Tonight we dove deeper into using primary sources. I felt like I was back in high school again reading and analyzing sources! However, I got to practice the extra step of not only extracting information from a source but really decifering the underlying messages in text. This activity was slightly difficult for me, as well as others I noticed, because I am used to just taking the top, superficial layer of text, what exactly is written on the page, as the truth. It was hard to think in a more theoretical way and try to infer reasons not blatantly stated for why the Mongomery Bus Boycott was successful. In my mind, history has always been based on facts, less scientific hypothesizing and more mathematical – a clear path or answer. Through all the MBB discussion, I felt I gained useful insight into teaching the use of primary sources.
I enjoyed the reading groups much more than I anticipated. The book my group is reading, Blood on the River, takes place during one of my favorite times in history. I like discussing the reading with my group members and reflecting on what we thought was interesting or important. The various roles we all played, I was the setting and summary specialist this week, really gave us a chance to talk about different aspects of the story. I can see how these reading group roles can truly be beneficial to students.
Hello Lane,
I appreciate your honesty by saying that the task of analyzing text was slightly challenging for you and others. I can tell that some in the class felt uncomfortable. However, from the reflections I have read thus far the uncomfortable feeling led to deeper learning. The primary source lesson was an opportunity to model best practice strategies with our class. However, for Dr. Stohr and I, it is also important for pre-service teachers to “feel” the learning happen so they are apt to repeat the process in their own classrooms one day. We do a disservice to people and events in history when we do not make some reference to the whole story. I hope your experience made enough of an impact for you to remember when you teach history one day in your own classroom.
Your comment about literature circles: “I can see how these reading group roles can truly be beneficial to students” leaves me wondering why you think they can be beneficial. I would love to learn more about how you think! In future blog posts go ahead and go the next step to “provide evidence to back up your claim :0)”
Thank you for your reflection! Lynne