BY: EMILY ETKINS AND JEN KREIS
History can be taught in many different ways, and different learners adapt to different methods of teaching. The ways that history is taught have differed and changed throughout the years. Some ways work best in a classroom, while others do not. Methods of teaching and resources available can help make learning history a great experience.
When I walk into Western Civilization class, I know it will never be boring. We are always doing different activities such as watching gory war videos on YouTube or playing cool Egyptian games. None of my past history teachers could compare to the history teacher that I have now. Last year, my eighth grade year, was all text book work. It was so boring that I could barely keep myself awake. No one wants to go to class, open the history book, and listen to the teacher lecture. Interesting and fun activities are needed to spice up the history class.
15% of the population is kinesthetic learners ("Kinesthetic"). This means they don't learn well from listening or reading ("Kinesthetic"). Reading the text book in class isn't going to help these learners. It is very hard to concentrate on a text book for about an hour without taking a break. To help these kinesthetic learners, you should try hands-on activities, such as group projects. I believe that teachers were taught the right way to teach children, but they develop their own way of teaching, which leads to either forgetting the more effective way of teaching, or them not caring about their method of teaching. Instead of lecturing for an hour, the teacher should try to make it fun by sharing different resources about the topic. Here's an example: Maybe you are learning about Julius Caesar, the conspiracy, and the assassination. There are many great videos that show this wonderfully. One of them is from BBC history which is an animated tale of Caesar's assassination and the events that occurred after. Instead of the boring old text book, this resource is a great way to show students what happened to Julius Caesar.
BBC History also has many free online interactive games about many different topics. One of the topics is Egyptian pyramid making ("BBC"). It explains the right places and tools to use to build a pyramid. In class, games are another great teaching tool. What child doesn't love a little competitive game that involves a treat for the winner? If you just have a small game of Jeopardy, a lot more information will be absorbed than you think. They might remember certain moment in class that makes them recall the answer later.
Another interactive activity that could be tried is acting out parts of history, such as wars. The Punic Wars, at the Battle of Zama, are a great example where this might be effective. The teacher could set up the children in battle formation and ask them questions about what the general might do next. The main focus for a teacher in teaching students is to get them involved in what they are learning about. History is one of the best subjects to teach students interactively to help them see what they are learning about in a better way. Teachers need to remember not to just lecture out of a book, but show video clips online or play games. Games are not just for when you are bored, but can be used for learning too.
When talking to adults about what it was like to be taught history when they were growing up in the 1960s to 1970s, I received a few different answers. With no computers to be used, the first PC was introduced in 1981 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Personal_Computer), their methods of being taught differ from how we learn today. Mary Anne Kreis said that when she was in high school, the teacher would lecture to the class, and she would take notes and make an outline. She stated, "I felt like I never really learned the history, I memorized my notes and was able to answer essay questions on tests by regurgitating my memorized notes on to the test paper." Today, there are still teachers who share information with the class in this way, but there are others who use the advancement in technology that we have by showing historically accurate videos or taking the class on the path of a war by using Google Earth. In my opinion, and in many others, the information we are being taught would be absorbed better if we are interactively learning it.
When talking to Phil Kreis, one who always loved history class, he shared a story about a teacher he remembered well from 3rd grade. He recalled, “One of my favorite history teachers was a teacher by the name of Mrs. Burnell in 3rd grade. She was the only black teacher and staff member there. She wasn't a nun, we had nuns, but she was a regular teacher.” He went on to explain a memorable experience he had in her class. “She actually took us on a trip to the Appalachian Mountains. We took food and different supplies and toys to the poor people there. We gave them a party, we had a party. She made learning very interesting with the way she taught. She was a black teacher in an all white school in Baltimore City, but she really had a way with the students and made learning really fun.” When I asked what exactly she did that made learning so fun, he could not recall exactly, but said, “I just remember that she made class very interesting and maybe that it was because for the first time I was being taught by a black person. I didn’t know what to expect, but as it turned out I really enjoyed being in her class. I remember her being very friendly, approachable, and she welcomed questions.” Mr. Kreis said that when growing up, textbooks were used in the classroom, along with pull-down maps from the blackboard. They also had some worksheets and papers available. He also had another story that he vividly remembered about acting out a play about the American Revolution in the 7th grade. Remembering the play, he said, “I was George Washington. One of my classmates had a coat from his mother that was blue that looked like a colonial coat, and I wore that. To make the learning interesting, we played the parts of different people. We had lines and acted them out.” In this example, learning had become interesting, just by making it interactive. Instead of sitting in a chair and copying down notes being said, you can actually learn and take in the information in a more productive way.
From talking to others about their experiences in the classroom, to thinking about mine, I know that history can be taught in a variety of different ways, but some ways are more effective than others. In Mr. Kreis’s years of being taught history, he found them enjoyable, because he always had an interest in learning about the past. Even without technology available, he was able to really learn and enjoy learning. Mrs. Kreis, on the other hand, did not have the same methods of teaching and did not feel like she really knew or learned the information. I believe that with the resources you do or do not have, you can find a way to make learning history a good experience.
History is a wonderful and interesting topic to study. It varies in what you study, but it doesn't vary in how you can study it. Lecturing is the wrong way to go when teaching kids because they will not stay attentive and alert. Games are a great way to teach students any topic that you would like them to learn because they are having fun, but at the same time there are learning. Even without these resources, history can be a fun topic to study, if time is put in to how to teach it.
Works Cited
"Battle of Zama -." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 11 Mar. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Zama>.
"BBC - History - Ancient History in Depth: Pyramid Challenge." BBC - Homepage. Web. 11 Mar. 2010. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/launch_gms_pyramid_builder.shtml>.
"IBM Personal Computer." Wikipedia. Web. 12 Mar. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Personal_Computer>."Kinesthetic Learning -."
Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 11 Mar. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinesthetic_learning>.
Picture Source:
"History Class." Flickr. Web. 12 Mar. 2010. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/luthercollegearchives/1484927223/>.
