TLT 431, Spring 2021 - Course record
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Session 1 - Wednesday, 3 Feb
Before class
Buy (borrow, rent) a copy of the textbook
Read through the syllabus and get a sense of the assignments; the (approximate) due dates are in CourseSite
During class ()
Introductions
Tour of course sites, resources
Textbook
Public face of the course: Wiki
Enacted curriculum = Course record, built session-by-session. See previous version of this course for an example.
Private face of the course: CourseSite.
You're probably familiar with Blackboard; we'll be using a different courseware system called Moodle. Lehigh has named theirs CourseSite.
Note that Moodle is a free tool. If you're interested, you can set up your own Moodle and use if for teaching your classes. Think of it as an alternative to Google Classroom, if your school doesn't provide that.
Reviewing syllabus
Part 1: General overview, expectations
Part 2: Assignments
Conceptual work
What is social studies...particularly in an age of crisis?
Why does social studies matter?
What is a social studies methods course?
Why do social studies methods matter?
What does social studies need to look like in the 21st century? Example of shifting needs: Civil Rights Movement: Should we focus on Claudette Colvin and not just Rosa Parks? Should we draw attention to Bayard Rustin? Is Fannie Lou Hamer the hinge between social and political revolution? Or should we look at Emmett Till and juxtapose him with Tamir Rice?
How we're going to try doing this course
Two conceptual frameworks I'll refer to
TPACK (for having an organized way to discuss teacher knowledge)
Quick TPACK demo: story map about Signers of the Declaration of Independence. What's the content? What's the pedagogy? What's the technology involved?
'Three ring circus' of dispositions (common-ish idea – see Tom Fallace and Bill Gaudelli's writing for an clean articulation of their visions)
Traditional
Disciplinary
Classroom-driven
General strategy for class time
A rush through the have-to-know / have-to-do sorts of things. (Basically, I'm railroading the class / talking at you)
Maximum time for discussion.
After class
Reading
Chapin, Ch. 1
C3 Framework: intro material & history section
PDE standards for history
Common Core (well, "PA Core") standards for reading & writing in "History and Social Studies"
NCSS, 2008. In fact, the whole list of NCSS position statements is probably worth bookmarking!
Optional: Mehlinger, 1988; Crocco, 2004
Assignments
Download and organize relevant standards: C3 Framework, PDE standards on history, geography, civics, & economics, etc.
In Slack: I started threads on 'Best' and 'Worst' K-12 social studies lessons that you have ever experienced. I'll model, but: Identify the grade level and topic, briefly describe the content and pedagogy, and tell us why you are picking it out as the best/worst experience of your career as a K-12 social studies learner. In your 'Worst' entry, please don't use any identifying info – I'm not in the business of shaming teacher. (Conversely, in your 'Best' entry, feel free to shout out the teacher!)
Complete your first original instructional material and bring it to class next week. Don't forget to include a paragraph explaining its intended use.
Start lining up an HTCE participant
Session 2 - Wednesday, 10 Feb
Before class
Complete Writing-to-Learn prompt in Slack (best/worst social studies lessons)
Complete and have available your 'Original Instructional Materials' product #1 – we will share and discuss in class
Complete other readings (above)
Download and organize standards
During class (no ppt tonight)
Reminder of two frameworks: TPACK & teacher dispositions (JamBoard)
Sharing OIP #1 – place this in context of frameworks?
A little more organizing: JamBoard with 'Big Four' vs. 'Little Three'; different methods for each (to be built as we go)
Getting started in the 'Big Four' with history education
I would normally do this: standards, associations, look at some textbooks, get into some methods, then into some research
Instead: Let's just dive in: We'll do an activity called 'The Story of Aaron'
Where the sources come from: The Geography of Slavery in Virginia (UVA)
And here's a lesson plan with these specific sources: 'Finding Aaron' at the Historical Scene Investigations project (William & Mary)
Break down what we just did...
Content knowledge (but then again: did our gaps slow us down at all?)
Technology used (good ol' slideware)
Pedagogy used (what would you call this??)
Identifying key methods for history ed – what are the 'signature' pedagogies? (Put it on the JamBoard!)
What are other methods for teaching history...but that also span other content areas? (Put it on the JamBoard!)
Getting our hands on more history ed resources, approaches
Primary source-driven approaches
DocsTeach – note particularly their worksheets (heuristics) for using primary sources of all types
Historical Thinking Matters from George Mason University Stanford Univ
Simulation / enactment / gaming approaches:
Facing History and Ourselves (Ok, so this has shifted over time – they currently have lots of stuff. However, they made their reputations on the perspective-taking approaches such as Cafe Conversations)
Reacting to the Past – if you ever get the chance to do it, say yes!!!
Mission US - series of games, targeted across different timeperiods of US History
...and some current controversies
Closure
After class
In Slack: Write a history of the world! Just to prevent anyone from getting too ambitious, you have to do it in 300 words or less! (Ok, you can cheat a little...but not by an order of magnitude!)
Look at the history ed resources you're assigned (one of the three buckets above) and pick out at least two things to show in class next week
Prep your 'History Through a Child's Eyes' prep (that is, the image set. See the syllabus for details, but don't let this task drive you too crazy.)
Reading
Barton & Levstik, 1996 ('Back when God was around') – this is the study from which we derive History Through a Child's Eyes assignment (yay!)
History standards
C3 standards – read through the history section
PDE standards – see 'Academic Standards for History (Secondary)'
Chapin chapter on History (Ch. 6)
Session 3 - Wednesday, 17 Feb
Before class
Complete and turn in HTCE prep work. It might help to read Barton & Levstik, 1996 before you do this.
Complete WTL in Slack ("history of the world")
Complete reading
During class ()
Conceptual work
Let's start back on our JamBoard of methods, specifically the one where we were trying to organize some different methods for history education
Talking through our history ed databases from last week
Primary source-driven approaches
DocsTeach – note particularly their worksheets (heuristics) for using primary sources of all types
Historical Thinking Matters from George Mason University Stanford Univ
Simulation / enactment / gaming approaches:
Facing History and Ourselves (Ok, so this has shifted over time – they currently have lots of stuff. However, they made their reputations on the perspective-taking approaches such as Cafe Conversations)
Reacting to the Past – if you ever get the chance to do it, say yes!!!
Mission US - series of games, targeted across different timeperiods of US History
...and some current controversies
Why are primary sources so central to history education?
More playing with primary sources: King Phillip's War
History ed as a source of harm? See work of Sam Wineburg
So why teach history ed?
Closure
After class
Reading
Textbook: Chapin, Ch. 3 & 4
Barton & Levstik, 2003 (challenges of sourcework)
Optional: Wineburg, 1991 (sourcework)
Optional: Hicks, Doolittle & Ewing, 2004
Optional: Lee & Clark, 2004 (digital history, SCIM-C)
Gross-Loh, 2016 (article from The Atlantic) on a history class at Harvard – lots of great, quick exposure to issues in history ed, some good thoughts on methods
Assignments
Complete and turn in OIP #2, don’t forget to include *reflection*
In Slack: I'd like to hear a rationale from everyone about 'why teach history'? Most debates about history ed get into fights over what history to teach...but I think you first have to answer WHY teach any history at all....
Session 4 - Wednesday, 24 Feb
Before class
Complete and turn in OIP #2, don't forget reflection. See syllabus for details.
Complete WTL in Slack ("why teach history")
Complete reading
During class (ppt)
Conceptual work
Last week we talked about the traditional vs. disciplinary stance. Let's make sure we have these anchored in your head. Tell me which video goes best with which? (This is somewhat a trick question that can be argued either way)
Jacobite Rebellions (Three Minute History) – we can just start at the 3:00 mark.
Culloden, a 1964 docudrama from the BBC. (See Wikipedia page about this production. It's wild.) The 34:00 and 44:00 sections are a pretty good sample to get the flavor
We didn't get to the third stance, the one I'm labeling 'classroom-focused'. How would you characterize it?
To explore more thoroughly, we're going to do some activities in Wikipedia, using a couple of jumping-off points
Pledge of Allegiance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pledge_of_Allegiance
Boston Massacre: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Massacre
I'm particularly interested in representations of Crispus Attucks on that page, as well as the page that focuses on him: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crispus_Attucks
Mr. Imagination, an artist whose sculptures can be seen on and around Lehigh's campus. (If you've never been to the sculpture garden behind fraternity row...go there, preferably just before dusk. And alone. Maybe right around Halloween? Pretty great Blair Witch Project vibes.)
My interest in this page actually has to do with its editors – search for Dthomsen8 and see what edits he made, look at what else he edited, see what groups he belongs to.
And now for an example that I planted: Henry Noll (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Noll)
Consider other potential topics of local interest that could use a page or have a page that your students could contribute to: Burnside Plantation, Illick's Mill, South Bethlehem Historic District, Friedensville ....
Consider also: simple.wikipedia.org – could create a page there, or edit an existing page (example: Bethlehem, Pennsylvania).
To bring this around full-circle: Can Wikipedia be used for...
Traditional teaching?
Disciplinary teaching?
Classroom-focused teaching?
And to draw another loop: If you were to use a film or video in a classroom-focused way, what would it look like? (Here's one possible output, from the now-defunct PrimaryAccess: skip to the 2:30 mark here: Japanese-American internment
Closure: We need to move on from history, but...
What's in your methods toolbox?
What do you look like as a history teacher? Describe yourself teaching a lesson
Try on the three different stances – can you briefly describe a lesson (content + method, plus any related technologies) that you might teach in each of these stances?
After class
Reading
Textbook, Ch. 2 (planning)
"What is an Essential Question?"
At least take a brief dip into the folder of materials from Virginia. Look at the standards document first (SOLs), then the framework document. Notice how the standards have been re-framed into the concepts from Wiggins & McTighe / Backwards Design (essential understandings, essential questions, essential knowledge, etc.). It's not all super-awesome, but it's definitely a more useful document than anything you'll find at the state level in Pennsylvania. Finally, look at the scope-and-sequence document – pretty dry, and I'd hate to see someone implement it as-if, but again – it's a good starting point.
Assignments
Complete course plan #1.
Take a look at the course catalog from Liberty High School (or another school, preferably one in Pennsylvania) and pick out a class that you would LOVE to teach.
Don't forget to check the syllabus for the requirements, and don't forget the reflection component.
And feel free to look at my (partial) sample course plan (linked in CourseSite) to give you a sense of the grain-size on this assignment. This is a VERY exploratory assignment – you're walking around in the space, you're sketching out trial balloons....
Session 5 - Wednesday, 3 March
Before class
Complete and turn in your first course plan
Complete reading
During class ()
Opening up civics ed
Connections between civics and history
Civics as a "high-stakes" content area:
USCIS – see test questions
PA Act 35 test mandate resources
Opening salvos on content, methods
Analyzing visual images about the branches of government
Mock elections, mock polling
What makes civics special?
After class
Reading
Civics standards: PDE, C3 – read and mark up!
Chapin, Ch. 7 (Civic Education and Global Education)
Optional: Fallace, 2010 (written for professors, not students, but this is the origin / parallel-thinking of the three stances framework)
Assignments
Complete and turn in second course plan
Complete WTL in Slack (Spanish-American War from three different stances + any civics implications?)
Session 6 - Wednesday, 10 March
Before class
Complete reading. Please *DO* mark up the civics standards. This is a bigger deal than usual!!
Complete WTL
During class ()
Any probs with fieldwork update?
More civics
Why is it special?
What about stances?
Some civics methods / materials
'Bill of Rights bingo' activity
Rawls' "Veil of Ignorance" prompt
WebGIS of LV area school districts (requires Lehigh login, I think?)
GapMinder.org; particularly their Dollar Street database
Another school district-oriented lesson: Mock school board hearing
Project Citizen: official explanatory video from Center for Civic Ed
...and a sidebar on the stuff I've been messing about with on computational thinking. A couple of the activities are civics-focused, so why not?
Closure: Think about microteaching!
After class
Reading
Civics standards: PDE, C3 – read and mark up!
Westheimer & Kahne, 2004
Westheimer, 2009
Optional: Heilman, 2010; Passe, 2010
Project Citizen videos – please watch!
Session 07 - Wednesday, 17 March
Before class
Complete reading, watch linked videos
During class ()
Housekeeping
Civics v. history, again: Civics is special because...it's action-oriented
Giving v. prompting v. making
(Resources used)
https://www.congress.gov/legislation
I want to specifically look at a law that was passed following the 2000 presidential election, trying to improve election administration
Legislation as introduced in the House of Representatives in Nov, 2001
Fun game: Look at the number of bills that became laws in recent Congresses as opposed to back in the 'Before Times' – Congress used to be a lot more active...
This site is less fun than it used to be, but here's a race worth checking out: Georgia 14th district, 2020 cycle
Civics is special because it's dangerous
Aligning frameworks
Curriculum map assignment
Time permitting: Maybe social studies should be buddies with science? Civics is a natural point of connection...check out this thought I've been having about tree canopy, urban heat island effects, redlining, gentrification, and social justice – you need some science to make this work...and if this were just a science lesson and not also a civics lesson, it would be really, really sad.....
After class
Reading
Hammond & Manfra, 2009 (at long last!)
Assignments
Check out at least one game from iCivics.org
WTL: Civics ed, give three lesson ideas (one G, one P, one M) on a topic. (Feel free to use an iCivics game as one of your ideas)
Work on your CURRICULUM MAP – see templates, sample in CourseSite!
Session 8 - Wednesday, 24 Mar
Before class
Complete reading
Complete WTL
During class ()
Conceptual work: Assessment & social studies
Generic purposes & assumptions of assessment: sequestered, individual tasks; assessment OF learning vs. assessment FOR learning; accountability / the 'bottom line' vs. the challenges of failure (or being passed along)
Reviewing things you (may?) already know – formative v. summative, etc.
Assessment in the context of social studies: What's the bottom line, again? Significance of schema, level of non-information in traditional assessments.