This short article suggests that history is often perceived as boring for the students and for the teacher trying to convey the information. The author suggests that history needs to be made 'fun' and an attempt to avoid memorization made in order to maintain the engagement of the students.
This article lists six steps to consider while teaching history in an effort to make it fun for students. The instructions for teaching history more effectively are as described as follows: try and teach history as a story to captivate your learners, use flashcards to test students on certain historical facts as students are intrigued by competition and games, try creating a board game based on historical information, collect, create or purchase tokens that will represent characters for the game, use the flashcards already created and used for practice as the basis for the game, and finally, as time progresses mix flashcards in from previous topics to help students retain the information.
I personally think the idea of creating a board game for a history class is an excellent idea. The steps suggested, with teaching the information as a story, giving the students the opportunity to practice and learn the information with flashcards, and then further the learning through playing a board game would have high success. Students love board games and using a game as a teaching strategy would help disguise the educational purpose so that students are more willing to learn through a fun activity.
http://www.ehow.com/how_2168018_teach-history-facts-fun-way.html

In this article, Peter Seixas discusses the importance of teaching Canadian history in a method that moves away from myths. Seixas argues that "Some of our myths feel crusty and irrelevant, some of them don't work particularly well any more, and many of them contradict each other in their social and moral messages." The problem with historical myths is there is no way to challenge the information being provided. The information is simply accepted as accurate, tainting the proper interpretation. Even when new historical evidence is discovered, this information is rarely used to disprove historical myths. Seixas argues that teaching history needs to provide students with the opportunity to confront conflicting information about a given topic and have the opportunity to make various interpretations of events. Seixas discusses how recently there has been an intensified historical consciousness. This can be attributed to more access to internet, Hollywood films, the history channel, and historical fiction. These sources are "excellent at intensifying historical consciousness, arousing interest, involvement, and imagination." This can be useful in gaining student interest in history, but education must present a different image of history. Seixas suggests that history teachers need to work to advance students historical consciousness by presenting more accurate historical representations. Students need to learn that one particular document only provides information leading to one particular judgement.
http://www2.education.ualberta.ca/css/css_36_2/ARpurposes_teaching_canadian_history.htm

One of the hardest parts about teaching history, in my opinion, is teaching in a method in which students feel the information is relevant and important to their lives. A resource that could be used by teachers to provide historical information and provide an avenue for discussion about current societal life is the website historyorb.com. This website has a section titled "This Day in History" which lists all the pertinent historical events, famous birthdays, and famous deaths that occur on a particular day.
The manner in which this could be applied to the classroom is by providing students with an historical event. An example based on November 9th could be used as follows. The teacher might say to the students, 'today in history, 73 years ago in 1938, the Nazi's in Germany launched their first large scale act of physical violence against the Jewish community, which was known as Kristallnacht.' The teacher then would provide some detailed information about the historical occurrence so that students gain enough information to have a discussion. The teacher would then pose some critical thinking questions that relate this chosen historical event to contemporary society. Based on the November 9th example of Kristallnacht in Nazi Germany the teacher may ask some of the following questions:
* Do we still have racism 73 years after the Nazi's began their program of violence against the Jews?
* Can you list examples of racism from your life? (personal experiences ,media coverage)
* Develop a strategy that will help prevent racism from occurring

These are just a few brief questions that a teacher could use to relate an historical event to modern society to help students relate to the information being taught. So in this example, students learn about racism that occurred in Nazi Germany, students discuss issues of racism that are present in contemporary society, and students discuss different strategies that could be used to prevent racism.
http://www.historyorb.com/day/november/9

The Environment Canada website can be used by teachers to provide students with information about various environmental issues affecting Canada or Canadians. One particular topic this website provides information on is pollution and waste. So if a class was focussing on environmental issues in social studies, the teacher could have students examine this website to determine the role Canadians play in environmental issues.
The section of the website dealing with pollution and waste provides valuable information on the impacts Canadians have on pollution as well as the impacts pollution has on Canadians. The main sections that pollution and waste are divided into on this website are as follows: How do I affect pollution and waste, how do pollution and waste affect me, how do pollution and waste affect the environment, and how can I make a difference.
In the how do I affect pollution and waste section, examples are provided that would be useful for student learning on how they impact the environment. The examples provided include driving, yard work, energy consumption at home, and water use. These examples would allow students to understand how they and their families are contributing to pollution and waste.
From examining this site, students would learn that pollution can cause serious health risks to Canadians. Either from air born pollution or contaminated food, pollution can cause health risks to people. Common examples that are provided that can impact humans are acid rain and smog.
Pollution can cause similar health risks in wildlife. Also, landfills are constantly encroaching on wildlife a area, which is limiting the natural habitat for different species. Students would better be able to understand how pollution impacts the natural environment after examining this site.
The last section of this website, how can I make a difference is extremely important for students. Giving students examples such as reducing energy consumption at home, recycling, and buying products that are considered 'green products' can help target the issue of pollution. If students actively become involved in trying to reduce environmental damage from pollution, as a society we can only experience beneficial results.
I would suggest using this website in the classroom because it provides information on a topic that is huge in geography. Also, students like using computers so using this website would give students the opportunity to learn the information in a different manner.
http://www.ec.gc.ca/education/default.asp?lang=En&n=6072A21C-1

The article "Canadians' Views on History Education" provides some interesting insights into our countries outlook on Canadian history. This article provides many statistics based on an Ipsos-Reid poll conducted on behalf of the Dominion Institute. The poll surveyed 1,002 randomly selected Canadian adults between July 24-26 of 2001. The results from this survey are quite interesting. Some of the major findings of this poll are as follows: 81% of Canadians want the federal government to play a strong role in determining national standards for teaching history, 83% believe that high school students should be required to take a minimum of two Canadian history courses, and 73% of Canadians approve the use of mandatory testing in history and social studies. What I found to be most striking about the results from this poll is how Ontarian beliefs contradict the beliefs of the nation as a whole. Here are some of the statistics that were revealed about Ontarian opinions: "Ontarians (30%) are more likely than the rest of Canada (22%) to agree that Canadian history is boring", "Residents of Ontario (64%) are least likely to support mandatory testing in history and social studies, and finally "Ontarians (46%) are more likely than the rest of Canada (35%) to agree that studying history is not as important as studying math and science." With Ontarians sharing the belief that history is boring, not as important as other disciplines, and against standardized testing, then the question I pose is what kind of impact does that have on history and social studies teachers in Ontario? Are social studies teachers fighting a losing battle in Ontario? As future teachers, potentially in this discipline, how can we attempt to change the beliefs outlined as a result of this poll?
http://www.ipsos-na.com/news-polls/pressrelease.aspx?id=1298

The article by Jadranka Brkic-Vejmelka, "Towards Some New Methods in Teaching Geography," provides examples of a new approach to teaching geography. The author suggests that geography should give students knowledge about the earth based on interactions between nature and people. Through the study of nature's interaction with populations, students gain a greater understanding of the world as a whole. The author writes that learning about interactions between people and nature is the "path of student's entrance into the world around us."
In this article, it is argued that the most effective learning derives from activities that get students involved. These activities can include individual projects, group work, or activities that incorporate the latest technologies. Two examples are provided to demonstrate the kind of activities being encouraged. The first example is SEMEP or South Eastern Mediterranean Sea Environmental Project. This project deals with attempting to find ways to save the Eastern Mediterranean coast from ecological, economical, and cultural destruction. The second example is a project called GLOBE or Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment. This project tries to foster a better understanding of nature and the phenomena which occur naturally.
These projects could be highly effective teaching strategies because there is high focus on interdisciplinary efforts. For example, a project may include biology, geography, chemistry, physics, and history all in one assignment. The results from such a project could show a positive attitude towards learning, increased communication skills, develop the ability to express opinions, and a willingness for learning.
The author argues that one of the main problems that the teaching process is faced with is motivation on the part of students. With innovative teaching styles that incorporate multiple disciplines and a more hands on approach, these issues of motivation could be tackled. This innovative teaching style promotes the development of "Creativity, knowledge, encouraging training skills and strengthening motivation."

hrcak.srce.hr/file/14967

The article, "Teaching Social Studies Authentically", stresses that many teachers of the social studies division are under extreme pressures to meet curriculum expectations for their particular province. In order for students to achieve the required thinking, problem-solving, and communication expectations expressed in the curriculum, author of the article Jamie McKenzie stresses the importance to relate how these skills are used in the real world. McKenzie recommends that teachers follow the teaching philosophy "authentic teaching" developed by Fred Newmanns. The "authentic teaching" philosophy moves away from 'busy work' that focuses on memorizing information like dates and names and having the ability to regurgitate such information, to an approach Newmann calls "authentic intellectual work", that encourages imagination, resourcefulness, and perseverance. According to McKenzie, the "authentic teaching" approach results in higher student productivity.
Using a technique of role playing, for example as an individual from an organization dealing with global environmental issues, permits the student to learn the required information as well as expand their thinking to possible solutions to global problems. Having student's complete assignments that ask them to provide an action plan for a particular issue is what Newmann refers to as "authentic work products." Assignments such as this move beyond understanding and move toward application of potential solutions, which strengthens problem solving skills and the ability to communicate ideas.
The following quotation from McKenzie accurately describes the benefits of authentic teaching. "When students are engaged in producing persuasive documents or media presentations, they are demonstrating the capacity to apply what many consider to be 21st century skills to the solution of thorny issues and problems. They are acquiring abilities that will serve them well as adults, and they are doing so in a way that is highly motivating. In some cases, their work will make the world a better place for us all."
http://fno.org/sept07/soc.html

This article provides results of studies that demonstrate that the average student finds history to be dull and lacking excitement. A major justification to student beliefs is that history is irrelevant and boring. The author of this article, June Enright suggests that the most important consideration teachers should make when creating lesson plans for history is to make the lessons relatable to the students. Enright goes on to provide three steps that teachers can follow to make history more relevant to students. These steps can be summarized as follows: provide a greater historical context to 'fill in the gaps' that textbooks often create due to limitations on space, discuss the faults of historical figures in order to make such figures more relatable, and finally use resources other than the textbook to provide different insights into various topics. When students are given a more detailed version of a particular topic, Enright believes that relevance increases causing a boost in the enjoyment of history. Discussing the flaws of a historical figure is useful for students because it demonstrates that even influential figures have shortcomings. Incorporating a variety of sources, whether magazines, videos, or websites, will give students the opportunity to access more interesting and exciting information than what is strictly found in the textbook.
http://www.ehow.com/how_2308820_make-history-class-relevant-students.html