At the risk of sounding like a complete nerd, I am going to tell you a really cool story that happened this past week. Every history major is required to take HI 270, the Practice of History Seminar. In the class, we are learning about the process of history, reading, researching, and writing, using the American Civil War as a focus. Every student is working on a sp
ecific research topic that is interesting to them. Dr. Mark Lester (pictured side right) and Dr. Guy Hubbs (pictured bottom left) are the instructors for the course. Last Thursday, Dr. Lester and Dr. Hubbs had Dr. George Rable (pictured top left) from the University of Alabama be a guest speaker for the class. He is a renowned Civil War historian and scholar. Google his name and you will see how interesting he is. Dr. Rable walked into class, looked at a list of every students research questions for our papers, and gave every student advice on their topic with a list of books they should consult. Obviously he had prepared before he came to the class, but the fact that he just rattled off advice for every topic, minor or major, was astounding.After cla
ss, Dr. Lester and Dr Hubbs invited the students to coffee in the cafe with Dr. Rable. We in the SGA-couch area in the cafe, just chatting. I wanted to ask Dr. Rable, as well as my professors, a simple question about history. I am studying to become a high school history teacher. I know, why in the world would I want to go back to high school? I posed the topic of improvements in teaching history in the secondary classroom setting. What happened after was amazing. To keep this post to a minimum, I'll just say that Dr. Lester, Dr. Hubbs, and Dr. Rable provided the encouragement I needed to re-strengthen, if you will, my commitment to teaching high school history. One thing Dr. Rable about teaching is, "Rule #1: Know something. Rule #2: Be enthusiastic. Rule #3: If you are not enthusiastic about it, act like it." As I left the coffee time, I thanked Dr. Rable for his time and he responded, "Get them fired up!"
ss, Dr. Lester and Dr Hubbs invited the students to coffee in the cafe with Dr. Rable. We in the SGA-couch area in the cafe, just chatting. I wanted to ask Dr. Rable, as well as my professors, a simple question about history. I am studying to become a high school history teacher. I know, why in the world would I want to go back to high school? I posed the topic of improvements in teaching history in the secondary classroom setting. What happened after was amazing. To keep this post to a minimum, I'll just say that Dr. Lester, Dr. Hubbs, and Dr. Rable provided the encouragement I needed to re-strengthen, if you will, my commitment to teaching high school history. One thing Dr. Rable about teaching is, "Rule #1: Know something. Rule #2: Be enthusiastic. Rule #3: If you are not enthusiastic about it, act like it." As I left the coffee time, I thanked Dr. Rable for his time and he responded, "Get them fired up!"I am genuinely excited about teaching history. I still have a long way to go before I am certified and in a school, but I can't wait to get there. Part of that enthusiasm is knowing that I can make a difference. Dr. Lester, Dr. Hubbs, and Dr. Rable reaffirmed my belief that teaching can change lives even though I know it is going to be hard. Some of you reading this post might be laughing or thinking that I am naive, but I am up for the challenge. Check back with me in 2010, I'll let you know how it turned out.
