Teaching
Mindful Moments
In the past couple of years, I’ve tried to embrace mindfulness more frequently in my life. I tend to be on the go a lot, and have multiple to-do…
Teaching
Most of these posts come from a high school history classroom in St. Louis, with others written by college instructors. They cover teaching apartheid and the history of slavery, using television in class, research projects that hand students real archives, late-work penalties, and the move to online teaching in 2020.
They are practical and specific, with assignments, reading lists and what went wrong the first time.
Teaching
Learning to Love Online Teaching
Last week was the start of my 2020 spring semester and although much of it was very familiar, it will be unique because it’s the first time I will be…
Teaching
Unexpected Journey
If you’d asked me a year ago or five years ago if I’d like to travel to Taiwan, I’d have told you it’s not something I’d thought about.
Teaching
Television in the Classroom: An Update on How This Old Prof Learned A New Trick
A couple posts ago I wrote about a fabulous show I’d found on Netflix and the excitement it inspired in me to use television in the classroom,…
Teaching
To Do it Better: Teaching the History of Slavery
Note: I’m taking a brief break from my recent series on the women’s history course I’m teaching.
Teaching
Finding the Possible Value of TV in the Classroom
In addition to chemotherapy and radiation, self-care has been an important part of my cancer treatment.
Teaching
(Re)Designing Women
Part 3 in an ongoing series about Tanya’s fall elective on American women’s history. See Part 1 here and Part 2 here .
Teaching
Designing Women, Part II
Last month, I wrote about my initial work designing my Intro to History of American Women’s Rights this fall.
Teaching
Designing Women (Part 1)
Readers, it’s summer. It’s that glorious time when teachers (like me) can kick back, relax, and just be in the peaceful bliss. (At least in theory.
Teaching
The School Year Ends
The summer ends and we wonder where we are And there you go, my friends, with your boxes in your car And you both look so young And last night was…
Teaching
Final Projects
It’s the end of the semester, which means it’s final project season. When everyone has their eyes set on summer break (myself included), it can be…
Teaching
On Late Work and Penalties
Not long ago, I mentioned my school’s late work policy in passing on Twitter, and someone wanted to know more, suggesting I write about it here.
Teaching
Legacies
While a lot of people are just getting into the swing of their semester , in my K12 world, our second trimester of the school year just concluded.
Teaching
The History Teacher Abroad
Last summer, I mentioned I was heading to a seminar in Cambridge as part of a sabbatical through my school.
Teaching
What’s your Creative Nonfiction Really About?
In honor of National Novel Writing Month , I’m going to tell you another story about the time I taught a nonfiction writing class titled “Writing…
Teaching
The Newness of Old Things
In the Midwestern state where I live, autumn blew in last week, unexpectedly after what we thought were endless warm days.
Teaching
Tangled Webs
It’s been more than a decade, but I still remember how excited I felt at the prospect of being a teaching assistant (TA) in graduate school.
Teaching
The Creativity of Project Management & Grants Administration
Smart Women & Co., I am so excited to tell you about my new position as Mellon Partner for Humanities Education Fellowship Postdoctoral research…
Teaching
Ruminations on the End of Summer, and the Start of the School Year
Labor day weekend can be a mixed bag. While I never lament a Monday off, especially to honor workers past, present, and future, this weekend does…
Teaching
Untitled: Finding a Teaching Style
Angela wrote a fantastic piece last week about finding your nonfiction writing voice. This week, I’m going to branch off from that a little to…
Teaching
Taking A Risk: Teaching Slavery & Race to Students 50+ Yrs Old in the US South
I’ve just finished teaching what has been one of my most thought-provoking and soul-stirring classes this spring: a class on comparative slavery &…
Teaching
Teacher As Student: Resources
Five weeks. Just five weeks from now, my students will pack up their bags, drop off their laptops at the Help Desk, and clear out from campus for…
Teaching
The End of Time, and Regeneration
The new year is barely underway, but one major part of my life this school year is about to come to a close: my 20th century world history course.
Teaching
Teaching Apartheid
Five months later, I think of South Africa often, but nothing took me back to South Africa like this past week.
Teaching
Creative Control
I learned this during a world history graduate seminar years ago. I hadn’t thought about the challenges of teaching world history until then, but…
Teaching
Writing And Teaching About Difficult Subjects
I replied twice, but soon realized there was so much more to say. I’m a historian of the Atlantic Slave Trade.
Teaching
Autumnal Reveries
I’ve felt restless this month, caught between one thing and another, going here and there, completing work, finding new tasks, never quite feeling…
Teaching
Nobody Wants to Change
Generally, people don’t like it when you tell them they need to change. They might grudgingly do it when they recognize you are right, but the…
Teaching
Glimpsing the Rainbow Nation
A year ago, my school asked if I would be interested in chaperoning a trip to South Africa this summer.
Teaching
Summer Living, Teacher-Style
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a teacher approaching the end of the school year must be in dire need of summer break.
Teaching
The Research Connection
You know, that process of going to the library sometime in your elementary or secondary or college education to learn about some topic so you…
Teaching
To Write, or Not To Write that Encyclopedia Article?
Picture the scene: I am eight years old. I have a mullet (I have a German mother, and it was the early 90s, so I refuse to be ashamed of this).
Teaching
The History of Us All
“I became more of a feminist than I ever imagined.” – Eleanor Roosevelt The more I learn about Eleanor Roosevelt, the more I like her.
Teaching
The Art of Recommendation
I’ve just finished writing college letters of recommendation for former students of mine, and that got me thinking of the mechanics of writing…
Teaching
Facing the Fake
In the last six months, I’ve had frequent flashbacks to my early college years. Those were the days when the university still had computer labs…
Teaching
Endings|Beginnings
Last month, we were all a little obsessed with beginnings. New year, new presidency – it’s all been a little crazy. It still is.
Teaching
Handle with Care
I am not good at being kind to myself. For more than two decades, I have been a self-starter, a highly motivated individual with often singular…
Teaching
“Children will listen”
Early November usually looms with promise for me. At school, we end our first term with a lovely three-day weekend (for grading, admittedly) and…
Teaching
Teaching as Creative Process
I tend to think of myself as a late bloomer. No, that’s not accurate. Let’s put it this way, instead: I have a lot of different interests, and…
Teaching
Course Planning with Scrivener
A couple weeks ago on the history blog Junto, Michael D. Hattem wrote about using Scrivener for his dissertation writing process.
Teaching
No Spells for This
Right now, my three-year-old son is really into magic. Sometimes he’s a witch, donning his $3 Target bargain witch hat and pointing my old Harry…