A Student Becomes The Expert

By Author: Monna Kjos Almenningen
Total Articles: 2
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These NHD research trips, and countless others, even electronic ones, have transformed teaching and learning for students making their educational experience authentic. Student-selected research resulted in scholarly projects and storytelling that is both remarkably expert and passionate, conveying meaning far more powerfully and personally than in my run-of-the-classroom Cartier Replica literary analysis essays. In her new book Write beside Them: Risk, Voice, and Clarity in High School Writing, Penny Kittle notes, "Authority on a topic brings confidence. A confident voice matters in writing. We tell students to 'know your topic: write what you know,' yet students perform in subjects they barely understand for most of the school day" (14). The National History Day model provides a powerful antidote to that problem by expecting expertise. The authoritative historical narratives students have created, in films, papers, exhibits, and performances, teem with confident voice and historical authenticity.

In an interview, my former student, Israel Piedra, ...
... a three-time winner in the documentary category for New Hampshire History Day, explored his perspective on why NHD works. When I asked him about his first documentary, remember the Alamo: A Stand for Freedom, he explained, "I got to choose a topic . . . after it came out well as a research paper, it was fun and I got to make it even better when I made my first documentary. My research kept me really interested. I found a million different things, a million different angles. It was rewarding to see how visuals, paintings, documents enhanced the narrative. And audio. Chronology became really important, and trimming the excess." First, Israel needed expertise, and from his reflection above, it's clear he built it. Only then could he begin the arduous task of translating the story clearly into the documentary genre.

Between the state History Day competition and nationals, there is also the expectation that students will revise and improve their work in response to judges' comments. Clearly, Israel appreciated the opportunity for revision and additional evaluation. He arranged an interview with a Harvard history professor, clips of which he integrated into his final product to enhance the historical context of the Alamo battle in response to state judge's comments. Too often, once a paper or project is graded in traditional classes, there is no time for revision before rushing to cover the next standard or required text.

I asked Israel to comment on how his writing process changed in his second year of NHD competition. That year he was no longer a student in my English classroom, but I advised his project outside of class. Israel admitted that topic choice took much longer the second year. The theme was "Triumph and Tragedy in History," but he shopped around a long time for something that interested him. He remembered two events that helped him focus on the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising: a sermon at his church about a nurse who smuggled babies out of the ghetto through the sewers, and my recommendation that he read Leon Uris's novel Mi/a18. Additionally, Israel brought critical knowledge and experience to his second-year and third-year projects. He learned to "be more concise in writing the first draft," and also said he had the advantage of knowing how to access and summarize sources much faster.

Israel is also a musician, playing and singing in school and outside of school in several bands and ensembles. Our conversation veered from the scripting process to auxiliary learning Israel had found critical. He admitted, "I've started paying attention to soundtracks in movies. Music is one of Tag Heuer Replica Watches the most important parts to making a documentary. I'm looking for music that doesn't overpower but enhances the emotional impact of the content material." The NHD format, and the documentary category, allowed Israel to bring his multiple intelligences to the creative process. He began to see that his "author's voice" could be translated beyond the page. Although it didn't make run-offs at History Day nationals, the final cut of The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising: A Triumph of the Human Spirit was the film I referred to earlier that left the audience speechless during the New Hampshire state com-petition. It is also Israel's favorite.