Blog 4

Katlin

Service Learning Project:

I have contacted Connor Farm in Danvers MA, through email, and asked them about their farm practices. They emailed me back to let me know they received the message and will get back to me as soon as possible. Considering how quickly I received an email back I will be contacting other local farms through email to get more information. Greg works on a small farm in South Hampton New Hampshire which he hopes to turn into a permaculture farm. I hope to get involved and learn more about permaculture ideas.
1. I have done research on the company Monsanto. I created an entire new post on this issue and provided YouTube links for everyone to watch. These videos are short and lay out the truth without being confusing. Check them out for more information!

2. Teaching children the information needed to become a successful, positive citizen is a goal of social studies. Citizenship can be found throughout the Massachusetts curriculum frameworks for elementary school. I think citizenship is an important part of the curriculum because after years of school that is a person's final outcome; a citizen. A way to make the sometimes heavy and dry information of citizenship enjoyable for students is allowing them to get involved with issues they are curious about. It is part of the teacher profession to make space for lessons and activities that students are interested in, and can even be skillfully linked to state standards. Topics such as economics and even U.S History can be monotonous, which can be connected to many of my experiences with long lectures and PowerPoints. Early in the school year I would ask students to fill out an information sheet about themselves explaining what they like to do, their favorite TV show, etc in order to engage them in lessons throughout the year. I would engage students in such social studies topics by setting up a video clip, asking an open-ended question, or reading a book; sometimes even shocking facts can grab children's attention.

3. The NCSS frameworks at www.socialstudies.org/about consists of ten themes and believes that effective social studies programs include experiences for the study of:
Culture
Time, Continuity, Change
People, Places, Environments
Individual Development, Identity
Individuals, Groups, Institutions
Power, Authority, Governance
Production, Distribution, Consumption
Science, Technology, Society
Global Connections
Civic Ideals, Practices

I am currently in a diverse first grade class for field placement. Since the students are seven years old they are working on the basics of every subject. I have not seen evidence of the above topics in the classroom yet. In my opinion their developmental age does not allow them to think outside of. Meaning they are worried about what toys they will get for their birthday or who they will play with at recess, they are not at a global level.

This current event project allows me to connect what I should be as a teacher. I need to allow myself to see all sides of an issue and get concrete information on the issue which depicts myself as a learner. This topic is one that I chose which clearly illustrated my sense of inquiry. As a teacher I will continue learning and use my curiosity to engage my students in the subject of social studies. I believe if the teacher is enthusiastic then the students are more likely to be. themselves

Greg
Service Learning Project
I am in charge of a small time permaculture project spanning a little more than four acres of land. My goal in the next four to fives years is to have at least a three acre food forest. By using permaculture design methods we create a farm that functions under the same balanced structure of nature. Eventually it allows you to have a fully functional farm that produces more food per acre than a modern farm and once you have set up the right design all the work you have to do is collect food. So we will be doing a little work on this project. This weekend coming up and next weekends are going to be times in which we all will do some service learning since winter is soon approaching and on the farm that means there is a lot to do. Actually if you are on a farm there is always a lot to do so I guess winter is no different. John and Lucy Bloomfield own this land and two amazing people. Lucy's phone number is 603 531 3700. I am in charge of this project so if anyone wants to get involved or learn more about permaculture you can call me my number is 978 302 1195. Permaculture is truly incredible and I encourage any one with an interest in gardening to check out the concepts.

1. When I was at occupy Boston one day a few weekends ago I was actually surprised by the lack of knowledge being passed around about food and local farms. I will have to say that the Occupy Boston movement was very disorganized and also was made up of a lot of people who could not present many clear arguments. I do support the fact that people are fighting for social change and that many of the flaws in the capitalist system are no longer being denied by everyone.  Though I will say I met a few gems amongst the crowd and some people who were talking about local farms. I know at the occupy wall street there was permaculturist giving lectures on how people can increase their own food development, and local farms could become stronger. That is the only current news I have heard on the subject lately.

2. I feel there is room within the curriculum to talk about where your food comes from. Though it does not have to be as gruesome as the truth sometimes is. A good time to talk about this would be during a science unit on plants.  I would make space for such lessons. I am involved in farming and really passionate about it so I feel I will always to try have some type of gardening or farming lessons throughout the year. I really want to do community gardens at whichever school I teach at. I feel if students get involved in such activities they reconnect with aspects of the human brain that we no longer activate since we left our hundred of thousands of years development directly linked in with nature. I know from such school programs they said that the students had a new sense of pride and much more appreciation for food. This will engage students in lesson talking about plants and farming.

3. There is talk about social issues in the school I am doing my pre-practicum in. After teaching a lesson about how ancient cultures held stories as powerful learning tools and brought in my didgeridoo to class I noticed somethings about the students. Though they liked the lesson and what it was about. The fact that I could play the didgeridoo was really cool to them. They gained respect towards me and now respond better when I ask them to do something. The students gained respect for me as a person. As a teacher we are not just presenting the curriculum via lessons and activities we are also presenting ourselves to the class. Hopefully we present ourselves as role models for the future generation. By us learning more about social issues in projects such as this one we build our own character. Younger students have a lot of questions brewing in their head that they may never ask, but we answer by the way we live.