Reflecting & Storytelling About Teaching
I loved Sarah Cooper’s first book, Making History Mine: Meaningful Connections for Grades 5-9. It was the first book I bought when I became a middle school social studies teacher, and I found it filled with great ideas and connections. So I was absolutely thrilled to be able to review her new book… Continue reading
As we start the school year, I’m just not feeling the debating spirit. Last November, I wrote about an electoral college debate gone awry in my eighth-grade history classes. The topic felt too stale and too political… Continue reading
Assigning opinion pieces on current issues gives our students voice and lets us hear their strong and sometimes fiery perspectives. When I’ve assigned op-eds in both world and U.S. history, students have responded best when… Continue reading
Imagine that the ever changing world is your curriculum. That is the way it is for social studies teachers. History changes each day – from local news to news of the world. The job of a social studies teacher is… Continue reading
Four years ago, I made a huge shift in daily classroom practice: I started talking about current events just about every day in my eighth-grade U.S. history classroom.I procrastinated making the change because… Continue reading
Sarah Cooper agreed to answer a few questions about her book, Creating Citizens: Teaching Civics and Current Events In The History Classroom. “You write about teaching history as a chronology versus teaching it thematically. Can you elaborate on both, and why you choose a thematic focus?”… Continue reading…
A recent one-day professional growth workshop epitomized what I hope students will take away from my classes: a sense that their well-informed communication can change the world. The event, Poetic Convergence, was on a Saturday, and it took more than an hour… Continue reading
