The online description of this year's teacher institute at Fort Ticonderoga (Fort Ti, to close friends) is pretty ambitious.
Winston Churchill once remarked that the geographical range of the Seven Years’ War (known as the French & Indian War in North America) could very well have constituted the “first world war.” Fort Ticonderoga invites teachers to dive into this assessment at the 2019 Fort Ticonderoga Teacher Institute “World Wars: Historical Comparison of the French & Indian War and World War I.”
That's not something I would have thought about on my own. It's not a study I would have endeavored to undertake. But that's one of the coolest things about participating in the teacher institute at the fort. I could look at an experience like this and repeat to myself, It's just not my thing! I hate this!, or I can step into the adventure and absorb everything I can from the week-long experience. That kind of a leap of faith is energizing. It is the not knowing that makes it an adventure.
It's also the honor of being on the ground in the actual location of the biggest and deadliest battle of the French and Indian War. It's the feeling I will have walking in the footsteps of the Marquis de Montcalm, Benedict Arnold, Robert Rogers, George Washington, and others. It is the living out of history in ways that I've only experienced in imagination - safely distanced from the showers of grapeshot and the thundering cannon fire.
I remind myself that I am one of a very small group of people who have the opportunity to experience Fort Ticonderoga in this fashion.
It's also the honor of being on the ground in the actual location of the biggest and deadliest battle of the French and Indian War. It's the feeling I will have walking in the footsteps of the Marquis de Montcalm, Benedict Arnold, Robert Rogers, George Washington, and others. It is the living out of history in ways that I've only experienced in imagination - safely distanced from the showers of grapeshot and the thundering cannon fire.
I remind myself that I am one of a very small group of people who have the opportunity to experience Fort Ticonderoga in this fashion.
Twelve teachers spend a week at Ticonderoga, using the museum’s object and archival collections to examine the origins, scope, evolved warfare, failures, and subsequent consequences of both wars. The week includes discussions with visiting history scholars along with practical methodologies for incorporating content into the classroom. Fort Ticonderoga staff provides participants with behind-the-scenes opportunities, practical sessions on integrating documents and artifacts into the classroom, and immersive experiences.
I do have to remind myself that the institute is intended to improve my teaching, to give me background knowledge for use with students, and to help me apply it appropriately with my curriculum. I don't think that will be a problem, but fitting it all into a single year with my students may be.
The Fort Ticonderoga Teacher Institute features lecture-based discussions with visiting scholars, experiential and immersive experiences related to the Seven Years’ War and World War I, behind-the-scenes opportunities, document and artifact analysis using the Fort Ticonderoga Collection, as well as classroom applications. Participants take part in activities revolving around artifacts and documents in Fort Ticonderoga’s renowned collections linked to Historical Thinking practices, C3 Frameworks, and state learning standards.
For more of my thoughts and experiences from the Fort Ticonderoga Teacher Institute,
see the collection of posts on my Fort Ticonderoga page.
see the collection of posts on my Fort Ticonderoga page.
