Personal stuff that may or may not be interesting, but it may give you a little insight, or at least prove that I’m not certifiably crazy… mostly. Taught in Barrington , taught in Israel and Thailand from , taught in Barrington from , taught in Saudi Arabia from , back to Barrington from 1998-to the present. Married (wife works here at Prairie) two grown kids, daughter in Seattle, working on the Boeing Dreamliner, and son who works in this building. Coached many sports from basketball to soccer, baseball, and hockey. Currently coaching girls basketball.

Why does my kid have American History for an hour each day? Kind of a rhetorical question….answer on the next slide.

Preparing students for participation in a pluralist democracy. A pluralist democracy describes a political system where there is more than one center of power. Democracies are by definition pluralist as democracies allow freedom of association. The role of the government in a Pluralist Democracy is to protect and promote diversity.

Themes of 7 th Grade History 1)Who do you believe and why? 2)When do we fight? 3)What are the characteristics of a hero? 4)How does a country begin and evolve? Who do you believe and why? When do we fight? What are the characteristics of a hero? How does a county begin and evolve?

Four distinct “stances” toward how we will study history. Identification stance - How we look for connections between ourselves and people in the past. Students learn how “we” became a nation. In recognizing family characteristics, sharing family stories, and locating ourselves within a larger community, students are expected to affirm connections between their own lives and those of people in the past.

Moral response stance – Sometimes we will take an explicitly judgmental attitude toward the people and events that we study in this class. For example, we remember the sacrifices and hardships involved in the winter at Valley Forge, the first charge of British soldiers up Breed’s Hill. Other times we will hold up events for condemnation ( Trail of Tears) or celebration (Woman’s Suffrage). In addition, we will single out people we regard as heroes, role models, or otherwise. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, great political and military leaders, yet slaveholders. Benedict Arnold and John Brown, good guys or crazy? Judging the past as good or bad- or simply deserving of reverence- is a fundamental way in which the students will relate to history.

Analytic Stance – Students engage in historical analysis when they look for patterns or examine the causes and consequences of events in the past- how life has changed over time, the causes of the American Revolution or how the American Civil War still impacts us today. Students also take part in analysis when they learn how historical accounts are constructed; working with primary sources, comparing conflicting sources, and reaching conclusions based on evidence are all part of the analytic stance.

Exhibition Stance – This is probably the most familiar of the approaches to studying history in school. Students are expected to display what they know about the past by answering questions, taking test and quizzes, writing extended responses, etc. The exhibition stance is more driven by accountability than by a concern with developing deep understanding of history and thus is not the main focus of this class. Yet exhibition is important because it is used in society when students visit museums, re-enactments, as well as through hobbies such as genealogy or antique collecting.