Yesterday, the 7th of February, my colleague, Ed & I had our first real meeting of our Living History Club. We orginally had about 40 students show up for an informational meeting back in November. Yesterday, we had about 15 show up for the first meeting. I think this is partly due to the fact that Ed & I did not advertise this recent meeting too well. Lesson learned.
Being mindful of the fact that the turn-out was sparse (as compared to November) we made sure to let everyone know when the next meeting would be and we are going to put that information on our respective school websites. Perhaps a separate page on our homepages for the Living History Club would take care of that for future meetings.
Getting back to the meeting itself, we told the kids that showed up what our vision for the club was. We told them that we would like them to learn about eighteenth century life and not simply about the battles of the Revolution. We stressed the fact that there was more to the eighteenth century than war and that for those not interested in war, there was more out there to learn.
Because we have so many different kinds of students with different interests, we told the kids that we would like them to determine what it is exactly that they would like to learn. We said that we have numerous resources for them to use, and to encourage independent thought. So, Ed & I said that at our next meeting we'd like very much for the kids to talk to us and to each other about what it is that they want to learn about. Then, we want them to continue the research and keep us updated on what they find. Hopefully, we ill be able to use what they learn in the field on future trips.
On the whole, the kids seemed very receptive to the concept of actually living the history that they are being taught in class. They seemed (big surprise!) very excited about the trip in April when we will actually go out in the field and do an overnight and put what they've learned to use. They also seemed very receptive to doing the research because it is up to them and they can determine the depth and the pace of their learning. And Ed & I, of course, are very excited about the prospect of having kids live history.
I will let you know how it goes from here. Of course, if you have any comments that you like to add or if you would like to share with us your experiences, please do not hesitate to add your comments below.
Pete
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2 comments:
Greetings!
I'm a new denizen to Blogtown, too!
I surely wish I had known about you during my initial planning of an all New York State Trip for two buses of middle school students from California.
I'm a professional program planner and itinerary designer for educational fieldtrips and I always include living history reenactors and hands-on experiences for them during the tour.
Please pop into my current blog (tourmarm) from time to time and I shall have another up detailing my trips starting mid-April: http://www.RoadsScholars.blogspot.com
Any comments about history will always be welcomed.
A year ago December I attended a state teacher conference and had met Joe Ryan during a presentation he gave on his Living History Foundation. Last summer I took a course he offered at Fort Ticonderoga. Having had the opportunity to "live" the life of a Rev. War soldier I became committed to bring this experience to my students. With the help of Joe’s Living History Foundation and other teachers like Pete K., I have begun a program in my school. During our Rev. War unit I dressed as an authentic period soldier and did a series of 80 minute presentations for our entire 7th grade. In the presentation I used a slide show of pictures from the Ticonderoga course and actual pictures from several 5th New York Regiment reenactment battle scenes, including the 225th anniversary reenactment of the Surrender of Yorktown. With the help of the foundation, I was able to put our students into period dress and give them the experience of “being a Rev. War soldier for the day”.
As a spin off to these presentations, I have begun an after school program. I have 13 active members. We meet after school every Tuesday from 3-4:00. We march, drill and learn about the life of the American 18th century soldier. We have had a regimental dinner, have marched at Fort Montgomery, pitched tents, marched the woods behind our school and reenacted battles in the field. The music teacher is currently training a handful of students in fife and drum in preparation for marching in our town’s Memorial Day parade. We are planning a Living History Day in May and are preparing for an overnight encampment at Fort Montgomery in June. I also have three colleagues from my school who are enrolled in Joe’s Life in the New Nation course this July. This will undoubtedly breathe further life and support to our school Living History Program.
A theme that I teach is: “What we have came at a price.” More than having fun, my students understand something of what it meant to the soldiers of the Revolution to protect flag of their country in battle and to experience a bit what it was like to sweat, carry a musket and march in ranks. We have had people pull off the main highway in front of our school and applaud our work, including a WWII veteran who pulled over to salute us, take pictures and go to the trouble to mail us the pictures and write to us to express how important it was to him to see our kids learning about our history in such a meaningful way.
Our program is off the ground. Our success in not in numbers, but in some way, like the rag-tag army of General Washington, it seems to be on a mission driven by that inexplicable spirit ’76. It has taken on a life of its own in some way. My hope is, with the help of fellow teachers and the Living History Foundation; I can expand and enrich the opportunity for my students to live the history that helped make this land the “home of the brave and the free”
Pete, thanks for setting this blog up. If there is some way I can help another teacher out in sharing my experience with Living History, I would be glad to.
Bill W.
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