Halstead. Blog Post 21

Overview: Using primary sources in the classroom is one way to make history real for students. All too often, students express that they hate history, often because they find it "useless." Using primary source documents connects students with the past, but learning how to analyze them also provides valuable life skills. Above is a picture of the Bill of Rights, which I elaborate on in my screencast.

Screencast: Screencast 21

Big Question: How can we help students make use of primary source resources?

Interactive Site: Docsteach is another excellent source for primary source documents like the Library of Congress Website. It is backed by the National Archives and designed specifically for providing teachers with the type of primary source resources they can use for the classroom. The collection is not as extensive as the LoC however, and more image based.

Halstead, Blog Post 20 (Loewen Chapter 13)

Overview: In Chapter 13 of Lies, Loewen describes what he believes to be the ramifications of teaching history incorrectly, uninterestingly, and in some cases lazily. His primary argument in the chapter is based on war-support statistics for the Vietnam war as a product of education. His conclusion is essentially this: the blase, always-positive version of U.S history that is given in America results in a type of indoctrination-lite, whereby educated people are more likely to believe in and support the status quo. The photo above shows Donald Trump, Emanuel Macron, and their wives in a recent diplomatic visit. I elaborate in the screencast below.

Screencast: Screencast 20 (Long)

Big Question: What can educators do to prevent the outcomes described by Loewen?

Interactive Site: Insofar as statistic sites can be considered "interactive," this blog's interactive site presents data from Pew Research that runs counter to one of Loewen's assertions. The Republican Party is no longer the party of the educated. There has been a complete reversal of that trend in the last two decades. I touch on this in the screencast.

Halstead, Blog Post 19

Overview: Chapter 12 of Loewen's book discusses the myriad of reasons for the shortcomings of textbooks. While he presents many problems, Loewen does not seem to zero in on many solutions. He does, however, provide some excellent insights. The photo above is a simple stock photo of a glossary. This seems to be the most useful function of textbooks: a giant compendium of facts. In this capacity, textbooks may still be useful to teachers who want to break the mold.

Screencast: Screencast 19

Big Question: Who is to blame for the shortcomings of textbooks?

Interactive Site: The interactive site I have chosen for this blog is Khan Academy. Khan Academy is an online resource designed with the sole purpose of providing tutorials and educating people. The videos are in-depth and the site provides resources like quizzes for students to test knowledge. Since textbooks speak in vague platitudes, it is up to teachers to find more interesting, in-depth resources for our students. Khan Academy is one among many.

Halstead, Blog Post 18

Overview: The graph above shows the unemployment rate between 2007 and 2017. The dots highlight the peak of the recession and all-time high unemployment for this time period, as well as the low unemployment after nearly a decade of recovery. However, this graph is very poorly designed. The X and Y axis are not consistently labeled, and the X axis uses both months and years in its timespan. Like Chapter 10 of Dr. Cantu's book, this graph helps demonstrate the importance of teaching students economics. Students must be able to understand how the economy affects history, as well as how to analyze data and graphs and identify bad information.

Screencast: Screencast 18

Big Question: How can teachers make a "boring" topic like economics interesting for students?

Interactive Site: The interactive site I chose for this screencast is called Investopedia. Specifically, Investopedia has a simulator which uses real-time stock pricing to allow students to manage a virtual stock portfolio to see how the market works. It is an excellent tool for teaching students how the market functions and how traders make decisions.

Halstead, Blog Post 17

Overview: The importance of geography to history cannot be overstated. Students have a hard time connecting to ideas or stories when they cannot connect them with a "where." Often, it is the charge of history teachers to bring history to a place for students. the image above shows the most accurate world map to date and can be used to demonstrate to students the true scale of the continents.  The screencast below explores the idea of connections between geography and history.

Screencast: Screencast 17

Big Question: Should we attempt to integrate geography into upper-level history courses?

Interactive Site: The interactive site for this blog is Google Earth. This interactive globe is an excellent way to introduce students to continents, nations, and places. The level of detail is incredible, and major cities even have 3-D rendering of the structures, as well as images at street-view. It is an easy and fun to use tool.

Halstead, Blog Post 16

Overview: There are many photos I could have selected that represent the same type of Americana as the one above. This particular photograph shows 11 men seated on a steel girder and enjoying their lunch. We know almost nothing about the identity of these men or what their lives were like. We know the name of the man who's building they were constructing, however. The photograph is commonly misattributed to the construction of the Empire State Building but was actually taken during the construction of the Rockefeller Center. To many, this photograph represents the indomitable spirit of American daring and progress. Viewers rarely stop to think about the men that lost limbs or lives for poor wages, building a skyscraper for a billionaire.

Screencast:  Screencast 16

Big Question: How do we introduce students to the idea that "progress" is unsustainable?

Interactive Site: This interactive site features a world population counter. While increases in  population used to be attributed to American progress, we realize today growth at this rate is unsustainable. This site is ecologically minded and is an excellent way to demonstrate to students that our current conceptualization of growth and progress is unsustainable.

Halstead, Blog Post 15

Overview: The top image shows a protestor in the Black Lives Matter movement, standing in front of a detachment of St. Louis police officers during what would come to be called riots after the death of Micheal Brown at the hands of a police officer. The bottom image shows voters in voting booths. Both could be characterized as civic participation in the United States, and it is important that students understand the various ways they can participate civically. Chapter 9 of Dr. Cantu's book highlights the National Standards for Civics and Government, which are voluntary standards focussed on civics in education.

Screencast: Screencast 15

Big Question: How can we promote civic participation to our students?

Interactive Site: The interactive site for this blog is called The Redistricting Game. This game demonstrates how redistricting works in a way that is fun and engaging. It is a great tool to use when discussing state and local politics, as well as partisan districts and gerrymandering.