HisTeched: Musings in US History and Education

With the cut in funds and living on the West Coast making the Civil War come alive for students is challenging. As many teachers around the nation and worldwide, I decided to bring the history of the war to the students. Yesterday’s virtual field trip via Skype brought the National Civil War Museum to one of my US History classes. Bryan Guerrisi from the museum provided a overview of what it was like to be soldier.

From the weaponry to the food students were able to see an actual uniform of both a Union and Confederate soldier along with the accessories such as the haversack, the mess kit, the sewing kit and of course the weapon of choice, the Enfield rifle. Bryan also talked about the loading process for the rifle and the types bullets that were utilized which piqued the interest of students who had a fascination with military weapons.

The discussion of poor sanitation and medical conditions also brought student reactions as most students had no inkling that medical instruments were used and reused with out any type of sterilization taking place. Although the presentation was only twenty-eight minutes in duration, students benefitted from another perspective other than a history text or video. Perhaps the most intriguing part of the presentation was Bryan’s explanation on the causes of the war. Most of my students know of the issue of states rights and slavery, but Bryan introduced them to the economic and culture clash arguments.

I feel this is the way of future when it comes to field trips, especially in the area of history. This being said I am in constant search of other learning and connection opportunities. If you have participated in anything history related whether a Skype session or a web conference with a historian feel free to forward me the information.

Check out a segment from yesterday’s session below.

National Civil War Museum Skype Session

Last week my students were able to link to Andrew Jackson’s home at the Hermitage through their educational outreach program. This opportunity which took place via video conferencing facilitated by their outreach director, James Yasko gave my students a glance into the life a controversial president. I prefaced this lesson by having my student examine a variety of primary and secondary source documents that presented Jackson in a both positive and negative light. The web conference allowed for students to ask questions about Jackson’s that were not answered through their research of Jackson.

One of the avenues of engagement we used was the use of Twitter. Through my teacher Twitter account students sent their questions to James as he also presented. The students had the option of either asking questions via the webcam or using Twitter. As each session progressed many students gravitated to the use of Twitter, maybe due to the fact that it was relatively anonymous in the way that they were not being seen, but only were using their name. It was an interesting experiment in the use of Twitter as I definitely see further explorations with this type of interaction. The only deterent to the whole process is that Twitter is blocked through our district and I had to receive special permission to access the site.

Jackson Web Conference

I have always wanted to use an iPad in my class as we study history through the lense of primary source documents. This past week two opportunities presented themselves. We used the American Progress picture created by John Gast in 1872 to dissect the various messaages revealed in the picture. As I traveled around the classroom untethered with a borrowed iPad (thanks to my science colleagues) students jumped at the opportunity to show what they found in the picture by circling the object and then having it projected via my computer to the screen in front of the class. The class was alive with students of all learning levels willing to show their individual interpretations of the picture.

Now as I contemplate purchasing an iPad I am aware of how powerful such a device might be. I am currently finishing a proposal to bring iPad minis into the classroom. Obviously there are many more uses than what I noted above. I have read about teachers who use it to have students make their own observations about a historical document, then record it as a movie and finally upload to either DropBox or e-mail it to the teachers account. A great way to get a true authentic assessment. So check out the short clip below in our brief but rewarding use of the iPad.

Using the iPad in a history class.

If you have followed us this week you will see that my classes were involved in a series of discussions involving political parties impact and government suppression of public opinion. The opportunities to use the live blogging platform allowed my students to voice their opinions on topics which probably would not have surfaced during the course of a regular class session. Moreover, I was able to see that all students were participating as they posted comments relative to the discussion.

Perhaps one of most rewarding parts of these sessions came when one of my honors classes took my original question that I input as a discussion starter and continued with the forum without me adding but one question, a time of 25 minutes. Clear evidence that when provided with the opportunity students can generate academic discussions. Although other classes needed some prompting with questions, all in all it was a very successful experience. You can check the conversations by clicking on replay button on the CoverlitLive icon.

Join us as we continue the discussion on the government’s role in regulating public opinion.

Join us today as we continue the discussion on political parties with 8th graders.

Join us in our conversation with students as we examine the government’s role in monitoring political party and public opinion on government policies.

Join us as discuss with 8th grade students the impact of political parties on our nation.

In keeping with my resolution to talk up teaching, my question is have you ever had one of those days? Not in the negative sense, but when everything seems to click.  Today was one of those days.  My lesson today was to focus on the differences between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson.  This was done in the context that both of these men were largely responsible for the creation of the political party system.

I begin with a review of what students read from the previous day which was focused on the differing views on the economy both men had as well as the first years of George Washington’s presidency.  I elicited responses from the students and they were able to summarize every key point found in the reading.

The next part of the lesson utilized one of the Stanford History Education Group’s lessons on Hamilton and Jefferson and the use of primary sources (two letters) to understand who these men were.  The focus was on two letters, one from each man addressed to George Washington in the midst of the chaotic first years of his presidency.  With the students background information established from reading, they went to town and answering the questions about why the letters were written, whose letter was angrier, what they felt the tone of each letter was and even judging the men on who started the “fight.”  The engagement of the students was fascinating to observe as they went to work deconstructing the letter and formulating their interpretations of what was happening.   Their findings were equally as rewarding as they were able to accurately reference quotes from both men which described their personality.

As we concluded many  students stated that they enjoyed the lesson as they were able to find out more these men than was mentioned in the history book. This is what teaching is about.  Providing the students the opportunity to explore and letting them come up with there own findings without assigning judgement.  An ideal day in a history classroom.

I recently read a blog post by Julie Conlon entitled “A Teacher’s New Years Resolution: Brag More” found in Education Week Teacher.   In it she posited an interesting point.  What if she talked up our profession, the positives of what we do as teachers and what our students accomplish?  I agree wholeheartedly.  Our profession needs promotion.  We are constantly battered by the media, politicians, and countless others who have no idea of what we do.  We are bombarded by negativity in the form of high-stakes test scores, teacher evaluations and all the things we supposedly don’t do.  It does not appear that this barrage will stop so as Julie stated the world needs hear from us, because I  think quite frankly it doesn’t seem to hear from anyone that seems to promote our profession.

Whereas many take on New Year’s resolutions that fall by the wayside within weeks, I endeavor to tell my story shedding light on the positive on a regular basis.  My hope is that somewhere, someone will think about being a teacher or even talk about the positives of our profession.  So let me begin.

While I have been planning and grading during the last three weeks before we return tomorrow, I have also had the time to read over my students assessment of the last unit of study involving the Unites States Constitution and a district-mandated Constitution test. For a quite a few years I was not really concerned about students input on units of study.  However, within the last eight years I found that I could really find out students were thinking if I gave them a chance to assess my teaching and the units of study.  It is somewhat risky in that I was putting myself at their mercy and being that there was always a chance a student would take my teaching to task.  Three years ago I read a blog post by Larry Ferlazzo who wrote about having students comment on his teaching. Using a similar format I created a Google form and instructed my students to comment on my teaching, prefacing their input by telling them that they are the best evaluators of my instruction as they see me on a daily basis.

Fast forward to this past three weeks.  I have learned so much by the needs of my students through the most recent survey.  The survey was focused mainly on their creation of a movie project related to the Constitution.  The students were open about what they would like to produce in the future in the form of a project.  Many student stated that they would like to act out historical events, others wanted to produce movies, or even, imagine this, write an essay.  These our 8th graders mind you.  They want to be heard and when given a venue to state what they want and think, their voice is heard.  I was pleasantly surprised by their straightforwardness about my teaching and the project.  So in keeping with my challenge, I am promoting the good work and the treasured input of my students. Check out the video below that depicts this particular group’s understanding of the Constitution.

Constmove12