Below is an excerpt from my opening letter to parents and guardians. It is intended to share my core philosophies. For this medium, I have omitted “sensitive” information relating to email and phone contacts. If you are a teacher, I hope you apply a means of opening communication lines as well. One thing I find particularly challenging is being brief enough that the recipients will take time to read the letter while still relaying important information.

Dear Parent or Guardian,

You are receiving this because I am fortunate enough to have the opportunity to teach your child in a history class for a term of the 2015-16 school year. I look forward to becoming acquainted with your child as I will likely see moments of triumph, struggle, curiosity, enthusiasm, and satisfaction.

My course load at Blue Earth Area High School includes American History and World History. During second semester, I will also teach AP (Advanced Placement) World History. While I am a rookie on the BEA staff, this is my twentieth year of teaching. I have taught both of these courses previously and have built the curriculum outline for them as well. You can access more details about the topics we will explore, test dates, and grading through my web site. In addition, I will be a technology coach for the high school staff. My other responsibilities at BEA will continue to be as a parent as our two sons are in eighth and fifth grade this year.

As we embark on this adventure together, I want you to be aware of a few things:

 

• Your child will learn how to think critically about readings as well as non-text sources.

• Your child will process and evaluate historical events.

• Communicating understanding through various means including but not limited to formal writing, informal writing, speaking, and debates.

• Your child will not be doing regular homework for this course.

• Our class minutes will demand your child’s attention.

• Grading will be standard-based; thus, daily work is primarily practice, and test items are designed to assess your child’s understanding of major concepts. (The “grading information” section of my web site provides more details on this.)

With that information shared, it is important that I offer further explanations. Regarding the first two items, history education has undergone major shifts in the past fifteen years. I was not among the earliest adopters of these changes, but I have embraced them. While content (events, people, dates) still matters, it is no longer “king” of history courses. Emphasizing historical thinking means that your child will be able to craft evidence-based arguments, develop a sense of the relativity and cause-effect nature of events, and create products that extend beyond a recitation of “facts” or dates that could simply be uncovered through a search engine like Google.

Due to multiple means of communication being used, you can expect that I will ask your child to step into the world of educational technology. The leap into technology as a medium to show understanding is sometimes large. Class time will include basic user guides to tools, but your child may occasionally seek additional support in mastering these tools. I am glad to provide this. Students will be asked to provide their “voice” in class at times. I know that this is particularly daunting for some students. Part of my job is to reduce inhibitions about this by fostering a safe class environment. I embrace this necessity and take responsibility for building it. Please support these efforts and encourage your child to grow in this life skill area. I will not evaluate students on public speaking skills, but being able to share ideas publicly – especially in small chunks – will be necessary in order to fully participate in class activities.

I want your child to succeed in this class. I want your child to enjoy this class. I want your child to feel like the skills and information acquired in class are valuable. While you share in the responsibility of this, I know that the degree to which these items are possible depends in large part on my actions like treating your child fairly, providing engaging activities, and making history relevant. I will communicate with you throughout the year, and I ask that you return that favor when it is convenient for you to do so. It would be helpful to know if you are seeing proof that we are achieving these principles. If I am doing something that prevents these principles from occurring, please share that as a concern. Your child is capable of being successful in this history class, enjoying the daily activities, and finding value in what we are doing.