What Comes to Mind

Thinking about social studies reminds me of how much I enjoy acquiring information and understanding about how governments and societies work, and how individuals and groups within societies interact. I love geography and demographic statistics - where places are, who lives there, what they do and how they are different from my familiar environments. I don't remember a thing about social studies in elementary school, and can barely recall what and how I was taught in high school. I do know that it was geared primarily to remembering facts and dates, and was nothing at all like the instructional strategies we are learning in the credential program. I feel positive and enthusiastic about social studies, and hope that I will be able to elicit the same feelings from my students.