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 […]
Assessing Historical Thinking Skills with Middle School Students
When I first realized that the new New York State assessments would require knowledge of historical thinking skills four years ago, I was honestly excited. Rote memorization had never made me fulfilled as a history teacher. I’ve always preferred to teach my students to think, and I was happy that I would now be teaching them to […]
Why Interactive Notebooks Don’t Work for Me
As I’ve become more involved in the teaching community, I’ve noticed a growing tendency towards turning history into a series of craft projects. This issue has been very well documented by Jennifer Gonzalez (Cult of Pedagogy) in an article titled “Is Your Lesson a Grecian Urn?” Basically, her argument points out that there are many […]