Going through school myself, history was my least favorite subject. It was hard for me to make connections and understand what years things happened in. It wasn't until I became a teacher and had the opportunity to take my 5th grade class on a guided walking tour around Buffalo that I realized how much history is in my hometown. We are taught in school about the bigger picture and typically not local history, so I truly had no idea that there was as much history as there is right here in Buffalo. Making that connection to students today is extremely important. Once I made the connection as an adult, it made history a lot more relatable and this can happen with our own students as well. Making history usable in our own classrooms can spark interest from students, like myself, that were so disconnected to history that it led to low interest and low scores.
