Teaching American History Grant:
In late June of 2007, I will be attending the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute. As a participating member of the Teaching American History Grant offered by the Broward County Social Science Department, I look forward to a week of learning to then be able to share this valuable experience with students and faculty at Tequesta Trace Middle. What Is the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute? Initiated in the summer of 1990, the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute is an intensive, week-long workshop that immerses participants in early American history "on location" in Williamsburg, the restored capital of 18th-century Virginia. In addition, sessions are also conducted at nearby Jamestown and Yorktown. Teachers engage in a number of interdisciplinary activities with colonial American history as the focus.
All the programs use integrated techniques and a diverse perspective to tell the story of Virginia's shift from British rule to self-government. The controversies and sequence of events during the colonial period are examined as forerunners to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. As a result of attending the Teacher Institute, all participants will be able to identify significant 17th- and 18th-century events that continue to shape and define our nation; understand how people of various cultural backgrounds interacted with one another during this period; engage in studies exploring Native American, European, and African economic, cultural, and political heritages; develop higher-level critical thinking skills through the examination of primary source documents and artifacts; and develop, implement, and share innovative teaching strategies that encourage active learning, interdisciplinary studies, and critical thinking.
