Hello! It's been awhile since I've written, school is rolling right
along and we are already nearing the end of the 3rd quarter!
Currently in my US History courses we are in the middle of our study
of WWII. We will continue through this topic into mid March, then
begins the annual mad scramble to fit everything in before the end of
the year!
The topic I've been thinking about and discussing with my classes over
the past few weeks is keeping history relevant to them, how can we do
it as teachers? How can we get 14-18 year old kids to be interested
in Historical events when many of them are not even old enough to
remember 9/11/01?
The answer may not be as difficult as we think. In discussion with
students, and through a little trial and error, it's simple-relate the
material to something in their lives, OR relate the material to
something going on currently in the world. That's it! Keeping the
topic relevant keeps students engaged, and shows them how historical
events affect their lives. Current events is always a focus of mine
in class, and we can always find some parallel between what we are
studying and something going on in the world today. In time, students
will recognize the importance of studying history-and learn to connect
the dots.
Below are a few links to recent events that my class has discussed-all
related to things going on right now-as well as the material we're
currently studying:
Ukraine: http://gokicker.com/2014/02/19/why-ukraine-protests-became-violent-and-what-happens-next/
Hitler Olympics: http://www.ushmm.org/exhibition/olympics/?content=aftermath&lang=en&utm_content=sf1908442&utm_medium=spredfast&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=US+Holocaust+Memorial+Museum&sf1908442=1
Stalin Sochi: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/24/sports/olympics/stalins-presence-is-still-felt-in-sochi.html?smid=tw-share
Thanks for reading!
