I believe it is my job as a social studies educator is to cultivate a group of young, socially aware, critical thinkers, and global citizens. Social Studies, to me, is much less about the "facts" of an event, the dates, the names, while important are not the endgame of a discussion of the past.

Rather, having young people be able to objectively look at an event and analyze how it shaped society moving forward, and in what ways we can still learn from the past to improve the future is really what is most important.

Further, I believe that young people need to be encouraged to question what they are told, and strive for the most real answer that they can find, and be free to formulate their own ideas and opinions on events, both past and present, to have the fortitude to make tough decisions both for themselves and for the country.

We are in an increasingly interconnected world. It is crucial that we as a society have the knowledge of other cultures as well as a deep respect for people of differing beliefs.

That is why I strive to introduce students to as many ethnically diverse cultures over the course of a school year as possible, and allow room for students to become comfortable with a variety of belief systems that differ from their own. Ultimately, trying to prove that even though we may be different, we are also very much alike.

While all of this sounds great, it is important to address how I do this within the confines of a classroom. By using primary source documents, real-life examples, and thought-provoking questions I am consistently pushing students to expand their minds, and more importantly push them to consider their own answers to questions in order to arrive at the most thoughtful response.

I juxtapose these analytical sets with creative tasks geared towards different learners as well as pushing students to put themselves into the shoes of the people they are studying in order to understand the "why" behind historical events to better understand how we view them today.