اینترنت

برچسب: Review

  • Trump Orders Review of Smithsonian Museums to Remove Unpatriotic Exhibits

    Trump Orders Review of Smithsonian Museums to Remove Unpatriotic Exhibits


    The Trump administration has announced plans to review the contents of exhibitions at several Smithsonian institutions. Trump has made clear that he wants all exhibits purged of negative or unpatriotic content. He wants exhibits to show only the positive aspects of American history. This is called censorship. When Trump is gone, the full story of American history will be restored the good, the inspiring but also the dark episodes where people were treated unfairly.

    The Washington Post reported::

    The White House will launch a sweeping review of Smithsonian exhibitions, collections and operations ahead of America’s 250th-birthday celebrations next year — the first time the Trump administration has detailed steps to scrutinize the institution, which officials say should reflect the president’s call to restore “truth and sanity” to American history.

    The vetting process would include reviewing public-facing and online content, curatorial processes and guidelines, exhibition planning and collection use, according to a letter sent to Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III on Tuesday and signed by White House senior associate Lindsey Halligan, Domestic Policy Council Director Vince Hale and White House Office of Management and Budget chief Russell Vought.

    A White House official confirmed the plan, which was posted on the White House website Tuesday and first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

    “The Smithsonian’s work is grounded in a deep commitment to scholarly excellence, rigorous research, and the accurate, factual presentation of history,” a Smithsonian spokesperson said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. “We are reviewing the letter with this commitment in mind and will continue to collaborate constructively with the White House, Congress, and our governing Board of Regents.”

    The institution already planned its own content review, ordered by the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents in June amid pressure from President Donald Trump. The regents instructed Bunch “to ensure unbiased content” across the institution and report back on “any needed personnel changes.”

    The board at that time affirmed Bunch’s authority amid a high-stakes standoff between the White House and Kim Sajet, whom Trump had attempted to fire as director of the National Portrait Gallery. Sajet later resigned, saying her presence had become a distraction from the Smithsonian’s mission.

    It is not immediately clear whether the White House’s action will supersede the Smithsonian’s review.

    The letter states that the initial review will focus on eight museums: the National Museum of American History, the National Museum of Natural History, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Museum of the American Indian, the National Air and Space Museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Portrait Gallery and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

    To begin the process, officials requested that the museums provide information within 30 days concerning 250th-anniversary programming, current and future exhibition content, and other material.

    The White House added that museums were expected to start making changes within 120 days.

    “Museums should begin implementing content corrections where necessary, replacing divisive or ideologically driven language with unifying, historically accurate, and constructive descriptions across placards, wall didactics, digital displays, and other public-facing materials,” the letter read.

    Since returning to office in January, Trump has moved quickly to overhaul the country’s most prominent arts and cultural institutions. His focus on the Smithsonian has stoked concerns about political interference at the institution, which is not a traditional government agency and is historically considered nonpartisan.
    In July, painter Amy Sherald withdrew her upcoming exhibition “American Sublime” from the National Portrait Gallery, citing concerns that the museum discussed removing from the show her painting of a transgender woman posing as the Statue of Liberty. (The Smithsonian said it discussed pairing the work with a video, not removing it.)

    That same month, The Washington Post reported that a temporary placard containing references to Trump had been removed from an impeachment exhibit at the National Museum of American History as part of the Smithsonian content review. The museum later updated the display to restore context about Trump’s impeachments following swift outcry from members of the public and several Democratic leaders.

    In March, Trump signed an executive order to eliminate “divisive narratives” across the Smithsonian museums and “restore the Smithsonian Institution to its rightful place as a symbol of inspiration and American greatness.”
    The order, titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” directs Halligan and Vice President JD Vance to remove “improper ideology” from the Smithsonian Institution, including its museums, education and research centers and the National Zoo.



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  • Ben Katcher: Exam Review & Partner Retrieval Practice

    Ben Katcher: Exam Review & Partner Retrieval Practice


    Actually, please do try this at home…

     

    Ben Katcher was a Teach Like A Champion Fellow from 2023-24. For his final project, he focused on developing a knowledge-rich AP US History curriculum. Ben discussed knowledge organizers with Doug on the Sweat the Technique podcast (here). Sign up for his free newsletter about how to apply the science of learning in the classroom here. He can be reached at KnowledgeFirstHistory@gmail.com. He reflects here on teaching students to be more effective in using retrieval practice to review for exams.

     

    In my AP US History class, it’s vital that my students develop study skills that can help them learn and use a lot of content knowledge. Research tells us that most people (including adults!) are not very good at studying, spending too much time reviewing information and too little time retrieving information. Information becomes far more durable and better encoded in our long-term memory when we are quizzed on it, or when we quiz ourselves on it. With this in mind, partner quizzing has become an important system for retrieval practice in my classroom.

     

    Partner quizzing can be a powerful way to help students speak and listen to each other, develop their ideas, and prepare to participate in whole-group discussions or construct thoughtful ideas in writing. But partner work can suffer from some common pitfalls, including:

    • One partner dominating the discussion
    • Students struggling to identify the resources they need to participate fully
    • The teacher struggling to monitor multiple, simultaneous conversations, leaving misconceptions unaddressed

     

    I am excited to share one activity I use in my classroom that maximizes the benefits and minimizes the risks of partner work.

     

    This activity is a partner Retrieval Practice drill. I use this activity toward the end of a unit of study, before students take a quiz on key terms and dates associated with that unit. The goals of this activity are to help students encode knowledge, practice effective study techniques in advance of the quiz, and self-assess their understanding. 

     

    To prepare for the activity in the video below, I took all of the key terms and dates from my Unit 8 Knowledge Organizer and turned them into question form, placing a checkbox next to each question (see a portion of both my Unit 8 Knowledge Organizer and partner quiz below). 

     

    As you can see in the video, I begin the activity by reviewing the expectations. I instruct Partner #1 to ask Partner #2 each retrieval practice question. I instruct Partner #2 to attempt to answer each question without their knowledge organizer. If Partner #2 is able to answer the question, then Partner #1 will place a check next to the term on the handout that belongs to Partner #2. If Partner #2 is unable to answer the question, then they are expected to look at their Knowledge Organizer and read the answer. In that case, Partner #1 will not place a check next to the term.

     

    As students begin asking and answering the questions, I circulate throughout the class with a copy of the student handout on my clipboard. As I circulate, I listen to student conversations, but this only gets me a limited amount of information. I only have the opportunity to hear each student ask and answer 1-2 questions. Therefore, my main focus is looking at the students’ handouts to note which terms have check marks next to them, indicating that they have been answered correctly. I then tally the terms that do not have check marks. By the end of the seven minutes, I have reliable, student-generated data that indicates the most common gaps in knowledge.

     

    After seven minutes, the timer goes off, indicating that it is time for students’ to switch roles. But before we do that, I take the opportunity to review common misconceptions. During this lesson, my formative assessment data indicated that common misconceptions included the Truman Doctrine and the Military-Industrial Complex, so I reviewed these terms with all students.

     

    By the end of the activity, students have generated for themselves a personalized study guide that indicates which terms they know well and which terms they need to study in more depth before the assessment. I instruct students to focus their study time on the terms that their partner did not check off for them. And I instruct them to study in exactly the way they did in class; ask themselves the questions and see if they can answer without the Knowledge Organizer. If they can, then check off the answer for themselves. 

     

    Through this activity, my students have practiced a more effective study method than simply rereading information and prepared to study effectively on their own.

     



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