I get a few messages a month from people who saw my guest post on The Civic Educator, asking about my curriculum and my experience with it. I have also reposted it on the site here. Here's some updates on my progress a year later in 2019. It's been a while since I have posted. I keep telling myself that I would write more often, but school responsibilities take over my priorities. As I enter my 3rd year in the class room, I've added even more responsibilities to my plate. I just don't know when to stop! If you're interested in thematic teaching, here's an update about my curriculum. It is still a work-in-progress and I'm hoping to start uploading materials onto my website in the near future after I tweak some things out, hopefully by Summer 2019. It's a slow experimental transition from chronological to thematic rather than a complete overhaul. It's currently in its 2nd year of experimentation. One downside I've noticed is that when I choose thematic over chronological some students will get confused which time period they're in as the unit changes. Students are so used to chronological teaching that when we jump around time periods between units a few will get confused. It will definitely be necessary to front-load a timeline to students OR keep a timeline somewhere in the classroom so they do not get confused. For example, in my Revolutions unit, we cover the American, French, Mexican, Russian, Chinese, Iranian, and Cuban Revolutions. Then in my Race & Culture unit, we cover mainly the Atlantic Slave Trade, Imperialism, and the present day as a legacy of imperialism and racism - then we watch and analyze/critique a films that cover race in today's society, such as The Hate U Give, The Black Panther, and the 13th (Documentary). If there's time, or depending on the circumstances, I swap it with Hotel Rwanda. A few students got confused because they're lost with the time period we're in. They're too used to a chronological model. One thing I experimented with at the end of my first year doing thematic and now incorporating it is simulations, periodically. I am using this book, International Relations in Action. It's relatively inexpensive, around $15. Definitely worth checking out. It covers topics like environmental issues, ethnic conflicts, nuclear proliferation, etc. It assigns students into imaginary countries with specific roles per student. They have to work together to solve issues and score points. I used it in college and had so much fun with it. I decided to try it out with my students at the end of last year. They LOVE it! I've been using it to teach related historical content and then have them do a related scenario so they can see how people/country interact with each other. This is definitely worth trying out! I introduced this to my team English teacher and now we do this with both our classes. I will write about this experience in a future post. Here are other resources I am using that has been helpful:
10 Comments
Rita Gravina
6/20/2019 09:42:03 am
I would love to see your website of how you structured your courses and what you examined in the other themes. I am toying with this idea, but am not sure how to structure it.
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Jace
6/30/2019 09:35:43 pm
Hi Rita. Feel free to shoot me an email. I'll be updating my site within the next two weeks. Stay tuned!
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Rita Gravina
7/30/2019 06:39:04 am
Hello again,
Jace
7/15/2020 03:55:11 pm
Hi Rita,
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Lindsey
9/8/2019 07:13:39 pm
Hi there,
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Jace
7/15/2020 03:54:54 pm
Hi Lindsey,
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Jace
9/9/2019 07:08:25 am
Hi Lindsey! Thanks for your interest! I am currently reorganizing my thematic curriculum. At the moment, it's organized in a way where only I can understand. I will start gradually uploading them as I update them. It will be on this website, free of charge!
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Hernan Ruiz
6/17/2020 08:32:42 am
Hello Jae,
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Jace
7/15/2020 03:55:38 pm
I'll reply to you via email!
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Nohea
12/21/2020 11:32:12 pm
Thanks so much for the great comments and resources. I’ve been teaching world history for two years and find myself bored with my own lessons. I’ve been contemplating the idea of teaching world history somatically but have found so little on the subject that I’ve been overwhelmed and confused about him and how to start. Your material has inspired me and I’m curious how you’re doing it now with distance-learning. Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated. I teach in a low income predominately Polynesian school and find that they don’t understand why history has any relevance to them. How do we get students to understand that history is relevant, or can be relevant I guess if I teach it correctly. LOL looking forward to learning more! Mahalo’s from Honolulu
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ABOUT MEI'm Jayson, a high school social science teacher with a strong passion for social justice and public education issues. Topics
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