Final Thoughts

For the past week I've been avoiding all thoughts of school, but now that I'm in the classroom setting up, I guess it's time to begin thinking about what this next year will bring (ha ha). It's always fun to reflect on the experiences, particularly when there's so much learning involved. Although I am not teaching Utah Studies this year (tear), I am teaming with the seventh grade teachers. While they present the history, I get to supplement their instruction with primary and secondary source documents, stories, and the texts that make up the Mormon Trail experience in the reading classes. By presenting the literary accounts of events, I want the students to feel empathy towards all the pioneers went through both on the trail and in settling Utah. I want to supplement each lesson with visuals (thank goodness for all those pictures) that show the terrain the pioneers came across, the food they had to eat, the wagons/handcarts they had to push, the experiences they had, etc. I'm thinking about starting with a gallery walk that allows the students to get an overview of important events, then we'll revisit their initial ideas as they progress through the material and compare/contrast their thoughts with actual events.

Overall, this experience helped me learn so much both in terms of content and instruction. It was a pleasure hearing your ideas, laughing with you, and sharing all those fun experiences. I feel like I have such support and an awesome collection of resources! I'll be looking for more ideas throughout this year, so keep 'em coming :)