This past week in my class room, the children learned about the Constitution and The Bill of Rights. These are both major concepts for the kids to learn and understand. They are both what are the foundation of our country. Actually, teaching these ideas is extremely exciting and something that I am passionate about. In an educational purpose, the Constitution was the work of many statesman, hugely cooperating to form the basis of our country. This concept is a great way to teach, to show the children how the people were able to compromise and create something together, that is still in tact today. The Constitution lays out the power that our government should have and the power that the people should have. Not only are the words of the Constitution important, but so are the principle ideas behind it. It shows the children how to come to a solution with more than just one person’s input, and how to lay a foundation of something that is worth keeping. Also, the Bill of Rights was another thing that they went over. The Bill of Rights is comprised of the first ten Amendments to the Constitution. These give the people more rights and more freedom. The Bill of Rights was the way in which they protected our individualism and our rights. Our founding father’s passion and determination are great things to show the kids at school. On Monday, the kids are going to be doing a scavenger hunt where they are seeking different parts of the Bill of Rights. I created different things that they are supposed to find in different people. For example, the founding father is known as George Mason, so they need to find a person whose first name is George. They also need to find a person who shares a birthday with the day the Bill of Rights were ratified.

Two other things that the children have been learning about are mathematical concepts. One being algebraic equations. They are learning how to divide and multiply decimals. This is a good thing for all of them to learn because they are able to apply it towards other things as well. Basic math is extremely important to teach children.

Finally, all the students are learning basic communication concepts. They are learning how to say hello and be polite to other people. Communication is another key concept that we need to teach children. Communication is a way in which all of us attempt to convey meaning in order to create a shared understanding of something. There is a little girl in my class who only speaks Spanish. I did not notice this until I tried to help her and she just gave me a blank look. However, we have together tried to form a basic understanding and attempted to convey meaning towards the same things and we have made several accomplishments. Her and I now share our own form of communication and I am able to help her work through things. All the students work on communication daily, and it is an important part of their learning progress at school.

Multi vs. Inter Disciplinary Studies

My applied study, of being a fifth grade teacher's assistant is definitely interdisciplinary studies site. Within an interdisciplinary study, you must draw on insights of different disciplines in order to produce new knowledge. As a teacher, this is a daily occurence. When teaching, you need to know many different disciplines to help the children fully grasp concepts. When teaching, children ask you questions all the time, and you need to have a broad knowledge in order to help them. Interdisciplinary studies integrate knowledge from several different modes of thinking. When teaching, you do not just focus on one discipline at a time. During social studies, political science, religion, economics and history all play a large factor.
My school does not operate on a multidisciplinary perspective. Within a multidisciplinary studies, you would place different disciplines side by side. You need to integrate different perpsectives and not just have them be near one another. To teach, one needs to integrate disciplines and fully appreciate several perspectives in order to be a great teacher, which is what every teacher strives for.

My 1st Blog

Hello everyone! My name is Shelby. My applied study is at an Elementary school and I help teach fifth graders. The school is in Tucson, where I work and live. The children are so sweet and fun to be around. My area of concentration is organizational studies. I have really enjoyed having this area. I have done a lot with Political Science which is an interesting topic for today's economy. I also have taken several religion courses and communication courses. I am a person that really has enjoyed all of these classes. I am glad that I was able to broaden my knowledge and not focus in on one general field of study.
I chose the Elementary School as my site because I have always questioned whether or not I want to be a teacher. The main thing that deters me away is the pay. Another reason is because I really enjoy business type courses and have always been interested in marketing and management. I thought that this would be a good time to look into teaching and determine if I want to get my teaching certificate or continue with my plan of getting an MBA and working in a related field. Since I began teaching, I have already learned several things from the children. One is that I need to discipline them, or they will never take me seriously. Also, they respect the teachers that tend to keep them in line. I have also learned that my passion for teaching and children is higher than I had previous thought.
My future goal is to get my MBA through ASU, and begin working in a marketing firm or PR. However, I think that either before this or after, I want to get my teaching certificate and become a teacher. I look forward to this applied study. I have very much enjoyed it thus far and it is still in the early stages. I know that the teacher I am working with will slowly gain my trust and allow me to take larger steps towards running the class room. I think this is going to be a great experience for me, and something that I have always wanted to accomplish.