I’m not a history teacher, but I was asked to do small group coaching sessions to help prepare students for the upcoming history EOC, because many of the students who are at risk of not passing the test are also in my class

The history teacher prepares the review session material for us. All we have to do is go over it with the students in small groups. They’ve already learned the material, so it’s just a refresher of sorts. In looking over the terms we had to review, I was sort of nervous that I wouldn’t be able to help much, because I’m not exactly a history buff

However, on day one, as I started to review the terms with students, I realized we were in big trouble. The topic of the week is the civil war. They didn’t know any of the definitions/terms, so I decided to start with the basics:

What years were the civil war? blank stares How about the century, what century did it take place, 17th, 18th, 19th? students have no idea Who was the president at the time of the war? again, blank stares, except one student who said “I think his name starts with an R”

Dear lord, send help!! These kids have clearly been paying attention to their phone or sleeping for all of history class this year. I am in big trouble.