Overwhelming Welcome Back

Overwhelming Welcome Back 

Before entering Social Studies Methods this morning, I was very anxious and nervous of what adventures were ahead for the rest of this semester. Although I have heard how beneficial this course is to future educators, I have also heard how much work accompanies this course from past students. I was definitely worried that I wouldn't be able to keep up with the tasks because I view myself, personally, as an "over achiever" or "perfectionist" who likes to do everything to the best of my ability. I was happy to see that on eClass, everything is organized and everything that is due for a specific week is listed.

To introduce the over all topic of Social Studies Methods, I was surprised to automatically jump into an Ice Breaker activity after a brief discussion of the syllabus. Normally in other classes, the syllabus is discussed for the majority of the time on the first day, but not in this class. I enjoyed this ice breaker activity because it helped to open my eyes to see how much future educators have in common. This type of ice breaker defined the phrase "Great minds think alike". The two questions that I strongly enjoyed during this ice breaker was #2: Provide three characteristics or traits that you would see in an effective Social Studies teacher and #4: What do you expect to achieve in this class? (Goals). I believe that a successful Social Studies teacher should be enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and encouraging. As a child, Social Studies was not my favorite subject because most of my teachers were quite boring and it seemed that they taught without care. When I heard the fourth question, I instantly knew exactly what I hoped I would get out of this class and that was to build confidence when teaching Social Studies. Social Studies is not my strongest subject. All through out my educational career as a student, Social Studies has always been my weakest link. So, I am hoping that I will be confident when I finally teach Social Studies to others. 

After our first official activity individually as well as in a group, Dr. Smirnova rushed into assigning our first project and our first blog posts. Now this is where I started getting frustrated out of confusion. I understood our directions for the first project, but when it came to the blog posting, I got confused because I couldn't keep up with how fast everything was flowing. I know that I should of expected it, but it just slipped my mind. Dr. Smirnova is an informational teacher who wastes no time what so ever. I love it, but at the same time I was already stressing out and it's only the first day! I don't want my Spring 2016 semester to end the same as my Fall 2015 semester with shingles again. However, I am not discouraged. I am keeping my head up and I won't give up. I just have to keep telling myself "Don't worry, it's only your first day back. You will get used to it again." I just need to breath. 

Now that I vented about my anxiety filled first day, Hello everyone! My name is Kimberly Rivera and welcome to "Kimberly Rivera's Technology Corner of Elementary Studies." This is where I'll be reflecting on my wild roller coaster of a trip through Social Studies Methods. I'm looking forward to reaching into my inner teacher to become the best that I can be while teaching Social Studies. I have always feared teaching Social Studies because of my lack of confidence, but I have faith that by the time this course ends, I'll be ready and prepared with all of the necessary tools, materials, and information that will boost my confidence in achieving my dream of becoming an effective Elementary School teacher.