Worn Out Lecture Notes: Centering Students in Pedagogy

In my first college-level history class, I can distinctly remember the professor pulling out lecture notes from his frayed-edged leather briefcase. The worn legal pad pages were curled, having been weathered by repeated use. To say this professor had been at the university for decades felt like an understatement – rather, I’d say he had…

Explicit Teacher Purpose in the History Classroom

This semester, I’ve been wrestling with curricular issues in world history, as well as investigating the role of teacher purpose, particularly when it comes to history classes. Teacher purpose, whether implicit or explicit, impacts teacher content and pedagogical decisions. When I talk about teacher purpose, I don’t just mean content deliverables or state-mandated learning targets. Instead,…

Start with a Question

As a classroom teacher, I would not be able to count the number of questions asked each day. Sometimes my high school students resembled my niece and nephews – each question followed with “but, why?” Over and over and over. Having taught courses at the high school and college level, people frequently ask what the…

Doing History with Inquiry

When people hear that I am a social studies teacher, their responses typically fall into two camps: they either tell me how much they love history or hate it. The reason for any negativity towards the subject is typically because, “I’m not good at memorizing dates.” And indeed, students’ image of a social studies teacher…