Category Archives: teaching

Santayana Redux

Posted on August 27, 2011 by

I just wrapped up the first week of school and once again had some opening conversations with my classes about the purpose of studying history and what value history plays in the present. These discussions essentially followed the contours of … Continue reading →

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At the Intersection of Grades, Game Theory, and Ethics

Posted on June 6, 2011 by

I might be over-extending myself here, as I’m really only deeply familiar with one of the elements I reference in my title (I’ll leave it to you to try and figure that one out!), but I’ll go ahead and venture … Continue reading →

Posted in Pedagogy, teaching | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

“The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly”: Reflections on the New Deal in Fort Worth Project

Posted on June 2, 2011 by

In preparation for a presentation that I’m giving later today (which is what you have to say when starting to draft something at 12:18 am…ah, the liberties of summer!), I thought I’d put together a reflection post on an assignment … Continue reading →

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There’s something about summer and rumination…

Posted on May 31, 2011 by

Just as I observed yesterday that it seems like the school year is hardly over before the next project or challenge commences, I’ve also come to the realization that the “downtime” (if it can really be called that) seems to … Continue reading →

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Harenssing current events in World History class: The Comparative Revolutions Assignment

Posted on April 6, 2011 by

It’s quite possible that I’ve replicated a lot of work that other teachers out there have already done, and I certainly know that I’m one of many teachers who is trying to capitalize on the timeliness of the revolutions in … Continue reading →

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“All history is local”: The New Deal in Fort Worth Project

Posted on April 4, 2011 by

ne of the things that I’ve been looking forward to about teaching U.S. History is getting the chance to have students study and explore the ways in which national trends or programs manifested themselves in the local context. Perhaps I’m … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Presentations, Research, teaching, Technology | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

Screencasts to the rescue?

Posted on March 25, 2011 by

Last post I shared my trans-historical Depression/Recession assignment, a portion of which is for the students to make modified Pecha Kucha presentations for the class. Rather than the normal 20 slides x 20 seconds format, I condensed it a bit … Continue reading →

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Trans-historical Comparison Assignments: Great, or the Greatest?

Posted on March 23, 2011 by

In my U.S. History classes we’ve finished up the era of imperialism and WWI, and are now moving into the 1920s and building toward the Great Depression and the New Deal. As this is the first time I’ve taught through … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Skills, history, Presentations, Research, teaching | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Meshing “Standard” Coverage with Current Events

Posted on January 25, 2011 by

I’m in the midst of my first full year teaching the U.S. History survey course to a class of Juniors, which has been a fun, challenging, and intellectually stimulating experience. I’ve found a ton of good resources online (in particular … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic Skills, history, Pedagogy, teaching | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The feedback loop resumes

Posted on January 20, 2011 by

The all-time worst band encore I ever saw was from Yo La Tengo‘s show at Dallas’ Granada Theater in 2010. While the main set was pretty good, when they got out to play the encore, Ira Kaplan, lead singer and … Continue reading →

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