I really enjoy teaching with mini lectures. The pace and variety of having an activity or discussion interspersed with lecture material gives students options for learning the material. One variation of this structure that I have used this semester is what I call the “object lesson.” The topic of the day’s class focuses on one…
The folks over at Junto are at it again with March Madness! As a non-sports-fan at a major basketball university, this is always my favorite part of March. If you aren’t already following the tournament (and voting), you really should do yourself a favor and check it out. Every year this brings some more nerdy fun…
Somewhere I read that mid-semester evaluations were good opportunities to check how a course was going so that you can make any adjustments needed and potentially save a course that might have been going poorly. You can also use them to continue doing what works and to even foster habits of reflection and adjustment among…
I, like so many of us, wonder what is supposed to come from a survey class. Almost none of our students will become historians, and the vast majority won’t become history majors. For most, the one semester they take a survey or similarly entry-level class will be their one exposure to the discipline. Among the many…
For the past seven months, I have worked as a consultant for Chippewa County Historical Society, in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. The experience has taught me a lot about the resources available at local public history institutions, and how little I knew about their possibilities for use in the classroom. Because it’s in a small…
The first two and a half weeks of a semester are the stuff that dreams are made of – attentive students eager to learn and teachers excited to teach. A sense of hope prevails amongst students and teachers alike. Hope that this semester will be different than the others; the promise of a new semester…
It’s that time of year again. This semester I’m teaching my “Social Science Approaches to the American Past” and as I type today, my students are meeting in their small groups to prepare for their presentations next week on runaway slave advertisements. I’m with Kelly on the value of group work from time to time. …
I began my African American history survey class with a discussion of the history of the study of African American history. I have taken this approach in past iterations of the course because I felt it was important for students to understand the context in which the study of African American history emerged. I wanted…
Continuing with the theme of holiday posts, this weekend is the Superbowl, which if television ratings are any indication, is one of America’s most beloved celebrations. When the New England Patriots won the AFC title game, their franchise name — after all, what early Americanist doesn’t appreciate a tricorne hat reference — and their lack…
Classes start this week, probably a week or two later than most. Like Nora, I am thinking about teaching resolutions for the semester. Along with the first half of the US survey, I will be teaching a Western Civilization course covering the Ancient World through the Renaissance. A lot of us teach fields outside United…
