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The activity that was presented on January 8th 2014 in many ways supported my previously held theories on the discipline of history and of historical thought in general but also reminded me of a few key concepts regarding the study of history. In many ways this activity is extremely invaluable when endeavoring to educate someone in thinking historically or to see things from a historical point of view. From a strictly historical standpoint, the activity illustrates that historical work in and of itself is largely based on guesswork or inferences derived from the analysis of data that is sometimes random and obscure to the person conducting the research. Often times in historical work data that is available to the researcher is varied in many ways. The evidence at hand may have come from different places, different eras, and initially collected for different reasons, etc. These are all important for a historian to keep mind as they acquire data and build theories with regards to history. From a historical standpoint, often times these theories prove to be incorrect or false entirely when new evidence comes to light at a later point, the activity illustrates this reality perfectly. The activity enlightened the group to be wary of being to hasty in formulating a theory on a historical concept. As for the benefits to the study of history in the classroom itself this activity has many benefits. First and foremost this activity forces the participants to think critically, an attribute that is extremely valuable when studying history. The critical thinking learned here can be utilized later in the course in other activities or assignments and can be a valuable tool for the student in other subjects as well. The activity also illustrates to students that history itself is constantly evolving and that history itself is more than just the objects and events it is how the objects and events impact real people. Ultimately this activity gives students a real world connection to the study of history. Many of the above mentioned benefits of this activity to the discipline of history can also be reflected onto students participating in this activity. By participating in an activity that mimics the real life procedures of

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historians, students gain knowledge of the real world itself. Contemporary historians are not the only one who use these skills on a daily basis, average citizens can also benefit from the strategies of historical inquiry presented in this project. Inquiry is present in almost all aspects of modern life. Skills such as critical thinking are crucial for one to function in the modern world and understanding the concepts of continuity and change can give the citizen the ability to accurately engage in many high skill critical professions. The student of history should never forget that as they study the history of the various societies and peoples it was not for the benefit of the student that these people lived in the ways that they did. Just as the modern students today are not necessarily worried of what historians several centuries in the future will think of them; history is created not for the future but as a byproduct of living in the time period. The historical characters are only one part of the story, what is most interesting to historians is the interactions, intimate thoughts, and beliefs that shaped the decisions and dispositions of the historical characters that most interests historians. Thus as students engage in the study of history the most beneficial strategy they might employ is to see themselves as characters on the world stage of history. By beginning to understand how they as individuals impact the history and world in which they live, the students can begin to understand how historians view history. Thus explains why a historian is interested in the subtle and ordinary things that impact the daily lives of the individuals who made history. It is often due to these little bits of evidence or the tiniest bits of evidence that huge historical theories are formed. When students learn to see history as an extension of their own lives they will begin to understand the study of it in a much deeper manner. One important aspect of this activity is the fact that it illustrates the limitations of teaching history from a textbook as is generally the orthodox method. Quite simply the real study

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of history cannot be contained within a textbook, and while certainly no one expects secondary high school students to think on the level of a professional historian it is crucial that they understand the fundamental elements of inquiry, research, and historical bias (among others) if they are to benefit from the study of history as future citizens. Textbooks convey a message of permanency, and a sort of final word perspective on the knowledge contained within them. Social Studies is a science, not an absolute, thus to only use a textbook to instruct students distorts the true nature of social studies as a subject. The activity illustrates to students that when one is creating a historical theory there is a great deal of guesswork and assuming involved in the genesis of that theory. The historian only has the objects (data) in front of them to work with and thus may only hold a very small portion of the true story, should another object be added to the pile (new data) it could change the entire theory. Textbooks in social studies also tend to emphasize the chronology of history over almost every other element in the subject. While chronology is indeed and extremely critical element to understand historical study (one must for example understand that the enlightenment preceded the American Revolution to understand the true impact of the revolution) it can become too tedious and frankly irrelevant to the overall goal of creating a full understanding of history. One must understand social, economic, political, etc implications of the events in chronology to begin forming a picture of their historical impact. The textbook is not a completely outdated dinosaur in the classroom, in many ways it still has its uses. Like a carpenters hammer or a police officers radio the textbook is a tool that the teacher has at their disposal to reach the end goal of imparting historical knowledge to future citizens of our republic. The teacher who relies completely upon the textbook to convey the standards and lessons critical to understanding historical elements of social studies is a foolish one indeed and one who will hinder, not aid the education of their students.

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This activity is absolutely wonderful in that it gives students a hands on experience with what it means to engage in historical work. Too often education on complicated subjects such as mathematics, the sciences, and history are very impersonal due to the tedious amounts of work required to gain an expertise in the subject. Due to this fact students often become disinterested in the subject and in turn do not achieve the standards laded down for them. Activities such as this bring real world context and critical thinking into the classroom.