Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Why do we teach history?

For today's class, you were to read two articles (Teaching the Mystery of History and Blending Narratives: A Storytelling Strategy for Social Studies) that discussed why and how we teach history. By engaging with the articles, you learned many reasons why we teach history and the underlying principles for creating authentic, history rich learning environments. One of these principles requires that we teach students 'what makes something historical'. In your opinion (50 words), what makes something historical? (Please feel free to identify your answer - but it is not required)

27 comments:

  1. I think that anything can be considered historical if it is meaningful to people. For instance, my younger sister's birth was a historical event for me because my mom had six miscarriages before she finally had her. Her birth meant a lot to me. Something can be historical if it has a big place in history, such as September 11.

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  2. Anything can be considered historical if it meaningful to people. September 11 is historical because it was such a shock to our country what was happening and to me it is historical because I got to watch it all happen and when I go to teach this event I can give personal experience to help make it even more meaningful. Things that are personal can be historical, like when my baby cousin was born because he was the first boy in our family in 56 years.

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  3. I believe that anything that is important to a person or group of people is historical. We all have a story to our lives that is important to us and to others and that makes us apart of history. If you have a story that is significant to your life that is worth telling from generation to generation then it is historical.

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  4. I think that historical means anything that has some importance to a person that has happened in the past.

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  5. Because people find different things to be significant, historical events can be based upon individual interpretation. What impacts me, may not impact someone else and vice versa. I think it is imperative that we DO find historical meaning about certain events in order to help with our identity and the legacy that you will leave to your children and grandkids.

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  6. I believe that something is historical when a group of people believe that it is important. In the articles it talked about personalizing social studies and having students relate to them. It is important to share our stories, especially those that do contain historical important with our family and friends.

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  7. Historical events are events that occurred in the past that are of some importance to people or a group of people. Something that is historical to someone may not be historical to someone else. Some examples of historical events that may be Sept. 11, Pearl Harbor.. etc.

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  8. I think that the thing that makes an event historical depends on how the event effects the majority on a personal level. The more people it effects, the more historical the event will be. an event can be historical to just one person but it will not be considered so on a public level.

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  9. historical is something that makes an impact on lives...something that will be just as important hundreds of years from now.

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  10. I think anything in the past is history, even 5 minutes past. The course of the future can be changed by history, and sometimes it only takes a split second. These changes can be small or large scale, but the events are always important to someone in some way.

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  11. Everyone will have a different idea as to what information will be historically important. I think that it is important to help students to understand ways that they can tie together their own personal history with the historical information that they will learn in class.

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  12. I believe that an event is historical if it meaningful to oneself or loved ones. Also an event will be historical if the likely-hood of an event ever happening again is slim to none. Also the way that people adapt and adjust to this event.

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  13. In textbooks in the US something is typically considered historical if it is the generally accepted version of an event that happened in the past and the affects that event had on people, etc. Hence, historical events can be subjective and open to criticism.

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  14. I feel that anything that made a significant impact on an individual or a culture can be considered historical. It can also be something that is remembered throughout generations.

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  15. Something is historical if it is important to people. The stories that have been carried on were important to those people because it affected their lives for the positive or negative. Those events impacted their lives in their immediate realm of influence, country, or even the world. For example, the Great Potato Famine in Ireland was an important historical event. It effected families because many were broken up by death or moving to the United States. Here they started new lives and their immigration to this country impacted our history as well.

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  16. I believe that something is historical when it impacts us as people. It does not have to be as a whole nation, state, community or family. The event could be as small as loosing a first tooth, a baby's first steps or birthday, or it could be as large as a world war that impacts everyone on our planet.

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  17. History can be anything from the smallest of things to the largest. It is what is remembered from yesterday...the key to it is that it is remembered.

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  18. Anything in history that is significant to people, culture, and family background.

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  19. Something that is historical is significant to a large group of people, for example, the fall of the Berlin Wall or 9/11. Something that is more personal can also be historical, but may not be memorable to more than a few people, for example the death of a loved one or the first day as a full-time teacher. Historical events are memorable.

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  20. I believe that history can be anything that has taken place from small memories to huge events.

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  21. Historical events are ones that many people in a given place can identify with or have a personal connection to. It can be something local or global. 9/11 had a global impact, while Hurricane Katrina was more regional.

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  22. In my opinion in order for something to become historical it must have some a powerful meaning behind the object/event. It is something that has happened in the past.

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  23. A historical event is something that has happened that has made a significant impact on society. Unfortunately, often times we only hear about events that have affected "important people" or people of a higher class. Some classes are often left out in events/stories.

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  24. What makes something historical? History can be anything that has a direct affect upon ones life an individual. In other words, History has a significant impact upon people. History is a collection of written facts that influence the lives of others.

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  25. Something that is historical is something that has happened in the past and it is significant to a person or a group of people

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  26. Something is historical when it impacts a people or a place. The impact can either be positive or negative.

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  27. I think that something is mad ehistorical if it had an affect and it is something that poeple can connect to. IT has to be memorable so that people will want to talk about it or want to document that it happened.

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