History Taught Wrong

Social studies classes were never my strong suit. This was mostly due to feeling bored in class and ultimately, not wanting to study.

The idea of memorizing dates, types of weapons and any facts that deal with numbers was too overwhelming. I remember always being told that history classes were taught to make sure that past mistakes do not repeat themselves in the future. I always took that statement as students needing to be taught history as a way to learn a lesson, but I never learned any lessons – just facts.

For the past year or so, my frustration for this has been growing, leading me to think over  how these classes are taught currently compared to how they should be taught. 

Disclaimer, I am not a teacher, nor have I ever taken any coursework about how to teach classes.

However, based on my experiences I think these classes should be taught to engage students in ways that make them remember the bigger picture within what is being taught.

Most if not all social studies classes I have taken over the years have been structured as the teacher presenting the lesson through some PowerPoint in the dark as students take notes. Every time these courses have been presented in this way, I have zoned out.

If I was a history teacher, I would not want this for my students. I would introduce more hands-on projects or activities that put the students in the historical context. Let me walk through a hypothetical history class I would teach.

First, I would start the class with a five to 10-minute warm-up. This could be a philosophical question that relates to the lesson of the day.

Second, I would go deeper into the warm-up by using a 10 to 15 minutes mini presentation to talk about what had happened and how the warm up relates to it. This would be very short, maybe one to three slides of information.

Third, I would move on to an activity that puts the students in the situation that was talked about. Students will be put in groups to discuss what would happen if they were in said situation or what they think about the situation for 15 to 20 minutes.

Fourth, I would bring the class back together to talk about said activity. This could be a presentation or debate, possibly even an open conversation about the lesson.

As much as I disagree with a ton of homework being sent home, I would want to test if my students can understand it on their own. I want them to challenge themselves. I would assign a small assignment that would be due by the end of the week. I would test the students on these lessons again, but it would mostly be essay-based tests.

I think this type of teaching format would engage students, helping them to understand the history lessons more. I think it would carry into their personal lives and for a longer duration instead of them only remembering things for the sake of being tested over them.