ABSTRACT
Why is it that some teachers can cover all the important content in the courses they teach within the time allotted and others cannot? The distinction seems to rest on the teachers’ belief that they must be experts on all facets of their subject. Teachers believe that they must cover the entire curriculum and thus they fail at completing the task. Teachers need to remember that the reason they love social studies is the joy of discovery, which is what keeps them passionate about the subject. Teachers need to consistently share that feeling of discovery with their students, making them active learners. Telling a student “I don't know” is a great teachable moment. It lets the students know that history is not a finite subject and that there is always more to learn. Teachers will never know all there is to know about their subject, so they should not bother trying. What they need to do is to find a way to let the students get the most from the course in the time allotted. The issue is how to go about doing this.
