I'm always shocked when I hear adults say they hate history, I think to myself, 'What is your soul dead?!' History is more fascinating than any one book or movie, as the story of us, it is full of love, hate, passion, sorrow, joy. History is our collective scripture, it's where we can go to learn life lessons, that make our life's more meaningful and rich.
(Cindy Ness)

This may be a long quote but to me as a middle school teacher it refocuses me to teach sequences of events that could apply to my students lives.
(Cody Owen)

Is there a better quote for a teacher, my 8th graders offten say this is boring but when I'm exsited they are excited (or they think in odd)
(Cody Owen)

(Becky Rees)

To me, it’s very important to constantly remind my students that it has been a long process to get to the point we are at currently, in terms of unity and racial divide. We are far from perfect, but America has changed and become more inclusive. 

I found this quote interesting. I hadn’t thought about the singular or plural version of “these” or “the” United States. I like the idea of being a unified, singular country, though it doesn’t always seem that way. 
(Kim Perry)

One of my students recently began a DBQ essay on the Constitution by referencing those involved as “the pasty-faced guys who wore tights.” I love this reminder from McCullough that these men were idealistic and young; not the elder statesmen with powdered hair. Helping our students to see the founders as young passionate men of character who made mistakes and had flaws makes them more relatable. This reminded me of walking through Signers Hall at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. You walk among 42 life-sized statues of the signers of the Constitution. My reaction was similar to the way McCullough describes “John Trumbull’s great painting, ‘The Declaration of Independence, Fourth of July, 1776’…But what is accurate about it are the faces. Every single one of the 47 men in that painting is an identifiable, and thus accountable, individual.” 
Getting my students to see the founders as real people wanting to make a significant difference is a challenge, but essential to help them appreciate who they were.
(Kim Perry)

 

“We are concerned that the movement, when it is given classroom time, is reduced to lessons about a handful of heroic figures and the four words “I have a dream.” Students need to know that the movement was much bigger than its most notable leaders, and that millions of people mustered the courage to join the struggle, very often risking their lives in the process.” 

The most valuable class I took while receiving my history endorsement was my “Civil Rights Movement” class. The Civil Rights movement has always been of interest to me, but my eyes were opened to so many men and women who sacrificed and set the stage for any change that would take place. I had never heard the name, Claudette Colvin, who had been arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a bus. This was 9 months before Rosa Parks. Names like JoAnne Robinson, Virginia Durr (white woman), E.D. Nixon, and the women of the bus boycott are mostly unknown. None of this was an overnight idea, but something that had been in the planning stages for years. Racism was rampant in the south, and many in the black community had been working toward desegregating schools, and changing Jim Crow laws. It definitely was not a King and Parks movement. 

“We know that textbooks and core materials too often strip out context and richness to present a limited account of the movement.  We know that no comprehensive content standards exist for teaching about the movement. We know that even the most experienced teachers of U.S. history tend to rush to the finish line once their courses pass World War II..” 

Here’s another great reminder to chuck the textbook. Referring back to the McCullough article, literature and history go hand in hand. I always teach a Civil Rights unit at the end of the year and it’s my favorite. I pair it with Mississippi Trial (the story of Emmitt Till) and Warriors Don’t Cry (the story of the Little Rock 9) It’s a real eye opener for my students.  (Kim Perry) 

Our history is sometimes hard to teach because I think I do sometimes want to sugarcoat or "sanitize" certain topics. It's made me think about why I do this. Maybe it's because I am embarrassed about some of our nation's mistakes? Or maybe it's because I worry about upsetting parents in what I say or creating an awkward environment for certain students. To be frank, I've had African-American students squirm in their seat as I talk about slavery while Caucasian students take quick glances at them and that makes me uncomfortable too. (Lisa Lystrup)

This makes me think of the saying "NO pain, NO gain." We have to go through hard times to perfect our nation. People tend to come together and become stronger when faced with trials/difficult situations. It's not the prettiest path to take, but at least we're moving forward. (Lisa Lystrup)

More often than not, good things come out of hardships/tragedies. Take 9/11 for example. Our nation stood together and we became one instead of just New Yorkers or Utahns. We do this during hurricanes as well. We come together to help all citizens of the United States, not just our neighbors in the same state. (Lisa Lystrup)

This can be so empowering for students to know. I think many of us think, I'm just one person, what difference does it make? But change has to start somewhere. As Bud Caldwell would say (in the book Bud, Not Buddy-reading this right now with my class :) so it's on my mind), it starts out as a seed and turns into a mighty maple tree. Working together we can turn our seed into a mighty maple. (Lisa Lystrup)

Makes me think of the saying hindsight is 20-20. It’s easy to look in the past and critique others’ actions. It’s easy to scratch your head and think, why would they have done this? But we have an advantage-we see the big picture as they do not. I often think about who I would be had I lived during the civil rights movement. Would I have been standing aside those fighting for their rights, or on the opposite side oppressing people’s rights? One would only hope that we would be standing with MLK and Rosa Parks, but we have the big picture right now, whereas if we lived back then, maybe we would have been persuaded by social norms and desensitized to racism. (Lisa Lystrup)

I know this to be true. I had some amazing math teachers in 7^th, 10^th, 11^th and 12^th grade. They LOVED math and they were excited to teach it everyday. I honestly believe my love for math stems from them. They had an attitude of enthusiasm that I caught; and I hope I now instill that same enthusiasm into my students not only for math but also for every subject. (Lisa Lystrup)

Yes, yes, and yes! I cannot agree any more with this statement. American history textbooks will most definitely kill the interest on any topic. We have so many other resources available to us in this day and age. When I think of my own history education in elementary, jr. high, and especially high school, all I can remember are textbooks and worksheets to go with those textbooks. I know this is why history was my least favorite subject. I don't want to disservice my students by learning history only through a textbook. (Lisa Lystrup)

The student population I work with currently easily recognizes injustice because they live it daily. They find a strong connection to the Civil Rights Movement and are able to apply strategies they learn to their own lives. Many years ago, I taught science to a more privileged/able population who struggled tremendously to recognize injustice. Their history teacher tended to gloss over the Civil Rights Movement and all other topics which were more uncomfortable (for the teacher). Hmm.

(Logan V)

 

I find this deeply disturbing. Perhaps not as severe as my 7th grade textbook which explained in detail how happy and content slaves were with the institution of slavery, but I’ve been told not to teach some facts about American History. The reason being it’s too disturbing for students to know that our country has ever done anything wrong. I taught it anyway. Other than some rebellious teachers, what else can be done to combat this continuing trend?

(Logan V)

I find so much truth in this statement. 

Whilst history and debate were important aspects of my cultural experience growing up, I’ve found it happens rarely for my students in their homes. Teachers alone cannot raise and plant uncut flower students.
(Logan V)

I grew up all over the country and in some areas there were many white boys waxing nostalgic about the War of Northern Aggression. The good days when the South was strong. It’s been awhile, I’m curious how much it has really changed. 

Truth be told, I really enjoyed the other two articles. This one, not as much. Perhaps if I had read this article in 2013 when it was written, I would have had a different reaction. However, 2018 is a whole different deal which will make our studies much more interesting to say the least. By the by, Robert Hicks has an adorable dog as seen on his website’s bio page. 

(Logan V)

I have never thought of education as an expansion of the experience of being alive, but each new bit of knowledge we gain, does exactly that.  It gives our world another dimension, it adds a new lens for our vision, or expands our heart with new feelings.  Learning of the past, and especially OUR past, brings the experience to a whole new personal level. (Kristan Norton)

“That calls for empathy on the part of the teller of the story and of the reader or listener to the story. And we ought to be growing, encouraging, developing historians who have heart and empathy to put students in that place of those people before us who were just as human, just as real—and maybe in some ways more real than we are. We’ve got to teach history and nurture history and encourage history because it’s an antidote to the hubris of the present—the idea that everything we have and everything we do and everything we think is the ultimate, the best.” 

 

As I read this quote, the word “empathy” jumped out at me.  I have long felt that the lack of civility we see in Washington DC, the civil unrest that is being highlighted in our nation’s largest cities, and even the discord felt in our homes were all symptoms of a society that was lacking in empathy.  I had just never thought that providing a stronger educational foundation in history was the antidote.  When our students are given the opportunity to hear these “stories” and feel the emotions of those who lived these events, we will help them have a new-found understanding of why the events unfolded as they did and a deeper empathy for present situations that mirror the past. (Kristan Norton)

Truth bomb: This is me.  I have always felt so uncomfortable about the social injustices suffered by our residents of color that have taken place from before this country was founded up to the present day.  How could people be so cruel?  How could they be so ignorant?  ‘They should have known better!’ And then I read this article and realized that most of the time people really do try to do their best. We are all flawed.  We do better when we know better.  My thoughts were so judgmental and I need to research deeper into history to find the reasons that led to so many of these events and see how these same cultural patterns and beliefs are being repeated. As I grow and change, I can better lead my students to better pathways. (Kristan Norton)

“Students need to know that the movement was much bigger than its most notable leaders, and that millions of people mustered the courage to join the struggle, very often risking their lives in the process. They need to know that the dream to which Dr. King gave voice has not yet been fully realized, despite the election of an African-American president. They need to know that as long as race is a barrier to access and opportunity, and as long as poverty is commonplace for people of color, the dream has not been achieved.” 

This passage from the selection was meaningful to me because so many in our country are angry over current events.  Unfortunately, and all too frequently, I hear mainstream citizens complain that those who are expressing their dissatisfaction are being ungrateful, disrespectful or un-American.  Struggle of any kind is usually not clean and tidy.  It is muddy, it goes outside the accepted social boundaries, and it frequently raises eyebrows of the onlookers.  In order to get the attention that is required for change, it must be this way.  (Kristan Norton) 

As part of human nature, we like our world to be “in place, balanced, fixed. “ We want to present our nation’s events as a matched set of Problems and their corresponding Solutions.  This really does create the “sanitized version”  as Terrie Epstein calls it. By presenting the Civil Rights Movement as a “national triumph of good over evil” we are only creating confusion for our students.  They can see that this issue is not solved.  We need to help them see that in our nation, just as in our own lives, some problems require extensive work, and solutions are usually not found instantaneously.  (Kristan Norton)

I have never really thought about events morphing over time.  To me, they were events, they happened, they are facts.  To say they “morphed” over time, would seem to imply that they are not facts, as facts are stationary, they are unchanged.  Yet, as I thought about this statement and reread it a few more times, I can see the wisdom in it.  The Civil War is a fact, it did not change, but our national view and in the words of the author “memory” has taken a dramatic turn.  The events of Charlottesville last summer and the removal of many of the Southern statues are concrete reflection this change. (Kristan Norton)

For one thing, it matters as a reflection of how much America has changed.”

I think we often forget as a society how far we have come. It often seams that we expect America to be complety over racial issues. Whe tend to forget the progress we truly have made. Yes, it would amazing if race was a nonissue. But we fail to remember the progress we have made in a relatively short time. (Mandee Webster)

“In that way, the Civil War is less important to the descendants of those who fought in it than it is to those whose ancestors were living halfway around the globe at the time. For if you have chosen to throw your lot in with this country, the American Civil War is at the foundation of your reasons to do so.”

The Civil War may be the beginning of the reason for immigration, but I feel as though the words of Abraham Lincoln outline the true dream of citizenship: 

It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced...  That we here, highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain. That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom”

It is that unfinished work that we are still struggling to complete. (Kristan Norton)

 

                “How we remember the war is a marker for who we are as a nation.”

I believe that there are many events in history that could be defined in this way.  The Civil War and Civil Rights are historical and yet ever present.  The role of these two extremely important events in the lives of Americans is very significant.  Our nation is and will be greatly defined by our ability to remember who we are by remembering where we’ve come from.  This includes recalling the horrific past that the Civil War and slavery portray.

“The American Century, the Greatest Generation and all the rest are somehow born out of the sacrifice of those 750,000 men and boys. None of it has been perfect, but I wouldn’t want to be here without it.”

What a wonderful revelation!  The greatness of our nation truly has come from the many trials that we’ve passed through, one of the greatest trials by fire being that of the Civil War.  Thinking of the past of our country, I believe that helping our youth understand the Civil War and its impact on us today can help them solidify why it is so great to live here.  This country has been fighting for freedom since the beginning, especially for those who have historically had the least amount of liberty.  (Erin Wirthlin)

“History isn’t just something that ought to be taught or ought to be read or ought to be encouraged because it’s going to make us a better citizen. It will make us a better citizen; or because it will make us a more thoughtful and understanding human being, which it will; or because it will cause us to behave better, which it will. It should be taught for pleasure: The pleasure of history, like art or music or literature, consists of an expansion of the experience of being alive, which is what education is largely about.”

 

This quote struck me right away.  History education shouldn’t just help with good citizenship, thoughtfulness, improved behavior, or an improved future.  History should be learned and taught for the pleasure of the experience!  The subject of Civil War and Civil Rights needs to be continually taught and understood for the excitement of learning and understanding more.  

“How unpardonable it would be for us—with all that we have been given, all the advantages we have, all the continuing opportunities we have to enhance and increase our love of learning—to turn out blockheads or to raise blockheads. What we do in education, what these wonderful teachers and administrators and college presidents and college and university trustees do is the best, most important work there is.”

When we have an understanding of the Civil War and Civil Rights it becomes that much more important to be teaching this today.  The understanding that we have of these events and their connection to each other and to today are extremely important for the youth.  We need to help them see the great significance of these events and the impact that they have on their lives.  (Erin Wirthlin)

“When students learn about the movement, they learn what it means to be active American citizens. They learn how to recognize injustice. They learn about the transformative role played by thousands of ordinary individuals, as well as the importance of organization for collective change. They see that people can come together to stand against oppression.”

One of the main reasons students still need to learn about the Civil Rights movement and Slavery is because of what it can do for them!  Teaching is and always will be about those that are learning, our students.  This movement needs to change their lives forever!

“Students need to know that the movement was much bigger than its most notable leaders, and that millions of people mustered the courage to join the struggle, very often risking their lives in the process. They need to know that the dream to which Dr. King gave voice has not yet been fully realized, despite the election of an African-American president. They need to know that as long as race is a barrier to access and opportunity, and as long as poverty is commonplace for people of color, the dream has not been achieved.”

I believe that the first three words about sums this up, “students need to know”.  Students need to know and understand the “courage” and struggle of the millions that were involved in this movement and the continual involvement of millions more today.  This has been a never ending battle that continues in our neighborhoods, schools, and overall communities.  Students need to know this! (Erin Wirthlin)