Recent Posts
As many of you know, by joining our educator network you receive lifelong, ongoing support from staff at Facing History and Ourselves for free! (thanks to grants and fundraising). You may wonder - Who picks up the phone and answers your emails when you contact us for support?
Topics: Facing History and Ourselves
Earlier in May, Facing History and Ourselves announced the 2015 winners of our annual Margot Stern Strom Innovation Grants. Facing History selected nine projects, all of which focus on collaborative learning, and were selected from a pool of international applications for their potential to inspire students to make a difference.
Topics: Facing History Together, Canada, Innovative Classrooms, Margot Stern Strom Innovation Grants, Memorial, Middle School
Topics: Facing History Together, Canada, In the news
This week is #MuseumWeek, where museums from around the world will be convening with museum lovers on twitter to journey behind the scenes, to explore the grounds, and to share ideas about what we choose to remember for the future.
Topics: Art, Facing History Resources, History, Innovative Classrooms, Museum Studies
For the past few weeks, I have been thinking and writing about ways to bring The Book of Negroes into the classroom through discussions of identity, and a study of the history of race and slavery in America.
The first post offered ideas for establishing a safe classroom for discussing difficult ideas through contracting. It also offered a strategy for exploring names, identity, and the relationship we each have to the world. The second post built on the theme of identity by examining the beliefs we hold that separate us from others, and how our beliefs can influence the choices we make. This week, I want to address how teachers can bring the book’s difficult moments into the classroom safely.
Topics: Facing History Resources, Facing History and Ourselves, History, "The Book of Negroes", Strategies, Lesson Ideas, Slavery, Literature
It always amazes me how good literature has the capacity to expand our understanding of our world, challenge our memory of history, and grow our thinking about human nature and human experience.
As someone who works with educators, I love to see how bringing great stories grounded in lived experiences into classrooms can begin conversations, spur questions, and help students make connections between themselves, the lives of others in the stories they read, and the world around them.
Topics: Identity, "The Book of Negroes", Strategies, Lesson Ideas, English Classroom, Literature
UPDATE (Feb 2015): Thank you to all those who joined our chat! While the Toronto #FHChat for Book of Negroes has ended, you can continue to be in conversation with us on how to bring this important novel and mini-series into your classroom on our blog.
Topics: Film, Events, "The Book of Negroes", Slavery, English Classroom
Remembrance is an act of humanity and it is about humanity. At Facing History and Ourselves, we often ask ourselves, How do we help students (and ourselves) to remember more than names, dates, and battles? How do we help students to connect to the humanity: the people behind the names, the lives, ideas, and cultures lost, and the legacies that extend beyond the signing of a treaty that signals the end of war?
Topics: Facing History Together, Facing History and Ourselves, History, Canada, Memorial, Middle School, Lesson Ideas, Literature
Meet Deborah Brown, one of the 20 finalists in our Facing History Together Teacher Recognition Contest.
Leora, Jeannette, Gillian, and I are so fortunate to work with so many amazing educators from across Canada: Educators who inspire us through their love for teaching, their enthusiasm for learning, and most of all, through their commitment to students. A number of individuals nominated one of these amazing teachers in this year's Facing History Together Teacher Recognition Contest: Her name is Deborah Brown and we want you to meet her.
Topics: Choosing to Participate, Facing History Together, Facing History and Ourselves, Innovative Classrooms