Teachers as Historians

Teachers as Historians is a professional development program at Rice University funded by a Teaching American History Grant from the US government. In partnership with Rice University, two Houston-area school districts (Fort Bend ISD and Spring Branch ISD) will participate in a three-year program designed to raise student achievement by improving teacher’s knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of traditional American history.

As master teacher for the program, I am scheduled to make several presentations on historical content and pedagogy

Information about the program can be found at the following website:

Teachers as Historians

THREE-YEAR AGENDA FOR "TEACHERS AS HISTORIANS"
2012
Modern America and the Global Community, 1914-Present: The third year of the program will include presentations on World War I, the Roaring 20s, the Great Depression and New Deal, World War II, the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement, the counterculture of the 1960s, the Vietnam War, landmark supreme court cases, and contemporary issues facing the United States.

2011
Transformation of the Republic, 1801-1920: The second year of the program included presentations on manifest destiny, the Civil War, the Reconstruction Era, industrialization and urbanization, immigration, and the Progressive Era.

Year Two Agenda

The presentations I made in 2011 are listed below:

  • Review of Year One and Preparing for Year Two: Creating a Personal Mission Statement for Teaching U.S. History
  • 250 Things Every Student Should Know About U.S. History When They Leave High School, , Part 2: 1801-1920
  • Teaching Students to Think Historically and Analytically
  • A New Birth of Freedom: Teaching the Importance of Abraham Lincoln in U.S. History
  • American Political and Economic Theory
  • Using Simulation Games to Teach U.S. History
  • Identifying Characteristics of a Good History Teacher
  • Building a Good History Curriculum
  • What is History?: Using Historiography to Help Students Understand U.S. History
  • The Development of American Classical Music
  • Year Two Retrospective: Strategies for Surviving in the Classroom

2010
A Nation is Born, 1492-1815: The first year of the program provided an in-depth analysis of the establishment and underpinnings of the American democracy. Historical content included colonization and settlement, origins of slave culture, the Revolutionary Era, the founding fathers, founding documents, and the Early Republic.

Year One Agenda

The presentations I made in 2010 are listed below:
  • Setting the Standard: Effective History Teaching
  • 250 Things Every Student Should Know About US History, Part 1: 1492-1815
  • Rights and Rights Talk: The Development of the Concept of Rights in American History
  • Developing Effective Lesson Plans for Teaching US History
  • Teaching Students to Think Analytically and Historically
  • The Write Stuff: Strategies for Teaching Writing in a Social Studies Classroom
  • Teaching the US Constitution
  • Year One Retrospective: The Importance of Teaching American History