I taught a really good lesson today. The objectives were: SWBAT describe Spanish exploration & SWBAT analyze primary sources.

I have already lectured on Columbus, so they had some background knowledge. The Do Now question was "Was Columbus a hero, villain, or something in between? Support your opinion with details." The responses revealed a lot of myths they had about Columbus (that he brought slaves, and believed the earth was flat). Students had to share out, and when called upon, tell what their partner said about the question.

Then I did a word web on "seminar." Seminar (noun)---Def: A group of advanced students doing research and presenting their results. ---Syn: meeting, forum, discussion. Examples---1) Senior seminars in class 2) Today's lesson.

I assume that all my students are going to college in class and treat it as a rule that they are. I will not hold any lower expectation for any of them. I explained about freshmen lectures in huge auditoriums and compared it to my lecture from last week. Then I explained that seminars were where real meaningful learning takes place.

We read a section from Columbus' log together. They were quick to believe everything he wrote, and I had to remind them of Author's purpose. In the log, Columbus seems like a real sweet guy who just wants to show the natives the way to Jesus. I had them "research" three other documents on their own, explaining that they would have to share their "results" during the upcoming seminar.

There was a section from "In Defense of the Indian" by Las Casas that was great. One of the most popular descriptions was of the Spaniards cutting hands off of Indians but leaving a little bit of skin so they hung from their wrists. During the silent reading, some students actually gasped or laughed out loud at that part. There was also a reading about Coronado being misled by natives about the cities of gold, and a revisionist named Stannard lambasting Columbus as a typically racist European.

I had prepared discussion questions for the same reading with AP, so I used them again. The seminar opened with one minute rounds (everyone has to say something that interested them, but they cant's speak for more than a minute). Amazingly, only one student responded with the typical "nothing interested me." The seminar went very well which made me feel great. One of my biggest weaknesses is generating discussion.

We closed with "Pick a Side." I wrote two extreme opinions on the board like so: 1)Door: Columbus was a racist European responsible for the onset of a genocide 2) Window: Columbus wanted to establish friendly relations with the Native Americans in order to show them the way to Jesus. Students had to stand next to the door, window, or somewhere in between. It was a nice connection back to the Do Now question. I think I met the objectives pretty well.

In other news, I am loving preparing lectures for AP. I found three packages of trancparencies that I am picking and choosing from. I am learning/remembering so much about early American history, and I am working my AP students to death.

John