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.