RESEARCH ASSIGNMENT

So my students have had their first real taste of the use of technology in the calssroom. Last week we bagan our researching for our final assessmnet on Africa. The students were supposed to research one region of Africa and gather information on the region before and after imperialism. They were to analyze the impact of European Imperialsim on sub-Saharan Africa.

Sounds like a simple task to me...I could not have been so wrong. Many of the students did not have the computer savvy that I assumed they had. We started from ground one as far as research is concerned. I gave them the websites to visit, what was and was not a good site, and how to document their sources. Though it was a very hard task the students got through it. They took away many key skills that will benefit them throughout the rest of their hihg school career. I haven;t received all of their research information as of yet but hopefully my lie about plagarism and how it is an offense that can send them to jail prevented them from doing it. LOL...They were so scared. English teachers may be mad at me for this one, but I also showed them how to put thir sources into MLA format using "easybib.com." I don;t see this as cheating, I just see it as them using a source, research tool, that will make their lives esaier.

World Studies in High School

I almost feel jealous of my students. I teach World Studies at Rock Bridge and the place that my students sit now, is completely different when I sat in a similar seat in Kansas City six years ago. The way we teach and the material we use for world studies is amazing. Not giving myself praise, but praising the writers of the curriculum and the visionaries who put into motion a push for common assessments that are performance based. I feel like the method the Rock Bridge High school uses allows us as teachers to learn so much about our students. The assessments are creative, challenging, and fun (at least the end result usually is for the students). We finished a unit on the Middle East two weeks ago and are now diving into a unit on Africa. Exploring these different regions of the world chronologically through historical documentation and various forms of literature, we are making the world make sense to our students. We are not teaching them random fragmented pieces of information, we are giving them meaningful material that they will be able to use to help them understand modern day issues and to show them that they are in some way connected to the on-goings around the world. I really enjoy teaching World Studies because I too am learning more every day about the world and my students personally.
Making students socially conscious shows that we are not just into teaching for the sake of teaching, but we are building up good knowledgeable citizens who can take the information acquired and help to make a difference in the societies in which they live. Rock Bridge students are placed at a great advantage because of the required “Studies” program.