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Craig Leeper - Short EssaysA. I am the right person to be teaching history because history is the field that I find particularly exciting. I believe that teachers should be captivated by their subject matter. My students are aware of how fascinating I find history to be and I feel this contributes to a more positive classroom environment. I also enjoy helping make connections from past events to current situations with students. I also believe I'm the right person to teach this subject because I am willing to try new ideas and strategies to strengthen student interest. When presenting lessons I always ask myself "would I find this boring?" Another reason I believe I'm the right person to be teaching history is the education I have received and continue to acquire. I obtained more credits than required for both my major (History) and my minor (Geography) in addition to many other social science classes taken as a "Broad Field Social Studies" student. I believe this has adequately prepared me to teach the subject. Education courses taken while working towards my teaching certificate has helped me to understand adolescents and how they learn as well as various teaching strategies. In short, I believe I'm the right person to teach history because of my education, my enthusiasm for the subject, my desire for students to better understand and enjoy history and my willingness to continue to develop as an educator.B.
A classroom success story... " Teaching History in Waukegan"
Over the last couple of years I have had a few "A" students who constantly performed well. One such student last year was a girl from Belize. Her work far surpassed those of her peers, yet she continued to correct worksheets and tests for the additional credit that can be earned. After I explained to her that an "A" would remain an "A" and she didn't need to turn corrections in, she still was able to maintain the highest grade among all my students. One week after giving my classes an extra credit assignment on reporting "Who was Pol Pot and what was his plan for Cambodia?" she turned in a 5 page report, the only student to do so. Why I am sharing this episode as a classroom success story is because this student connected many of the things taught in class about South-East Asia into her report. She was able to take information from several sources and put it into her own words using many of the vocabulary terms of my SE Asia unit. I consider it a success because someone who didn't need the points was motivated enough to answer my question and obtain that extra little bit of knowledge. C.With the help of McRAH I now feel prepared to address the following challenge in my teaching... and that would be student retention of learned material. I have noticed that many students have difficulty applying past knowledge to new situations. What McRAH has already helped me with is by showing how students can group various subjects under particular categories or themes. I plan on using this approach with the Components of Civilization and the Themes of Geography as I cover world regions during the coming school year. By having the students correctly group new terms and ideas under these themes and leaving them posted in the room I believe it will better enable the students to retain this information. Comparing and contrasting different cultures should also become easier for my students to accomplish.D. QUOTE: "Historical memory is the key to self-identity,... to one's connectedness with all humankind; and all American students must have equal access to well-prepared history teachers and to engaging, balanced, accurate, and challenging curricular materials." RESPONSE: I agree with the quote that historical knowledge does help the student better understand the story of humankind and how they connect to it. Studying American history can also help explain to students the people and events that have impacted this country and what it means to be an American. I agree that students must have equal access to well-prepared teachers and good curricular materials but I don't believe that is the case in all of our nation's public schools. I would currently place myself under a well-prepared history teacher that is still collecting and modifying engaging, balanced, accurate and challenging curricular materials. This is something that takes time, money and energy. I think students in poorer school districts do not have "equal access" to the teachers and materials that higher income districts can employ.
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