Strongholding story(telling)

"Yet the knowledge of history is always in a state of becoming and is entirely dependent upon the uncovering and interpretation of the materials that make it up.

There is no history waiting for us like some giant and architecturally perfect edifice that we will at long last discover in the tangled growth of an intellectual forest.


History does not exist for us until and unless we dig it up, interpret it, and put it together. Then the past comes alive or more accurately it is revealed for what it has always been- a part of the present."
                                                                      -Frederick Jackson Turner III, Forward, I Have Spoken


We’re close now. The beginning of the new school year is just a couple of days away. And as usual, I’m not ready. I’ve put in some extra time creating ideas for engaging lessons, gone to some training over the summer, reflected, and had some good conversations with colleagues, but I still don’t feel ready. I have a classroom to finish reconstructing, seating charts to create, and on and on. Getting ready for a new year is never a simple process. But, I’ll get it done. When the students arrive, I’ll be prepared- mostly.

One of my annual “rituals” prior to the start of a new school year involves setting goals for myself. Generally, at the beginning of a new semester I like to adopt a word or phrase with enhanced meaning for me as I start thinking about the task at hand. As this fall comes around the corner I’ve been reflecting on the word “commit”. It’s resonating with me for a variety of reasons.

With all of the new computer programs and processes I’m being asked to consider using as part of my instruction in the Fall I’m kind of stubbornly thinking about work- the tried and trues- that I’m “committed” to not losing. I’m a bit terrified with everything "new", that there is a certain amount of loss that can occur, unless we remain focussed on work that we know still has impact on students. I want to make sure I do that.

As a teacher of history, one of the non- negotiables I’m afraid could get lost is the idea that learning about history should feel like learning about story. Rudyard Kipling once said "If history were told in the form of story it would never be lost." When we teach history by telling our story as a people and how that connects to the present., students make deeper connections to their work as historians. 

 My good friend, professional storyteller Brian “Fox Ellis, once wrote “Time is a circle, not a line, the present, past and future overlap… “All of this to say: Who we are is a collage of family stories and cultural cosmology, who we are, are the stories we tell.” Fox and I agree that storytelling is an integral part of how we carry forward the most meaningful parts of our lives from past to present. In an article he wrote for Northlands’ Storytelling Magazine, Fox says “I was also awestruck by the ways these old stories were relevant to current issues.”

Because I've seen tremendous growth in students who understanding that story is such an integral part of learning about history, I’m committed to continuing to tell great stories and teach my students to learn this skill too. Storytelling has strong connections to the other skills I want students to master as well. It invites students to question and use curiosity as tools that lead to great research and writing.In his article, Fox describes this process- “In researching and writing “Black Hawk’s Band” (a story he tells to help us understand the complexities of indian removal in our native state, Illinois) I kept asking myself, what can we learn from Black Hawk that will give future generations both strength and inspiration? What can learn from our story that inspires us to make the world a better place? How can our stories help us to be better humans?” These are exactly the kinds of questions I want my students to struggle with and search for answers to. This is the type of process that will help them understand themselves in the light of events they study from the past. When they learn to see history as story; our story as Americans becomes more meaningful to them and connects more certainly to their own experience in the present.

If I want them to see time as a circle, story matters. Connecting past to present matters. So, I’ve got to be committed to teaching and learning  history this way. I deeply believe the greatest of historians find their greatest success because they think this way about bring our past to life as part of our current reality. So part of my commitment to students, and what I’ll continue to stronghold is the valueof story in the history classroom. When describing his work as historian and storyteller, Fox says “The goal is to challenge myself, the performers, and the audience to see our lives reflected anew in this bright light from history.” My goal for 2016 is the same.

My students will continue to read and write. We’ll work together to perfect these skills as well. By the end of the year, they’ll be better at interpreting and finding main ideas and using them to write claims, so that they too can carry forward the story of America and say with confidence how it impacts their present generation and personal choices. They will know and understand that they are a great part of the story of this great nation. As historians and storytellers, they will be able to connect the past to the present and bring history to life.