Final Semester Post

I am more excited now than I ever have been about teaching my students literacy in the social studies. Literacy in social studies is about learning how to question, how to research, and how to develop arguments. Through using diverse texts in my classroom, I am not only teaching my students to look at things differently, but I am honoring the diversity of learners in my classroom. I will encourage my students to discover and formulate new knowledge through the assignments in reading, writing, and speaking I will require of them. I am excited to be teaching at a time in the world's history where information is so readily accessible. I am excited by the opportunity to have my own ideas change as I continue to question my own knowledge. Using every chance that I get to make the students in my classes feel valued through literacy is really important to me. I want my students to take the risk of writing! I want my students to know that people listen when they speak and because of that, they should know how to speak well. My synthesis of my Language, Literacy, and Learning in the Content Areas course is brief, but essentially and critically changes the way I approach my pedagogy as a social studies teacher. When my students and myself learn more deeply because of the way I integrate literacy in the classroom, we all benefit.