Guy's Books and Thoughts

IDEAS FOR TEACHING HISTORY. ?

I think there are other ways to teach history besides the lecture/
regurgitate.
.

Here are two ideas:

1) HISTORY THROUGH TRIVIA NIGHT . At trivia night, some of the
questions are history questions. Too bad trivia night tends to be all
over the place, though certain rounds do have certain themes Instead
of questions going all over the place, why not have a certain body of
questions. Maybe the theme for one night could be Medieval History.
Another night could be WW II. I guess the drawback to this type
program is that the questions would have to be limited to dates, names
and places. In other words, raw facts. The interpretive part of
history can't be covered. But hey, you have to start somewhere. I
found it interesting to see one of my teammates from Trivia night many
years back with a book of trivia questions. I wonder if he studied
that hard for a history exam? Perhaps pub grub and drink are a
stronger motivation for studying than a letter grade. Of course to
those who object to drinking, maybe some type of trivia night could be
done at a coffee house.

2) "HISTORY TALK." Sort of like radio program Car Talk. Where
history enthusiasts talk aobut various events in history. I know of
an airplane enthusiast who knows the technical specifications of
planes. For example he points out that while the Brewster Buffalo had
a poor reputation in the Pacific Theatre, that did not necessarily
mean the plane was a total waste. Finland used the Brewster Buffalo
with great success against the Soviets. There is a former coworker
from my mailroom days who I discuss history with. While neither of us
have a college degree in history, I find these historical discussions
interesting. For some reason the conversation often covers the
subject of human nature and motivations. I wish some of these
conversations could have been recorded. (Not that I'm looking for
anyone to spy on me). In a program like "History Talk" the
interpretive aspects of history can be brought out, not just facts,
names and dates. I guess as part of "History Talk" one can talk
about the providential orderings that have occurred in history. Or one
can talk of history as being viewed as one big soap opera. (I
guess "history as soap opera" will have to be discussed at a later
time. History need not be seen a dry memorization of events, names
and dates to be memorized and regurgitated.