With world constantly developing all around us, world history classes are adapting by incorporating the developments with new technology and the new Common Core standards. The new curriculum is more focused on the development of student’s analytical and debating skills and has less dependency on memorization. The new curriculum has been introduced mainly in the World History classes, and the teachers have come together to implement this new curriculum with the use of Chromebooks, which was introduced by FUHSD. Each teacher was given training from technology specialist Menko Johnson and literature specialist Welton Kwong.

History department head Andrew Sturgill’s classes have constant access to the Chromebooks, like most of the other World History classes. Using the tools provided by Google Classroom, students are expected to break down and gain a more thorough understanding of  more complex primary source documents. The tools can help students organize their thoughts to understand concepts from the documents and use them as evidence in verbal debate. For example, students can use the “Define and Reference” tool in Google Classroom to break through the difficult language used in some documents. This way, they can understand the text word for word rather than skimming over it and not understanding the meaning at all.

Google Classroom combines Google Mail, Docs and Drive to create an environment where the students and teachers are always in contact. With the use of the Chromebooks, all work is accessible at home and in the classroom, to both students and teachers. It is a convenient way for the students and teachers to communicate with each other in a timely manner.

“I can look at any kid’s document at any given time,” Sturgill said. “Instead of taking their paper while they are sitting there patiently, they can continue working.”

History teacher Hilary Barron believes that using the new strategies through Chromebooks has helped her students develop a better understanding of the content covered in class. Recently she has introduced the The Communist Manifesto by philosopher Karl Marx and excerpts from Wealth of Nations by philosopher Adam Smith. By using tools like document highlighters, students can analyze and understand the authors’ arguments more clearly, according to Barron.

“I’ve taught [about] communism and capitalism every year,” Barron said, “but I feel they are getting more depth into the argument and are able to criticize who has the better argument.”

The in-depth lessons on each primary source document strengthens students’ understanding of college level writing from the very beginning. The students are not expected to write complete essays. Rather, they are expected to write an outline for an essay so they can develop their ideas and complete their thought process. Sophomore Tanvee Sinha, who is in Barron’s World Core class, appreciates the incorporation of the Common Core ideas into the teaching style.

“There is a lot more writing, interactive activities and segments that I think that are part of our curriculum now,” sophomore Tanvee Sinha said. “I really like history this year.”

Both the students and the teachers are benefiting from the new focus of MVHS’ history classes, which has shifted from memorizing the facts temporarily to building argumentative skills permanently. With so many teachers following the same curriculum at the same pace, they are able to reflect on their successes and failures as a group one to be able to improve the implementation of the next unit.

“We don’t get to do a lot in isolation,” Sturgill said, “but having lots of us and lots of people doing it differently, we have more opinions to draw off of to improve.”