Let's face it, a lot of our students are going to come into our classroom with their opinion already set: "Social Studies is old and musty." "I'll never need to know any of this." "I really need a nap."
But we don't think of our subject as dull, useless, or boring, do we? What do we see in social studies that they can't? How can we convince our audience that our subject is worth the time and effort?
Throughout my years at UVic, I've been slowly collecting a treasure trove of images, videos, sound bites, websites, and writings that may help in this quest. All of these different types of media that I've gathered remind me that I shouldn't take social studies (and especially history) so gosh darn seriously all the time. There's a bit of humour that is seeded throughout our subject, we just have to be savvy enough to dig it out.
I think that, if we show our students the lighter side of social studies -- the side that doesn't take itself too seriously -- we might win the war against boredom.
I one of the best websites I've found that's help me keep the humour of social studies alive is Kate Beaton's comics (Page One, Page Two, and Page Three). These aren't necessarily for the classroom, but I believe they do inspire us as social studies teachers to look at our subject in a different way. I hope you'll enjoy them as much as I do. You can keep up with updates on her blog: "Hark! A Vagrant"
If you have any media that can help save our subject from falling into the hands of boredom, please post them!
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7 comments:
It's funny (sorry for using that word!) that you posted this, because I was JUST thinking the same thing! This election "thing" is really starting to worry and intrigue me, in terms of being a socials teacher so soon.
The goal of getting students excited about politics was what we were supposed to set out to do last week with our lessons... and I'm not sure that they would necessarily do that as they were, for the most part, based in research and lacking much interest on the parts of students (don't take that the wrong way everyone, becuase it was VERY hard to think of a lesson that would accomplish that goal!!)
So I was thinking of comics. We've all seen the political comics in the papers and mags over the years. We've probably also all seen the comics from the "olden days" in our own highschool classes: WWII propaganda and such...
So anywhosin, as I was trudging through sites in search of what each party and representative is ACTUALLY all about, I found this site:
http://www.cbc.ca/photogallery/canada/763/24/
I was very impressed with the comics that are there (25 so far) and think that this would be a really good way to ignite students' interest in politics. An activity could involve getting them to say what they THINK the comic is trying to say, and then looking at what it is based on in reality (recent news stories etc).
Okay, well I hope that at the very least makes someone smile!!
Also, here's a little site about students actually voting: briefly mentioned on Friday.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canadavotes/story/2008/09/23/f-elect-studentvote.html
Those are really neat sites to get your students thinking about the other side of politics, Danika.
What do you think about showing the Rick Mercer report in the classroom? Maybe using it as a spring board to discuss politics and satire?
Those are great websites you both listed! I totally agree - humour can go a long way. No matter what the age group, humour is a great way of engaging people or maintaining attention when focus is waning. Often some of the best political speeches infuse humour. I agree Courtney - John Stewart and Rick Mercer are masters at using humour to educate. -- Thanks to both of you for your suggestions. I'm going to try and work it into my lessons
I'm definetly going to use some Canadian political humour such as Rick Mercer, or even the Ol' Air Farce...but it's important to remember that we are trying to remain neutral when presenting our political views.
Just running my fingers here, but maybe you could have your students make skits of their own that poke fun at the other side. Have students put together a 'Daily Show-esque' news program for the class based on old debates would infuse the class with some humour!
I'm just going to make sure I show equally distributed satire!
One of my favorites (Mercer and Harper)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FGIQpdtS_Y
My favorite (Mercer and Suzuki)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8_py3U6Cus
Markus, you reminded me of a new Rick Mercer skit:
Election Kids
I would totally use this in my classroom if I was teaching this year's election.
hahaha Courtney that last link for the Rick Mercer Report was really good. Same type of ideas come out of that as the clip Jason showed us about cooties.
I could not agree more with everyone's posts' on this topic. Social Studies can be a heavy (and to some students, boring) subject, as can politics, and humor is a great way to engage students and build interest.
I would like to comment on the two links Danika posted. First, I think the political cartoons are fabulous! It is such a great idea to have students look at them and try to decipher what the cartoon is saying, and then do a little research to figure out how close they were and what is really going on.
Second, I really think everyone should take a look at the Student Vote article. Last night I was talking to a good friend of mine on the phone, who told me she probably wasn't going to vote because she didn't even know what to do. She told me she got a card in the mail and didn't know what to do with it, and then proceeded to tell me she didn't feel comfortable voting because she has no background information on the political parties. We went to high school together, and were in the same social studies classes, so I can understand why she is lacking in confidence in the politics department because everything I have learned about politics has been at university, and being taught how to find resources and information. Anyways, what I was trying to get at with the Student Vote projects, is that its goal is to have students really understand the democratic voting system. It is to have the familiar with what happens at a vote, the process you have to go through, what the ballots look like ect. Plus it forces them to learn about the parties they are voting for. As well the students would have the resources to quickly find out party information. If we started using more mock-voting in our schools than maybe there would be fewer students like my friend, who want to vote, but have no confidence in their knowledge, and end up staying away from the polls.
Good luck on the observation!
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