As we continue our theme of studying history, this week’s
Blog of the Week focus examines Teaching US History or (TUSH). This blog began
in 2011 by Edward J. Blum and Kevin M. Schultz. Its title pretty much states
its purpose, the teaching of US History. The site has expanded over the years
and has become a very nice treasure trove of information. Several other
instructors have joined the team over time adding many blog entries along the
way.
One of the
interesting achievements of the blog’s editors has been a massive project known
as The American Yawp which is a free online textbook. Over 300 historians have
been involved in this project which is led by Ben Wright and Joseph Locke. You
can access it here http://www.americanyawp.com/index.html.
I use the textbook myself in my classes as an added resource for the flipped
classroom. It is currently in beta, but it sure looks good. It looks even
better when the e-textbook your school uses is acting up and can’t be accessed
by students. Having a backup plan is priceless.
The blog
itself has many contributors, all of whom have their own perspectives and
pedagogical philosophies. The result is a large amount of entries where
instructors discuss what works and doesn’t work in their classes. History
instructors are always looking for new ideas and the blog serves as a nexus for
the exchange of ideas. I’ve used a few in developing my own survey courses. You
may access the blog’s website at http://www.teachingushistory.co/.
In the main
toolbar you will also find additional information such as assignments and
assessments, and recommended textbooks. A section on contributors is also
interesting in that you can see what they’ve published on teaching history in
other publications. The blog is one of the few that concentrate on actual
teaching instead of history elements. That makes it very valuable to
instructors in a subject area that many students avoid due to the tendency of
many instructors to lecture them to death by PowerPoint. If we are going to
change the way people see history, we have to change the way they learn about
it. Teaching US History is one of those ways.
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