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Teaching History (1st/2nd years)

  • 23-08-2015 1:04am
    #1
    NCW feen
    Registered Users Posts: 128 ✭✭


    History is one of my teaching subjects, but since qualifying 5 years ago, I've had very limited experience of teaching it as any hours I've got have been mostly in my other subject, English. I have some hours for History for the coming year, 1st and 2nd years, and I'd just like to know from other History teachers what teaching methodologies they use or find best. Do teachers make a lot of use of textbooks, get students to highlight key points and re-write them in a notes copy or rely more on their own notes/handouts/powerpoints?


Comments

  • #2
    crappyireland
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 98 ✭✭crappyireland


    From my experience I rarely use text book.. When I do its just to recap what we have done. My school is lucky enough to have ipads so I use them to maximum when teaching history. Allowing students to be little budding historians researching for themselves. Text books can be quiet one dimensional so I use PowerPoint's with lots of visuals and audio/video clips.


  • #3
    chases0102
    Registered Users Posts: 1,034 ✭✭✭chases0102


    I like to mix it up - textbook is essentially a crutch, something to fall back on, and for some useful homework assignments. Exploratory Learning I find, is great - give the students a topic, and let them do the research and address/answer questions you pose.

    I find the PDST website has some excellent stuff on using the internet for JC History.


  • #4
    spurious
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 27,103 CMod ✭✭✭✭spurious


    I couldn't use textbooks as they were way beyond the reading skills of the kids I had. I used to tell stories - like you would with a child, repeating the same words and events in order.


  • #5
    stanley1980
    Registered Users Posts: 227 ✭✭stanley1980


    This is just the thread I've been looking for! I've recently been given a second year history class. I love history-am genuinely passionate about it but have very little experience in teaching it.

    I'd love to hear how teachers approach their classes. I feel bad for just using the book-it seems so dull. I've been interspersing this with clips from youtube, graphic organisers/diagrams etc. and my anecdotes/my own knowledge and some artefacts. I've been making powerpoints too with main points summarised but have also been reading the book so I feel it's getting a bit jumbled! I've tentatively asked colleagues, who are nice but I am reluctant to ask too much as they'll realise how clueless I am!
    I trained in the UK (but am Irish) where I never used textbooks- so am a bit unsure what the best thing to do is here. I guess my problem is lack of experience and not being sure which bits the kids really need to know.
    I guess I'd really like to just use my own stuff but perhaps I'll omit important stuff from the book! I get the kids to write up their notes and give questions for homework....somehow it seems quite uninspiring. I also find I'm making really slow progress with my classes- some days after the recap on the previous class there's only a few minutes left! Poor planning on my part.

    I'd love to know how others do their lessons. I really want to make this subject interesting for my students as well as ensuring they do well in exams etc.


  • #6
    Pinkycharm
    Registered Users Posts: 545 ✭✭✭Pinkycharm


    I have a 2nd year history class, they'd be a bit on the weak side and for the month that's in it we've been looking at 1916 newspapers and compiling a timeline and a project on events locally and nationally.

    I get them to do fun things too like for instance we're just done looking at the world wars very briefly so i decided this week to get them to choose a character from history that stood out to them and to write them a letter telling their character what they would do/discover and how they have changed the world for the better/worse today. Also had to include personal opinions etc.

    Worked like a dream.

    Just get stuck in there. Sit down like circle time and tell them stories like what Spurious said above. They will pick it up so much quicker and remember it. I know I have 6th years that still remember stories I told them in first year. I also try to pull in the local area to history as much as possible. We took a trip out to see a local ringfort and castle when we looked at those periods and then they had to design their own castle and label the features. After every topic we out together a project they can use as notes. There is a company in our town that can publish little books and pamphlets so the class have 4 books (about 10 pages each) written up already in our reading corner in school where anyone in the school can read them and copy notes from them. I told them they are all writers now and can say they have a published book. Its great!

    They are so proud of them. I was thinking of making them an ebook for their efforts and putting it up on itunes/amazon and seeing how it does for them.


    All of them are growing in confidence- I just love seeing them come on. Its one of my most rewarding classes.


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