Monday, August 11, 2008
What were your history teachers like?
I am planning to become a high school history teacher and I hear from a lot of people that they "hate history" because it is "boring." Has anybody had a history teacher that they loved, and if so what was it about them that made history interesting? Or, is there something that a history teacher did or didn't do that made you hate history?
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7 comments:
I loved one of my history teachers in high school. Besides the fact that he was my volleyball coach he made learning so much fun. I remember he had this big Jepordy like game and groups. If the groups reached a certain score their final was exempt because they obviously learned the material to get such a high score.
First of all, I love history and that is why I minored in it for FUN, yes I said fun! Now of course I do not think that history is boring but I do hear these things as well. My advice would be to make the history more hands on. If possible, offer field trips or advice on where they could go to learn certain things. I also think that students will be more willing to be open to the history if you show how excited you are about it. Hopefully it will rub off!
My history teachers were very interested in the past! I remember that they were passionate about what they were teaching. They valued history and appreciated various people and events!
I love HISTORY!!!! It was my favorite subject throughout high school. I think teachers need to keep the "boring" subjects interesting. Try showing videos or have the students act out certian battles and so on. Keeping the students involved will make all the difference. Field trips, like Molly said is always a good idea.This is kinda hard in high school but it is always good to try and the studetns will benefit much from this! You'll be fine Laura...I know it!!!
I feel that many history teachers go into teaching with the mindset that all they can do is have the students read the textbook and get tested on what they have read. I feel that it would be a better teaching strategy if the teacher tried to do lessons that sparked the students' interest, such as a reinactment of a certain event in history.
The reason I am posting a comment in here is because I dislike history. I was never taught to enjoy it and had bad experiences with it growing up. I wish I had a teacher that made it interesting and was able to get involved in the subject instead of reading about it in the text and getting tested on it. I wish there was something that would made me interested. I am only more interested now because I get to travel and see the history that was in the books. Now I wish I listened!
I actually was fortunate to have two amazing history teachers, one in high school and one in college. The one in high school was creative, and definitely unconventional. She taught Advanced Placement European History and along with lectures, our class would put on plays to better grasp certain historic events, we would have group activities where we could compete for prizes or sometimes just bragging rights and as an added treat she would tell us the most amazing stories about all the places she had visited where historic events took place. She definitely made history come alive. The other teacher taught History of World Civilizations. He only used lectures to help us understand history, but they were certainly the most entertaining lectures I have ever heard. He was basically Robin Williams on ten teaching us about World War II! He was funny, and was able to make the material relatable and also easier to understand. He didn't use any special tricks he just knew how to make the material fun and worth learning about. I think the important thing about teaching history is to be excited to teach it and not to treat history like it has to be boring. It can be fun, exciting and creative.
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