Teaching students chronologically is something teachers think is the obvious choice for their students. What teachers should really do is teach in themes. When you teach based off of going through a timeline, students tend to be disconnected and feel like they are just memorizing facts for no purpose. When you teach in themes, students become more connected because they are answering the question of why they are learning this topic and they are seeing how it can connect to them in some ways. Also, students will see the bigger picture of the history they are learning and not just the minuscule facts needed for the test or paper in the class.

As teachers we need to remember that we will not be able to teach everything so why try? There is just not enough time in the year which is why themes can be of great importance in the classroom. Some of your students might despise history and some might love learning about it, you never know what you are going to get. With that being said, teachers should not go into the course trying to force their love of history on the students but instead accept the students dislike and try to show them the importance of history. That’s why learning small facts and learning chronologically can be so hard on a student; they simply just might not enjoy history and that is okay. Also, teaching history in themes can be more like storytelling which will draw the students in more rather than them sitting through a lecture based on events and the dates of them.