This summer, the country turns 250 years old. For social studies teachers, the anniversary is exciting, yet a little nerve-racking. You want to honor what is worth honoring, but you also want to make sure you’re keeping it real. And if you’re lucky, your school backs you up, even if the country is trying to […]

When I first started teaching at my current school, the essential question for our Imperialism unit was “To what extent was imperialism justified?” Granted, this was over ten years ago; cut us some slack. Please? Anyway, as time progressed, and we continued to improve our unit, we were like, “What the hell were the people […]

The day before I introduced our unit on the culture wars, a student hung back after class. She waited until the room cleared out, walked up slowly, and said, almost in a whisper, “Are we really going to have to say what we actually think about all of this?” I said yes. She nodded, looked […]

When I first started teaching about the Enlightenment, I’ll admit, I struggled to make it stick. The names, the ideas, the philosophes… it all felt so abstract.  The first time I tried, my students were more interested in if we’d get a snow day than Rousseau’s social contract. Here’s the thing: the Enlightenment can be […]

When I first started teaching U.S. History, I’ll admit, my lessons on immigration felt flat. The textbook did its predictable thing: talk about Ellis Island, throw in a couple photos of immigrant families, then move on to nativism and the quota system. Done. But here’s the problem. Immigration is not just “a unit.” It’s a […]

I have a confession: I teach Unit 1 of AP Government & Politics last. Yep, you read that right.  I just can’t bring myself to start seniors off with the Constitution. It’s too dense, too dry, and honestly… too boring to kick off the year.  Can you imagine welcoming a room full of restless 17- […]

Discussion in social studies can look very different depending on the class. For some teachers, it’s the magical moment when students start bouncing ideas off one another without needing to be prompted on every sentence. For others, it’s… silence. Students avoiding eye contact, hoping not to be called on. Here’s the thing: discussion in social […]

Class starts, and everyone’s waiting to see what kind of space this is going to be. They’re hoping it’s not the kind of class that kicks off with a full-body reading of the syllabus—or makes them question why they even showed up. And hey—Sociology delivers. Because this isn’t just another class about names and dates. […]

The first day of Economics class can feel like a gamble. Some students signed up because they’re curious about the economy. Others heard it was “an easy senior elective.” A few are there by accident, mistaking it for Accounting or Personal Finance The best way to kick off an on-level or AP Economics course? Not […]