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Greg McMurrer Social Studies Teaching Philosophy My teaching philosophy for Social Studies stems from the simple

idea that all students are capable of learning when teachers effectively meet each students individual learning needs and interests. Teachers must carefully build trusting relationships with each student in order to harness a positive influence over their learning. Without a sense of trust or care, students will see little need, if any, to follow a teachers guidance. In order to build these relationships, teachers must construct strong learning communities powered by a balance of cognitive, behavioral, and emotional engagement. I believe that one of the most vital steps to educating children is establishing the classroom as an open environment for children to express their thoughts and take academic risks. These academic risks are naturally tied to all three levels of engagement, as they influence how the students specific actions in the environment, how they feel about their efforts, and the degree of thinking involved. When students encounter challenging age appropriate content, they are likely to experience a great amount of growth versus facing academic tasks that are overwhelming and deter effort. Students need appropriate scaffolding by their teacher and reassurance that their academic efforts are realistically attainable in order to succeed. Teachers can assure that all of these qualities are met through utilizing a variety of instructional methods and forms of assessment. All students learn through different methods and at different paces, so teachers must adapt their material so that each student has equal opportunity to demonstrate their understandings and learning progress. Important concepts tied to Social Studies should be presented to students through a cause and effect approach rather than the more trivial style that our current standards support. Memorizing a subjective set of important dates, locations, and people serves no benefit to our students because it eliminates any sense of deep thought or drawing connections between relatable events. In addition, teachers must ensure that they are not forcing their own personal beliefs or ideas upon the students. Teachers must strive to be objective and balanced in their instruction so that students can form authentic emotional connections and truly form their own opinions related to the world around them. Examining cause and effect relationships forces students to consider a multitude of factors such as culture, diplomatic relations, and technology. These factors aid students in recognizing that the content area is not static, but indeed dynamic. Changes occur constantly to the economic, civic, and historic frameworks of society from the actions of citizens and political leaders. It is our job as teachers to make students aware of how relevant Social Studies are to their current lives and demonstrate that they can greatly influence the future world.

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