Reflection Of The Benchmark Assignment

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This reflection will take a look at the Webquest I created for the Benchmark Assignment. It will address the academic concepts covered, different teaching strategies and learning styles, as well as why I think the WebQuest represents best practices for teaching social studies and how my mentor teacher’s practices influenced the design of the project. When I started this project I knew that I wanted to talk about the three branches of the United States government. I felt that it directly tied into the current events, as we are coming up to the end of our own presidential election. I wanted to share this knowledge with the students, and impress upon them the fact that being a civic minded citizen is something to strive for. The state standards …show more content…

This, I think, allows for students of various different social levels to interact with each other, but does not keep the classroom divided for too long, allowing the teacher plenty of opportunity to help students who many need additional instruction, while peers discover answers for themselves, as well as from the peers that are in their various groupings. This is reflective of the way my mentor teacher taught class during my observation time. She was passionate about technology and the various uses in the classroom, but also really thought that “old school” teacher led lectures still had their place in the classroom, provided that the teacher can be engaging and thought provoking without turning the assignment into a lecture that goes on and on. The tasks and directions are short and simple, easy enough for 3rd grade students to understand, but still challenging in their own right. The lesson could easily be improved upon to teach 4th and 5th grade students as

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