Earlier this school year, I laughed at myself while making copies in the faculty room. For an assignment that would end up being a one-page letter to a politician, I had created a 12-page directions packet. 12 pages! Admittedly, I tend to over-scaffold… Continue reading
Category: Research
“4 Educators Share Their Favorite Reading Lessons,” Education Week
The most effective reading lesson I’ve taught was one I didn’t initially know I was teaching. For the past decade in my 8th grade U.S. history and civics courses, students have brought in a current events article approximately once a week. They can choose from a wide variety of articles—just not those solely focused on… Continue reading
“Social Studies Teachers May Have Some Difficult Choices to Make. These Ideas Could Help,” Education Week
Until recently, I asked students in my 8th grade U.S. history and civics classes to print out and annotate a current events article each week. They would bring in their article and discuss briefly with a partner “enough to retell the story to someone else” on the same days… Continue reading
“8th Grade Insights Into ChatGPT and the Future,” MiddleWeb
By this point – nearly two months in – the education community is overflowing with creativity about how to use ChatGPT’s disruptive technology in the K-12 classroom. Like so many teachers, I’ve felt both excitement and unease… Continue reading
“‘Dropping Into’ Google Docs,” Education Week
What I realized during remote teaching and then back in the classroom is how powerful Google Docs can be for a specific purpose: I can “drop into” a group’s work during class and help make their writing and research better than it would have been otherwise. In a recent resilient history podcast project… Continue reading
“Weekly Newspaper Articles as Primary Sources,” Education Week
With judicious use of fascinating primary sources, history for middle schoolers can burst off the page.
We as teachers can synthesize or “layer” primary sources to to make the sum richer than its part, remember how hard it can be for students to grapple with unfamiliar documents… Continue reading
“The Optimism of ‘Annie’ as an Antidote to the Disillusionment of the 1970s,” Journal of Popular Culture
To watch a video of the cast of Annie singing at the 1977 Tony Awards is to be caught up in the simplicity and buoyancy of a smash hit from four decades ago. The performance begins with the orphans singing… Continue reading
“A Reformers Unit That Celebrates Activism,” MiddleWeb
My absolute favorite unit, a “reformer from our history” research paper and campaign, is the only one I’ve done every spring through seven years of teaching U.S. history to eighth graders. It focuses on resilience, activism, determination. It celebrates rather than eulogizes. Through their research, students see themselves in history… Continue reading
“A Social Studies Podcast Project for Right Now,” MiddleWeb
Rarely has it been so clear that a unit needs to be scrapped and started over from scratch. In my eighth-grade U.S. history and civics class, which has a lot of curricular flexibility, we focus on… Continue reading
“Making Annotations with Less Pain, More Meaning,” MiddleWeb
I’m an annotation geek, and my students know it. Whether in English or history, I’m that teacher: the one who asks students to interact constantly with the text as they read. This could be in the margins if they’re looking at a handout… Continue reading