Question One

1
Question One

• It is September 5th and you are beginning your
  first year of teaching. On the first day of
  school you handed out a curriculum letter to
  parents. In it you described your overall program
  and made mention that the Grade 5 social studies
  program would be focused on Inquiry and that your
  instruction and classroom practices would reflect
  that focus. Mrs. Carens has never heard of a
  Social Studies program that focuses on Inquiry.
  As a former elementary teacher, she has some
  concerns that as a first year teacher, you are
  veering off on your own and has asked to meet
  with you to discuss how social studies teaching
  and learning in your classroom will be carried
  out in an Inquiry-based classroom. Explain to her
  what an instructional focus of Inquiry is, how it
  would differ from a traditional approach, its
  place in the new program of studies, its merits
  and several examples of how inquiry would be used
  in a social studies lesson or unit of study.
  Anticipate her questions and aim to settle her
  concerns.

2
Question Two

• It is November in your first year of teaching
  Grade Four. Progress reports will be distributed
  at the end of the month. How will you assess
  student learning and report progress in Social
  Studies? How will your assessment practices
  reflect your beliefs about how children learn,
  and your goals for social studies?

3
Question Three

• You are going to a job interview for a teaching
  position in a new elementary school in
  Lethbridge. The principal has given you one
  question where you are allowed to prepare ahead
  of time and write an essay answer. The question
  is as follows
• Describe how you would plan to deliver the very
  best curriculum and instruction in one subject
  area. In your answer, address aspects of theory,
  practice, integration, and other areas of
  relevance.
• You choose Social Studies as the subject area for
  this written activity. Using Powerful Social
  Studies as a major reference point, write your
  response to this assignment.

4
Question Four

• Think back over EDES 335
• Like you, Brendas beliefs about teaching have
  driven her approach to teaching EDES 335. You may
  have been studying about citizenship, historical
  thinking, critical thinking or assessment, but
  the method she used to teach you these concepts
  reflected what she believes about teaching and
  learning.
• Based on your experience- what are Brendas
  teaching beliefs? Identify examples of her
  beliefs in action in this class (her choice of
  activities, assignments and instructional
  approaches). Think about what you know about
  constructivism, powerful teaching strategies and
  the learning gains youve personally experienced
  or struggled with this term. Can you connect any
  of these gains to the model employed in this
  class? Be prepared to support your thoughts with
  examples and direct connections to the content
  studied this term.