Over these four weeks of classes I have felt my notions about the social studies curriculum (as well as all subject curriculum) morph and shape and develop into something real and full. Although I have been in bank street for a year already, I have not really taken many of the lesson planning courses yet. I am so happy that this course was my introduction. I felt at times that the course work was a full-time activity--but I feel that throughout the course I maintained a positive perspective about the work I was doing. I felt that all the work I put in was helping to change me as a teacher. The lesson planning and revising, and revising, and revising was at times frustrating and at times rewarding but throughout it was consistently a positive learning experience.
With that said, I feel that the construction of my lessons will be richer because of the work I put into the three lessons in this unit. I project that my future lesson plans will include aspects of the lesson plans we worked on for the past few weeks. I know more about incorporating discussion into various parts of the lesson. I have a better understanding of the importance of creating activities that access the lesson in a directly personal way, and I feel that I have developed a skill (though I still need some work) on developing leading questions to guide our study. The learning I value the most from this experience is my still expanding understanding of working with broad topics and specific examples. The planning, the conversations, and the readings for this course have truly helped me to gain an appreciation for not only why this system provides a stronger unit plan but how to make it happen.
My challenge at this point is to continue to develop as a planner. Now that I know in what direction I am headed, I have to continue to make real steps to solidify and expand what I have learned. Most importantly, I have to apply it to my work. I know that my work is at a point at which I will need to continue to revise and revise my ideas. Still, I feel so confident that the process that I have begun will lead me closer to perfecting a plan that works for me and for my students. I came into this course with very little understanding of what a social studies curriculum was supposed to look like. I feel that as of now, I have a basic understanding of the curriculum standards, and a strong base of ideas and skills to help me develop a social studies curriculum that is rich in scope.