On The Importance of Social Studies...

I've had many conversations about the 4 C's  with other educators both online and in person and throughout these conversations, I've continuously returned to the idea of how so much of what is advocated for in the 4 C's and in the NETP, should all be found in a high quality social studies program. What you might be thinking at this juncture is "go figure, a social studies teacher is saying social studies is important." Yes, I am....but humor me for a moment, if you will. 

Social studies cannot be effectively taught without including critical thinking about the motives of historical figures, government officials, economic actors, or psychological theorists; it cannot be effectively taught without teaching students how to effectively communicate with others, especially those they disagree with; it cannot be effectively taught without looking at how different groups of people today and throughout history work cooperatively and collaboratively to accomplish amazing (and sometimes terrible) things; and it can't be effectively taught without looking at all the different advances that have happened as a result of hard work and creativity throughout history in every single field that have made our world what it is today, for better or worse.

When I think about how much of education trends today emphasize the use of technology to realize the 4 C's across the curriculum, I return to my assertion that the 4 C's are the fundamentals of a high quality social studies program; great social studies programs have been helping kids realize the 4 C's long before anyone coined the term "4 C's." In her book The Death and Life of the Great American School System, Diane Ravitch states that she has a "...deep belief in the value of a rich, coherent school curriculum, especially in history and literature." (p. 2) It is through history and literature (and, I would add, all the social studies) that many of the soft skills or non-cognitive learning skills are encountered and honed. The emphasis on STEM in the past decade as well as the shift to a focus/emphasis on math, language arts (sans a heavy emphasis on literature), and science over the past thirty years has left our society lacking in the 4 C's, interpersonal skills, as well as intrapersonal skills that should be part of any high quality social studies program. Technology can help students master these skills but when it comes down to it, interacting with other humans in a kind, productive, thoughtful fashion is a skill that is transferrable across mediums from face to face to Facebook.

Though I've found no strong evidence of causation anywhere in the literature, I suggest that, based upon my own observations, there is very strong relationship between the decline in the role of social studies education in our schools (due to the focus on math, science, and language arts) and the increase in partisanship, nasty civil discourse, and the inability of individuals to compromise. 

Any current education policy emphasizing STEM focused curriculum and standardized testing focused on math, science, and language usage needs to take a moment and reflect on what is being given up if these things continue to be obsessed over. Our approach to education needs to change to one that is more holistic if we are going to function as a society because, in the words of one of my wise colleagues, "The true test of a child's education is not the GPA, ACT/SAT or other trivial academic recognition. Rather, it's how that child uses that education to improve themselves and the communities they live in." 

The Importance of Professional Development

In a class I'm currently taking, we were asked to develop a one-minute elevator pitch for professional development. Here's what I came up with:

Google started in 1996, the iPhone came out in 2007. The world is changing faster than ever before. Kids these days is something every older generation says about youth but the gap between what kids these days are like and what kids were like when I was a boy is greater than ever before. In order to make sure teachers are best equipped to meet the learning needs of kids today, funds must be committed to keep teachers current in order to ensure our kids are best prepared to be successful contributors to our economy and our society. The future of our country depends on well-educated kids and that doesn't happen without high quality, relevant, regular professional development for teachers.

What do you think? What would your elevator pitch be?

Snow is Weird: Reflections on a snow day

Snow is weird. 

Individually, each snowflake is weak; even a small handful will capitulate in watery defeat after a minute in a closed fist. Anyone, even my almost three-year-old daughter, can go outside and get a power trip by destroying (or in her case, eating) a small amount of snow. But then these little snowflakes keep coming...and coming and coming. I keep looking outside as this "Groundhog Day blizzard" settles in and every time I look out I find myself thinking "Wow, that's so beautiful" or something like that. In an hour or two, however, when I go out to shovel off the deck and blow out the walkways, I'm going to be mentally and audibly cursing the abundance of snow. 

Every time a big snowstorm hits somewhere, you hear about somebody dying while shoveling snow; snow murders. That's right! The beautiful, awe-inspiring white stuff kills people. Not cool. If snow could talk, it would probably just laugh an evil, murderous, mocking laugh at us and our silly assumption that we are in control of things. Snow leads people to buy hundreds of dollars in equipment and spend hours cleaning it up. Snow forces municipalities to spend millions of dollars every year just to push it around. Oh, you think we're going to have school today? Snow says: "Nope...try again tomorrow and in the meantime, how about you exert a tremendous amount of energy taking me from over here and putting me in a pile over there. Sound good? Great! Oh, and in a few days, there's going to be more of me." 

Snow is a jerk.

However, later today, I'm going to don my snow pants and mittens and I'm going to go sledding with my daughter. I'm not going to be cursing at the snow then. On the contrary, I will be laughing wildly and most likely exclaiming how much fun I am having. By then, I will have completely forgotten how disdainful I was of the snow only a few hours before. I will also have set aside my frustration of having to make up a snow day later in the school year. In those moments of sledding joy, I will surely reflect upon how great it is that we have so much snow.

Snow is wonderful but...

Snow is also a master psychological manipulator.

And then, in a couple weeks, it will all be gone. Then, we will slowly forget all the pain and inconvenience that snow caused us over the previous cold, dark, quarter of a year and after a few months of soaking up the summer sun, premonitions of a winter wonderland, hot chocolate, snow forts, and sledding will creep into our minds and bring smiles to our lips.

What the heck.