I use skills-based enduring understandings to design my lesson activities, create and tune assessments, and plan my units so that they are aligned and have strong progression of skills. History teachers who already teach skills will not find all of these new nor incredibly insightful. It's how you use the enduring understandings that can be transformative in the classroom.
Standards Based Grading
Standards-Based Grading presents opportunities and challenges. With the right standards, history curriculum can fit into an SBG system smoothly and effectively.
Reassessment: Making it work for you and your students
We all have bad days, we all appreciate second chance. Although there were exceptions, I found in our small representation of international educators that people were philosophically supportive of reassessment but disagreed quite a bit about the logistics of how it should be done. Here is how I made it work.
It all begins with evidence
Whatever your content, whatever the skills or standards you are teaching, begin with evidence. It makes inquiry more possible and gives power to students, turning them into active historians instead of receptacles of information.
Teaching Multiple Causation
My wife and I just finished the process of our move to Shanghai. So, with that done, I can return to this blog to post about my favorite skill to teach: Multiple Causation. It's been a longer than expected hiatus, but I doubt it matters very much given the fact that readers are essentially still … Continue reading Teaching Multiple Causation
So many standards!
When I started teaching in Florida, I used the standards as I was given. "Used" is a generous word though as I did what many new teachers do, used the textbook as my curriculum and mixed in various activities, simulations, etc. into the lessons to spice things up. The standards were what I pulled out … Continue reading So many standards!
Why this blog?
Over the last 6 years I have made a transition to teaching historical thinking skills using standards based grading. Prior to this transition I would have claimed I was teaching historical thinking skills...but I would have been wrong. The transition was not a cognizant choice on my part, the move to SBG being something the … Continue reading Why this blog?