Category Archives: Pedagogy

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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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 →

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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 →

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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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