What is Geography?

Geography is literally everywhere, and sometimes we aren't aware that it is; it is what is happening in the world, why it is happening, and how it affects people throughout the world. Geographical knowledge watching the ten o' clock news, making a presidential vote, or just making a decision as simple as what food your child will eat. Although geography involves more than just places on a map, why do people tend to relate geography to that?

As a future teacher, it is my duty to educate children about geography; about people, places, and things all over the world. It is important to not just focus on the country we live in, but the countries around the world. Children should be aware that everybody is different; values, beliefs, and cultures are all aspects people hold valuable, but they are different depending on where that individual lives.

Let's talk about the basics

There are five themes of geography to take into account when teaching geography:

1. Location, Position on the Earth's Surface
2. Place, Natural and Cultural Characteristics
3. Relationships within Places, Humans, and Environments
4. Movement, Humans Interacting on Earth
5. Regions, How they Form and Change

Along with these themes, there are also six important elements to keep in mind:

1. The World in Spatial Terms
2. Places and Regions
3. Physical Systems
4. Human Systems
5. Environment & Society
6. The Uses of Geography

Where is the Emphasis of Geography in Classrooms?

Unfortunately, yes. Textbooks tend to relate geography to long lists of facts and map skill lessons. Words such as mountain, ocean, lake, equator, continent, and rivers are all wonderful terms to learn, don't get me wrong, but there is more to geography than maps and locations. Geography should involve more than just memorization of the different continents! Geography should be meaningful, value-based, active, integrative, and challenging. Children learn through experience, so they should be taught geography through personal interactions with their environment. With the technology we have; it is even possible to take students through a tour of Italy, France, or even China? Through the use of Google Earth, it is now possible for students to "take a walk" through the streets of Italy in their own classroom. 

Movie Night!

Today is the day where all the hard work and dedication pays off! The students were able to show their parents, siblings, friends, and classmates the movies they've been working on for the past month.  

Each company briefly introduced themselves to the audience, as well as talked  about the project they've been working on. Also, the student teachers talked about the experience they received working with the students when producing these projects. We talked about the good times, as well as the not so good times. Siobhan joked about the parents signing a waiver before letting the girls wear the heels! 

During the airing of the movies, the students could barely contain themselves. The movies came out magnificently, I must admit. Every group did a great job at filming, as well as adding the final touches to make them look like real movies. I especially liked to see all the great ideas; like the cartoon and the combination of cartoon and real-life. 

Although there one some great aspects to the showing of the movies, I feel this event was pretty chaotic. For starters, the room was way too small to have that big of a group in it, and I felt there was not a plan ahead of time; I felt like the activities were rushed and student teachers were leaving too early before the event was over. Overall, it was amazing to see all the hard work pay off!

Getting Our Movies Rolling!

Now that the commercials have all been aired, it is time to start getting the movies rolling! Two members of my group, Alicia and Stephen took time out of their spring break to work with the kids. They helped them to create their scripts, as well as practice them so they could memorize and understand what they needed to say  and do. 

The students movie was entitled "Young Entrepreneurs," here's a brief summary of the plot: 

Two couples run a business where they sell popcorn, as well as dresses and jewelry. When Brielle tells them that they need to sell more popcorn, dresses, and jewelry or her fashion show will shut down, the entrepreneurs make a bet to see who can sell more. Will popcorn or dresses and jewelry sell more? The teams both make 20 BizBucks making the teams tied and the fashion show is saved. "Sweet!" 

It took a few takes for the students to get the scripts exactly right, but they did it eventually! The student teachers and myself made sure to emphasis that if they did not remember the words exactly they could make up their own lines as long as the meaning was the same. One student, in particular, impressed me when she messed up a line, but covered it up and kept the script moving smoothly. I felt like a real movie director, and I'm pretty sure the students felt like movie stars! 

Airing Our Commercials!

Watching the students work together, and come up with ideas for commercials was truly probably the most rewarding experience thus far. They were thrilled to have the opportunity to play "actors" and "actresses" in their very own commercials. 

I must admit, it was, at times, quite hectic because all of the students had their input for the commercial. Although this was a hindrance  it was also a good thing because it meant their "creative juices" were going! The names of characters seemed to be the biggest issue, but we stressed the importance of the quality of the commercial, and that the characters names were not a big deal. 

Commercial airing time! What are important factors to consider in commercials  Well, for one, you want it to engage and attract audiences, reveal some (but not all) of the plot, and you want music and voice-overs. The students were able to bring in props and costumes that would appear in their commercials. Not a big deal, right? ...WRONG. The props seemed to take away from the essence of the commercial itself because the kids were so focused on what "heels" they were going to wear that they completely forgot the importance behind the commercial. The girls were fooling around in the heals, and I was besides myself fearing one of the girls were going to break their ankle! 

Diamond Works was the first group to present, and it was so rushed, and I admit, some essence was definitely lost. There was not enough time to display the background, some props were missing (such as the popcorn), and the kids were so very giggly! 

If I could turn back time, I would put more of an emphasis on the commercial itself rather than the props and costumes, as well as pace the commercial so that everything was well prepared for commercial airing day. There is definitely a lesson in this! Which is, teaching is all about trial and error - you learn what works best for your class, as well as what doesn't work so much!