Reflecting & Storytelling About Teaching
“Let’s go on an awe walk!” I said to my 8th grade U.S. History and Civics students at the beginning of second semester last year. We took five minutes to circle our building, head toward the soccer field, and come back along the fire lane. As these middle schoolers clustered like grapes, they looked for one thing… Continue reading
The last time I wrote here about my 8th grade U.S. history and civics students writing a letter to a politician was February 2020 – just before the pandemic upended traditional teaching practices and almost three years before ChatGPT and its fellow artificial agents… Continue reading
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
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
When I walked into a one-hour session at the most recent National Council for the Social Studies annual conference – a mega-gathering with ideas and fellow teachers spilling from every corner, not to mention a celebrity sighting of Constitution USA guru Peter Sagal – I didn’t expect to walk out ready to transform… Continue reading
Sarah Cooper 