Oral Histories.

I have a oral history project for my Social Studies methods course due on Thursday. Despite my reluctance to actually finish writing it now, I had a great time just interviewing my grandparents and Dad. I never knew my Dad lived in Germany for 6 years while he was in the army. He still knows some German! I never knew my Poppi's dad died in the Korean War, yet Poppi still joined the Navy. I never realized my Nuna had 5 kids by the time she was 20 (which is a scary thought to me! Definitely different times now).

Though the topic of the project is the Civil Rights Movement, I learned more about from where my family comes and who they are. You're probably wondering why I even interviewed them... well, unbeknownst to most, my Poppi's black (he came into the family by marriage, so yep, I'm still as pale as can be... haha)... and typically, a mixed marriage back in those days wasn't always so looked happily upon. So, that was my tie into the 1950's-70's.

Oral histories are great projects for students of all ages (it's why we're still doing them in grad school!). It connects them to the past. People like to share stories, and kids generally like to hear them. Kids become involved with their learning. They become responsible; it makes their stories theirs.

Who are the people they [the students] interview? what are their backgrounds? Their stories? What have they learned about others, about themselves?

And when the general curriculum doesn't allow time for Social Studies, it can be fitted into the literacy portion. Everyone wins! I wonder how it would work with younger kids... hmm...

[Thinking Aloud Moment] Oh! A great lesson plan for 2nd graders would be to just interview someone older than the student and then have them write a part of that person's story in class. That would be so cool to do. The school I'm in now doesn't have a Social Studies time... so that could be a possibility for next semester's full prac. [end Moment]

What it bubbles down to is that it's all about the "hidden curriculum" (a term for what really is learned but isn't formally taught in the classroom... i.e. respect, how to treat others, who you are, classroom management).

In other news, I did a tiny bit of the Comm. and Literacy practice exam (2 more weeks) on Saturday... and I got them all right (well, I think with the exception of one)! I just had trouble focusing... I wonder if there is an adult onset of dyslexia or ADD or something. I feel like I have either or sometimes! I end up reading the same paragraph over and over for better comprehension and because I lose my spot. If I read this one paragraph one more time, I think my eyes might possibly burn a hole in the paper.

I have an interview on Friday for the grading papers/English TA position at the charter school. I'm not nervous or anything since I can put up a pretty good "confident mask" during an actual interview. But the preparation... Gosh, I have to prepare for an interview now! Yikes! Must... find... good... writing... sample.

- Miss Chelsea :)