Episode 3: Quantitatively Improve Class Discussions with James Sturtevant

The Episode:

Welcome to the first interview on My Best Lesson: Social Studies! When I finally decided I would start a podcast intended for a bigger audience than just my own school community I knew that my first guest would need to be James Sturtevant. I first encountered James years ago when I heard his name and podcast (Hacking Engagement) discussed on the Hack Learning Podcast with Mark Barnes. I immediately started listening to his podcasts, reading his books & following him on Twitter.

My educational fandom of James continued until July 12, 2018. On that day I decided to suggest a tool I had been using to create timelines from the Knight Lab project from Northwestern University. Much to my surprise, I got a direct message from James asking me to come on his show and talk about the timeline generator and how I used it in my class. Since my first-ever appearance on any podcast (Ep. 105 of Hacking Engagement), I have kept in contact with James and certainly consider him to be an influence on my career and a friend.

In this episode you’ll get to hear James and I talk a little about baseball, the Stanford History Education Group, some teaching tips and a way to use progress monitoring in your social studies class. Now, if you’re like me you probably have a little bit of a love/hate (and mostly hate) relationship with data in the classroom, however, I think you’ll agree with me that the system James has devised is simple, meaningful & effective in your classroom. I hope you listen and enjoy the show & feel free to reach out to me on Twitter or through email (brillapodcast@gmail.com) should you have any questions or ideas. Enjoy the show!

-Mike

Links & Resources

Quantitatively Improving Class Discussion by James Sturtevant: Click here to check out the progress monitoring forms and resources described on today’s episode by James.

All Things James Sturtevant: Be sure to check out his site for all things related to James–you won’t be sorry you did!

Philosophical Chairs Discussion: Check out Episode 40 from James’ podcast Hacking Engagement to learn more about the Philosophical Chairs discussion method.

Stanford History Education Group: Be sure to take some time to explore the Stanford History Education Group for primary sources and activities. You can sign up for a free account.