A great history teacher will make the past come alive.
History teachers have heard it all: "Dead people are boring!" or "What does history have to do with my life today?" To reach the students in your history classroom you need to find ways to make history come alive. The best way to do this is by using different approaches to both teaching and evaluating your history students.
Guest Speakers
Students tire of hearing the same voice day in and day out, often tuning their teacher out. Having a guest speaker in your history classroom offers both a new face at the front of the class and a fresh approach. Guest speakers who have lived a poignant moment in history can teach in ways a teacher cannot. Before booking a guest speaker see his talk (whether live or video) to make sure the presentation is appropriate for your history class.
Films
The promise of a movie will brighten the face of the most reluctant history student. These students are visual learners, who tire quickly when it comes to reading the textbook or listening to the teacher. Although documentaries are great for covering the curriculum, Hollywood blockbusters will really capture your students' attention as history with a story is always more meaningful. Remember to preview the movie first to make sure it is age appropriate.
Historical Snapshots
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Using snapshots in your history class can help get your students thinking critically. There are many ways students can manipulate pictures to show their understanding of history: Have students create before-and-after photos, a newspaper style caption or cartoon bubble dialogues. Getting the students to present their final products will be both educational and entertaining.
Critical Thinking
Use critical thinking activities in history class to prepare your students to be active citizens. Getting your students to ask why an event happened and what its possible consequences were will help them approach life asking the same questions. This can be done with "bell work" activities at the beginning of class or by having students outline the importance of events instead of simply regurgitating what happened.
Varied Evaluations
Although the dreaded essay is an important part of teaching the academics of history, few students will go on to study history at the university level. Have your students create projects for evaluation that mirror how they will come into contact with history in real life. Designing a museum exhibit or taking a trip to a historical site will be much more meaningful to students than writing an essay. Your evaluation tools need to reflect the different talents in your history classroom, from model building to visual arts to music.
Technology Driven
Unlike previous generations, the students in your history class are wired to technology. Use this to help them dig into the past. A short video from the Internet or interactive technology to manipulate your lessons is an easy way to get their attention. In bygone eras there wasn't "an app for that," so have the students design a smart phone application that could have solved a problem faced by their ancestors.
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