History as Prologue

Category: Culture

  • Turning the tables on parent-teacher conferences

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    Mark Thomas
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    Turning the tables on parent-teacher conferences In the fad-crazed world of k-12 education, there is one ubiquitous practice that remains steadfast amid a changing world. That, of course, is the problem. What if schools began each year by holding parent-teacher conferences? Taking this further, what if the parent or guardian were recognized as the expert…

  • Back to writing 2014

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    Mark Thomas
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    Priorities as an excuse Yesterday, I sent off via Priority Mail the last paper for the last continuing education course needed for renewal of my Indiana teaching license. For the past three months I’ve neglected my blog, justifying in my mind that any writing should be directed at my career, not my hobby. Now, with…

  • Teaching American History badly-part 2

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    Mark Thomas
    in

    Teaching American History badly well In the previous post I listed five essential skills students must have to access history in a meaningful way. Personal concept of historical time Bias recognition Strong search strategies Organizational skills (for evidence/data) Ability to generate essential questions In this post I’ll focus on the first of these. For the…

  • Teaching American History badly

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    by

    Mark Thomas
    in

    Teaching American History badly – Part 1 Just to clarify, this post isn’t intended as a how to. The scope of this entry is to reflect upon what conditions tend to encourage a person to find relevance between his or her life and past events and personalities. With few exceptions, the traditional means of teaching…