[Cross-posted to TUSH.0] I recently wrote about the “SkillBuilder†assignment I use in the survey class – which is a recurring, low-stakes 2-page primary source analysis exercise. Each time one is graded, I return it to the students with all…
The Skill Builder (and which skills, exactly?)
[ Cross-posted to TUSH.0 ] This post is a preview of my Fall 2012 US history survey syllabus, starting with page 4, the guidelines for the “SkillBuilder†assignment (clicko on the image to download the page PDF). Just what ARE…
Summer Reading ’12
I don’t like the beach in the summer, but I do read a lot. So these books aren’t “beach reads,” exactly, but they are what I’ve been devouring this summer. The stack of possibilities far exceeds the number of weeks…
The Paperless Textbook Option
[Cross-posted to TUSH.0, the Teaching United States History blog, 7/19/12] Following up on Ed’s recent post about balancing a book’s beauty with its gee-whiz visual aesthetics, I wanted to continue the conversation about survey textbooks and formats. I’ve also been…
Thinking About the Cardboard Box
Caine’s Arcade came along at just the right moment this past semester, when I was feeling tired and jaded about everything and its infusion of wonder and joy was a like a refreshing breeze. I showed it in a couple…
On the Level
I have the good fortune to be teaching a graduate class this semester, to a cohort of Worcester Public Schools high school teachers. It’s a course in Constitutional History since 1877 for a local TAH grant called “Securing the Blessings…
Taking it to the Stacks
Last semester I blogged about a couple of experiments with incorporating library searches and materials into my US History II survey class. I teach it every semester so I’m always tweaking. This term I started off in an overcrowded, overheated…
Oz Behind the Curtain, Part 4: The Syllabus
Here’s the premise of this post: a syllabus should be more than a boring, text-laden legal contract. If you let it, it can also be 1) a thing of beauty, and 2) a tool to think with about your teaching…
Oz Behind the Curtain, Part 3a: Governance and Alignment
I’ve been blogging about stages in my course & syllabus design process, sparked mainly by the syllabus workshop in last week’s faculty development institute (part 1, part 2 and part 3 cross-posted to the Juvenile Instructor). I went back to…
Oz Behind the Curtain, Part 2
This is Part 2 in a series on course & syllabus design; Part 1 is here. I last taught “Religions in America” in the fall of 2009 as a special topics course in history, which meant I didn’t have to…