Yr. 10 History Reflection

Strengths:

• Connectedness with students -- use of The Simpsons episode to get students thinking about the Cold War, particularly definitions capitalism and communism.
• Interesting, insightful and motivating resources -- half the class watched the real education video “Duck and Cover”, which was played in American schools from the 1950s to the 1980s, while the other half looked at brochures informing people about what to do if a nuclear bomb occurred. We then had a class discussion regarding: What was the intended purpose of "Duck and Cover" and the brochures when they were first made? What was your reaction to the film or brochure? Compare and contrast the intended purpose with your reaction to it. The students were genuinely interested, as they were able to imagine themselves in the same situation as people living during the Cold War. This in turn enabled them to better understand how and why people felt threatened by the possibility of a nuclear strike.
• Behaviour Management Strategies -- set out the rules of my classroom and made it clear that students are to follow these. I feel that I have been in control of the class and the students have respected me in this role. Despite the fact that I had developed relationships with the students before hand, I feel the students have respected me as a teacher and a person in authority. Both of which I feel is a result of my behaviour management strategies.

Areas I need to improve:

• Content knowledge -- as I was not completely familiar with the Cold War before I began preparing for this unit, I now realize that as a history teacher I must continually be reading and improving my own knowledge of history.