Anyone? Anyone?....Bueller?

Before I write anything more, please watch this video. 

This is the typical history class today, right? Only in our generation it is students begging to watch National Treasure instead of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

What a tragedy. If you have been reading most of my posts you know my position on the importance of history. History is just begging for it's presenters to make it interesting. In my eyes Historians and teachers of history are storytellers. So with that, I couldn't ask for a better connection to incorporating literacy into the classroom.

Many times when talking about comprehension, vocabulary, writing instruction and reading, one instantly thinks of their English class. Well PSYCH! history is taking them over and making students become masters in all of these. Think back to your history classes. You were asked to read a selection of text, analyze it, pay close attention to the new vocabulary in the selection, and then came back to class and discuss what you had learned (or remembered at least). What is this if not the perfect equation of literacy greatness? Here are some of my goals as a history teacher.

GOAL ONE

Teach students how to write. 

GOAL TWO

Help students begin to question their surroundings by developing deeper thinking skills. 

GOAL THREE

Create situations for students to practice discussion and speaking in front of a large group.

GOAL FOUR

Teach students how to read analytically, and how to pick out the important information in a text.

GOAL FIVE

Help students connect what they are learning in school to their actual lives. 

GOAL SIX

Create a successful group of historically-minded young adults that strive to do well in whatever they set out to do. 

Now, I don't doubt that every potential teacher--just about to start their student teaching, rejoicing that they just walked out of their last college class--has these goals. But let me tell you what I have learned during my education here at Utah State that I hope will help me achieve these goals. 

Being able to write well will get you A's in college, and maybe even get a promotion in your job. As a teacher it is crucial to help your students learn how to create a successful paper. First, don't ever give your students a writing assignment and label it a "punishment". Help students develop their voice when writing. Teach them how to write to different audiences. When writing for history classes make them realize if you back up your argument with specific evidence you will always win. My history classes prepared me for writing in college and I want to do that for my students as well.

Social studies classes are a great place to learn about what you really think about the world and life in general. Here at Utah State, I had the chance to create a controversial lesson plan. The purpose was to help students develop their own ideas about these topics by supplying information for both sides of the issue. They then had to study all of the material and be prepared to argue for either side when they came to class. Once in class they were given their position and prepared to debate the issue with their teams. We modeled one of these lessons in our social studies methods class and I loved it. It gets students talking and gives them a chance to practice important discussion skills. The students run the entire class, from how long each side gets to talk, to how they have to be recognized to speak. When we did this exercise in class we had a city council that the teams were trying to persuade to vote for them. I was the Head Chair person and made everyone address me as Madame Chair before they spoke. I probably had way too much fun creating the rules for the activity, now that I think about it. Oral language in the class is one of the best ways for students to learn and teach one another.

Reading in history is one of the most important skills to develop. There is so much material that teachers can bring into class like letters, primary source documents, journal articles just to name a few. But if students don't know the tricks to reading and understanding these texts the meaning will be lost. I hope to introduce comprehension and new vocabulary to my students in a way to help them get the most out of these texts. I plan to have vocabulary for each unit and have them work with the words in at least three different ways. That way they will be exposed to it more times and actually learn the meanings and not just copy down the definitions. By allowing for students to have some sort of choice with what they are reading, hopefully it will be able to connect to what they are interested in. One way of doing this is with a literature circle, which was what my last post was on. History is a great place to look to understand the present. My incorporating current events in with the lessons I can show my students how history is all around us and how these events will be affecting them now as well as well into their adult lives.

I saw this meme the other day. It said "I really wanted to become a teacher to help students pass standardized tests, said no teacher ever." We all are becoming teachers for a number of reasons, whether we had an amazing teacher that influenced our lives, or we love the content and hope to better others lives with it, our reasoning all comes full-circle back to the underlying factor. We want to help students learn. So, we undergo the four years it takes to become a teacher, work for free for a time, jump through the hoops to get certified and licensed and continue to receive training after we graduate all to maybe make some student think a little deeper and learn something about themselves and the world they live in. Its going to be hard and I don't think I will ever not be tired again, but I'm excited. Its going to be good. 

Self-Selected Project

Brittni Darrington, Tyler Moss and I decided to take apart in a small reading circle of our own. As we were finishing up with out clinicals at Mt. Logan Middle School in Logan Utah, the class had just begun a new reading circle project. The students were able to choose from four books all concentrating on the early colonial period of the United States. Once they had been assigned their reading groups, they decided as a group the reading schedule they would follow and then wrote prediction questions. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday were discussion days in class. They broke into their groups and had to be prepared with discussion questions before class began. They would then discuss the book and fill out evaluation sheets on the experience. So to gain a better understanding of what these students were doing in the classroom, we chose to read two of the books that they had the option to pick: The Ransom of Mercy Carter and The Sacrifice. After we had finished reading the books, we got together to discuss our thoughts on the books we had chosen.

The Ransom of Mercy Carter

This is a story about a town outside of Boston during the colonial period. Their community was ambushed by a tribe of Indians who killed many of the adults and kidnapped most of the children. It tells of their journey back to Canada and then of the children's assimilation or "adoption" into the culture and live of the Indian tribes. 

What we liked

This is a side of the story that we don't often see. 

It allows for students to gain a different perspective of how Indians lived during this time.

Challenges inherited ideas about a group of people.

Presents information in a different way other than a text book.

What we didn't like

The story moved very slowly.

While shedding some light on a the lives of American Indians we didn't feel it had

 much historical purpose for our classrooms.

It was very descriptive in some places that didn't matter very much where we felt that the important parts were glazed over and we didn't have a full understanding of the events. 

The Sacrifice 

This story is a side story of a town that was affected by the girls that were doing the accusing people of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials. It tells of a town that gets swept up in the fear and fervor of accusing innocent people of witch craft and follows a family that is greatly affected by it. The story follows two of the family's daughters to Salem where they are imprisoned for witch craft and what they have to go through in order to clear their names. 

What we liked

It is an actual family story of the Author's. 

Accurately demonstrates the atmosphere of the witch hunts. 

Could very easily read and enjoy the story. 

Had historical insights and shed a new light on the same tail of the Salem Witch Trials. 

What we didn't like

Could be below some of the student's reading levels. 

Over all though we enjoyed this book. 

We all felt that this was a great exercise to incorporate reading into our classrooms and allow for information to be presented in a more engaging and informal way than a text book. We loved the idea that students have the choice in what books they would read for this assignment and that they also drove the discussion of the texts. This allows for students to take charge in their education and feel a sense of responsibility in their work. Also by having a variety of books for the students to choose from you will, hopefully, be able to play to many different interests and the students will be able to enjoy what they are reading. Reading and then discussing what you have read is very important skills to take away from the classroom. It allows for deeper thinking and analyzing skills which are important as students progress through their education. In the end, literature circles are a great tool to use in our teaching. It allows for students to grow in their discussion and analytic skills and mixes things up as far as reading for information goes. Plus it is fun and breaks up the normal routine of your classroom. 

The best class you will ever--I mean, EVER--take. Mine.

Picture this. Its the first day of school. 

You've made your classroom all cute, or organized (what ever adjective suits you best)

You've been pouring over the class pictures of your students, trying to memorize names

--(braces, bad hair decisions, acne and all)--

Your lesson plans are ready.

Your outfit is as "teachery" as it could possibly get.

Finally, your first day of school on the other side has arrived.

Finally, you have a classroom of your own. Students of your own. 

You have made it. 

Buses arrive. Students file into the hallways. The bell rings. Students sit before you.

Your mind goes blank. 

WHAT AM I DOING HERE? WHY DIDN'T I BECOME A DENTAL HYGIENIST LIKE MY MOTHER TOLD ME TO?

Worst. First. Day. Of. School. EVER. Let's just all say a prayer that this does not happen to us when we graduate, get hired, go through training, and finally become a teacher. But another scene does beg for out attention. We have all been in classes with one of them. One of those kids who swaggers into the back of the class, throws their stuff to the floor, slides into their seat, raises their hand and in a whiny voice says, "Why do we need to know this? Will I ever use it in real life?" Well whiny kid, let me tell you why this is the best class you will ever take.

The first five minutes of your class will make or break it for the rest of the year. Students will be pushing your limits and testing to see what they can get away with. But the first day of class is important for more than just classroom management reasons. This is the first time they will be exposed to your content and your level of enthusiasm for your subject. The typical first day is expected where you go over class rules and expectations, but it is also and opportunity to show your students how great your subject can be.

History touches every aspect of our lives. If you want to understand jokes in the Simpsons, Psych or any other sitcom now a-days, having a basic knowledge of historical events will make those jokes all that much more funnier. That was one thing I remembered my history teacher said my first day of high school. "You will start to see connections and references in everything you do with the information you learn in this class." Boy was he right. He also showed us examples of that by showing different youtube clips that had references about the content we were learning at the time. It is also great to show how the past connects to the present. One thing that is a possible opening day activity would be to have the students write down a current event that they are interested in and then show a similar event that happened in history.

History has the potential to be one of the most interesting classes a student can take or one of the most miserable. By connecting the students lives to historical events, and showing how much of today's lives are affected by history, we can make history come alive. So when you mind goes blank and you question your career choice, just remember why you became a teacher. We became teachers to make a difference in our students lives and hopefully instill a love of learning. By making things interesting, you can say "this is the best class you will ever take" and really mean it. 

ITLS 4015 Post

Well, multiple classes are now fighting for my blogging abilities; so here is a post for my Technology for Teachers course. If you referred to my first post on this site, I explain a lot about why I want to become a teacher and my ideas about it. But for this purpose I'll restate some of them.

I believe school is something that everyone should be able to enjoy and do well at. It is my goal to incorporate life skills such as writing, speaking and presenting and how to study effectively. I hope to be able to do this through projects and special lectures designed to aid in these topic. It is also a teachers job to make sure their students are understanding the content, if this means staying after and giving extra help I will be willing to do so.

Teaching is something that I always knew I was going to do. I hope that I will be able to succeed and help teach the new generation of students.

Pain, lots of pain: An in-depth look at writing.

Writing in History includes analytic essays and that is about it. Professors hand us a book, tell us to read it in three weeks, and then to write a four to six page paper on it.

Okay, here is what is wrong with that. 

Number one. Three weeks to read a book that is, on average, 300 pages, while taking fifteen credit hours, working twenty hours a weeks, and pretending to have a social life is just impractical. Don't even get me started if you want to get a normal amount of sleep and not be considered a member of the waking dead society. Forget about it!

Number two. These papers almost always turn into a battle of interpretation between you and your professor. History professors are notorious for slamming you if you don't pull out the exact points they feel you should be focusing on. News flash--I am not a mind reader. Gosh.

Number three. Four to six page papers are long. Rambling will most likely happen in order for you to get your page quota. And let me just tell you a story about the actual writing of these papers, humor me.

So you have had this assignment for three weeks now, but life happens and you still have one hundred pages left to read. Well the paper is due tomorrow, and it is now five o'clock. You crack open the book and sit still until you have finished, you don't even let your self have a bathroom break. That is a luxury and you will reward your self later. Finally, you read the closing pages, and nervously glance at the clock...9:00. Okay. You know have maybe two more hours of good brain time to work on this beast of a paper, but of course it is nearly impossible to write. You see 12:00 roll pass....1:30....2:43...you still have two more pages to write....3:52....so..tired....4:22....okay, one more point and the closing paragraph, I can do it.....5:16...6:38...FINISHED. time for bed. You rest your head down for an hour and then get up and head to class. 

Okay history majors, we all know that we've had an experience just like this. Tell the truth. Mine was for a French Revolution class and my paper was about the influence religion had on French culture during the eighteenth century. There, I told you mine.

Why do we do this to ourselves? But more importantly why do teachers do this to us? Well how else are they going to make sure we grasp the concepts. History is a subject of ideas. So many times we get thrown a multiple choice test that assesses our ability to regurgitate dates and facts than to really assess our learning. Essay writing is a necessary evil. Hopefully by allowing students freedom by not putting into place a page requirement and allowing students to pick the topic or book they are interested in will make the process less painful.

As teachers it is our job to assess student learning. So assess it, don't tear it apart or judge it strictly on your opinion. Did they have a strong thesis statement that was explained with examples and details? Or did they not. Leave your opinions at the door and judge their level of learning.

So here's the conclusion. Writing = pain. But pain causes growth and endurance. Lets make it painful in a good way and allow students to learn.

Take a look, its in a book.

Lessons are the life of teachers. They prepare, give, and revise them on a daily basis. But lessons can be taught and learned from more than the teacher at the front of the class. 

"We have only one story. All novels, all poetry, are built on the never-ending contest in ourselves of good and evil. And it occurs to me that evil must constantly re-spawn while good, while virtue, is immortal. Vice has always a new fresh young face, while virtue is venerable as nothing else in the world is."

Stories have been since the beginning of time, a way to learn. Cave paintings, songs, fairy tales all have a deeper meaning in history than simple entertainment. 

"Of the river's secrets, however, today he saw only one that seized his soul: This water ran on and on, it always ran, and yet it always was there, it was always and ever the same and yet at every moment new! Lucky the man who grasped this, who understood this!" 

Students can gain so much from reading these stories. Whether it be from a Charles Dickens classic, a graphic novel about the Holocaust, or a fairy tale that promotes a warning, the lessons are as true as they were when first penned. They may have changed a little over time and taken on a new meaning but by bringing in stories from different periods of history it can grab those students that aren't being reached in the normal way of learning.

"Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day." 

These quotes are from books that touched my life. George Steinbeck's East of Eden, Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha, and Charles Dickens' Great Expectations. I was introduced to these authors during high school and guided to others from friends who had a passion for reading as well. Stories have been such a large part of my education and have made me a far better person because of the lessons they teach.

Stories are history. They are vital to understanding the people of the past. Reading and comprehending not only the story, but its deeper meaning is how we can get to know the people that came before us. Plus...its fun. But don't take MY word for it.

Homework can be fun right?

So here I am in the blog world; a world that I swore I would never dive into. But I guess if it becomes an assignment for class there isn't much you can do to avoid it. Anyway, my name is Lauren Hulet. I am a lover of music, attending concerts, reading classical literature, finding tall things that I can jump off of (into water or while harnessed) and I am on the road to become an educator. That sentence on its own should give you some idea of the type of  person I am, but let me paint the picture for you.

Its a rare kid that dreads summer vacation and walks down to the school almost daily to see if the class list had been posted early, trying to catch a glimpse of who my teacher was and who would become my fellow classmates. I loved school. I loved the work, the knowledge and skills I was developing and most of all, it was fun. I grew to love my teachers and always had a special connection with them. Even today I still keep in contact with many of my teachers from past years. I believe in my heart I always knew that I would become a teacher, it was just a matter of what I would teach.

When I reached high school, my very first class was AP European History with Weston Clark. I instantly fell in love with was I was studying due to Mr. Clark's teaching style, encouragement and enthusiasm for the subject. Here I learned study habits, how to read a college level text and how to effectively take notes. I also learned the importance of people and their stories. History is one of the most important subjects one will encounter during their education. It shows us where we came from and how our life came to be. It shows us how things can change in an instant and how if we aren't careful and don't pay attention, we can repeat those events that were so disastrous. Winston Churchill once said "Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it." I agree.

The main purpose of this blog is to tie in literacy to history. There are many forms of literacy; such as how to function in society, how to understand and comprehend different texts, and how to understand culture and what makes people tick. But here I will focus on how to become and truly be historically literate. We need to understand the past and how it influences our world today. We also need to understand that the world of the past is an unfamiliar and strange world to us. We cannot put our values and ideas on the people of the past and expect things to make sense. To become historically literate we need to remove ourselves from our world and take a look into the events as the people experiencing them would.

Finally, here is my favorite youtube video right now.