Post ASorS9wKy0CH8TTFdg by CitizenWald@historians.social
(DIR) More posts by CitizenWald@historians.social
(DIR) Post #ASorS9wKy0CH8TTFdg by CitizenWald@historians.social
2023-02-18T23:36:06Z
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Learning students' frame of reference, part 2.When my 20th-century Europe class met for the 1st time on Jan. 26, I tried to see whether any had any background knowledge (NB not judging them):The following 3 drew a blank:- Day- "The Blue Angel"- Vienna circa 1900Last week, by contrast, when we began to discuss #WWI, I found that at least half were familiar with the Christmas Truce of 1914--because they had learned about it in school.Very instructive. Another successful exercise.
(DIR) Post #ASow0dMmSwGe3xX9lo by tkinias@historians.social
2023-02-19T00:27:06Z
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@CitizenWald I’m curious how you pitch these ‘pre-tests’ to students. I often want to know what knowledge students are bringing in with them, but I also really don’t want to shame them—even implicitly—for what they don’t know. They tend to be very aware of (and insecure about) how poor their history education was up to university...
(DIR) Post #ASoyNQSonrkgcBLzDU by CitizenWald@historians.social
2023-02-19T00:53:40Z
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Speaking of #historical knowledge, I'm always dismayed to see #FakeNews claims that photos of #Holocaust victims depict victims of this or that current conflict.Alas, #Palestinian Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of #Israel (PACBI) just did it on #BirdSite https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-731876Unfortunately, it's a habitual practice in the #BDS movementTotally mystifying that one would both injure one's own cause & denigrate the memory of the victims of NazismA couple of recent examples
(DIR) Post #ASoyp8feYCp9XUZUjw by CitizenWald@historians.social
2023-02-19T00:58:39Z
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@tkinias You and I are generally on pretty much the same page, so, yes! I now increasingly ask myself those kinds of questions (which is, indeed, why I stressed here that this was not some "gotcha" exercise, and rather, the product of genuine curiosity and desire for practical knowledge.Thus:1) In years past, I used to hand out a worksheet or use PowerPoint or equiv.2) Nowadays, I do it conversationally: hey, I realize that--as I am a historian and older--my references are not yours...
(DIR) Post #ASp0v8NElfCiGPwb2m by CitizenWald@historians.social
2023-02-19T01:22:09Z
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@tkinias In the case of the Christmas Truce, it was totally easy and natural. You've just read about this: for how many of you was it something new? If not, where did you learn about it? if so, what do you think about it in the context of your expectations regarding the Great War (or equivalent etc...)I really think a lot comes down to presentation (not that I'm so great at it): I just want them to know that I am genuinely curious, in the abstract, and because it should help me to teach better
(DIR) Post #ASp1v4mWDv5V4pJ0Zk by tkinias@historians.social
2023-02-19T01:33:20Z
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@CitizenWald Yeah, agreed. The issue that sometimes arises is that there will be one or two students who have a special interest in the class’s topic (or upperclass students who have learned relevant things in other classes), and that can raise insecurities in students for whom something like Weimar politics and culture (to take an example that came up recently) is 100% new
(DIR) Post #ASp2Sgasew3RuDt8lc by CitizenWald@historians.social
2023-02-19T01:39:25Z
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@tkinias Again, totally agree! esp. re: C20 & war (etc.) Happened on 1st or 2nd day, when some guys were getting off on sharing knowledge of military stuff, so I just said (with good humor) Okay, BOYS.... + (don't need to tel [l you this), there are various was to manage this e.g. ask someone who obviously knows more to provide an introduction to others by explaining what they are referring to, etc. etc.(Can be a particular problem in our classes, where we may find both 1st & 4th-years)
(DIR) Post #ASp2dGq8kg2pDW4acy by tkinias@historians.social
2023-02-19T01:41:20Z
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@CitizenWald yeah, one interesting place it comes up for me is when for whatever reason we have a fourth-year history major that needs to pick up one more100-level history class, so they’re in with the first-years taking it for gen ed...
(DIR) Post #ASp2mf3O5ySIv8kO4u by CitizenWald@historians.social
2023-02-19T01:43:02Z
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@tkinias Ah, yes, the GenEd issue. We don't have to deal with that in our classes here, but I did when I did a guest stint over at UMass.BTW a delight to be able to continue our old conversations here in this much more pleasant environment. So glad you are here
(DIR) Post #ASp2pmQ5AIHodPqjkO by tkinias@historians.social
2023-02-19T01:43:35Z
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@CitizenWald yes, I feel the same! glad you’re here 🙂
(DIR) Post #ASqFGdOyC8UJ5orR44 by nobodysfool@historians.social
2023-02-19T15:37:39Z
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@CitizenWald Blue Angel was one of the saddest movies I have seen.
(DIR) Post #ASr9s04WStxFYDgtVY by profmarylewis@historians.social
2023-02-20T02:11:49Z
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@CitizenWald They don’t know about Holocaust Remembrance Day or don’t know about the Holocaust? The former wouldn’t concern me too much.
(DIR) Post #ASrIm479QDjfwEAIds by CitizenWald@historians.social
2023-02-20T03:51:39Z
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@profmarylewis It was the former, fortunately. In that case, I was curious because it is a date more commemorated in Europe, so I guessed (correctly) they would not have come across it in our news media