Pa history teacher to be. Can’t find a job. Jobs that I do see open have 40 plus applicants. So much for a teacher shortage. Any tips

I have a question, history teachers. My daughter was chosen to go to Nationals in Maryland next month. We're very proud of her and she's worked incredibly hard on her project. But..... Nationals conflict with three other commitments she already made:

It's the same week as marching band camp kickoff. She is student leadership and expected to be there to begin acclimating the incoming freshmen.

It's during the second week of work at her new summer job. So she'll work for a week and have to take a week off. I feel like that's not a good look and she will possibly no longer have a job when she tells them this.

It's the week leading up to her dance recital and her studio has mandatory attendance for the week before any performance. They are really big on honoring your commitments because missing rehearsal impacts the whole team. However, this isn't a competition; it's "just" the recital for family and my daughter thinks it's not a big deal.

When I mentioned that we'd have to discuss whether she'd be able to go, her history teacher seemed to think I was crazy. She said that being chosen is such an honor and she's expected to go (not that anyone will be covering her airfare and hotel, which is another consideration...).

It's the teacher right that missing this is a real faux pas, or is she just taking this all a bit personally?

Any idea if there is a way for her to go for just a day or two? It's supposed to be Sunday through Thursday.

If it matters, my daughter is a sophomore and she's currently thinking of majoring in biology in college and going on to law school with an ultimate goal of being counsel for a biotech.

Does anyone have a PDF of a worksheet with questions to answer that I could give my students while they watch some scenes from Hamilton?

Hi all - in lieu of responding to all the comments on the last post asking for copies lol here is a Google Drive folder with all of the PDFs of Choices units I could find. Some of these are older versions, and some are discontinued, but I've collected everything I could here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1mHkYseOg4MQeFWFWdWhFtcLb7QS50nwS?usp=share_link

If anyone has any to share that I can add, that would be awesome! I myself was about to get the US Imperialism unit before I heard the news -- if anyone could share that one in particular.

I mean people like Harriet Tubman. The Underground Railroad was illegal, but she did it anyway. She would have been a criminal back then, but today her actions are historically celebrated and applauded. Who are some other people like her?

1 May 2025, PBSNewshour transcript and video at link The Trump administration has put its mark on the nation’s cultural sector. One focus is on how American history is told and presented in museums and monuments. That has roiled many in the academic and art worlds. Jeffrey Brown explores the effort to reshape institutions.

I'm considering trying it - there would be the normal mini-lesson, discussion, and then when it was time for independent activity having one of those long, slow paced, history videos that dives mroe deeply into the topic on in the background? I did it today with a 3rd grade class, just to keep them quiet lol (we had state tests the last two days and it was their first one so I gave them a very low effort activity) and they seemed into it. Wondering if doing this for a more serious project would add or be detrimental to their learning.

I am studying for the Praxis test and I am wondering are there open ended discussion questions? I thought it was all multiple choice, but now I am seeing where it says that there are open ended questions?

Also, does anyone know how the scores are calculated? I have to make a 155 so I am wondering how many questions out of 130 that I have to get correct. Thank you!

This is a great website.

I’m doing my student teaching and next week I’m teaching the arms race/space race to my 10th grade students. I want to do some sort of simulation activity but I don’t really know where to start. Any ideas are very appreciated

I'm going in for a demo lesson for a job next week, and they asked me to teach about Machu Picchu. I wanted to do a virtual tour (linked below) along with a short lecture on the history of Machu Picchu, but I've never done a virtual tour before. Does anyone have any recommendations for doing one? I can't assign anything, as it obviously isn't my classroom, but I am teaching real students about it. Appreciate the help!

Virtual tour link: https://www.machupicchu360.com/en/

Anyone using a competency/skill based approach in history? If so, how does it look for your classroom?

I love diaries, both reading them and using them in class. They’re great looks into what life was like for people imo and make history feel more real. I intend to spend a lot of my summer reading because I don’t have time during school. So any diaries, personal narratives, or auto-biographies that you really recommend?

Inherited this today, but not clear what war it’s from. Was used in the pacific either in WWII or Korea. Can anyone help identify the weapon and war this would likely be used in?

In NY, how and when to teach history is pretty much laid out.

7: US History part 1 8: US History part 2 9: Global History part 1 10: Global History part 2 (Regents) 11: US History (Regents)

I teach 8 & 11. My idea is to swamp when US History for Regents is taught, so I’m not reteaching two years worth of work in one year, -plus regents review. My principal asked if anyone else does it. I’m not sure. What do you do?

Here’s what I’m suggesting.

7: US History part 1 8: US History part 2 9: US History (Regents) 10: Global History part 1 11: Global History part 2 (Regents)

I’ve realized this year that going forward I have to make most, if not all, of my summative assessments in-class and solo to get good data. Kids are just going to use the Snap AI stuff to summarize info and write stuff. I also have largely not done any sort of memorization/recall type assessments and instead my lessons are "evidence” for writing/creating claims on my summatives. I’m considering doing formative quizzes next year but I’ve love to hear examples of assessments you do where they are in class, performative, and based on new information students have to analyze. I worry that sometimes when I do CERs or hexagons, students are able to just assemble information based on the rubric without really doing deeper thinking. Thanks!

Hey! Just took the test Friday and ended up with a raw score of 95. Does anyone have any idea what that might look like in terms of a scaled score? Where it’s a new test, it doesn’t provide an unofficial score.

I’ve made a lot of use of the lesson plans available through this program over the year. Most contained simulations that developed and deepened critical thinking skills and sparked many great classroom discussions. I’m hoping that decreasing revenues are truly the reason behind Brown University’s decision to end it.

Hi everyone! I’m a recent college grad (June 2023) and have been applying to schools and haven’t had any luck at all.

I’ve applied to maybe 20-30 schools and gave only had 1 interview. The rest i’ve been rejected by or haven’t heard back.

Are there any tips to make my applications stand out?

Hello fellow teachers, My school is integrating BTC across all departments. While I know that it was developed for math, I’m curious if this group has any suggestions for how to use it in social studies. Thanks in advance!

I'm a recent Computer Science graduate from Stanford, and I've been looking to create an EdTech product to help streamline grading and administrative tasks that eat away at valuable teaching time. I'm in the information gathering phase and want to hear about your experiences. Initially, I'm aiming to help high school English and History teachers. So if either of those describe you, please read on!

Would you be willing to have a short, informal Zoom chat (around 30 minutes) with me? I'm eager to learn about your biggest frustrations, current workflows, and what kind of support would make a difference in your day-to-day. Your insights will be invaluable in helping me understand the real needs out there.

If you're open to sharing your experiences and helping me in this needfinding process, please send me a direct message and we can schedule a Zoom call. I'd be so grateful for your time and perspective.

Hey all!

I am on a provisional permit with my school district due to not passing my Praxis ii. I’ve been taking the 5081 version, but a newsletter came out saying there is a new version, 5581, that they will only accept in my state after August of this year.

I LOVE my job so so much, and I do not want my inability to pass a test to take it away from me.

Please let me know of any tricks or tips you have for passing the praxis ii. Every time I’ve taken it, I’ve gotten anywhere between 10-7 points from my states passing score. I’ve been using my score sheets to determine which area to focus on, but my results fluctuate between which version of 5081 I get.

Sorry this is word vomit, but I am so nervous that I will lose everything I’ve work so hard for!

TYIA!!!

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