Just Getting Started

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