Posts

Designing Powerful, Fun and Engaging History Educational Experiences (A Detailed Guide)

Image
Designing an authentic and powerful learning experience for your history students can sound daunting, especially as it was for me. When I first started to look back at my experience as a learner in a history classroom, one mode of instruction loomed over my head as a Pre-Service Teacher -Lecturing. This traditional instructional method has always been a staple in history classrooms, but it clouded my expectations for what a history classroom could look like.  My history classes have always needed those elements of creative expression and engagement to foster that active learning environment we are all too aware of for our own good but instead sufficed with the passive learning info-dumping method. As much as I cringe as a PST at the thought of wasting my bachelor's program tailored towards authentic learning experiences and cognitive development just to begin and end every class with a PowerPoint, I loved learning history as a student and was quite good at it even with this e...

Useful Tips for Nurturing Student Autonomy through Creative Communication

Image
Students across the nation have become increasingly familiar with technology use in the classroom, and more educators are implementing transformative experiences involving technology. Since 2020 as schools have become more hybrid and students have taken on a role as more independent learners, teachers across the U.S. are hoping to achieve more fulfilling experiences with technology for students that go outside of the unmemorable -online textbooks, filling out worksheets, and math games.  We know students are falling further behind each year, and teachers are desperately trying to find a way to invoke drive and get students involved with their own learning with each passing report. As seen in the National Center for Education Statistics ( NCES ), nearly 50% of students are behind grade level in at least one subject and every year (since 2010), fewer students are enrolling in a postsecondary program. Students are becoming less connected to the purpose of education and the relationshi...