By Patrick Boldt
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I have learned that the classroom is a place of partnership between the learner and the instructor; between protege and mentor; between student and teacher. My time at the University of Portland has provided me with foundational knowledge on how to serve my community as a leader within the realm of education. The first step to serving as a leader is to provide opportunities for growth among those I strive to support. I have to create lifelong learners, collaborate workers and critical thinkers among my students.
This portfolio of mine encompassed the types of material that I would want to expose my students to as part of a social studies curriculum. Admittedly, I was exposed to subject matter that I would not have anticipated in August. However, the value of these materials has become evident nonetheless and their worth is demonstrated by how they manage to promote culturally responsive teaching and a deeper analysis of history. I decided to focus on examining subjects that I found particularly exciting, especially when it came to examining historical topics from the 20th century and onwards. I followed my calling to investigate subjects that I was less familiar with while also dissecting subjects I was passionate for so as to make these topics invigorating for future students. For each of the lessons and topics I found I received peer feedback that I used to make my subsequent posts stronger and more intricate.
This class exposed me to the types of activities I could use to foster an exciting classroom environment for the students I will be teaching. Across secondary education, I am familiar with the steps I can take to help my students critically engage with material across the curriculum for a history class. Furthermore, I would like to encourage my students to take this knowledge outside the classroom so that they can engage with the discussion of real-world phenomena. Furthermore, they could be prepared to ask questions tied to current politics so that they can demonstrate merit as individuals that are prepared to enter the real world. History is about forming connections between the past and the present and it is precisely this ideal that I want my students to take to heart.