How to Support Teachers Using the History Alive! Program

Implementing a new curriculum is a big change for classroom teachers. For most teachers, it takes three years to fully implement a new curriculum and feel comfortable with all the changes. The ideas listed below will help you support teachers as they make this transition.

• Ensure that teachers have all materials including new Interactive Student Notebooks.

• Encourage teachers to attend professional development and History Alive! training sponsored by the DPS Social Studies Department and/or attend national trainings in the summer from History Alive!  

• Invite TCI to your site to answer questions and help teachers with challenges.

• Provide collaboration time for teachers to review lessons and discuss modifications. Consider employing TCI’s Lesson Review model to facilitate these discussions.

• Arrange for teachers to observe classrooms where History Alive! strategies are being used. Alternatively, ask History Alive! teachers to guest teach in other classrooms.

• Encourage teachers to pick two lessons in a given unit that they will teach using of the History Alive! strategies. Focusing on just these lessons will help teachers learn the History Alive! model without feeling overwhelmed.