Welcome
A collection of artifacts that help us Feel the History.
“Feel the History” is my slogan and most closely summarizes my teaching philosophy. “Feeling the History,” simply put means that students will connect on a personal level with the person, event, or place that we are studying. In James Percoco’s book, A Passion for the Past, Creative Teaching of U.S. History, he retells the story of how a trip to the Gettysburg Battlefield as a child made history come alive. I hope to make history live for my students. In order for students to connect, I strive to bring the topic home with them. My goal is to make history real and tangible…not a boring list of places and dates in a text book but a collection of fascinating stories of events and people that created the country that we live in today.
Every topic that we cover in the course of the year has some kind of local connection. While studying reconstruction, industrialization, the Progressive movement, the Great Depression, or World War II, I build in a short lesson that deals with Evansville. Throughout my career, I have used old buildings in our community as windows to the past. Slide shows and walking tours provide an opportunity for students to look at their community and identify its place in national history. Historic artifacts give students a chance to hold and examine real pieces from an earlier period. Primary sources open doors directly to the past. While teaching valuable research skills, students are able to go back in time and read the actual works of our forefathers. These and many other tools hopefully help my students to “Feel the History.”
Every topic that we cover in the course of the year has some kind of local connection. While studying reconstruction, industrialization, the Progressive movement, the Great Depression, or World War II, I build in a short lesson that deals with Evansville. Throughout my career, I have used old buildings in our community as windows to the past. Slide shows and walking tours provide an opportunity for students to look at their community and identify its place in national history. Historic artifacts give students a chance to hold and examine real pieces from an earlier period. Primary sources open doors directly to the past. While teaching valuable research skills, students are able to go back in time and read the actual works of our forefathers. These and many other tools hopefully help my students to “Feel the History.”