Whether it is creating a new lesson or appearing ready for a job interview the word prepare comes to mind in the article and essay. I think that history should be the most entertaining and somewhat thought-provoking class a student takes. To get students to feel the same way as I, would be a pipe dream at best if my lessons and activities were subpar. This is why I think it is very important to take a look at the content you are preparing to use, and where you want the end goal to be. I have struggled with deciding what should and should not be in a lesson, so that is why processes and frameworks like the Backward Design model. This way it is easier to pick and choose what to include in a unit so that everything flows together in a quick and efficient manner. This helps to give the students doing the task understand that what they are doing is important.
This brings me to my second observation when reading the essay from Helen Grady. I think that it is important to be transparent with the classroom, especially on the first day. Give the students a heads up on what the teaching atmosphere is going to look like, and most importantly lay out a ground work to get students in the right headspace for a history class. I think that some students can get demoralized when they are blindsided with material that some feel that was not covered in hardly enough detail. If I were to compare it to a math lesson, transparent teaching is presenting the formula for a certain type of problem. Once the student understands the formula it does not matter how many different problems you set down in front of them, they know the steps to take to solve the problem. By giving students the “formula” in a historical setting it helps to lay the grounds for long term retention. However, I do not believe it is entirely helpful to bluntly lay everything out for students, as that does not get anyone into a critical thinking mindset. Students should figure most things out for themselves, but it is our role as an educator to make sure they know how to think through different subjects without giving them an outright answer.
I’ve always perceived History-related classes to be the most enjoyable, but I have heard how others do not think the same as I do. One of the biggest arguments is that every class is focused on memorizing names, dates, and places without much explanation as to why they are important. That’s one of the toughest battles that I have faced this semester with trying to organize and theorize on what is most important to legitimately discuss in my future classrooms. Every student will be intrigued by something different, so finding a way to make that apparent and easy to include in a classroom is key.
Your point on being ‘transparent’ with the class is pretty smart! I think I read from another classmate at some point that they plan on letting the students create rules for their class, within reason, to make it feel more welcoming and organized where everyone is on the same page.
I always thought it was strange as well that history was looked at with the same dread as I do for advanced math. However, I think that it has the possibility to become looked at with the same enthusiasm and importance as their favorite subjects. I think that first we should target the two major problems, one of which you brought up. I have also spoken to a healthy amount of people in order to see where history teachers go wrong, and what started their aversion to history classes. Most of them bring up the reliance on dates and events without being given the actual tools to analyze the source material. As well as lacking the tools to tell which pieces of information are important. These are the answers that I received most commonly so I believe that these are some of the most important obstacles to overcome in making history important to people again. This also shows that history teachers seem to have been lacking on teaching the basics. I don’t think that the content is the problem, however, the teaching needed to understand the content is the problem.
I really like how you mentioned transparency. I think commonly many people think of history as just one more class to get through. But by being upfront I think it could allow students more opportunity to get excited about what is to come.
I think that transparency is one of the assessments that teachers should incorporate into their tool set. It is a easy way to make sure that students can retain information, and lay out a map that allows students to not become confused or lost in lessons. I think that by putting this first in the curriculum helps out in the long run for both teacher and student. Since it is something that should guide them not just throughout your class but other classes as well. I think that by making your teaching style more transparent it helps students to be comfortable asking questions and becoming more engaged in the class. Thus creating not only a more enjoyable class experience, but an experience that fosters critical thinking and desired learning progress.