Dear Blog,

This chapter marks the beginning of a semester long journey into ED 5535, Research in teaching Social Studies. The world famous Dr. Smirnova leads our class on this journey for the Spring of 2016.

What marks this journey significant is multiple things. Firstly, it brings closer to the end my run at Mount Saint Mary College. I've been honored to be in the presence of such remarkable staff and student body. In many ways, I'm saddened to see my time at the college end however, before I make that jump, I need to press through this course.

What is Social Studies? In the classroom, why is it important? Are we teaching enough and do we as educators provide enough?

Social Studies is a discipline. It's about us, who we are, why we are, and importantly, where we are going. As a history and sociology major, history always intrigued my interest. In school, that wasn't always the case. It wasn't until college that I developed a fond interest in history.

History in today's elementary classroom needs to be in the "know and now." Like all subjects, History needs to be interactive through  active engagement. This is accomplished through discovery and exploration of the content. Lesson plans come to life. The 'old days' of history books can remain history. As educators, it is our role to write our own history for ourselves and students that will soon embark on the same vision.

This course will help bring these principles full circle for us to apply in our own classrooms. Stay tuned, this social studies lesson is about make some serious history.

M.W.