Group Work
I enjoyed working in groups and with my peers a lot, because it gave me a chance to learn how different
people's minds think, and at the same time share and discover how my mind works.
-Kaitlin Ziegler
Students Assessing the Program
I enjoy working with my peers because we all contribute to the projects through our own special talents.
-Corina Bogaciu
In many assignments, we functioned as one person; in others, we debated fiercely with each other. I had to learn to work with others
cooperatively as one, not as four squabbling people. I enjoyed the camaraderie from working with people I knew. One column is not enough
to support a building, it takes many. Instead of doing the lessons all alone, we had the support and encouragement that can come from working together.
-Howard Siegelbaum
Memory
I found Exploring History memorable because they are different from my other Social Studies classes where we would
just read stuff out of the textbook and answer questions.
-Riche White
I found Exploring History lessons to be among the most creative and interesting lessons I have ever had. They succeeded
in holding my attention. And because I enjoyed participating in them, I was better able to retain the information I learned. Never before have I
experienced history through as many role playing exercises and hands-on projects as I did this year.
-Lauren Schneider
Creativity
By using hands-on techniques to construct these different projects, I was able to use my creativity in completing these lessons, instead of
the usual pen and pencil.
-Bingyang Zhu
The projects were creative, so we had to be creative to do them. We had to be artistic and think, because lots of the time the answers weren't
just in the book.
-Emily Chuk
Higher Level Thinking Skills
We always had to think in all of our lessons. We had to brainstorm and analyze a lot when it came to writing treaties
and declarations. We would compare events that happened in history to events that occurred in our own past, such as the time we had to find the turning
point of the Revolutionary War and then find a turning point in our lives.
-Corina Bogaciu
I learned a lot from each and every activity. Unlike other methods of teaching, we were able to use our imagination to recreate our view of the
lesson. It was like the teacher threw
a couple of facts to get us started, but we had to mold the clay.
-Alexandra Loh
Exploring History was very exploratory and very interactive.
It stretched my ability to think by opening new doors and new passageways to places
that I have never been. The lessons were challenging. This made my thinking abilities expand to greater depths.
-Troy Bowie
Simulations
Exploring History lessons were fun because I actually got to pretend I was a colonist,
a diplomat, or an immigrant ...and I actually got to work and think like whoever I was suppose to be. I liked the lesson on the treaties between
America and other countries, where I pretended I really did need to work out a compromise. I learned to think and act like a person from that time
period, who is trying to make an important decision. It wasn't just copying something off the board, I was actually part of it.
-Tess Nanavati
The lessons showed me how to see not just one train of thought, but a broader spectrum. Instead of just writing biographies of people, I tried to
write what they saw and experienced through their eyes.
-Howard Siegelbaum
I liked making the treaties between countries using historically correct situations because it was a good way of learning how to compromise, agree
and communicate.
-Nick Bruckman
Exploring History lessons were vastly different from the presentation of any material I have been taught before. As
a whole, they enabled me to feel as though I was a part of history, present at actual historical events, making the same decisions and taking into
account the same considerations that led these real people to take the steps they did.
-Lauren Schneider
Hands-on
I liked that we could do projects instead of just sitting and listening to boring lessons. I will remember these
lessons better than others because they were hands-on. So, instead of just sitting and listening, you could actually understand because of the projects.
-Julia Raufman
Materials
I think the unlimited amount of things we could do made us all a little more creative and original. For example,
the projects allowed me to make a movie with scenes, props, settings and everything which I enjoyed doing very much.
-Nick Bruckman
Some of the projects called for information that could only be found in your neighborhood or community. The Scavenger Hunt asked for your
congressional district number and the person in charge of it along with their phone number. This project strengthened my research and thinking
ability because I couldn't find all the information I needed in a book. I had to ask neighbors and people in my community to find some of the
(answers to the) questions. This project taught me how to find answers I needed without using books.
-Brandi Stewart
The projects made me travel to places where I never ever went before. The feeling of traveling to the unknown is very adventurous. This feeling
also gave me the first experience of being independent. The lessons made me realize the most important research source is not the Encyclopedia.
The Encyclopedia is just part of a research source.
-Christopher Pang
Multiple Intelligences
The lessons do not only concentrate on History. We used math when we drew the site plans because we had to draw
everything proportionately according to scale.
-Corina Bogaciu
Varying Instructional Strategies
Each project was new, different and fun. This makes each project stand out in my mind, making them memorable.
-Sasha Blejec
Self Confidence
ISSS made me more aware of where I come from and how it became what it is today. It made me aware of who I am and
what rights I have as an American.
-Andrew Schulz
The sense of accomplishment when you finish something that actually has substance to it makes it memorable.
-Alex Russo
Motivation
Working in groups is also a motivation for handing the work in on time... because you know if you don't bring it in
there are going to be a lot of disappointed people.
-Sasha Blejec
Assessment
I enjoyed the creativity and the thought and work put behind the planning of the lessons. I enjoyed the research that
I had to review in order to meet the requirements of the assignments. All in all, I enjoyed the lessons themselves.
-Kwani Coleman
Among some of the standards the teacher would look at when grading were neatness, amount of research, creativity and information included. It was
up to students to include these essentials.
-Nao Yoneda