How to think in history and teach your students to think for themselves

Welcome to History: Comments, Controversy, Letters and Lessons. I hold a Masters degree from Hunter College in American History and I passed the oral examination for a PhD in American History from the City University of New York Graduate Center in 1988. I was an activist from the time I was a sophomore in high school in 1960 to the time I was a shop steward at the Strand Bookstore from 1979 to 1984. I was in Columbia SDS, Ann Arbor SDS and a series of left organizations until 1978. I taught American History as an adjunct in NYC Community Colleges and Hunter, City, and Adelphi, The bulk of my career was at Midwood HS where I taught American History AP, Regents classes and non-Regents classes. I also taught Government to classes of kids who had failed the Regents and a course in Great American Speeches to a wide range of students from AP level to learning disabled students all in the same class for 15 years. I am now retired as of 2015 from Midwood. I taught classes of students of nearly every race and color for more than 30 years in public schools

I am looking forward to sharing my experience as a teacher and an activist, so that other teachers can learn from my commitment to my students and their intellectual development. Teaching was a magical profession for me. I found that being in the classroom was an intense learning experience for me every day. I hope I conveyed that to my students.

I dedicate these essays and lessons to my students. I am indebted to them for years of joy and growth.