(Blog Post 2) History Texts: What are they? How do we understand them?

A multitude of texts can be used in the study of history. Most of them are broke down into the following two categories: Primary and secondary sources. Primary sources can include anything from diaries, letters, and speeches to novels, photos and videos, as long as they come from the time under study. Secondary sources are also valuable texts in the history classroom and include resources that analyze or interprets a historical event.

In order to properly understand some history texts, students need to have some previous knowledge of ideas and terms. Before diving into historical texts, a teacher should make sure that students understand concepts like bias, purpose, and audience. Teachers also need to address any unfamiliar vocabulary that my be present in the reading.

Unfortunately, I do not have many memories of my pre-college educational classrooms, so I will discuss some techniques use by one of my favorite history professors.

In one of my history classrooms, we were learning about the industrial revolution, laissez-faire policies, and immigrant workers. For one of our sources on the time period, we were assigned to read The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. The professor did an excellent job of pairing this text with other activities. He front loaded the unit with lectures/discussions, vocab, KWL, and note outlines. In our discussions, we talked about current politics and the role of government in business.

These discussions triggered some of our previous knowledge and gave us a starting point for our lectures. I was impressed with how the teacher was able to quickly discuss some important vocab terms. It is important to not only understand the terms, but also how they are used in the media you are studying.

The professor also paired our main reading with other texts including videos of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, documents of labor complaints, and lectures.

By engaging in proper scaffolding activities, I was able to develop a deep understanding of the text, and I was able to analyze the time period and take away enduring understandings.

I will use some of these strategies along with others from the Buehl text, in order to make sure that my students are learning how to read through a history lens.

Introduction

Hello! My name is James Barney, and I am looking forward to getting to know you all this semester. Some of you know me all ready because I have been taking classes here forever (or at least it feels that way).

I am married to my beautiful wife, Brandi. We are the proud parents of three children. We have a three year old daughter, a eight month old baby boy, and our lovely eight year old niece. Even though we only have temporary custody of our niece, we consider her one of our children. The youngsters make college a little more difficult sometimes because I would rather play with them than do homework, but with the support of my wife, I have been able to find an effective balance.

Besides my family, I also have a couple of other hobbies, even though I rarely have time for most of them. I enjoy golfing, hunting, fishing, hiking, and most sports. I am an avid sports fan, and I love playing and watching almost anything. Currently, I coach a 7th and 8th grade basketball team. Basketball is by far my favorite sport, and I enjoy teaching others how to play the game the right way.

As far as teaching goes, I took the long route to gaining my education, but it has been an interesting and worthwhile road. After high school, I spent four years in the army, before finally beginning my education. After my generals, I decided that I wanted to teach history. While in classes, I realized that I also loved to write. Eventually, I decided that I wanted to take English as my minor. Anyone who knew me in high school would be extremely shocked to see that I am going to be an English teacher. Even though it took awhile, I have fell in love with English, especially writing, and I am extremely excited to share my new found passion with others. Sometimes I still fee inadequate with my English skills, but I am working on them diligently, so I can be an effective teacher.

I am excited for this class because literacy is extremely important in all disciplines but especially in mine. My history and English classes will all evolve around literacy.

To me, literacy not only means to read and write, but it also means the ability to communicate effectively in the forum you are involved in. Literacy in history is different than literacy in science, but they are both equally important, when you are discussing that particular field.

I love how well English and history go together, and I am looking forward to teaching literacy in both of my contents.