It has been over a month since our summer institute and I have had a chance to use some of what I have learned in my classroom. Over the last week, I have had the chance to revisit my notes and here is what struck me...
Dr. Sharon Sundue: The background information broadened my knowledge, and though the content is not what I teach in Fourth Grade, my understanding of the chain of events and thinking throughout history is a powerful backbone for any history lesson. One of the reasons I wanted to be a part of this grant, was that when I taught abroad for a year, I was ashamed by my limited understanding of my own country's history. Dr. Sundue's lessons walked me through American settlements and through the colonies and enlightenment with an understanding of the cultural and religious implications.
Anthony Fitpztrick: Exciting! Mr. Fitzpatrick is quite the entertainer. He is always full of great strategies that I can use right away...even in the Fourth Grade setting. I loved the "Elementary My Dear Watson" method of using primary sources to search for clues using Holmes' rules. He returned to the strategies he had shared with us in past sessions (ARTIST, SPEC, Return Address, and White out). It was great to hear these again and gain confidence in the possibility of applying them more to lessons in my classroom. Solving for Y was an interesting process. Y=MX=B Finding the meaning of the reference, 3 examples of its use, and bringing it home! I feel like I need more practice with this before I could use it. I would like to spend some time looking through political cartoons to see what could fit with my curriculum in Fourth Grade.
These two presenters went hand in hand to help provide me with background knowledge...and how to bring it into my teaching!
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