Do you cringe at the thought of taking a history class, or worse yet, TEACHING history? As for me, my FORMER dislike of it came during high school, in a little town in southern Ohio, where all the teachers were the football or basketball coaches: the mantra seemed to be, “All coaches teach Social Studies.” I have fond memories of us being threatened with a paddle, dare anyone talk, as we answered questions at the end of the chapter while the teacher/coach prepared for the upcoming football game that Friday night; one used to watch movies and plan with his assistant coaches. The “last straw” came when I went to an interview for a 6th grade Social Studies teaching position (southern Ohio) and the principal’s opening question was, “Can you coach football? I need one.” You can imagine the results of THAT interview!
Thus, my move to Virginia. Imagine my delight, when during the first interview, the opening question wasn’t about if I could coach, but what my philosophy on education was! Wow! Eight years into my teaching, I was named the history teacher of one grade level. Instead of fainting, I made a promise that my students would not suffer at my hands like I did in school. History had to be more than just facts, facts, facts, memorize, memorize, read monotonous chapters that meant nothing, and ANSWER THE QUESTIONS AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER.
My wife and I watched the HBO series John Adams on DVD this week, and should you get the chance, please watch the David McCullough documentary on disc #3. Fascinating! In it McCullough says, “Marinate your head” and get into the character and become them. Moreover, get a feeling of what their lives are like. Some examples of what you can do as a teacher and integrate technology:
==> Have a colonial fair (Go)
==> Visit the Colonial Williamsburg site at www.history.org,
==>Have students make movies on Movie Maker or iMovie (we had a Lewis and Clark reenactment, Abolitionist Rally, etc., where students scripted and edited videos)
==>Read previous comments about why Colonial Fairs work: Go
McCullough’s final quote on the documentary:
“History is not about dates, and quotes, and obscure provisos. History is about life, about change, about consequences, and cause and effect. It’s the mystery of human nature and the mystery of time. And it isn’t just about politics and the military and social issues, which is almost always the way it is taught [italics mine]. It’s about music and poetry and drama and science and medicine and money and love.”
Be a story teller; make history come alive for your students.
Have you had any of those “a ha” moments where history came alive for you?
