaVinci.  While trying to utilize the best italian accents we could muster, we were able to finish the project and perform our documentary.  The program has a voice reader that enables its user to record their voice over an image.  The presenter must select an image of relevance and then narrate as the picture is being moved.  The program is incredibly user friendly and can reap much reward for social studies majors.  I believe this program can be a very fun activity for students to engage in because it breaks the monotony of daily lectures and allows the student to be the teacher.  The students can also be creative: adding different voices (ex. british professor, italian archeologist etc) and add outside persons to contribute.  Overall i would recommend all social studies majors to download this program because it is a can provide a very fun experience for our students.  

Scanners and digital filing

One of the most unique technologies of our time, the scanner has often not been talked about in the educational world. The scanner enables the teacher to take a students and keep a digital record of their work! Lets think of the amazing possibilities.  Number One: Scanners help students be accountable.  If a teacher has a digital file of the students work, the student can no longer lie about handing in their assignment.  Also if the students lose their completed work, the teacher can send them their work electronically and deduct points from their assignment for missing work.  Modern scanners are lighter, smaller and take up less space in the classroom which makes it a valuable resource in education.  I personally do not have a scanner (yet) but i have used one several times and have seen what wonders it could do.  I am more organized and can access documents fairly easily.  If i was a school superintendent and my district had the funds, i would attempt to bring scanners in every classroom.  They are becoming fairly inexpensive and they use is valuable.  I believe its time teachers start seeing the value in these items and think about how they can make it possible to bring this great piece of technology in the classroom.