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3-Minute Civics: Was the ‘Great Compromise’ great?
When the Constitution was being created, there were several major disputes that needed to be worked out. One of them was about how people and states would be represented in the new government. Under the existing government at that time, the Articles of Confederation, each state had equal voting power: one state, one vote. James […]
3-Minute Civics: Critical thinking and the pursuit of truth
When I was very young I committed a crime. I was at a store with my family and there was a display of a football game and I really wanted this particular football player figurine. So, I took it. My parents discovered that I had it when we were driving from the store, and I’ll […]
3-Minute Civics: Reigniting our American identity
Recently, in my AP U.S. History class, we had a discussion about the causes of the Civil War. One of the important ideas we discussed is how Southern identity played a role in the outbreak of hostilities. In the South many stopped seeing themselves as Americans first and instead their state, or regional identity, became […]
3-Minute Civics: Bridging divisive concepts
Early in my teaching career, I learned an important classroom management strategy called the “low card” approach. Basically, the idea is to do the least aggressive thing to get a student to stop a bad behavior. For example, if a student is being disruptive, rather than going to the harshest response, a.k.a. the “nuclear option,” […]
3-Minute Civics: Today’s living history
On Friday, Sept. 10, at 8:46 a.m., my principal got on the P.A. system and spoke about the 20th anniversary of 9/11. When he was done, we all stood in my classroom and recited the Pledge of Allegiance along with him. Afterward, I turned to my class, an honors Civics class called “We the People,” […]