Andrew Hostetler gives us a great example on how to help students grow into good democratic citizens. In his article Democratic Use of Blogs and Online Discussion Boards in Social Studies Education, Hostetler argues that the internet can be a tool used to extend the classroom beyond its limitations and allow students the opportunity to use it for democratic purposes (Hostetler, 2012). I am a big fan of social media and its use in the social studies classroom. The benefit to teachers is that our students are already engaged in the social media world. Why not take advantage of that and use it as a teaching tool as well. As long as we structure discussions that promote healthy discussion exchange and address issues in a way to try and find a common solution, the internet can be one of the most useful tools in teaching civic ideals and practices.
Another way that I would use to illustrate Civic Ideas and Practices would be to show historical examples in which individuals acted to change laws and use their individual rights as the key toward upward mobility. The best example that I can think of is the work that the NAACP and other African American Civil Rights activists used in the 1960s to fight for their rights as citizens to vote. In our History 700 class for Dr. Littlefield, we were asked to come up with a lesson plan on any topic and how we would use it in the social studies classroom and this was the very topic that I chose. This lesson, which is posted here as my artifact for NCSS Thematic Strand X, ties into USHC-8 which states that the student will demonstrate an understanding of social, economic, and political issues in contemporary America. Within this lesson, students would get primary documents from the people who lived through "Bloody Sunday" as well as another primary document which was an Alabama Literacy Test which was systematically used to keep African Americans who could not read and write from being able to vote. Through all of this, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was able to win and help African Americans gain the right to vote with much struggle among his own people as well as with the President of the United States, Lyndon B. Johnson.
Another way that I would use to illustrate Civic Ideas and Practices would be to show historical examples in which individuals acted to change laws and use their individual rights as the key toward upward mobility. The best example that I can think of is the work that the NAACP and other African American Civil Rights activists used in the 1960s to fight for their rights as citizens to vote. In our History 700 class for Dr. Littlefield, we were asked to come up with a lesson plan on any topic and how we would use it in the social studies classroom and this was the very topic that I chose. This lesson, which is posted here as my artifact for NCSS Thematic Strand X, ties into USHC-8 which states that the student will demonstrate an understanding of social, economic, and political issues in contemporary America. Within this lesson, students would get primary documents from the people who lived through "Bloody Sunday" as well as another primary document which was an Alabama Literacy Test which was systematically used to keep African Americans who could not read and write from being able to vote. Through all of this, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was able to win and help African Americans gain the right to vote with much struggle among his own people as well as with the President of the United States, Lyndon B. Johnson.