And I'm teaching it! I really enjoyed teaching civics last year. I love the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, articles of confederation, how a bill becomes a law, Levels of government, responsibilities of citizen, supreme court cases. I love teaching all that stuff. But, I really love teaching American history. I think the part I really like are the stories. There are so many of them. Some are funny, some are sad. Some are just plain crazy. But it's these stories that,woven together, creates the fabric of America. I wish I was better at telling the stories. That will come in time as I get more familiar with the stories and their details. I had several history teachers over the years who were master story tellers. They were able to keep students engaged in the story by the way the told the tale. No one could spin a yarn like Dr. Caz at UNO. True, I couldn't always understand some of the words because of his very thick accent, but the stories were great.
I also like being able to show the students how we got here. Our history is not always a pretty one, but we try to learn from those mistakes in order to create a "more perfect union". Sometimes we succeed, sometimes we fail. But America, and Americans, keep moving forward beleiving in the hope of porsperity and progress. And I think that's why I like history. Because I can look at my own personal history and see the mistakes I have made and learn from them. I can overcome my own bad decisions, make progress and become prosperous. Everyday I tell stories about people who weren't afraid to try. Our founding fathers tried. They knew if they failed they would pay with their lives. I can learn from that. I will never know what I am capable of if I don't try.
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