Marcus Miller has been teaching Social Studies classes at IMS for 19 years. When asked what interesting projects the students have worked on, Marcus responded, “As part of the unit on immigration, students in American History were asked to write about when their families came to the United States and to Iowa. Despite some complaining students usually find it enjoyable to uncover stories about their family. This year, one student discovered his grandfather had been written about in National Geographic.

Marcus is staying current with teaching methods. “We have done some experimenting with some 21^st century learning skills. Instead of doing projects on paper students in World History used wiki’s and Prezi to share their presentations. This meant that I was learning new things as well, so the students and I learned together,” commented Marcus.

In Sociology, Current Events and Government classes, discussions this year often related to political issues as candidates were spending a lot of time in Iowa prior to the caucus. Marcus said, “It is always interesting to see students learn to talk and to listen to each other.  Questions about how these issues reflect or interact with our faith are some of the most enjoyable times for me as a teacher.”

What units are covered during the year?

In American History they start with the colonial period and usually make it to the 1960’s. Extra time is spent looking at the Civil War, the Great Depression, Immigration, and the changes after World War II.

In World History they look at the world by regions. They start with the Middle East, followed by Europe, Africa and Asia and if time permits, Latin America. A goal for this class is to provide an introduction to the different cultures and their histories. Marcus explains, “As the world becomes more connected because of technology I hope students realize the ways in which we are connected and that what we do has an impact on others in the world.”

Government focuses on building an understanding of how our government works and operates. An important part of this class is focusing on what does it mean to be a faithful Christian in a democracy. In addition, what does it mean to be a citizen of the most powerful nation on earth? What responsibilities, as Christians do we have because of this fact?

Sociology, Economics and Current Events provide opportunities to look more closely at our society and economy.

Marcus went with students to Poland for a month.

When Marcus was asked how parents can help their child, he responded, “If I had a dollar for every time a parent has told me, ‘I didn’t enjoy history either but now that I’m older, I wish I knew more’ I might not have to worry about retirement. Parents can help by encouraging their students, by showing interest in what is going on in the world and by staying informed. Students who watch, listen or read the news on a regular basis tend to do better in my classes. Parents can also help by sharing stories from their family’s history.”

Marcus experiences several teaching challenges. One is convincing students that history can be an enjoyable subject and that it is much more than memorizing facts and dates. One goal is to make the topic relevant. For some topics such as immigration, this is easy. For others it may be more difficult. Were the Progressives from the early 1900’s similar to or different from the Tea Party or the Occupy Wall Street movement? What does a Teddy Roosevelt have to teach us about the role of government? Another challenge is to keep up with the technology and the way internet resources can be used to teach.

Nathan Peters displays his decorated cake.

The Current Events class commemorated the world reaching a population of seven billion today. Last weeks students worked with population pyramid graphs, read articles relating to population growth and viewed video clips about the subject. Using any excuse to bring food to class, the Current Events students thought a birthday cake for the day would be appropriate. Nathan Peters offered to bake a cake in honor of the day.

In an attempt to make history something other than from the textbook, students in American History have been participating in “Artifact Day,” throughout the year.  On block days, 2-3 students begin the class period sharing an artifact with the class.  Students do some basic research into the artifact, write a description of the artifact, and present it to the class.  Over the years students have brought in dolls, baby blankets, stuffed animals, baseball gloves, lunch boxes, along with old books and photographs.

Jesse Shetler is displaying an army bag given to his great grandfather, Ira Bender. Bender received the bag when he was discharged from the military in November 1918. The discharge papers noted Bender was a “conscientious objector who refused to wear the uniform.”

Shawna Borntrager brought in a wool shawl worn by her mother when she was a member of the Amish church. After some begging from her classmates, Shawna agreed to model the shawl and bonnet.

Randy Ropp shared about a vehicle owned by his family, a 1986 Mazda pickup

Matt Libby shared about a 1989 Chevrolet Corvette owned by his dad.