In my U.S. history survey course, I base student grades partly upon two major writing assignments — brief (3-5 page) essays involving a focused inquiry into a historical problem of a student’s own choosing, based upon an analysis of archival sources from their own research. (This is where their source analysis worksheets come in handy…
Although this will be a relatively short post, I consider the topic vitally important. I suggested a few months ago that writing argument comes naturally to those who are seasoned in the art. Thus, I especially struggled on how best to teach crafting an interpretation. I since then have been relatively successful. My next challenge,…
These are lessons from a case of Twitter Failure. This semester I integrated Twitter into teaching an upper level course on Early America and introductory courses. I was inspired by the remarkable digital pedagogy of our blogmeister Ben Wright and an ongoing forum at my University on the value of moving beyond the classroom. The idea…
Pretty much everyone I know who teaches U.S. history appreciates the value of exposing students to images as primary sources. Not only can paintings, photographs, prints, and films sometimes communicate past events and attitudes more efficiently than textual sources, but students are often more confident about and interested in “reading” visual sources. (Whether or not…
Was America founded as a Christian nation? It’s a staple question for our the survey, and one that my students seem energized to discuss. I have never been able to squeeze John Fea’s excellent book into my syllabi, and until I find a way to do so, I have given up on covering all of…
This forum works best when sharing practical strategies, pedagogical musings, and classroom innovations, but content’s important, too. And, when teaching the first half of the U.S. history survey, the first content question is a simple one: “When to begin?” Probing the origins of American history is not a hollow academic exercise, but a teachable problem…
Two weeks ago, Andy Lang shared with us his frustrations with getting students to engage in critical discussion. This Monday, Michael Hattem shared his experience with generating discussion in the classroom at The Junto, a group blog on early American history. Today, we revisit the topic with a guest post from Ronit Y. Stahl. Ronit…
For the past two years I have been using a grading rubric for writing assignments in all of my courses. In my first few years of teaching I was reluctant to consider using a rubric. I thought a rubric would place burdensome limits on my subjective leeway in assigning grades for writing. And wouldn’t a…
This month for my post I planned to interview a curator at the Smithsonian. We got it all approved and I was going to send her questions the following day. But the partial government shutdown began that night and she’s been out of the office since. I had a minor panic because my women’s history…
For nearly ten years Cabeza de Vaca wandered across the North American continent, surviving as a slave to various Indians and then as a trader and spiritual healer. His story is filled with action, drama, and mystery, and provides a gripping narrative of seemingly impossible escapes. My task this fall was to get my survey…
