This document describes an 11th and 12th grade blended learning history class taught by Meredith Stewart at Cary Academy in North Carolina. The class meets twice a week in person and uses online platforms for independent work and discussion outside of class. Key aspects include: 1) Students explore history thematically rather than chronologically, completing projects on topics like immigration, war memorials, and social movements. 2) Students interact with subject experts through activities like a Supreme Court simulation and cumulative research projects. 3) Students provide positive feedback that the blended approach allows deeper exploration of ideas than a traditional classroom and encourages independent thinking.

1. Adventures in
Blended Learning:
Class Outside the
Classroom Walls
Meredith Stewart
Cary Academy, Cary, NC
Unable to attend: Diana Laufenberg
Philadelphia, PA

2. Course Logistics
o 11th and 12th grade students
o Two 45min face to face classes per week
(traditional class has three 45min classes & one
1.5hr class per week)
o Outside of class time used for independent
research, online discussion, and reading
o Cumulative project rather than final exam
o Material covered thematically, rather than
chronologically

4. Course Outline
What Makes an American? Shift Happens
(Immigration and Citizenship) January to Early March
August-September Time Periods: TBD by Students
Time Periods: Explorers/Early Settlers, Project: Cumulative Project
Early 20th century (Timeline, Paper, Interview & Lesson)
Project: Immigrant Letter
Progress (?) and Protest Movements
War Mid-March to End of April
October to Mid-November Time Periods/Categories: Agrarian Protests, Labor
Time Periods: American Rev, Civil Movement/Luddites, Conservation
War, WWI, Vietnam Movement, Prohibition, Women’s Suffrage, Zoot
Suit Riots, Civil Rights/Black Power, GLBT
Project: Design a War Memorial Rights, Tea Party, Occupy Wall Street
Project: Handbook for Radicals
Rights
Mid-November to Winter Break What If?
Time Periods: Post-American Rev (Articles of May
Confederation/Constitution), Reconstruction
Time Periods: Depression/New Deal, WWII, Cold
Project: Supreme Court Simulation War, Assassinations
Project: Alternative History project

5. Interaction with Experts
o Engineer and architect comment on war
memorial designs
o Professor and attorney comment on
opinions written for Supreme Court
simulation
o Educators comment on student lesson plans
for cumulative project
o Interaction with experts through social
media on topics related to class

7. Supreme Court Simulation
o Undertaken in the context of unit on history
of civil rights in the US
o Case chosen from the current year’s Supreme
Court docket
o 8th grade students act as attorneys (draft oral
arguments) and 11th grade students act as
justices
o Final opinions are posted to class blog-
attorney and professor offer feedback to
students

9. Shift Cumulative Project
For the cumulative project, each student chooses
a topic of interest and researches the trajectory of
the changes in it throughout US history. Each
student completes a…
• Timeline
• Interview with an Expert
• Research Paper
• Teaches a lesson on the topic to the class
Topics have included personal
transportation, food preparation, social
dance, education and race, and health care.

11. Student Feedback
It has definitely been unlike any other history class I have taken so far
which I really like. It is not as hard as memorizing things for a test, but its
harder in the sense that you really have to think about the topic more
than in a regular US History class or APUSH. It has let me explore more
ideas rather than being handed cold, hard facts.
I like how we don't just talk about the chronological events from
history. That alone has challenged my thinking because I have always
learned history through the other approach and I personally enjoy this
approach more. It really makes me wonder if we actually learn more by
cramming dates into our heads, or if we learn more by going deeper into
individual themes in history.
This was the first class that I had ever used a blog in, and I really enjoyed
using it. It was nice to discuss concepts using technology and addressing
everybody's perspective on certain topics.

13. Student Publication and
Presentation About the Class
o Article co-authored with two 11th grade
students published in Independent School
magazine
o Four students presented at the North
Carolina Independent School technology
conference

15. Tools Used Outside the Classroom
o Wordpress Blog for Conversation and
Assignment Posting
o Wikispaces for posting project work and project
feedback
o Twitter for interaction with experts and to
solicit feedback
o Web databases for independent research
o Google Sketchup and computer modeling for
war memorial designs

16. War
Memorial
Project

17. Who’s
Meredith
Stewart?
Law and Divinity
school grad who Read her blog
decided teaching was
way more fun http://meredithstewart.com
Follow her on Twitter
Middle and Upper
School History
http://twitter.com/msstewart
Teacher and MS Contact her via email
History Department meredithlstewart@gmail.com
Chair at Cary Academy
in Cary, NC

18. Where’s Diana
Laufenberg?
Check out her TED talk
http://www.ted.com/talks/diana_la
ufenberg_3_ways_to_teach.html
On a plane to Read her blog
Malaysia, but http://laufenberg.wordpress.com
she’d love to
connect with you Follow her on Twitter
http://twitter.com/dlaufenberg
Contact her via email
dlaufenberg@gmail.com