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Teaching the Skill of Historical Thinking
This blog post came about as a result of a question from a reader through my Instagram. She was wondering how I actually go about teaching the skill of historical thinking that is so embedded throughout my curriculum. I realized that this lesson has become so embedded in my teaching that I really didn’t think about it as a teachable skill. Therefore, I decided to lay out my process for explaining historical thinking to students. 
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Modern and Current Books for Students About the American Revolution
When asked for suggestions regarding middle-grade fiction about the American Revolution, teachers are often provided with titles that were published long ago. Today I'm sharing a book list that includes more recent options and that widens the list of perspectives.
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25 Ways to Assess Student Understanding in a Digital Lesson
As teachers, we're constantly assessing student understanding through questions. However, the question/ answer process can get a bit stale sometimes.

Therefore, I've devised a list of 25 prompt ideas to assess formative understanding in a digital lesson that go beyond the simple question and answer process.
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10 Cooperative Learning Idea for a Socially Distanced Classroom
One of my greatest frustrations this year has been the difficulty associated with cooperative learning in a social distanced classroom. Therefore, I decided to brainstorm 10 different lesson ideas that allow for cooperative learning, even in a socially distanced classroom.
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Free CRITICAL THINKING ONE-PAGER ACTIVITY

Sign up to get access to three different versions of the one-pager. One is for U.S. or World History, one is for Ancient History, and the last is a more generic version for high school.  I’ve also included a rubric that assesses a student’s mastery in their answer of the question. Add your details below to grab your own copy!

The monthly roundup

Welcome back to another Loves, Links, Reads, and Reviews – the monthly link roundup where I post my best Social Studies related finds from the internet and discuss all that

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How to do Nothing - Cover

How to do Nothing

Odell's book focuses on the distraction of social media, however, she approaches the topic from a philosophical perspective that goes way beyond the social media realm. Her book isn't really about "doing nothing." Instead, the book focuses on the rise of social media, and how the constant updates and check-ins on social media have changed the way we interact with the real world. She also addresses how the distraction of social media has distanced us from the lives we actually live, and how a constant diet of news headlines, FOMO, and awareness of the latest "whatever" hasn't really contributed positively to the daily experience. Instead, the neediness of the attention economy just manifests more anxiety and sleep deprivation. Odell's book is full of historical context. She incorporates the words of Greek philosophers, artists, the environment, the demands of capitalism, and her own observations into a book that is rich with detailed and thoughtful observation. 
 
I have been continually re-analyzing the way that I interact with social media, and this book gave me a lot of questions to mull over. The points Odell makes in this book really hit close to home. After listening to an interview with the author, I decided to make some changes. I still have social media - it's not a platform I intend to completely remove from my life. However, I was certainly guilty of the mindless scroll, and I know that I gave myself more anxiety by doing so. I deleted Instagram and Facebook off my phone and I deleted the login information also. Now, I have scheduled times of the week where I check-in on both platforms. They still exist in my life, but I am intentional about how I interact in those spaces. Immediately, I've felt such a relaxation in my thoughts. I'm more focused, and I don't find myself reaching for my phone every five minutes - really because there's not much to engage my attention besides my Spanish language app or the weather. 
If you don't have the time to read this book full at the moment (it is a dense read), I highly suggest checking out Odell's interview with Jon Faveau from the Offline Podcast.
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