Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/195036
Making a difference gave oral presentations; some created museum exhibits; one played civil war music on her flute; and others made movies. She also brings both the social science and hard science subjects alive thanks to her annual summer travels. In 2012 she travelled to VietNam and Mongolia. And this past summer she visited the Galapagos Islands. "I hope that my love for travel – and experiencing countries and meeting people myself instead of only reading about them in books – will catch on with my students, open their eyes to see that there is more than one way to live, to experience many cultures, and also see that we have much in common." Did you hear? The National History Teacher of the Year is one of our own - Jill Szymanski of Brandywine Springs in Red Clay "It's been overwhelming, she says, but validates her efforts to make history a priority. he History Channel was in her classroom to film for an entire day She's been inter. viewed by Philadelphia's Channel 6 Action News, the News Journal and Delaware's NPR radio station, WDDE 91.1FM. And, of course, she has received many congratulatory emails from former students. She'll be the star at the Awards ceremony next month in New York City "All . this just isn't me," she says. What is true for her is that the award validates her efforts to "... make history dimensional by using historical documents, taking students on site visits, and allowing them to connect with history on their own terms," she says. She was selected from among 51 elementary school candidates. The organizations alternate the award between elementary and secondary teachers of Social Studies. The award comes with a $10,000 prize from the Gilder Lehrman Institute, History® (the History Channel and Preserve America, sponsors of the National History Teacher of the Year program. This month she'll be bringing two of her students to New York City for the awards ceremony They will also . speak about this award, and what it was like to be one of her students. At the ceremony the History Channel will show video of Szymanski's classroom. T She makes Social Studies a priority, all year The post on the DSEA Facebook page of Jill Szymanski's selection as the country's National History Teacher of the Year has broken all DSEA records with 10,244 page views! History was her least favorite subject Although she always remembers wanting to be a teacher, history, she says, was her least favorite subject. "The way it was often taught was by memorizing dates, places, battles it was hard to relate to." A native of Delaware and a graduate of Red Clay schools, Szymanski graduated from the University of Delaware with a degree in elementary and special education and a masters degree in education. Thanks to professional development from her alma mater, she has been able to teach living history . "This type of professional development, where you can work with other teachers, and receive help finding and using primary and secondary sources, is the best professional development I've ever had." She has benefited specifically from the Democracy Project and, more recently, the Freedom Project. The Freedom Project is a partnership between the Red Clay and Christina School Districts. "Not only did we get to hear from people from the Delaware Public Archives and the Delaware Historical Society about their primary sources, but we were given actual lessons plans. What made this extraordinary, is that we were able to plan a lesson in 24 October 2013 DSEA ACTION! teams of four, and then teach the lessons while the others observed. We then met to revise the lesson using the observers' feedback." Civil War study ends with Living History Museum For the past few years she's been teaching the same students in twoyear rotations. Called "looping," it is an old technique that she finds very helpful. She "loops" 4th and 5th graders. "In the fifth grade, you can hit the ground running. You know each other so you know the students' strengths and weaknesses." Last year she had fifth-graders whose month-long Civil War Museum project caught the judges' attention. The study allowed each student to work individually or in teams to become experts on some aspect of the civil war era. For example, Szymanski used document-based questions whose answers the students used to begin what became research papers. They then developed their own question and answer sheets on their topic. At the end of the year, they took over the school's cafeteria and opened up their "Civil War Living History Museum" to the parents and other students. Some had painted particular scenes and events; some were specific characters and In her district, as in many others, English and mathematics are taught year-round, but science and social studies take a back seat, each taught only half of the school year. Science gets attention as a STEM subject, leaving Social Studies at the bottom of the priority list. "I don't take Social Studies time away . Ever. There are ways that you find to keep it a priority all year," she says. "You figure out a way to make it work. That's what we do." For example, reading and writing can be about historical subjects primary sources as well as literature. Along the way she teaches good citizenship, the economy, how government works, voting rights - "a ton of civics!" She firmly believes that one of public education's missions is to help educate good citizens. "Our form of government depends on people who can participate and vote intelligently," she says. A well-rounded education, she adds, is more than learning how to read, write and do mathematics. Social Studies, including citizenship, needs to be a priority, too. And that, she says, will be her message as the National History Teacher of the Year. www.dsea.org