[ cross-posted to Teaching United States History 2/11/13 ] It’s no secret to anyone who knows me that I really like WordPress. I use it for my own ePortfolio, for a variety of blogging endeavors both personal and professional, and…
Groundhog Day One, 2013 Version
[ cross-posted to TUSH.0 on 1/18/13 ] Starting the US history survey feels a little like poor Phil Connor’s life, since I teach it every single semester. Except I’m never quite getting it right, so I try it again a…
History Now
[ crossposted to TUSH.0 on 12/27/12 ] The second half of the US survey, at least in our course catalog, goes “to the present.” How many of us actually get there in a typical semester? Be real. My last unit…
On Ending a Course
[cross-posted to Juvenile Instructor on 12/20/12] I’ve just finished teaching my fall course on American religious pluralism—in fact, I was supposed to post about this yesterday but I’m still grading their final exams and submitting grades. It’s that time of…
Survey Course at Mid-Term: The Primary Source Project
[ cross-posted to TUSH.0 on 10/18/12 ] I have previously written about the little SkillBuilder papers I use in my survey course. In addition to exams and quizzes, I also have students create two projects. One, a paper, falls about…
My Broken Record: Frequent Paper Comments
[Cross-posted to TUSH.0] I recently wrote about the “SkillBuilder†assignment I use in the survey class – which is a recurring, low-stakes 2-page primary source analysis exercise. Each time one is graded, I return it to the students with all…
The Skill Builder (and which skills, exactly?)
[ Cross-posted to TUSH.0 ] This post is a preview of my Fall 2012 US history survey syllabus, starting with page 4, the guidelines for the “SkillBuilder†assignment (clicko on the image to download the page PDF). Just what ARE…
Summer Reading ’12
I don’t like the beach in the summer, but I do read a lot. So these books aren’t “beach reads,” exactly, but they are what I’ve been devouring this summer. The stack of possibilities far exceeds the number of weeks…
The Paperless Textbook Option
[Cross-posted to TUSH.0, the Teaching United States History blog, 7/19/12] Following up on Ed’s recent post about balancing a book’s beauty with its gee-whiz visual aesthetics, I wanted to continue the conversation about survey textbooks and formats. I’ve also been…
Thinking About the Cardboard Box
Caine’s Arcade came along at just the right moment this past semester, when I was feeling tired and jaded about everything and its infusion of wonder and joy was a like a refreshing breeze. I showed it in a couple…