One reason teaching is so rewarding - and frustrating - at the same time
I like teaching social studies (US history), but it is difficult because you can't possibly teach every nuance of every single thing in a year. I've tried to explain to students that we barely scratch the surface in 8th grade. I get so frustrated by the media demonizing public schools for not teaching ALL of history. There's just no way.
However, our students do "document-based" assignments where they analyze texts from primary sources. Here's an example from our study of the Lincoln Douglas Debates and one student's revelation and confusion about how she's been taught about Lincoln, versus what she has learned from reading Lincoln's words herself.
I always try to provide feedback to students, validate their thinking, and challenge them to think critically about what they read and what it means in the world around them.
