The final chapter in Loewen's Lies My Teacher Told Me he bring the cold hard truth to his readers; that social studies is still being taught this way, making social studies the least favorite subject for students. Social studies teachers are stuck in the chapter by chapter, textbook routine. This eliminates opportunity for excitement, emotion, and creativity in the classroom. Loewen says, " Emotion is the glue that causes history to stick". How could anyone not agree with that statement? I have talked about it once before in class, but I will never forgot the lesson my AP U.S History teacher did on John Winthrop and his significant quote, "For we must consider we shall be a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us, so that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause him to withdraw his present help from us, we shall be made a story and a byword through the world". This significant yet simple quote was projected on the board and we spent the entire 50 minute period discussing American exceptionalism, our highest points in history, and the legacies we have left on the world. What really made it stick was using the quote to be a model on how to live. Before we left the classroom he asked us all if we wanted to be a city upon a hill or stuck in a hole, What impact do you want to have on the world.
I think about that day often and I do not think I will ever forget it, and that is why bringing emotion into the classroom is so crucial. We should teach social studies in a way that the information we discussed the day before will be carried on for years to come and not lost the day after.
"Lies My Teacher Told Me" was a very interesting book it is technically the first "textbook" I have read cover to cover. It has taught me many ideas that I had never thought about before. It brought light to the issues teachers face in the social studies classroom and it has given us great advice on how we can overcome those issues. The book also spends a lot of time discussing textbooks and the problems their content presents, and the problems they present for teachers.
We need to remember that we have the opportunity to make this our students favorite subject and we want to see them running for your classroom everyday.
Pinterest has ideas for everyone for everything, but most people do not realize its thousands of ideas for teaching and lesson planning. Below I have a link for middle school social studies and one for high school social studies. One can also make a more narrowed search, for example: teaching g geography or teaching sociology.
http://www.pinterest.com/catanhistory/teaching-middle-school-social-studies/
http://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=teaching%20high%20school%20social%20studies
Big Question: How can teachers stay creative and exciting every day?
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