My Blog

  Sun 19 2011 The advance of knowledge has been achieved not because the mind is capable of memorizing what teachers say but because it can be disciplined to ask probing questions and pursue them in a reasonable, self-critical way. Scholars pursuing knowledge submit...

  Tue 12 2011 One may hear a thousand words or read a thousand volumes, and, at the end of the process, be very much where [he or she] was as regards knowledge. Something more than merely admitting it into the mind is necessary, if it is to remain there. It must not...

Tue 3 2012 [Differentiation] is a way of thinking about the classroom with the dual goals of honoring each student’s learning needs and maximizing each student’s learning capacity. —Carol Ann Tomlinson, Caroline Cunningham Eidson (1) As classroom teachers we know that...

Sun 8 2011 As you enter a classroom ask yourself this question: "If there were no students in the room, could I do what I am planning to do?" If your answer to the question is yes, don't do it. ( —General Ruben Cubero [1]) This quote says a lot about the types of...

Tue 31 2011 [The readers] fundamental purpose is to understand the text, to grasp what is being said from the point of view of the person writing. —Richard Paul In recent blogs I have written about teaching strategies for involving students in inquiry and using...

I emphasize student writing in my teaching. Writing, after all, is simply putting thoughts on paper and so, in a very real sense, writing is thinking. If my students learn to write clearly, concisely, accurately, and completely they are disciplining their historical...

Mon 17 2011 As teachers of history, we know that there are the curricular realities of textbooks, common assessments, district outcomes, and state standards to meet. But as teachers of history, we can regularly experience the motivating effects of having students...

Sun 13 2011 The lecture has fallen on difficult times . . . it relies too heavily on auditory input and makes students passive as opposed to active learners. —Silver, Strong, and Perini (1) As history teachers we may often use the lecture format, and perhaps many of...

Sun 6 2011 The word history comes from the Greek historein—meaning “to inquire.” Recommendations for using inquiry [for learning history] have a long tradition. People learn through inquiry. . . . inquiry is an approach consistent with current theory and research on...