Reflection:
I was born and raised in Asheville, North Carolina which is the location of one of the world’s largest, privately owned, mansion and estate. Before beginning this extensive project, I thought I knew a good deal of information about the home and the Vanderbilt family that built it. I soon came to find out that there was a much deeper wealth of knowledge I had to explore to get the whole picture. Out of all of the new information I learned while researching this project, the two most surprising things I learned were that the family lived in the house during the beginning of the public tours, and that the land they sold to the government became a part of the first national forest. The Pisgah National Forest is made up of a large piece of land Edith Vanderbilt sold to the government and I was unaware of this despite countless hiking trips I have taken in Pisgah. The estate, Vanderbilt family, and their importance to my community have become more obvious and more important to me as a citizen of that area after doing the in-depth research required for this project.
A couple of the North Carolina’s Essential Standards of Social Studies that this project would really help cover is: 3.H.1.2 Analyze the impact of contributions made by diverse historical figures in local communities and regions over time and 4.H.1.3 Explain how people, events and developments brought about changes to communities in various regions of North Carolina. This digital museum and this topic would make a relevant and interesting lesson for students in the elementary grades of North Carolina. It would allow them to see how one wealthy family made such an impact on the state and if possible they could go on a field trip to the home for a real life, hands-on, social studies experience.
Completing this project helped me realize how much information an elementary school teacher needs to know in order to teach an in-depth and effective lesson on a historical topic. In order to give students correct information in an engaging manner, the teacher must research the topic thoroughly. This project also helped me realize that after the research, the teacher has to turn the information into something that students can understand, which can be challenging for many historical topics. Researching this topic specifically will benefit me if I end up teaching intermediate grades in North Carolina. I plan on saving my Weebly site for reference just in case I can use it in my future classroom.
A couple of the North Carolina’s Essential Standards of Social Studies that this project would really help cover is: 3.H.1.2 Analyze the impact of contributions made by diverse historical figures in local communities and regions over time and 4.H.1.3 Explain how people, events and developments brought about changes to communities in various regions of North Carolina. This digital museum and this topic would make a relevant and interesting lesson for students in the elementary grades of North Carolina. It would allow them to see how one wealthy family made such an impact on the state and if possible they could go on a field trip to the home for a real life, hands-on, social studies experience.
Completing this project helped me realize how much information an elementary school teacher needs to know in order to teach an in-depth and effective lesson on a historical topic. In order to give students correct information in an engaging manner, the teacher must research the topic thoroughly. This project also helped me realize that after the research, the teacher has to turn the information into something that students can understand, which can be challenging for many historical topics. Researching this topic specifically will benefit me if I end up teaching intermediate grades in North Carolina. I plan on saving my Weebly site for reference just in case I can use it in my future classroom.