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AP World History Summer Reading Suggestions

absalom — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 19:42:26 -0800

Help me compile a reading list menu for AP World History. Err.. Please? TL;DR:
What books did you read as an AP World History student, or assign as a AP World History teacher?

I am going to be teaching AP World History for the first time starting next year. I am already an experienced APUSH teacher, and I have a very diverse historical background that lends itself to world history.

However, most of the books on any given historical subject I'm familiar with are graduate-level works that are not really approachable by my students. Since I'm additionally hobbled by not being able to provide books for my students, one of my goals is to generate a diverse reading list that will allow students to utilize library and used book store resources. This means every student will not be reading the same book, and very possibly every student will be reading a DIFFERENT book, so I'm trying to make sure a wide variety of sources and topics are covered so that different students might bring their readings to bear in class throughout the year. Ideally, I would like to compile a list of 15-20 works, but at least a dozen.

This is for a high school audience, anywhere from grades 10-12. Historical literature is not out of place here, but regardless, I'd prefer not foisting anything to historiographic or epic-in-scope on them. Or me, since I'll be reading all of these over the summer. (Er, probably.)

Please do not recommend Guns, Germs, and Steel. I like it, but it is the go-to book for AP Human Geography. It's also kind of bludgeony and repetitive. Also no Thomas Krugman or, frankly, anything else OpEd focused.

Since the class is all of human civilization in 180 days, the broad is preferred over the narrow. Narrow is ok, especially if it speaks to some broad historical theme or is profoundly important. (Ex: Colonialism or the Black Death)

As a preliminary sketch, I've come up with :

1. _The World That Trade Created_
2. _Beginnings_ (Issac Asimov)
3. _Things Fall Apart_
4. _All's Quiet on the Western Front_

It is not a very exhaustive list, and a lot of the "typical" books I've excluded for various reasons, many listed above.

_Wild Swans_ was recommended by a colleague, and it sounds perfect, but I'm afraid it might be a little too long. That made me think of _The Makioka Sisters_, which is also kind of too long.

Step 1: college. Step 2: ??? Step 3: become a high school history teacher.

amy lecteur — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 15:07:13 -0800

Right now, you're a college freshman. In ten years, you want to be a high school history teacher, probably somewhere in the northeast U.S. What path are you going to take to get there? I'm a history professor at a solid liberal arts college near Boston. Many of the students I advise (history majors) hope to become high school history teachers, and I don't know how to tell them to get there. Assume we're talking about bright, motivated, good students who would probably be competitive applicants to regionally-known masters' programs. As far as I can tell, these students' choices are:

1) Complete the BA with a minor in secondary ed. The college's program culminates with MTEL/prepracticum/application for licensure when they finish undergrad.

2) Complete the BA without the secondary ed minor, and then get a master's degree in education, um, somewhere. (Recommendations for specific schools/programs that would be good for history teaching, especially in the northeast, are most welcome.)

3) Uh, other?

As you can probably tell, I know absolutely zip about this - this wasn't a career path I went down myself, and since I'm not originally from MA I know nothing about the school system here. I also don't know what grad programs in the region have a good reputation for turning out qualified high school teachers. For that matter, I don't even know whether most teachers go on for a master's degree before they start teaching. If a student does want to get a master's degree, will a secondary ed minor in undergrad make them a stronger or weaker candidate for that graduate program?

Thanks in advance, everyone.

I want to engage my students, but I'm not sure how, or even if it's possible.

segatakai — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:20:41 -0800

How do I do a better job of teaching Art History in a way that will engage my students and feel meaningful to me (are the two antithetical)? So, I'm teaching Japanese Art History, though in reality I guess it might be better if I thought of it as "Japanese Art Appreciation". The school is a 2-year University in Tokyo. The students don't seem to have a specific interest in art history, though some may have an inkling of an interest in art, or at least in being creative. I think the class is seen by the students (and by the administration?) as a kind of chance for the students to enjoy themselves, almost as a respite from the more academic nature of their other classes. With a few exceptions, the students want to know only what's going to be on the test, and nothing else. I'm teaching in Japanese, which is not my first language (and I think that is part of my problem). I've been through the class twice now (Spring and Fall semesters), and for my first time through, I guess I didn't do too bad of a job. But I'd really prefer to do a better job next semester (from April). With this in mind, I want to . . . I guess start from zero in terms of planning the course and its content. But I'm not sure if I need to go back to zero or not.

What I am quite sure of is that most of the students are not . . . interested? engaged? And this is the thing that weighs most heavily upon me; I feel like kind of a jackass going through these lectures that (almost) no one is actually paying attention to. I know they're not paying attention, and they know that I know, so it feels like a bit of a ruse, which makes me extremely uncomfortable. I can say "hey, pay attention out there!" (and I do) but I find that doesn't ultimately work for more than about 3 minutes, and ideally I'd like to be be giving them something that they really want as opposed to force-feeding them.

I'm sure that part of this is that I simply need to thicken my skin, and I do believe it's true that my skin thickens slightly with each class, but I continue to struggle with: How much do I need to adjust vs how much should I be encouraging (forcing?) my students to adjust? Is it actually possible to give a lecture on Art History that these students will be interested in?

Thus far, I have been reading the lectures, which are accompanied by projected "slides" of the artwork (as well as some text of the more important points) I'm discussing ; the students have hand-outs that identify the slides, and they're encouraged to follow along and make their own notes, both from the slides and from my lecture. I try to read it in as conversational a manner as I can, and make sure to throw in ad-libbed comments here and there, but I know that any lecture that is read is going to be kind of dry. I'm reading because my command of Japanese, although not bad, and perfectly fine in conversational settings, is not quite where it needs to be in order for me to give the lectures off-the-cuff, though now that I have gone through the cycle twice, I intend to work at giving the lectures from a set of notes in point form, so that I'm not exactly reading but at least a step closer to spontaneity.

I've essentially been given carte blanche on the class, so I can adjust it any way I feel fit to. With that in mind:

What did your Art History (or Art Appreciation) teachers do that made the class interesting for you? that made it boring?

How important/necessary is it for the lecturer (at the university level) to tailor the material or teaching style to the students (as opposed to encouraging the students to make the reach to the lecturer's side)?

What resources (of any kind) are there for me to learn how to get better?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

Reading on Research in the Digital Age

activitystory — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 13:01:23 -0800

Summer short course filter: Fun readings on the internet, the future, and research in the digital age for high school teachers. Help a librarian plan a syllabus! I'm a an academic librarian who will be teaching a week-long course entitled "Research in the Digitial Age" to a group of high school English and Writing Students this semeseter. I'm hoping to provide the teachers with the tools they need to use both library and web resources in their teaching (and encourage their students to do so responsibly), but I also want to talk about information behavior, using the web for discovery and evaluation of sources, and the history and future of the internet (mostly as it pertains to "research").

There will be a lot of time for discussion, and I want a range of readings that brings in voices from all over and will give us a lot to explore. Some of the things (or types of things) I have in mind are:

As We May Think, by Vannevar Bush (the truncated-but-illustrated version that appeared in LIFE)

Is Google making us Stupid? By Nicholas Carr, The Atlantic, 2008

Kuhlthau, C. (1991). Inside the search process: Information seeking from the user’s perspective. Journal of the American Society of Information Science 42(5), 361-371.

Kalbach, J. (2006), “I'm feeling lucky”: The role of emotions in seeking information on the Web. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 57: 813–818.

Spink, A. and Cole, C. (2006), Human information behavior: Integrating diverse approaches and information use. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 57: 25–35. doi: 10.1002/asi.20249

Oblinger, D. (2008). Growing up with google - What it means to education. Emerging Technologies for Learning 4, 12-29.

Maneki Neko by Bruce Sterling (a short story about an iphone like device & a gift economy)

Maybe a chapter or two from Cory Doctorow's Little Brother, since its characters are high school-aged and deeply engaged in technology

Though I haven't gotten my hands on them yet, I'm sure there are good passages in these two books to consider:
- GLUT: Mastering Information Through the Ages by Alex Wright
- The Information: A History. A Theory. A Flood. By James Gleick

You can see, it's pretty loose, and of course some of those are mutually exclusive (I'm not gonna make them read 3 JASIST articles!). I want to use the readings and discussions to launch into practical tools and strategies for dealing with information overload and students' use of technology (two things that are often intimidating to this audience). I'd really like a mix of academic, historical, and short fiction that perhaps don't answer the questions we'll consider, but help to drive discussion around them. I'd prefer the academic articles not to be too boring or statistics-y for the audience, but I want to reveal some of the complexity of information behavior. Also, documentaries or short films on the same topics would be welcomed as well-- both those available online or just DVD.

It's also probably more of a stretch, but I'd love to know there are any other types of work -- shorter stuff like poetry or comics especially-- that approach these topics. Bonus for free, CC, or open access stuff.

Thanks!

Music About American History?

absalom — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 07:33:11 -0800

I'm a US History teacher, and have had great results using songs about American History, but I'm looking for more! Can you give some recommendations? I'm not looking for "historical songs," but rather "songs about history."

For example, earlier this year I used "Molasses, Rum, and Slaves" from the musical 1776 to help explain the various parties interested in the Triangle Trade and today I used They Might Be Giants "Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too" and "James K. Polk" in class.

So, what other sort of quirky, kitschy, or just plain out there songs about topics in American History are out there just waiting to be added to my curriculum?

Decline of Pay for Teaching Relative to Other Professions

mdpatrick — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 11:16:50 -0800

I read somewhere at one time that the pay for teaching has declined relative to other professions starkly since the early 1900s, but I can't find a site to back this up... too much noise. Anyone have any info on this?

How to pass multiple-choice questions tests?

dealing away — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 14:33:05 -0800

Resources to help a high-school history student become a better test-taker, especially in multiple-choice exams? One of my high school history students struggles mightily with tests. She is a hard-worker, does every single assignment to the best of her ability, does all the readings assignments, she takes careful notes, but when it comes to tests, she always does terribly. During the test, she takes longer than all other students and has a hard time narrowing down answers in the multiple-choice sections. She is really shy and quiet so I have some difficulties discerning if she has reading comprehension problems.

So, how have any of you have overcome similar problems with reading content and answer multiple-choice questions about it? Is there any online resources I can point to her or her family? Are there any strategies you can recommend that might help?

She is about to join an AP history class for the first time and I want to give her a fighting chance when it comes to the MC-test part of the class.

How to teach the great dust heap of history?

strixus — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 02:53:52 -0800

Help! I've been assigned to teach a class that I honestly have no idea how to make interesting to my students: world history through the late medieval period. So, Ask.Me: I want your memories or thoughts of your favorite approach to this class, or what not to do. So, I'm teaching the first half of my unv world history survey for the very first time this fall. I'm nervous, because, honestly, my interest in world history is on early modern and modern world trade, with some dabbling into late medieval trade. I'm also a bit overwhelmed by the time span I have to cover in a single semester, and the need for a lens or gimmick to hook my students looms large in my mind.

I know most college students are bored to tears with history survey courses, and I try my best to make my current class - the second half of the world history survey - as enjoyable as possible by teaching it as a history of empire and imperialism. But that approach will not work for the first half, at least, I don't think it will. I've kicked around some other ideas, but nothing seems to really get me going the way my History of Empire idea did. I try my best to make it not be history that is "one damned thing after another" history, but the scope of human history from evolution to Columbus is just... so much!

I've read tons of syllabi and pedagogy on teaching history, I've taught classes that probably actually had more material, but I'm drawing a blank here, so I reach out to the hivemind for help!

My question is the following: In your undergrand / university / high school world history survey course (or western civ class, or whatever, or the classes taken by your kids) was there a particular approach that you found that really worked for you as a student? Conversely, was there any approach you found that never worked for you as a student? Is there a theme, or focus, or progression that you found really hooked your interest? If so, what was it?

Should I take a job or get a free masters degree?

Anonymous — Wed, 19 May 2010 11:17:58 -0800

I'm graduating this semester with a license to teach secondary history. Help me decide whether to take a one-year teaching job or a fully-funded MA in history. I want to ultimately teach high school, but full tuition + a monthly stipend seems too good to pass up, and I can't do both. What should I do? The job market is really brutal for history teachers in my area, so I've been planning for awhile to ride out the bad economy in grad school. I've moved forward with all that paperwork up until this point. This job popped up suddenly and I applied to it on a whim, not at all thinking I'd get an interview and at least I could go to grad school knowing it was the best thing for me. But I did get an interview, and now I feel like I have a terrible dilemma. I've asked many people for advice about this already, but nobody really understands the extent of both opportunities so I feel I can't get clear advice. Here are the pertinent details about both opportunities:

TEACHING JOB
-The high school is perhaps the largest and best performing within a very competitive district.
-This district is one I would like to work in in the long-term.
-The posting says it's a one-year-only job, but my friends who are teachers or work in the district say that may not necessarily be true.
-This school has a great program (let's say model UN), that I've coached since high school, and the coach said he would love my help if I'm hired.
-If I take this job I can't sit on my parents' health insurance anymore, which will be a problem if I can't find a job next year. I have an illness that will make it difficult to get health insurance but also makes it absolutely necessary.
-This job could help me get my foot in the door for other jobs within the district, but that's dependent on budget cuts next year.

MA IN HISTORY
-I've been offered a teaching assistant job that will cover my full tuition and give me a stipend of about $1,200 per month.
-I believe I will be very successful in this program -- I know the professors very well, I love history, and have already done some graduate-level work.
-I might be able to defer my acceptance a year, or simply reapply next year, but I believe this TA opportunity is one-time-only. If I don't take it now I will lose it.
-I do genuinely want a masters in history and will get it at some point in the next 10 years.
-Balancing that coursework + a full-time job later down the road seems hard, and it scares me a little. I could take a class or two next year while I teach for the first time, but that scares me even more.
-I can stay on my parents' health insurance the whole way through this program.
-I will continue to help with the model UN program at another high school while I get my MA so I can keep my contacts in teaching fresh.
-A masters can only help my job prospects; it is difficult to get and stay hired in the districts in my area without one. I've spoken with principals about this recently so I know this won't change anytime soon.

Which is the more valuable experience in this situation? I'm lured by the possibility of having a job right away, but it's a new and scary situation. Grad school seems like the safer option because I know I will do well and it's all paid for, but it seems silly to pass up a job in my profession in such a terrible economy. I don't know if I have the job yet, but I would like to know my answer ahead of time in case I do get it.

Popular Music for Bored American History Students

NHlove — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 16:58:14 -0800

Looking for popular modern songs with great historical content like Fort Minor's "Kenji" I'm an American history teacher who is trying to help my students see that history is exciting and help them experience it in a new way.

I recently had students to listen to Fort Minor's song "Kenji." The lyrics are about Japanese internment during WWII. My students really loved it and I wish I could find more music by popular 21st century artists that includes such great historical information. We Didn't Start the Fire by Billy Joel is another good example of popular music that contains history, but I'd rather have something that focuses on a specific time period or event. There are also a lot of great modern songs about the current political climate, but those are generally too far to one side of the political spectrum to be used in my classes.

Does anyone know of any other songs that fit this category?

If you know of any songs from the past that would help my students, those are more than welcome too. Thanks!

Once upon a time in the ancient civilizations, there were...uh...

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 19:11:57 -0800

Ancient Civilizations Crash Course: I have to teach a course beginning in February...and I don't know anything! I will be teaching a grade 11 History class next year for a month (substituting for a teacher) and have no idea what I am doing. In high school, I learned Canadian History and American History but learned absolutely nothing about ancient civilizations. I think the course I will be teaching is the one outlined in this document (starting on page 145).

Do I have to know Greek/Roman mythology? I never learned that either, and feel incredibly stupid when others pick up on allusions to a Greek god and I look like a deer in headlights. I can teach Canadian, American, and European history dating back until the early 1700s but before that, I'm lost.

What should I read to brush up on the subject? What will help me most? Any brief, straightforward texts I should have? Specific suggestions welcome, general teaching ideas also appreciated.

Throw away e-mail: teachitlikeyouknowit@gmail.com
Thanks in advance!

200 Years of State History on $0.00 (in useful materials) a Day!

scaryblackdeath — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:58:58 -0800

I need lesson plan ideas for Washington State History. It's a summer school class with three weeks left, three hours per day... and a number of odd and annoying constraints. Suggestions? The kids are generally pretty good, but I have a mixed bag of age and ability. I have some chatty 8th graders who are being allowed to knock out a high school class early. The rest are high schoolers who need the credit.

The textbook is decent, but I have only 9 chapters left to go with three of the five weeks of class remaining.

I have a couple of random workbooks & textbooks from different editions for additional materials. Nothing really matches.

I can't do movies. I showed ONE, and the district assumed that was all I intended to do for the rest of the term. So movies are on a short list.

No field trips. Wanted to do Seattle Underground, was told it's just not in the cards.

The school library is closed. I'm trying to get into contact with the nearby public library to set up some research time.

The school's computer lab is occupied. I can work out time in the room, but not constantly, so sending kids in there for research projects is a little dodgy.

Tried loading up "Oregon Trail II" in the computer lab, but apparently my copies aren't all that good. Maybe it's just my CD burner? I have two original copies of the game (purchased), but I'd need like 12 to go around even if I paired everyone up.

My building admin has been generally supportive & understanding, but I think they keep getting a new constraint loaded on them from "upstairs" every other day...

Any thoughts, Mefites?

Jobs for a Tech-Savvy Historian/Teacher

ocherdraco — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 21:38:06 -0800

What are some good places to work in NYC for a tech-savvy medievalist who also has experience teaching history and politics to middle and high schoolers? My best friend from college would like to move to New York, and as I live here already, I (rather selfishly) want to do everything I can to help him make that happen. Right now, as his first post-college job, he's in the middle of a year long teaching fellowship at a British school (and doing quite well with it). He's teaching history to 13-year-olds (last term it was WWI; this term it's the Middle East from the fall of the Ottoman Empire), and American Politics to 17-year-olds. So, he's looking at teaching jobs (at private schools, as he hasn't yet got credentials) and programs like the New York City Teaching Fellows and Teach for America.

But he's into many things besides teaching: at school (we went to an Ivy League college) he majored in medieval history, did tech support for other undergraduates, studied the similarities between the shift from oral culture to print and the shift from print to digital, and created websites and content management systems. He's the kind of person who comes up with ideas about how things work and then makes them work better based upon his ideas. He draws connections between things that are seemingly unconnected in such a way that both things seem more illuminated by the explanation.

At various points he's thought about studying law (a la Lawrence Lessig's Center for Internet and Society) or information studies (the field that has blossomed out of library sciences), and he's also thought about writing about the connections between history and current revolutions in technology for magazines in the vein of Wired.

Where in New York City would be a good place for him to work, besides the teaching possibilities mentioned above? I'd greatly appreciate any answers, and particularly those that are creative and non-obvious.

What are the best recent articles on immigration?

josh — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 06:50:36 -0800

Help me find illuminating, educating, eye-opening articles on immigration for a class I'm teaching at the Kennedy School of Government. I'm teaching a workshop next week for policy students who are writing about immigration. I'd like to find a small collection of truly superlative articles on immigration--immigration *anywhere*--from popular press sources: anything from Slate to Time to The Economist to the NYT, the New Yorker, the Atlantic, and so on.

My students study immigration of all kinds and all the issues associated with it: refugees, brain drain, unskilled workers, highly skilled workers, remittances, immigration and culture, immigration and language, immigration and children.... I'd like to put together a wide range of great articles on everything from the technocratic problems of managing immigration to the experience of being an immigrant.

What have you read that's really opened your eyes, amazed you, or educated you about immigration?

Teaching US government in high school

carter — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 08:08:18 -0800

I'm looking for cheap/free visual aids (posters, photos, etc.) to support a high school teacher who is teaching US government. Thanks! Said teacher has acquired a new classroom and would like to decorate the walls with posters and pictures relevant to the teaching of the history of the US government - such as the founding fathers, the constitution, the three branches (Congress, White House, Supreme Court), and so on. There's stuff out there, but much of it seems seems pricey - are there sources (such as educational foundations for example) who distribute these items for low cost or for free?