Reflecting & Storytelling About Teaching
Here’s how my second meeting with one class started last week, when three students opened up a chat on Google Meet:
1:16 PM
can i go to the bathroom
1:16 PM
we didn’t have to turn in a current event today right… Continue reading
Writing a letter to a politician is about as “civic” an assignment as we can do within our classroom walls, and it feels especially relevant in our polarized political climate. For the first two years that my U.S. history and civics students wrote these letters, though, I didn’t quite… Continue reading
We can link current events to what we teach in the classroom in at least two ways—through content and through character. With content, teachers sometimes wonder how they can justify adding current events to their lessons… Continue reading
In my 8th grade U.S. history and civics class, which I’ve taught for seven years, our unit on the Constitution has always challenged me because it raises so many questions about curriculum planning… Continue reading
Every year, teaching the Declaration of Independence daunts me. The possibilities for modern and historical connections are vast, and I wonder if I could be doing more to cement the favorable concepts from this founding document into students’ minds… Continue reading
Immediate interest. Personal relevance. Uncontroversial subject matter. These aren’t always the first phrases teachers and students might think of when discussing current events in class. But if we head local… Continue reading
It has taken me a year to write this post, and I still feel inadequate. I’m writing about this experience because I want to take something from it – to understand better how I can prepare to teach, and then lean into, difficult topics… Continue reading
