This episode is all about NCSS, National Council for Social Studies, and how joining NCSS or your state organization can be so helpful in your growth as an educator by connecting you with other amazing educators and organizations! Dan & Caitlin were just back from the national NCSS conference in Nashville when they recorded this and spoke about their experiences there including both of their presentations. Dan presented on "History Labs: Bridging Historical Thinking with 21st Century Literacy Skills" and spoke about the importance of elevating skill development in our classrooms so that ..read more

We are relaunching one of our favorite episodes jam packed with creative and fun activities you can try out this Halloween season! In this episode Dan and Caitlin share some fun things they have done for US and world history for Halloween and even some local history things you could do as well. From learning about the history of Halloween, 'haunted geography', slimy sources (thats a winner!), and making tombstone epitaphs and graveyards for historical figures, we tried to include as many fun and engaging but still content rich activities you could do for Halloween. Also check out our fall fa ..read more

Get ready for many more great ways to start class, no matter what course you teach! In this episode, we pick up right where we left off in the last episode and share fun activities to do with historical images like "Meme Mondays" to kick start curiosity, wall and desk graffiti, spiraling & skill building tasks to help students review previous lessons, and much more. We also share some grading hacks for bellwork so you don't have to spend your precious time grading bellwork while still giving students credit for their efforts and keeping them accountable! Make sure to check out our websi ..read more

The most important three minutes of class are those first three minutes! In this episode, Dan and Caitlin share their favorite ways to start class in order to transition students effectively, get them interested and excited, and kick-start their curiosity! Sharing very practical strategies on how to set up an effective 'start of class' routine, bellringers that will not just get students focused but also get them to 'lean into the lesson', and how to make sure 100% of students start with a win! You are going to love Caitlin's Dice Breakers to gamify bellwork! These strategies will ensure al ..read more

100% or Nothing Quizzes, a historical thinking Get-to-Know-the-Teacher activity, gamifying routines and procedures and much more! ? This episode picks up right where we left off as we go over how we create a community of passionate learners in the first week or two of school! We talk about being your authentic self, how we carefully teach procedures & routines and how you can gamify it to help students master it, how to set high expectations for students so they know learning is serious business in your room, a lunch room fight activity to build historical thinking skills, and other stuff ..read more

Building cardboard historical sites, being silly with playdough on day one, 'living' in a world without history, and many other crazy ideas for an amazing first couple of weeks of school are found in this episode! In this episode, Dan & Caitlin share many strategies, activities, and policies that help them set up an amazing school year. They discuss great ways to get students excited about class with unique first-day activities (yes, we ditch the syllabus and get into some cool stuff right away) and how get students to start building skills that they'll need for history class, but in fun ..read more

Summer is hard earned, y'all! And we owe it to ourselves to make the most of it! In this episode, Dan and Caitlin share their best tips for really pouring back into yourself after a long school year! Because the best PD you can get this summer just might be rest, relaxation, and adventure! If you are doing some planning and prep for back to school make sure to check out our site for some great first week activities for history class: www.historyteachersclub.com And we would love it if you could leave us a quick review where ever you listen to podcasts :) Thanks and gig 'em, Dan & Caitli ..read more

So many students have test anxiety and we have some ideas to help them! In this episode, Caitlin and Dan share a bunch of ways you can help students who suffer from test anxiety so they can perform at their best and develop more confidence in themselves. Caitlin shares from her own experience and what has helped her and her students- with great reviews, making 'brain dump' videos, and rituals and routines like her 'positive affirmations' right before taking the test. (Yes, theres confetti and stars as well!) Dan shares some Social Emotional Learning strategies he uses like gratitude journal ..read more

Get ready to be inspired to not just teach or highlight Black culture and Black leaders, but to really celebrate it! We were so luck to be joined by Deana Forbs, @socialstudiesscholar, who shared so many inspirational ideas and activities you and your school could do during Black History Month, sure, but also all year long! Deana specializes in teaching and helping other educators teach Black Joy, an approach to teaching Black history and Black cultures that doesn't overly focus on slavery or the traumatic parts of their history, but highlights and celebrates Black leaders, resistance, and th ..read more

17 unique and great tips and tricks we wish we knew when we were entering the profession!  In this episode, Dan and Caitlin share many actionable tips, strategies, procedures, and routines that will help all teachers - not just history teachers! From always remembering you cannot possibly grade everything and you shouldn't feel guilty for that, how to use manipulatives and artifacts to help all learners connect to history in a tangible way (yes, you should serve tea for your lesson the Boston Tea Party!),  to saying no unless its a 'heck yes!' so you don't over extend yourself, to c ..read more