Geography and History (Week 4 Blog) By: Meaghan Brenna Foley

ED 3120--WEEKLY OVERVIEW By: Meaghan Brenna Foley

• This week, I have learned a lot about History and Geography. I was given the task of researching about the Iroquois Indians. I enjoy learning new information about other cultures. In my opinion, all students should be taught about current events, or newsworthy information that's happening in the world today. Specifically, students must learn about geography and their surroundings. Some students living in urban areas need to be enlightened about rural lands and other agricultural societies. I believe that in order to survive in the world, we must have some knowledge about foreign people, places, and regions around the world. The subject of using historical artifacts very  much interests me. I am a visual learner and find the use of artifacts to be extremely beneficial. I found a video on YouTube that relates to the subject of historical artifacts. In this video, a UK teacher leads her class and presents her daily lesson wonderfully. I support her inclusion of stimulated conversation about dense and sparse populations. She teaches her students about the importance of using props, or artifacts, as visual aids to help generate new thoughts and ideas.

MONDAY (September 15, 2014)

Evan T. Pritchard: Speaker

• I enjoyed listening to Mr. Pritchard speak during Monday's class. I was pleasantly surprised by his vast knowledge of  Native American Indians and amount of information that he shared with us. Mr. Pritchard proved to be very knowledgeable in the area of  Indian tribes all across New York State. I was in awe of the colorful and extremely well detailed map that Mr. Pritchard drew and labeled. In the near future, I hope to learn more about Native American cultures. Additionally, I will keep in mind Mr. Pritchard's 20+ books to possibly use as references in my educational career. I especially like his children's book because the illustrations are very child-friendly. Mr. Pritchard's children's book also allows the students the opportunity to read the text as well as color the pictures.

Mr. Pritchard made this map himself! Well-done! 

This is the first book I was presented with during class. I quickly skimmed through it and could immediately tell that Mr. Pritchard is very knowledgeable about Native American tribes. 

This novel really caught my eye because it is appears to be very in-depth and comprehensive.

This is the children's book written and illustrated by Mr. Evan T. Pritchard. I think that this book would be wonderful to use with elementary school students during the Fall. 

Mr. Pritchard also drew and labeled this amazing map that included various Indian tribes throughout the Hudson Valley. I was amazed at the amount of detail and effort that was put into the map! I appreciated Mr. Pritchard telling me about the history of my hometown of Poughkeepsie, New York. I definitely learned a lot of new information! :) 

• At the conclusion of Monday's class, I enjoyed listening to the musical performance given by Mr. Pritchard. I especially enjoyed when he sang the Indian chanting song while playing the drum. I thought that was very neat! I believe that all teachers should incorporate some type of music into their classroom. It really grabs the students' attention and keeps them interested in the lesson.

WEDNESDAY (September 17, 2014)

• I learned a great deal more about cooperative learning and group processing during Wednesday's class. Two of my classmates and I collaborated on a group presentation on the Iroquois. We put all of our research together and worked towards a common goal, which is also known as group processing. My classmates and I presented our PowerPoint presentation on the Iroquois with much success! I am very proud of our efforts and appreciate all of the feedback that we received. :) Each day, I am learning such a tremendous amount of information that will benefit me in the future. Technology is such a wonderful resource that can be utilized in so many different ways! 

FRIDAY (September 19, 2014)

• I learned a great deal of information on the remaining Native American tribes during Friday's class. I was impressed by the vast amount of detail that encompasses the culture and life of Native Americans. I am interested in learning more about Native Americans and look forward to using additional forms of technology to research and report my findings.