Category Archives: teaching

Facebook: Committee of Public Safety, Class of Sept. 1793–March 1794

Posted on February 26, 2013 by

Tomorrow my Western Civilization classes are watching and taking notes on the BBC documentary Terror! Robespierre and the French Revolution. The documentary does a great job of detailing the inner workings of the Committee of Public Safety and the major … Continue reading →

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Form *still* ever follows function

Posted on November 18, 2012 by

As I’m making last minutes preparations to administer my Fall Trimester final exams tomorrow, I thought I’d go ahead and create a procedure for my students to follow so that they don’t get confused about what materials they’re allowed to … Continue reading →

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Wither the popsicle stick?

Posted on September 22, 2012 by

For the past few years, I’ve taken to using popsicle sticks as a central item to facilitate discussion and create groups in my classroom. At the beginning of the year I’d put every student’s name on a popsicle stick, group … Continue reading →

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Going Medieval on Medieval Times’ Matinee Menu

Posted on August 2, 2012 by

Ages ago I wrote about my spontaneously developed “Junk Mail” lesson plan, which came to me courtesy of Medieval Times’ “educational division.” For a long time I’d planned to write a dissection of the menu as a reflection of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Skills, Historical Thinking, Pedagogy | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

New Assignment Alert!!!: The Presidency and the Media – A Comparative Analysis

Posted on January 12, 2012 by

Just when I think I’ve got things in order and I’m happy with the trajectory of a unit, I end up dreaming up some new assignment that occupies my evening. Sigh. Tonight’s antagonist (though not an unwelcome one) is an … Continue reading →

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The fruits of my inefficient time usage: A Reconstruction Timeline!

Posted on December 6, 2011 by

Today with my U.S. History students we’re moving into a discussion of Reconstruction as a follow-up to our in-depth reading about Lincoln, race, slavery, and the historiographical debate over “who freed the slaves?” (Though this will have to be a … Continue reading →

Posted in Historical Thinking, history, teaching | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Backlog Post #1: The Market Revolution, Atlantic Context, and Information Reorganization

Posted on November 1, 2011 by

While my last post ostensibly was going to open the flood-gates of a number of new posts dealing with what I’ve been working on in my classes, that plan fell through (read: baby + grad school + teaching = neglect … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Skills, Geography, Historical Thinking, history, teaching | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Building a Collaborative Comparison with Google Docs

Posted on September 10, 2011 by

This past week I had my US History students looking at the variety of developments, economic systems, political arrangements, and connections with Native Americans that took place in the North American English colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries. To … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Skills, Pedagogy, Social Media, teaching, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Learning Styles, Shmearning Shmyles?

Posted on September 5, 2011 by

It’s Labor Day, so I shouldn’t really be writing too much here (given that I’m a unionized historian/teacher blogger), but I did just come across this interesting story about learning styles and the scientific veracity (or lack thereof) to support … Continue reading →

Posted in Historical Thinking, Pedagogy, teaching | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

The Ethics of Building Collective Review Sheets on Google Docs

Posted on September 2, 2011 by

I’m giving my first test in my American Government class next Thursday, and am currently encouraging my students to begin thinking about organizing their materials and preparing for that assessment. However, as this group of students is sophomores, I’m striving … Continue reading →

Posted in Social Media, teaching, Technology | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment