We hope you enjoyed the rich conversation in the Assessing Historical Thinking Live Discussion. So, what’s your takeaway from this session? We’d love to hear your assessment. Post your comments and questions below.
We hope you enjoyed the rich conversation in the Assessing Historical Thinking Live Discussion. So, what’s your takeaway from this session? We’d love to hear your assessment. Post your comments and questions below.
Clarity is essential. So is authentic communication. Thank you, all.
Personal positionality activities allow students to see themselves as historical actors and individuals with different perspectives. The language we use matters (avoid "bias" and instead use "perspective…
It was awesome that some of the techniques that were shared came with some methods of differentiation for all levels of students
Hi Lynn, Carly is looking through some old Google docs to find the resources/lesson. But feel free to email her and she can share when she finds it: Carly Fox <cfox@castilleja.org>
If Carley is still out there answering questions -
We want our students to be critical and to question sources of information. Do you ever worry about going too far? When you discuss looking critically at Migrant Mother and what the agenda of the photographer might have been or how even something true can be arranged as propaganda. Are you ever worried you'll erode the idea of truth and objectivity and feed into some of the objectives of rising fascist ideologies? How do you put up guard rails to keep " Question everything " from turning into " Nothing can be trusted. "
Love those suggestions, MaryLynn Bieron ! Thanks for sharing!
Wineburg shares the British Royal Society's motto Nullius in verba ("take nobody's word for it') as a way to help students approach historical/critical thinking. I think this is a great way to encourage students to approach critical thinking without feeding into a complete erosion of truth. By encouraging them to ask questions, seek motivation of a source creator (as in the example you gave), and consider context, it's less about eroding the truth and more about uncovering the truth of the creator (ie. positionality or perspective).
I also think Crissy's (How do we know what we know? video) idea of introducing the professions that uncover and interpret sources of the past, the training they have, etc. helps students establish a process of the questions they ask and the research they perform to decide who they might trust.
As a side note, Lynn Hunt (History: Why it Matters) and Sarah Maza (Thinking About History) both do a great job of examining whether or not objectivity in history is even possible from the perspective of professional historians. Hunt's is a particularly quick read and very thought provoking.
We hope this session kept you all engaged! Here are the links shared in the chat during the Assessing Historical Thinking Live Discussion. If you missed the conversation, recordings will be available tomorrow so you can watch at your leisure. We look forward to seeing you all tomorrow!
https://www.allaboutexplorers.com/
Media Literacy & Digital Citizenship Collection Resources | OER Commons
Hannah Logue: How to Spot Fake News | TED Talk
Enough with the CRAAP: We’re just not doing it right (slj.com)
Holocaust Center for Humanity - Best Practices (holocaustcenterseattle.org)
Connecting Social Studies and ELA Shifts in the Elementary Classroom | Social Studies
https://www.archaeologyincommunity.com/uploads/1/3/8/8/138826847/ancient_nubia_unit_true_final.pdf
American Battlefield Trust | Preserving Hallowed Battlegrounds (battlefields.org)
C3 in the Classroom: Compelling Questions Smithsonian Magazine
Cathy Gunn the recap email from yesterday said that the replays would be available soon and that the OER Project would let folks know when that is the case. If I remember correctly from previous years, the turnaround time was pretty quick. Hope you enjoy the conference!
Nisse Welchman I totally agree with the language notion you bring up. That was a major takeaway in my notes, too! The idea of both/and thinking instead of right/wrong is critically important. I constantly remind my students that context matters when looking at the past. It's simple to pass judgment or say something was bad or wrong using our 2022 lens. However, that's not thinking like a historian!
Hi Cathy Gunn , just wanted to let you know that the Assessing Historical Thinking Live Discussion is now on the OER Project YouTube page.