When I asked my Cooperating Teacher if he belonged to any professional social studies organizations, the first words out of his mouth were, “Yes…the South Carolina Geographic Alliance”. I decided to further research this organization for two reasons. First of all, I wanted some background information before the presentation by the Geographic Alliance at our Capstone tonight. Secondly, I was interested to know why my teacher chose to join this group and not actively participate in any others.
I found a good answer to my second question right away after I began to examine the South Carolina Geographic Alliance’s website. Joining the organization is free***. That’s always a plus when you know you’ll be living on a fixed income. Worrying about membership dues in the last thing I should be concerned with. Plus, this is a professional organization specifically designed for geography educators. Since I will be taking on nothing but World Geography classes for student-teaching, I felt this was the best professional organization for me to research.
The SC Geographic Alliance provides a variety of in-service and pre-service opportunities that focus on free workshops where teachers have access to a variety of lesson plans and classroom resources. Opportunities for professional development include the Summer Geography Institute and “Geofest”. The Summer Institute is an annual event held at the University of South Carolina where teachers experience an “intensive, residential two-week training program intended to increase teachers' knowledge of geography, introduce teachers to new teaching techniques and materials, and help them develop skills in presenting in-service workshops to other teachers” (SCGA). Geofest is a biannual conference (also held in Columbia) where new ideas/strategies are presented and shared. It is open to the general public and the USC geography faculty even offers their input.
If the Geography Alliance’s presentation at the Capstone tonight is appropriate, I think I might go ahead and fill out the free online application. I don’t plan on joining any other organizations until I have a steady source of income. For now I think I’ll settle for their online resources that include lesson plans, daily activities, and outline maps that will be very useful while I am student-teaching.
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You brought up a great point. I never thought about the fact that this is free and how valuable that makes this resource. I hope you enjoyed to presentation. I actually found a really great idea on their website. They posted a photo and people were asked to figure out where the photo was taken. Sort of like a "geography mystery" to motivate students. I think the best part about these things is the sharing of ideas. You can then take these ideas and adapt them to fit your teaching or content.
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