Michigan State University Social Studies Enduring Understandings

Teachers Create a Curriculum that is Purposeful, Thoughtful, Engaging,

and Student-Centered :A meaningful curriculum and its accompanying
pedagogy are interactive among students and teachers. Such a curriculum
embraces the what, how, and why of learning. Teachers use resources,
materials, and student ideas to create learning opportunities that are
meaningful, authentic, content rich, problem-based, socially responsible
and relevant.
(1.a) The intern has a rationale that informs and directs teaching and
learning and is aligned with a combination of the goals above.
(1.b) The intern engages students with significant content rich ideas and
problems and fosters a critical approach to the exploration of said ideas
and problems generating deep knowledge and higher order thinking.
(1.c) The intern knows, respects and values students questions and
interests and uses those to help create the curriculum.
(1.d) The intern meaningfully integrates multiple sources, texts and
resources in the classroom that represent a range of perspectives.

Artifact 1- SAT Practice Article/Essay

In order to incorporate some SAT writing practice into the curriculum, I had students read
Federalist No. 39 and evaluate whether or not the author effectively argues for popular
sovereignty. I believe this artifact embodies Enduring Understanding 1 for multiple reasons.
First, it shows I am able to incorporate historical primary documents into instruction that not
only improve students understanding of course content, but also allows the them to practice a
skill (evaluating arguments) that is utilized across multiple educational disciplines. Having
students examine one of the Federalist Papers also exposes them to a perspective that may be
different from their own and a perspective that may be argued for in a way that is unfamiliar to
them. It would be one thing just to talk about the beliefs of the Federalists, but having them
look at what the Federalists actually said and how they said it provides them with something
concrete to deepen their understanding. The Federalist Papers might also allow students to
compare modern day argumentative styles and strategies to those used in the past and form
opinions on the effectiveness of certain argument strategies.
Artifact 2- Unit 2 Essential Questions
Because the content in Unit 2 (Foundations of American Democracy) can be hard for students
to relate to, I needed to frame it in such a way that would at least get students thinking about
the importance of studying it. Two of my Essential Questions from this unit were Why is
compromise important? and Was/is American democracy really democratic? I think both of
these questions reflect Enduring Understanding 1 because it shows my intent to engage
students with content rich ideas that encourage students to think at a critical level. The first
question uses student knowledge of key compromises at the Constitutional Convention, such
as the Great Compromise and the Three-Fifths Compromise, to get them thinking about why
people in the real world compromise. This can be applied to situations such as politics and the
students own personal lives. The second question gets students to reconsider their
preconceived notions of what democratic really means. Students have been taught that
America has always been a democracy from the very beginning. By getting students to
understand that the only people who could originally vote were white, property-owning males,
their idea that America is democratic because everyone has a voice comes under scrutiny.
Artifact 3- Academic Information Sheet
On the second day of the semester, I had students fill out an academic information sheet. This
allowed me to get to know who my students are as learners by asking them to write down when
they do and do not learn well, what their goals are as students and as individuals, and what
they think makes a good teacher. I was also able to use this information to incorporate a
variety of instructional strategies into my teaching. For example, some students said they like
taking notes to have all of the information there to look at, some said they prefer to work in
groups and have more time to interact with classmates, and others said they like to watch
videos that enhance their understanding of the content. With this information, I decided to
make frequent use of small-group activities in during Chapter 1, whereas in Chapter 2,
students received a majority of the knowledge from the textbook and guided notes, with a
group project to have students apply the knowledge, both of which had benefits and
drawbacks. I also used popular culture YouTube videos in Chapter 1 to show students how
what we talk about in class is present in media all around them. Using the academic
information sheets to tailor my instruction to students academic preferences, as well as their
strengths and weaknesses shows that I know how to incorporate student interests in order to
create curriculum, which demonstrates Enduring Understanding 1.

Teachers Value the Cultural, Social, and Intellectual Funds that Students
Bring to School: Teachers value and purposefully structure learning by
using students prior knowledge, life experiences, perspectives, learning
strengths, and talents.
(2.a.)The intern respects, cares for, and involves all students in learning.
(2.b.) The intern differentiates and adjusts instruction [employs a variety
of strategies, explanations and methods of inquiry] and uses multiple
forms of assessment, maintaining high expectations for all students.
(2.c.) The intern reaches out to and engages parents and guardians
appropriately.

Artifact 1- Parent/Guardian Email

Throughout the first semester, my mentor teacher, Ashleigh Larkin, would send out a weekly
email to all parents and/or guardians notifying them of what their children did that week in
class, as well as what to expect the following week and any assignments due in the near
future. Along with briefly outlining each lesson, I attach electronic copies of any documents
due in the near future. This way students dont get an excuse for not turning in work, but
parents also get to see what their children are doing in class. Sending parent emails embodies
Enduring Understanding 2 because reaching out to parents demonstrates that I value where
students come from and think it is important to connect to non-academic aspects of students
lives. I dont see my students as people who exist solely in school. I recognize that they have
lives outside of school and experience things outside of school that they bring with them into
the classroom everyday. Sending emails to parents and guardians demonstrate that I care
about my students lives outside of the classroom and seek to better understand aspects of
their personal lives in order to better tailor instruction and curriculum inside the classroom.
Artifact 2- End of Unit Survey
This survey is something I gave students at the end of Unit 2, in which students learned about
the roots of American Democracy, during both first and second semester. The survey allows
me to see not only what students liked and did not like about how the unit was taught, but also
lets me compare students confidence in their understanding of the content to their assessment
results. I believe this survey embodies Enduring Understanding 2 because it shows how I
involve all students in learning. It would be easy for me to reflect on what I might have done
better to improve student understanding, but that would rely on me guessing what students did
or did not enjoy. This survey gives me concrete evidence from students who actually
experienced the instruction and can provide me with specific feedback on what they thought
went well and what did not. This will make it easier for me to adapt and adjust instruction, if I
were to ever teach this unit again, that a greater amount of students would not only find more
enjoyable, but would also hopefully improve their understanding and comprehension of the
content.
Artifact 3- Nation Creation Project
This project, which was completed during Chapter 2 on types of government, involved students
working in groups to propose a new government for a fictional country. Students were to
create a proposal (PowerPoint or Prezi) for a government that would best represent their
assigned interest group, with the goal being to get other students to vote for their proposal. I
believe this project captures Enduring Understanding 2, particularly 2.b, which states that
interns use multiple forms of assessment. Rather than simply quizzing students on the types
of government, I assessed their deeper understanding of the content by having them recognize
the content in a real-world scenario and if they were able to apply this knowledge correctly to
propose a government that represented their assigned interest group. Multiple choice
summative assessments, while sometimes effective for assessing student knowledge of
multiple topics, does not allow students to demonstrate or practice critical thinking skills I want
students to develop in order to understand the content on a much deeper level. This the type
of understanding I can assess using this project.

Teaching is a Learning and Reflective Profession that is Bolstered by

Intellectual Curiosity: Teachers continue to learn and grow in collaboration
with others. Teachers learn as they use critical experiences to solve
professional problems and use that knowledge to refine future practice.
(3.a.) The intern fosters learning communities within the school e.g.,
utilizing mentor teachers, school-based resources, observing other
classrooms within the school, participating in extracurricular activities.
(3.b.) The intern demonstrates intellectual curiosity by seeking and using
research, theory, school-based knowledge and other resources relevant to
social studies and adjusts instruction appropriately.
(3.c.) The intern explores and demonstrates elements of reflective practice
by revisiting their own instruction, incorporating feedback and critique,
analyzing student work and using this to refine their teaching and grow as
a teacher.
(3.d.) The intern continues to forge and articulate a philosophy of
teaching and learning that is evident in instruction and consistent with
current theory and professional, ethical and legal standards.

Artifact 1- Journal Entry

I have made it a habit to keep a daily journal of my internship experiences. Most of them are
not as long as this particular entry, but I always make sure I reflect daily on what went well in
the class, what did not go so well, and what I could do next time, if I had the opportunity to do
the lesson again, to better my instruction. In this particular entry, I reflected on an activity I had
the students do in which they answered questions about forming a government in an
apocalyptic scenario in the school. One thing I observed is that many of the questions I asked
students at the end of the activity were posed rhetorically, but my mentor teacher suggested
actually letting students think and answer the questions because it would allow them to think
critically about the activity. I also note that I ended up explaining the purpose of the activity to
the students, while I could have done a better job of letting more students figure that out on
their own. These observations and reflections show that I can not only reflect on my own
teaching, but also consider feedback and critique in order to adjust instruction, which is how
this artifact embodies Enduring Understanding 3.
Artifact 2- Adjusted Compromise Activity
During my first guided lead teach, I had students do an activity where, in small groups, they
had to pick five locations they would want to visit if they could plan a trip to Washington D.C.
Then, we had to pick five locations as a class. The goal was to get students to realize the
importance and difficulty of compromise, which I then connected to the experiences of the
delegates at the Constitutional Convention. I had anticipated the activity taking much longer
than it actually did, and didnt have anything prepared in case the activity ran short. I adjusted
the activity for second semester and instead had students choose three music concerts they
would want to attend. I think this artifact reflects Enduring Understanding 3 because it shows
how I reflected on mistakes I made the first time in order to adjust my instruction and try the
activity again. This reflective practice also guided me to design the curriculum for this unit in
such a way that I had the next lesson prepared if the compromise activity ran short again. The
feedback I received from my field instructor and mentor teacher on this activity also guided me
in growing as a teacher, which also demonstrates how this artifact reflects Enduring
Understanding 3.
Artifact 3- Teacher Observation
In order to help myself grow as a teacher, I decided to go and observe the two other MSU
interns at WBHS. I chose to include my observations notes of the other interns because as I
was looking over my observation notes of teachers I had observed with more teaching
experience, I noticed I had been very hesitant to be critical of them and only wrote down things
I liked about their teaching. Observing others who have about the same amount of experience
as me made me feel like I could be more critical with my observations and could more easily
question the purposes of why they did certain things in their classroom. I believe my
observation notes of other teachers, specifically other interns, reflect Enduring Understanding 3
because they demonstrate my intellectual curiosity about improving my practice. Observing
teachers who do not teach social studies, as both interns teach in the science and English
disciplines, shows I am not only interested in improving my skills in teaching social studies, but
that I seek to improve my general pedagogical skills as a whole. Observing other teachers also
shows my desire to interact with and establish relationships with other teachers in order to build
a more cohesive community of educators.

Social Studies Teaching is Interdisciplinary and Connects Students to the

World Around Them: While learning is often divided into disciplines (e.g.
history, geography, science, the arts, English etc.), the world that we teach
about is not. Social studies teachers connect students to the world around
them through exploring events and experiences outside of the classroom
that are current and relevant, incorporating all subject areas and promoting
further growth and learning.
(4.a.) The intern uses current, relevant events from outside of the
classroom to engage students with the outside world and community.
(4.b.) The intern brings resources from outside of the school, including
the community and beyond to enhance student learning.
(4.c.) The intern seamlessly incorporates all disciplines into their
instruction and assessment in authentic and meaningful ways.
(4.d.) The intern understands that much of the students understanding is
gained outside of the classroom through a variety of media and capitalizes
on this knowledge in classroom learning, further critically integrating
technology.

Artifact 1- CNN Article

As a preview activity to Chapter 2, which is about how power is distributed in different
government types, I had students read an article about the sick-outs that took place in Detroit
Public Schools in January. Students main responsibility was to state what person or group of
people involved in the situation they thought should have the most power to influence the
outcome of the situation. Using this article embodies Enduring Understanding 4 because it
involves bringing current events with which students will be familiar with into the classroom in
order to help students better understand a certain topic, which in this case is power distribution.
The article I used was published by CNN, not something provided to me by the school, which
shows that I know how to bring in resources outside of the school in order to enhance student
learning. Also, having students read the article and identify the main ideas shows that I see the
importance of integrating other disciplines into my social studies curriculum. Reading is without
a doubt a crucial aspect of social studies learning, but reading comprehension is usually taught
in English classes at school, although I think there are opportunities to teach reading skills in
every school discipline.
Artifact 2- Crash Course Video
I showed this Crash Course YouTube video, in which the concepts of Separation of Powers
and Checks and Balances are covered, as an introduction to Chapter 4. Chapter 4 has
students take an in-depth look at the actual body of the Constitution. This video reflects
Enduring Understanding 4 for several reasons. First, it shows I recognize how influential
Youtube has become not only as a source of recreation to students, but also as an arena in
which educational content can be posted in a way that is easily accessible to students. Also,
these Crash Course videos are usually made in such a way that allows the makers of the
content cover concepts in as few as 8-15 minutes. These shorter videos make the content
easily digestible to students, more so than an hour and forty minute lesson that students will
not remember the majority of. These videos are perfect for helping students review content we
have talked about or will have talked about in class in a short amount of time and while I
discourage waiting until the last minute to study for something, these videos could be useful athome tools for last-minute study sessions.
Artifact 3- Demolition Derby Video
In Chapter 1 we talk about political games that people play involving power. One of these
games is demolition derby, in which opponents try to completely destroy each other in order to
win. After talking about the definitions of these games with students, I showed them video
clips from popular culture that reflected each political game and had students identify which
video reflected which game. For demolition derby, I showed students a brief clip from one of
the battle scenes from the movie The Avengers. This video embodies Enduring
Understanding 4 because it shows that I realize that much of the knowledge and information
students gain come from outside of the classroom and from a variety of media, and integrating
this media into the classroom only help to further student understanding. I doubt that many of
my students would have watched that scene before and thought of how it could be
representative of a Civics topic. By showing them how a battle scene from a popular
superhero movie involves social studies concepts, I can open their minds and get them to
consider how other scenes in popular media might involve deeper concepts than they originally
thought.

Teachers and Students are Citizens: Citizens make informed choices and
are aware of the impact their decisions and actions have on others (locally
and globally). Citizens care both about the common good and the unique
needs of individuals. Teachers and students recognize and respect each
other as citizens of the classroom, school, community, nation and the
world.
(5.a.) The intern models dignity and respect towards the students. In
addition, the intern expects students to treat each other with dignity and
respect and fosters such behavior in the classroom and respects the role
of individuals and groups in a free society.
(5.b.)The intern explicitly structures a classroom that promotes, supports
and respects a democratic, participatory and inclusive environment for and
by all students.
(5.c) The curricular and pedagogical choices of the intern promote active
student engagement within the various physical and virtual communities
they occupy outside of the classroom.

Artifact 1- Recorded Lesson

As an assessment in chapter 2, I had students propose their own government type for a new
country. Students would be working in groups of 5-6, and many of the groups were made up of
students who had never worked together before. I wanted to make sure I set up proper
expectations for how I wanted students to interact with each other in their groups. This video
clip shows how I established and modeled those expected behaviors for one of my classes.
The video also shows how I moved around the room, spending approximately the same
amount of time at each group and interacting in the same manner with every group. I think this
video clip reflects Enduring Understanding 5 because it shows not only that I model dignity and
respect toward all of my students, but also that I expect all of my students to act with dignity
and respect toward each other. This video also shows my ability to structure a classroom that
fosters democratic participation and inclusion. I recognize that sometimes students have
something to say but are afraid to say it in front of the entire class. In order to let these
students express their opinions, I created small groups to provide a less stressful environment
where they should feel less pressure about stating what they believe.
Artifact 2- Class Expectations
My main goal on the first day of second semester was to establish expectations and guidelines
that would foster a classroom environment in which students not only respected each other, but
also participated in such a way that is reflective of democratic society. I believe that the rules
and expectations I established, which include being respectful of each other by questioning
before criticizing others opinions, demonstrate Enduring Understanding 5. I included the
stated expected behaviors, such as what it means to be prepared and use of profanity and
derogatory comments, not only because I want to see these things occur in my classroom, but
also because I think they are behaviors that are expected of citizens in a free society and are
things students should start practicing now. In a Civics class I think it is important that students
not only learn about aspects of government and civic life, but that they practice such aspects
every day. Setting up the rules and expectations I have in the syllabus, and the way I
explained them to the students on the first day of the semester, is one of the best ways to do
this.
Artifact 3- iCivics Reflection
As part of our chapter on the Bill of Rights, students played an online game called I Have a
Right: Bill of Rights Edition in which they become lawyers responsible for helping clients who
believed their individual rights have been abused. Part of Enduring Understanding 5 says that
interns use pedagogical choices to promote student engagement in virtual and physical
environments they occupy outside of school. I believe this activity accomplishes both of these
things. In my mind, the entirety of the internet is one large virtual community, so anytime I can
implement the use of electronic resources, student are getting practice and experience with
engaging in this virtual community just as they would outside of the classroom. In terms of
promoting student engagement within physical environments, the things that happen to some
of their clients in the game might easily happen to the students themselves or people they
know in the real world. Based on how they deal with those specific cases in the game, they will
become more aware of what rights they have and when they have them in real world situations.
This will allow them to become more inquisitive and engaged participants in the places they
occupy outside of the classroom.