Visual History

My husband had been wanting to go to the Pacific Aviation museum for the past four years now, but something else always seemed to come up. That could partially be my fault because I always hated history class in high school.  Somehow I managed to do well in my college history classes because I'm decent at writing papers, but I still doodled in the margins of my notebook and wrote notes to my friends and made weekend party plans.   I also skipped a lot of class to go to the beach.  The only history class I actually paid attention in was the pacific island history class I took my junior year of college.  Something about princes and princesses gets my attention every time.  The funny thing though, is that I love movies based on history.  Especially, movies that involve Natives or African-Americans (Wind Talkers and The Tuskeegee Airmen).  I really feel like the delivery of the material is the most important step in teaching.  As a student, I loved to read, but not boringness that came in the form of a text book with a kajillion dates and facts that I had to remember for a test.  Most students I know are the same way.  They are able to learn through a combination of visual, oratory, and tactile lessons.  The museum uses all three.  You are able to see the planes, watch the film, listen to the documentary portions, and actually try flying in a flight simulator.  If only I were a history teacher, I would definitely have field trips to the museum every term.  It seems like such a great way to put students in the atmosphere and really get them engaged in learning about WWII and all of the things surrounding that era.  Here are some photos (from my instagram ofcourse)....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thought of the day: How do you make something boring (but exciting to you) seem interesting to someone else?  This is something I think about every term as I have students who complain (without fail) each time on the first day of the term, how much "they hate English." Fortunately, for them, I was once a student and know exactly how they feel, so by the end of the term, they have learned "how not to hate English" and they will also remember how much fun they had in the process.

 

 

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