Think Outside the History Box

[Lauren Ward]

History has gotten a bad rep as a “dull” class that everyone has to take to graduate. Only those who truly enjoy history have come to appreciate its complex teachings and enormous amount of information. Without a complete knowledge of the past, we become deemed to repeat our failures in the future. No one wants this for their posterity. It shouldn’t be this way though-everyone should be engaged and taking part in the knowledge of our past. Thankfully, historians and researchers from all over the world have realized this and have begun creating tools for teachers to use to lure students into the wonderful world of the past.

My cooperating teacher has told me of countless tools she has been introduced to in workshops that do nothing for the students. Of course they seem great when first introduced, but it is the students who prove to be the true litmus test. A tool has to be engaging and informational in order to pass the tough test of a student. One great resource that history teachers disregard far too often is the Google Maps application. This is a wonderful way to teach students all about the location of a battle, or famous speech, and then ask them to make connections to other significant events. As the article mentions, historians far too often focus in on the written narrative as a primary source. Why aren’t we engaging our students in more out-of-the-box ways?

Paintings are another resource that is often forgotten. It may be difficult to get the original piece of art but at this point in the digital age, many works have been uploaded to the internet for our viewing pleasure. Teachers should bring in artwork, just as we did in our class, and ask students to begin building connections to other lessons and information. I don’t think that we are giving students enough credit-the young mind is an open vessel waiting for teachers to fill it with the vast amount of history we have available to us.

These are only two possibilities in a world of millions. It is not very difficult to begin a search on the millions of resources available to teachers. We must be careful not to trust every option, but that does not mean we should not be looking. In short, we are failing our students by sticking to outdated textbooks and overused worksheets.