Chapter 7: Effective Teaching: Examples in History, Mathematics, and Science (a)

History teachers are amazing. And the teachers mentioned in Chapter 7 are a tough act to follow. After reading about Bar Johnson, I immediately thought of my high school U.S. History teacher, Mr. Kelley. I knew he loved history with a passion because of the conversations he initiated and entertained about the subject matter. While he may not have had as many classroom activities as the teachers described in this chapter, I always looked forward to his class because of his energetic attitude about learning history. His lectures were not boring; in fact, I even loved writing papers for his class because of his positive feedback on my papers. Of course, he did have to give us tests based on dates and events but that was important information so that I could understand his lectures. I have gathered (from Chapter 7) that when a teacher has a deep understanding of the structure and knowledge of the discipline, the students will come to an understanding and appreciation for the discipline as well (163).