Excavating the secrets, scandals, and untold stories hiding below the surface of life, and giving voice to the characters who make or made those hiStories happen.
In my work as an author and publisher, I am motivated by a simple, observable truth: many young people — and even some adults — find history boring.
They bridle at the suggestion that they might enjoy time at a museum.
They tolerate the family tour of a historic destination, anxious to get back to their friends both online and off.
The truth is, all they lack is a little context.
History is a collection of great stories: Stories of extraordinary adventures, incredible innovations, revolutionary breakthroughs, horrid acts of injustice. If told well, such tales can capture even the youngest imaginations.
So how can you help #TurnHistoryOn for the young people in your life?
I’m just back from my second teaching visit to the International School of Dusseldorf. It is, without question, my favorite school visit of the year. Not only do I get to share my passion for turning kids on to history with a truly talented and dedicated teaching team, I also get to work with amazing young minds in a world-class learning environment.
There is nothing more rewarding than seeing light bulbs going on before your very eyes. And this happens on a regular basis at ISD!
You can read about my mandate with Grade 7 here. I also worked with Grade 6 students to give them a taste of what’s to come next year when they, too, will be asked to mash historical research up with digital storytelling to create interactive historical narratives of their own invention.
I am proud and honored to be part of such a 21st century interdisciplinary educational program. And I enjoyed enlisting my ISD colleagues in our search these past eight months for the keys to unlocking history for kids.
Next week I’m heading to the International School of Dusseldorf for a second year. It’s a dream job. The ISD humanities teachers and I will be turning students on to how to Turn History On.
We will guide young minds in combining factual research and creative writing to produce tales of historical fiction.
And if that weren’t already excellence enough, we will then direct students in how to publish their masterpieces as interactive digital books!
Research + Storytelling + Technology = TURNING HISTORY ON
This post is dedicated to Sree Sreenivasan, Chief Digital Officer of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Compelled by his challenge – outlined here – to find and “do something” with a set of Paul Revere’s spurs, I became inspired to craft a mini- Time Traveler Tour for the Met.
What follows is a snapshot of my brain in the midst of the digital storytelling process. I hope you enjoy this Case Study Spurred by Paul Revere.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask them in the comments.
Sree’s Challenge: Locate Paul Revere’s spurs.
His Clue: The spurs can be found in the Met’s Arms and Armor exhibit.
The Hint: As I set off, I found myself chewing over a vibe I'd received from one of my Met hosts that the Arms and Armor exhibit was perhaps an odd place for a set of antique spurs. This sounded like a “pain point” to me: like the museum had these great objects, but didn’t know quite where to put them.
