This month (February) is Black History Month in the United States. Therefore, I’ve seen many posts around the internet that highlight the stories of individuals who had previously been written out of the narrative. I applaud this effort. I love seeing these stories utilized more in classrooms, and I think it’s great that educators are […]
5 Ways to Easily Add Movement to Your Secondary Classroom
If you’ve ever sat through a long extended faculty meeting or a 100 slide PowerPoint presentation, you know that passive learning can really be monotonous and coma-inducing. No matter the grade level I’ve taught, I’ve found that movement encourages students to connect and retain information, and it actually helps students to maintain their focus. Sure, […]
15 History Lesson Ideas for Google Arts and Culture
If you’ve ever ventured to visit the Google Arts & Culture website, you’ve probably noticed that the site has an incredible collection of interesting information, photographs, and artwork from around the world. You’ve also probably thought about how you might use this website with students. Below, I’ve generated a list of 15 lesson ideas for […]
10 Hacks for Creating with Google Slides – Part 1
If you’re a Google Slides newbie, this is the post for you! As soon as I discovered Google Slides, I started creating with Google Slides. I loved the versatility of creating my resources right on the internet, and the quick and easy ability to share those resources with my students in Google Classroom. I also […]
Peacefield History’s 10 Most Popular Posts of 2018
Although actual teaching often provided some competition with my ability to write for this blog over the past year, I managed to crank out quite a few new blog posts in 2018. Below I shared my top ten most popular posts from the previous year based on blog traffic. Thank you for sharing in this […]
How to Teach Social Studies and Still have a Life Outside the Classroom
Often times, teachers find themselves lugging home giant piles of grading so that they can devote the time they have during the school day to all of the other tasks they need to complete. One of the most frustrating parts of teaching is being able to find the time to grade. As teachers take on […]
Creating Stations for your Social Studies Class
I’m a huge fan of utilizing stations to teach skills and reinforce content. Stations get students up and moving around the classroom, and help build knowledge and historical thinking skills. Stations also reinforce student-centered and inquiry-based learning. Still, I recognize that creating stations for your Social Studies class can pose a bit of a daunting […]
My Favorite History Review Game of All Time!
Throughout my teaching career, I have always tried to come up with practical review games that were also fun. I love games that get my kids up and moving, and most importantly, laughing. I devised this game about 9 years ago, and it has held strong as my favorite History review game of all time! […]
Teaching Evidence Based Argumentation through Games
NOTE: I had my students play JENGA again this school year. I modified the rules, and the game worked much better! I’ve decided to edit this post to include some the new details. Look below to see my updates! Evidence-Based Argumentation through Games Teaching History is often about expressing a point of view, and supporting […]
Utilizing MEAL for Paragraph Writing in Social Studies
In recent years, I’ve noticed that Social Studies teachers are incorporating more writing into their classrooms. This makes my teacher heart happy, as I know that writing is absolutely crucial for students to understand and think critically about history. Obviously, when teaching students to write, teachers develop strategies to make sure that student writing is sophisticated. […]