Great NHEC site gets better

The National History Education Clearinghouse has always been amazing.

The site was broken down into several sections such as History Content, Best Practices, Teaching Materials, Issues & Research and Professional Development. And it was wonderful stuff.

But just last week, the NHEC site got an upgrade. It’ll take a bit of getting used to but I already like the change. The creators have worked to make the content easier to find and use by eliminating several sections and focusing just on History Content, Best Practices and Teaching Materials.

New features in those three areas include a Bookmark Backpack (which allows users to save their favorite resources), videos such as What is Historical Thinking and easy to use search categories. You will find plenty of online primary sources and multimedia, videos of teachers in action, helpful guides to teaching with technology or historic sites, Teaching American History project spotlights and lessons learned and much more.

I especially appreciate the videos that demonstrate a specific strategy in actual classroom settings. You also have the opportunity to ask master teachers and historians questions that you might have concerning teaching ideas, materials or online resources.

They’ve also made it easier to stay updated with the latest info with a K-12 history teacher monthly enewsletter and a biannual print newsletter. You can review past issues and subscribe online.

The site really is what I call a “non-negotiable” – a tool so valuable that no history teacher should try teaching without it.