The last time I set foot in DC was 1999, back when my primary focus was simply hunting for cute boys and the latest explicit CDs. Returning now, as a 40-year-old who has spent 17 years teaching the intricacies of American literature and history, the experience was like revisiting a classic text through an entirely new perspective. To say that it hits different is a massive understatement.
Where do I even begin?
I saw the flag that inspired the Star-Spangled Banner. Glass separated me from Sherman’s hat and debris collected from the U.S.S. Arizona. I gazed up at a Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton and read about the space object formerly known as the Planet Pluto.
It was overwhelming to experience just four museums over five days, and I wanted to soak it up like a sponge.
Three Ways My DC Trip Changed My Teaching Strategy
The Power of a Place
Take your students on field trips. No number of YouTube videos, gallery walks, webquests, or interactive websites can replace the experience of being in a historic place or seeing a REAL LIFE historical artifact. Seeing real animals at the zoo will always be more powerful than seeing a picture in a book. I know field trips are a logistical nightmare, but for the one student who finally gets the history because they stood where it happened, it’s worth it.
The Habit of Wonder
Continue to learn new things. Travel to places where you feel inspired and learn new things. Your learning will directly impact your passion in the classroom.
The Deep Dive
Read nonfiction and watch documentaries. Once you fall in love with something, learn all you can about it. When I got back from DC, I fell right into the series of Apple TV Lincoln’s Dilemma. Standing before the beloved 16th president’s marble statue and then soaking in thought-provoking facts about the man behind the legend made it even more worthwhile. Lincoln’s Dilemma will change my classroom approach in that instead of focusing only on the speeches, I’m now planning to pair Lincoln’s words with the real-world historical context Douglass provided. It turns a standard reading assignment into a nuanced historical debate.
Standing in those exhibits, watching history come to life, I realized that the most powerful learning happened when I felt like a curator—discovering, questioning, and connecting the dots. That’s exactly the energy I wanted to capture in my classroom. It’s why I created the Historical Fiction Museum Exhibit Project. When students shift from just reading a book to curating an exhibit about it, they stop being passive observers and start owning the history.
Inspired to bring more history or nonfiction into your classroom, but short on time? You don't have to start from scratch. Check out my Historical Fiction Novel Study Research Museum Project—it’s designed to bring that same “real-world” energy to your students, minus the extra prep.
