Students think history is a waste of time

[fstarcstar]

I was in a discussion with one of my classes today because half of the classroom felt that learning history was a waste of time. I discussed with them about how learning history shapes the future, that we need to be knowledgeable of our mistakes and yadah yadah. But, I for the life of me went blank and could only think of a few examples off the top of my head on things they need to know that tried to relate to them directly. I always think of alot in general, but went blank today.

So, I decided I'm going to compile a list of historical events that students should learn about that impact them directly today or relate to them in general. So, would you guys be able to give me multiple incidents of history that they would enjoy being able to quickly read and understand that makes learning history a bit more important.

My school is majority 60% african american, 30% hispanic and 18% white, 12% asian. So, honestly my classes are predominately AA, so I think alot of AA stories could help as well.

I did bring up the slave trade on how African nations sold their own people to foreigners and whites and that if we never learned about that, then our idea of slavery was simply whites beating blacks in cotton fields. If I had more time I was going to go into how AA's were still treated poorly for years after civil war up until the 70-80's which has had a detrimental affect still. Or how Democrats used to control the south, or how Republicans supported civil rights.

I just want to see if you guys can give me some good simple historical incidents that are very beneficial to know that I can compile into a list and print it out and go over it with them. I just want them to be able to appreciate history a little bit more. World History can be very boring, so I'm doing my best to make it exciting.

Anything will do guys, thank you.

[gla22]

I always found history incredibly interesting but I am in the minority who enjoys watching historical documentaries. I think the best way to engage the students is to make it relevant to their lives or to recount examples using visuals from documentaries, movies ect. Make it clear that this stuff actually happened.

[Bauce]

Students have always thought history was a waste of time. It's a popular cliche that's been used in bad sitcoms for decades.

[Leviathan]

I love history but I recognize it's not for everyone and I'm not going to pretend it is useful to most of your students in any significant way. By far the best and most popular history teacher I had only taught the basics so that students wouldn't embarrass themselves by not knowing who George Washington was or who we fought in WW2. She spent the rest of the class teaching us personal finance.

Actually the AP hated this specific teacher and complained to the district about her basically ignoring the syllabus and the district not only dismiss the complain but put her in charge of some curriculum committee.

TLDR. Just teach them the basics and focus on personal finance. Give the kids who truly like history access to some good books and perhaps documentary recommendations.

IF ALL ELSE FAILS, SHOW LOSTS OF WAR STUFF. Every young male regardless of race creed or color will sit down and get curious when you put band of brothers in front of them.

[The Dharma Bum]

Try some African history. A lot of that stuff is really cool.

http://www.amazon.com/AFRICAN-KNIGHTS-A ... 1901543080

Black knights!

[spacemonkey]

One thing they should never do is sanitize it out of fear of offending anyone/group.

[Spider]

[Dobby]

It could be interesting to spark a debate off about right vs wrong to help the kids understand how we can learn from the mistakes/rights of the past.

For example the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A) Was it morally correct to bomb them?

Then talk about the implications of nuclear weapons in the Cold War etc etc.

[Stratego]

Why not make it interesting? You can teach the same content but replace real names with Superheroes.

Example : Aquaman crossing the Delaware. Ask them to research the history and retell it using Superheroes. They also have to explain why they picked the superhero they did to represent the real historical figure.

[fstarcstar]

Guys, I don't think you read what I asked. I'm not looking for lesson plans or how it make it interesting I already know how to do that. I wanted actual historical events you could tell me that are beneficial to their learning today or how it relates to them. My curriculum is already done so telling me to add african stuff doesnt help. I want a 1 page Did you know? document with previous historical events that they can find interesting.