Welcome (back) to the Mississippi Corps!

Hello fellow teachers,

It is an exciting time here in Mississippi as the summer is winding down, temperatures are getting reasonably cooler, and school is in full swing!  I hope you all have had a invigorating, hopefully not too chaotic, first couple weeks of school.  I am already swamped with work, but unlike last year, this fact is not overbearing to me.  I know that I have a purpose here as a social studies teacher in Mississippi. All the work is necessary to give my kids a great experience learning social studies.

You may be feeling like social studies isn't really valued here  in Mississippi as your principals push you to teach more math and reading due to high stakes testing, but your job is extremely important.  You may feel invisible in your school as your principal doesn't really care about your non-tested subject (invisibility to the administration isn't always a bad thing).  On the contrary, you may feel well supported by your administration.  Maybe, you cannot really tell if your subject is valued or not here.  Regardless of perception towards social studies here in Mississippi, teaching social studies to our students is critical.

 During the first week of school, I asked my students to name some U.S. states in a bell-ringer.  Apparently, without my knowledge, Memphis became a state overnight!  Reading over my diagnostics, I found that most students could not read a map legend or even put an event on a timeline.  Most  of our students lack the fundamental social studies skills that they will need in order to be successful world citizens.

I hope you embrace this challenge and make it your mission to transform your students into world citizens by not only teaching them skills, but also teaching them values.  Teach your students how to serve in the community.  Teach your students how to take ownership of their education.  Teach your students how to be leaders in their school.  Teaching social studies without incorporating values will make the subject less meaningful for many students.  It is important for our kids to know how to read a map and to know that Memphis is a city rather than a state.  However, the most important thing is that our students become good people, people that can travel the world and make a positive change to society

You all are making a positive change to society by being here.  There will be hard times (especially October) in the year when you feel like these kids cannot do it or that you cannot do it.  But they can do it.  You can do it.  Remember why you love social studies so much and take that love with you in the classroom every day.  Your kids can tell when you are passionate or when you are just going through the motions. 

This blog will attempt to give you practical information on how to be an effective social studies teacher.  I do not know all the answers, but I am willing to experiment to find good solutions to difficult problems.  I hope you take worthwhile risks in your teaching and experiment this year.  I'll update you about the new things I'm trying in my classroom this year with hopes that you try or modify them as well.  I wish you best of luck as you embark on this exciting year!

Warm regards,

Patrick Newton
Social Studies Team Leader-Mississippi Corps 2013-2014