Corrected is a series of articles about parts of history that are commonly taught incorrectly in high school. The articles are penned by Dr. James Loewen, who has been writing about these issues for decades and has several books on the matter. Loewen’s strategy involves first addressing what specifically teachers get wrong in American history, then acknowledging the truth, and finally giving a general outline on how to teach the various subjects. One example that I found effective was in teaching secession. In this example, Loewen asked the students in the classroom what they thought could be the various possible reasons for secession. After doing so, Loewen began to go more in depth and allowed the students to do their own research to learn about the subject. I believe this strategy is very effective, as it directly confronts pre-existing biases that are likely to exist in a subject such as secession.

First and foremost, Loewen’s work is a good touchstone for referencing commonly taught historical subjects. History is vast and complex, so being able to quickly refresh myself on a subject is helpful. In particular, Corrected provides a quick reference point to address commonly brought up misconceptions (such as Secession being over states rights). Beyond that, Loewen advocates for a very student led style of teaching. Multiple times throughout the series he mentions how he would ask his students what they thought or understood about certain areas of history, a strategy I intend to incorporate. In addition, Loewen’s focus on allowing students to do their own research and addressing history on their own terms is inspiring to me.

https://neaedjustice.org/social-justice-issues/racial-justice/introducing-series-corrected/

The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network was founded in 1990. They focus on championing LGBTQ+ issues within K-12 education, with an emphasis on creating bully-free environments in schools. It is the belief of GLSEN that having even one teacher who is openly supportive of LGBTQ+ issues can assist LGBTQ+ students in feeling welcome and encouraged to learn. In addition, GLSEN see’s that there are many benefits to increasing LGBTQ+ visibility. To this end, they have created a number of lesson plans that discuss LGBTQ+ issues. In particular, for history, GLSEN provides a lesson overview for creating an LGBTQ+ historical timeline.

I believe in incorporating more lesson plans relating to LGBTQ+ history in classes. Increasing awareness of LGBTQ+ people’s historical presence is fundamental to creating a more diverse and accurate history curriculum. In addition, making clear to LGBTQ+ students that I am supportive of them is essential to creating a brave space within the classroom. I like the concept of having a timeline project, although I would use it in a supplementary fashion to the rest of the curriculum. After all, if I’m doing a broad timeline as my focus of LGBTQ+ issues, then it takes away time that could be used for more specific education regarding LGBTQ+ history. What I think could be interesting is doing this project on National coming out day, or some other LGBTQ+ related holiday. Other lesson plans included on the GLSEN website touch on more in-school issues like name calling. While these are less instantly applicable to history, I would be open to implementing aspects of these lessons, especially if I feel the issues they touch on are topical to the class. This can be either due to present political issues, or possibly even an issue within the class/school.

https://www.glsen.org/resources/educator-resources

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is an organization dedicated to combating bigotry and hate. The ADL has a particular focus on anti-semitism, however, a major part of their mission is to go beyond this and adress all forms of hate. An example of this is their numerous lesson plans, in particular a lesson plan on the noose, both its historical context and its newly revived symbolic power. This lesson plan uses a sort of before and after strategy for teaching. First the teacher asks students to give what they know about the subject. She then gives relevant information, including both historical and modern sources, before giving students discussion questions. This strategy of assessing current student knowledge, and possibly exposing preconceptions, would be beneficial for addressing either complex or controversial subjects.

While I likely wouldn’t use this lesson specifically, as the noose’s cultural relevance varies, I see it as a beneficial outline for other lessons regarding relevant symbols. One example of this is the Confederate Flag, which has a storied history, while also being very present in current media. Of course, the emphasis in a lesson like this is to take popular symbols and put them into their historical context. In addition, the focus the author takes on addressing the students as individuals with their own thoughts and previously formed expectations about history is also an important aspect of the lesson plan I intend to incorporate.

https://www.adl.org/edu/lessons

Facing History states their goal very clearly on their website when they say “Facing History and Ourselves uses lessons of history to challenge teachers and their students to stand up to bigotry and hate.” To achieve these goals, Facing History advocates for addressing racism and other forms of prejudice that have been present throughout history. The website itself has a number of different teaching strategy guides that provide helpful ways to outline a lesson. These guides are varied, and include effective ways to handle everything from volatile political discussions to more mundane tasks such as annotating and paraphrasing texts. In turn, Facing History emphasizes the importance of both social justice teaching and engagement with difficult ideas, while also acknowledging the important fundamentals of studying history.

There are a number of different activities found in Facing History’s repertoire that I see as being useful. One example is the Character Map activity. This activity outlines a way for students to take research and turn it into a short presentation about an individual. Specifically, students are asked to both describe the actions and temperament of a figure, but also on how they may have felt about certain things and what was important to them. I believe this is an effective tool to humanize historical figures, and to start students thinking about how people in history are not just names on a paper. I may also use this activity in conjunction with the LBTQ timeline discussed above, if I have the class time available for a lengthier project. Another activity Facing History features is a Document Analysis Form. This form, which is more focused on fundamental historiography principles, provides students a graphic organizer for analyzing a reading. The organizer demands that students address important components of a document such as perspective and biases of the author, and the broader significance of the source. I believe it could be a helpful tool for introducing students to primary sources.

https://www.facinghistory.org/educator-resources