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Education in Bay Ridge

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When teaching local history to students, it provides a great opportunity to look at the history of schools in the area. There is a rich history of how education has developed to what it is today, and the New York City board of Education is one of the largest Departments in the entire country.  By exploring what going to school was like in the past, students can receive a better understanding of what life was like in general in the past. It also helps personify the experience as students will be able to truly understand the issues that kids like them faced in the past.  In looking at Bay Ridge, it is best to divide the schools by school type. As in Education there are Public schools, which are federally funded and free for all students. The New York City Department of Education must follow the state and federal guidelines as far as curriculums and programming. There is also private schools which can be either parochial (faith based) or a private institution where the individual...
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Bay Ridge in the 19th Century

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Local history can sometimes be a difficult topic during transition periods in history. While there are massive changes occurring on a global scale, it is important to see how local towns and villages adapted and existed in the context of these large historical events. When these instances occur, it is important to locate any and all information that is available to help fill in these gaps. A great resource would be maps, as often time insurance or even fire department maps can help provide insights into a particular area.  One of the best resources for maps is the Center for Brooklyn History's website.  Here students have access to viewing hundreds of maps of Brooklyn, ranging from the 18th century to today. This can be a WebQuest activity, as well as a guided practice for students to engage with their neighborhoods. According to a Development and Evaluation of an Interactive WebQuest Environment: “Web Macerasi by Yasemin Gülbahar, R. Orcun Madran and Filiz Kalelioglu, "W...
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Interview with Life Long Bay Ridge Resident J. Fitzgerald

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 One of the main goals in the world of education today is to enhance the skill of metacognition, or be aware of one's thinking process. This is a skill that teachers are to help students to grasp, as it can be very helpful in self-awareness in the learning process as well as general classroom setting. When students practice metacognition, it can help them understand content material in a better way (I know this is the answer because ... or I got this question wrong because I did this instead of that).  By practicing metacognition, students are more aware of their strengths and weaknesses, and can better help themselves to improve on their academic work and understandings.  A great activity to explore metacognition would be to have students interview others. This can be through almost any discipline area, especially the history discipline. By having students interview actual participants and witnesses to historical events, it can help broaden their understanding of the eve...
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How the R Train Impacted Bay Ridge

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One of the greatest ways to make the past relevant to younger generations is to create connections between their surroundings to the past. Teachers and educators can take what students have in their immediate surroundings, and help them make comparisons to the past. The teacher can provide activities such as Venn diagrams, where the students can learn to compare and contrast topics. In doing practices like this, the students can work on their comparison skills and help connect the past to their present day experiences. When the teacher is able to guide the students in the right direction, and they can make the connection or comparison themselves, higher order thinking skills can be achieved.  A way that teachers can help foster the connection of past to present would be to take students on a field trip of their local train station, or the  New York Transit Museum . The New York Transit Museum has a wide range of exhibits that show students how the train cars have changed over ...
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Slavery in the early days of Bay Ridge

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 When discussing the topic of slavery, students often infer that there was no slavery in the north. Even adults do not want to believe that the north had slaves, and that those in New York City were always opposed of slavery. This was not the case. There were slaves in the City as well as in the area of Bay Ridge. When introducing this topic, it can be shocking to students and even their parents. It is important that when teaching the topic of slavery, that the teacher presents the facts and accurately portrays the experience of slaves. As always, the topic should be age appropriate for the students in the grade level. 
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The Dutch Origins of Bay Ridge and the Revolutionary War

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 When looking at local history, it is important to understand the Europeans who influenced the area. For the area of New York City, the first major European presence was Dutch. In looking at Dutch New York, students can understand the names of various places as well as why certain things exist in New York City. This lesson can best be placed with the Unit of Study that focuses on New York State History. This topic is super beneficial to those lessons that discuss the Dutch presence in the area. The topic also helps to bring the Revolutionary War and English influences that also led to the creation of the area we know today as Bay Ridge. Some of these topics seem so abstract or distant from the minds of young students, but by bringing attention to events that occurred close to the area that the students attend school in can help build their understanding of history and especially local history.  Another great resource for this topic would be the Center for Brooklyn's History we...
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The Indigenous People of Bay Ridge and Early Encouters with Europeans.

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 When looking at the history of a specific place or location, it is best to start from the very beginning. It is also important in Education to recognize the impact and contributions of Indigenous peoples in the area, and bring light to their presence. Much, if not all land in the United States was once occupied by Native American tribes before the arrival of the Europeans.  Much of New York States curriculum in the Social Studies content focuses on the roles of Native Populations in the history of the United States, as well as a special concetration on the tribes located in New York State. An example of this would be in the New York State 7th grade Social Studies curriculum that states  "7.6 WESTWARD EXPANSION: Driven by political and economic motives, the United States expanded its physical boundaries to the Pacific Ocean between 1800 and 1860. This settlement displaced Native Americans as the frontier was pushed westward. (Standards: 1, 3; Themes: ID, MOV, TCC, GEO)" 7...
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