As a teacher I am faced with the task of attempting to cultivate a love for learning in the hearts of my students. My desire is for my students to be life-long learners, to always be seeking knowledge and to do so because they see intrinsic value in it. This can be a difficult task because learning is hard work and because our culture is permeated with the mindset that everything should be easy and fun. Now, I do think learning should be fun, but not everything worth doing will always be easy. I probably sound like a broken record to my students because that is what I tell them when they complain about having to memorize dates in history, or answer worksheets in complete sentences or have to do any other task they don't particularly like.
Sometimes I think we have to remind ourselves that history really happened. Recently we had a great opportunity to remember that when we are learning these "dry" facts in history, we are learning about real people, who led real lives and have their own stories just like us.
One week in history, we ran across Samuel Morse and the fact that he helped develop the first transcontinental telegraph and Morse Code. And that was it. Now I can understand why students might find that a little dry and uninteresting. But we took a little time to look deeper into Morse's story and that's where history came alive.
Take the few minutes to listen to his story and let history come alive.
Sometimes I think we have to remind ourselves that history really happened. Recently we had a great opportunity to remember that when we are learning these "dry" facts in history, we are learning about real people, who led real lives and have their own stories just like us.
One week in history, we ran across Samuel Morse and the fact that he helped develop the first transcontinental telegraph and Morse Code. And that was it. Now I can understand why students might find that a little dry and uninteresting. But we took a little time to look deeper into Morse's story and that's where history came alive.
Take the few minutes to listen to his story and let history come alive.
My students were shocked at the circumstances that motivated Morse to invent the telegraph. It really made an impression on them because they were now able to connect themselves to Morse and his story in a more meaningful way. One of my students even chimed in saying that this story is an example of how God can use a bad situation for good.
I was amazed at that insight (not because I was thinking it myself) because of the amount of theological ink that has been spent over the issue of God's sovereignty in History, and here I have a 12 year old who is able to affirm this basic biblical truth through learning about Samuel Morse, the guy who invented the telegraph and Morse code.
I love the idea of learning history through story, and it is something I hope to develop in my teaching style as I continue in education.
I was amazed at that insight (not because I was thinking it myself) because of the amount of theological ink that has been spent over the issue of God's sovereignty in History, and here I have a 12 year old who is able to affirm this basic biblical truth through learning about Samuel Morse, the guy who invented the telegraph and Morse code.
I love the idea of learning history through story, and it is something I hope to develop in my teaching style as I continue in education.