Tag: American History
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No, history doesn’t repeat itself
No, history doesn’t repeat itself I’m as guilty as the next person of having blithely stated something no history teacher should ever accept, let alone utter. History does not repeat itself. Period. So what’s the purpose, the value of studying history if not to avoid making the same mistakes in the future? The answer has…
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More teaching American history well
More teaching American history well Watching an educational film on the human body reminded me once more what makes for good instruction. While the practices displayed in the film apply to more than teaching American history, they underscore the them in a recent article in The Atlantic, High School History Doesn’t Have to be Boring.…
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Teaching American History badly-part 2
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…
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An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution at 100
Thoughts on a classic I’m not proud of the fact that I’ve only now begun to read the late Charles Beard’s classic work, An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States. However, now that I’ve cracked this book open, I’m learning some compelling facts about both the text and it’s author. My intent…