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 | Challenging students to think critically will pay off when they think critically about what and how you have taught them. |
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“Even better than I expected. Thank you so much. ” |
| English Teacher, Seabrook, NJ |
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No matter what you are teaching, you are teaching yourself. |
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| To learn more about the instructors, see the
Associates page. |
A workshop for social studies teachers on classroom writing strategies designed to: improve the cogency of the subject, increase the interest level of students, and lower student anxiety over major writing projects. We will also discuss surprisingly easy techniques for designing plagiarism-proof assignments and streamlining teacher workload--a major concern whenever writing is promoted. (Goetsch)
This workshop offers methods teachers can use to increase active learning by all students in the classroom. It will include a discussion of what it means to be an historian and ways teachers can assist students in developing those skills while studying classroom content. Participants will investigate ways to integrate writing assignments for all levels, incorporate primary sources, increase variety within lessons, and attract different learning styles and personalities. The seminar will draw on some ideas from multiple intelligences and authentic assessment. A discussion of helpful internet sources and databases will also be included. (Hollman)
This workshop will expose participants to African-American History through the use of documents drawn from various junctures in the nation's history beginning with the colonial period. Participants will gain exposure to primary sources, tracing the African-American experience in both slavery and freedom. Although well-known black leaders such as Fredrick Douglass will be represented, many of the documents that we examine will be the work of everyday people. The workshop has as its overarching aim the dissemination of materials, content, and methods that Social Studies teachers can use in their classrooms before year's end, and for years to come. (R. Schwartz)
How can we best teach about the period from the end of World War II until the present? I would like to focus attention on what economists have called The Golden Age of American Capitalism, 1946-1973, to investigate how sustained it and what ended it; in addition, we need to explore the rise and fall of the Cold War, especially its most risky movements, e.g., the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the decline of the New Deal Coalition as it was challenged by a new conservatism virtually no one anticipated. Finally, let’s examine the roots of the present crises, especially what the President calls “the war on terror.” ( Lyons)
What was it about this explosive decade and this frustrating war that remains so much a part of American lives fifty years later? Some historians believe that we will continue to fight over the 1960s and the war until all baby boomers have passed from this earth. Is there a way to make sense of an era identified with such profound challenges to our notions of patriotism, morality, gender and race relations, and nature itself? We will explore new left, new right, civil rights, the space program, JFK, LBJ, student militancy, feminism, gay and lesbian movements, as well as what Richard Nixon called “the great silent majority.” ( Lyons)
New Jersey mandates Holocaust education. How can it be taught in an environment within which other claims—Indian genocide, African-American slavery and racism, McCarthyism, incidents like the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, the war crime at My Lai during the Vietnam War, and the more recent revelations of Abu Ghraib—get expressed. How can we place the Holocaust within an American experience which both has its own injustices to confront and which is at one stage removed from Hitler’s Final Solution? Is there a way to approach the Holocaust through American eyes? ( Lyons)
We will explore how to help students begin to understand the historical and moral context of what occurred on September 11, 2001, including relevant events in our own history and that of the Middle East, Central Asia; the essentials of Islam and the particulars of Islamic fundamentalism; the history of Al Queda; the nature and history of terrorism. We will seek to understand the choices made in response to 9/11, including the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and, most recently in Gaza and Lebanon. ( Lyons)
(Both 1/2-day workshops may be scheduled for the same day)
Part 1: Interpreting Visual History Through Journalistic Photographs
Most photos exhibit clues about how, when and why it was made. Studying the photograph tells us about the moment it was created. Studying the moment tells us more about the photograph. Using the tools of the historian, the photo interpreter and the journalist, we will examine some photographs and learn what was really happening at the instant of exposure. We’ll look closely at some famous pictures, including the Wright brothers’ first flight, the flag raising on Iwo Jima and Earthrise over the moon. Ultimately, this will compel students to consider their own photographs and their own moments. (Leary)
Part 2: Interpreting Visual History Through Editorial Cartooning
As an alternative to a written assignment, editorial cartooning requires the same student research of an historical episode, current event or social condition but with the resulting analysis expressed visually. Encouraging their sense of humor during the process will help your students understand the range of interpretations a set of facts can offer. You, the teacher, will be shown a variety of specific, easily grasped cartooning skills as well as step-by-step techniques for passing those skills on to your students. Allow yourself a rewarding variation in your curriculum content delivery by welcoming some right brain intelligence into your classroom. (Duffy)
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