Lightning Jay
@lightningjay.bsky.social
Getting smarter about teaching and history at CU Boulder.
On the 25th anniversary, Colorado Public Radio had me on to talk about how our teaching of 9/11 has treated that day as a perpetual current event, rather than incorporating it fully into the flow of history. www.cpr.org/2026/09/11/9...
Twenty-five years later, the lessons of 9/11 are where the past becomes history
Students who were born years after the 2001 terrorist attacks grapple with what was once a national trauma.
cpr.org
For social studies teachers, virtually no activity is more valuable, or more challenging, than facilitating a whole class discussion. Good news! We're here to help! www.socialstudies.org/social-educa...
If the paper seems too long, read the blog! On teaching slavery, student discursive power, and third-space discussions. From me, @abbyreisman.bsky.social and Jenni Conrad hep.gse.harvard.edu/blog/2026/04...
Facing the Complexity of Facilitating Classroom Discussions About the Past - Harvard Education Press
From its inception, the social studies classroom was intended to be a training ground for participatory democracy.
hep.gse.harvard.edu
Lightning Jay@lightningjay.bsky.social · 5mo agoNew paper! What does it look like for students to dictate how and what they learn about the history of slavery? With @abbyreisman.bsky.social and Jenni Conrad www.harvardeducationalreview.org/content/96/1...
New paper! What does it look like for students to dictate how and what they learn about the history of slavery? With @abbyreisman.bsky.social and Jenni Conrad www.harvardeducationalreview.org/content/96/1...
Beyond Script and Counterscript: Exploring Teachers' Facilitation of Student Discourse about Slavery
In this research article, Abby Reisman, Lightning Peter Jay, and Jenni Conrad compare how two preservice teachers navigated discursive “third spaces” that emerged during discussions of slavery in nint...
harvardeducationalreview.org
How are history teachers teaching about rightwing movements in this current moment of increasing authoritarianism? Join Rob Martinelle, Lightning Jay, and I tomorrow at our #AERA2026 roundtable. Sat, April 11, 1:45 to 3:15 pm, JW Marriott Los Angeles L.A. LIVE, Ground Floor, Gold 2.
Now with an open-access link www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10....
University of Chicago Press Journals: Cookie absent
journals.uchicago.edu
Lightning Jay@lightningjay.bsky.social · 6mo agoNew paper! When teachers are learning about what to do in the classroom, they are also implicitly learning about students. What do their teacher education methods courses tell them about their future pupils? www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10....
New paper! When teachers are learning about what to do in the classroom, they are also implicitly learning about students. What do their teacher education methods courses tell them about their future pupils? www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10....
University of Chicago Press Journals: Cookie absent
journals.uchicago.edu
Here's a story that deserves attention. These standards push Trump talking points into school curriculum. For real, it's the worst I’ve seen in over 100 years of right-wing school aggression.
Tampa Bay Times@tampabaytimes.bsky.social · 8mo agoFlorida proposes teaching students about ‘the fall of Nicolas Maduro’
New explainer with a Ana Ros, a Binghamton colleague. If we don't teach students to understand American violence abroad, they won't understand American violence at home. theconversation.com/a-more-compl...
A more complete Latin American history, including centuries of US influence, helps students understand the complexities surrounding Nicolás Maduro’s arrest
High school students in the US often learn about Latin America through the lens of the US, as a main character that exerts power.
theconversation.com
New Article! What do high school students learn about rightwing history? Not very much. www.tandfonline.com/eprint/C7MT4...
The modern political right in United States history standards
The last decade has seen a global rise in the power of the political Right. In some countries, that has meant a shift towards centre-right traditional conservativism. In others, more radical rightw...
tandfonline.com
Good thinkers having good discussions. As we gear up for another year in the classroom, how can we make our classrooms hubs of rich discussion? #sschat #cdnhistory #historyeducation #historicalthinking #bced
Lightning Jay@lightningjay.bsky.social · last yr.New podcast!!! You can listen to @abbyreisman.bsky.social and I discuss the importance of discussions in the social studies classroom! It get meta!! visionsofed.com/2025/07/21/e...
Should Project 2025 be required reading for high schoolers? In our new article, @abigailrd.bsky.social and I explore two ways for teachers to bring challenging texts into the classroom. www.socialstudies.org/social-educa...
Social Education September 2025
socialstudies.org
Even as oppression descends, a democratic education campaign can uplift.
Joshua Weishart@joshuaweishart.bsky.social · last yr.Blue states should make democracy the prevailing theme of the upcoming school year. Not just civics/social studies classes, but democracy-reinforcing lessons & experiences integrated throughout the curriculum. Boldly educate through the crisis, don't leave children in despair, teach a better way.
New podcast!!! You can listen to @abbyreisman.bsky.social and I discuss the importance of discussions in the social studies classroom! It get meta!! visionsofed.com/2025/07/21/e...
Episode 216: Observing Classroom Discussions with Lightning Jay & Abby Reisman
In episode 216, Dan and Michael chat with Lightning Jay and Abby Reisman about their article published in Theory & Research in Social Education, “The social studies discourse instrument: Valida…
visionsofed.com
New paper! Real Talk: Designing Practice-Based Teacher Education for Family Communication www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15...
mdpi.com
#AERA is such an intense conference. I always come back with so many ideas. This year, I'm also coming back with an award! So grateful to the Social Studies SIG and my co-authors for the Outstanding Paper recognition.
School people, bad news from SCOTUS. This case is a big deal. Yes, LGBTQ rights, but much more: It threatens basic school functions: 1.) Children's right to get the best knowledge; 2.) Schools' ability to do basic administration. Here's an explainer thread: (1/) www.nytimes.com/2025/04/22/u...
Supreme Court Seems Set to Allow Opt-Outs From L.G.B.T.Q. Stories in Schools (Gift Article)
In a lively and sometimes heated argument, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared poised to rule for parents with religious objections to storybooks with gay and transgender characters.
nytimes.com
Some great news!
AERA Social Studies Research SIG@ssr-sig.bsky.social · last yr.The Outstanding Paper Award goes to @lightningjay.bsky.social, @abbyreisman.bsky.social, Timothy Patterson, @wendychanw.bsky.social, and Jenni Conrad for their paper "The Social Studies Discourse Instrument: Validating an Observation Tool for Classroom Discussion." 2/5
HERJ has a #CallForPapers on Shifting Practices in #HistoryEducation in Africa: Critical Perspectives and New Directions. For more information, including how to contribute, read the full call here: journals.uclpress.co.uk/herj/news/25/ Articles will publish #OpenAccess and without APC
A little louder for the people in the back! Sourcing, close reading, and questioning without robust historical knowledge is unlikely to generate robust demonstrations of historical thinking. @lightningjay.bsky.social directing us appropriately towards "skills, practice, AND knowledge".
Lightning Jay@lightningjay.bsky.social · 2y agoNew Article! Better thinking about online information requires skills, practice, AND knowledge. I make the case that this new crisis highlights just how badly we need great history classes. theconversation.com/why-history-...
So smart of my alma mater to comply in advance with all the administration's demands. Can you just imagine what kind of capricious attacks on Penn's funding might have happened otherwise? whyy.org/articles/pen...
Trump administration freezes $175M in funding to Penn over trans athlete policies
“This is immediate proactive action to review discretionary funding streams” to the University of Pennsylvania, a senior White House official told WHYY News.
whyy.org
Fun detail about writing in 2025. This article came out yesterday. The same day, I saw an AI slop version of my writing on a different website. An obvious "rewrite this article in worse language" prompt. Same pictures and everything. theconversation.com/why-history-...
Why history instruction is critical for combating online misinformation
Critical thinking involves specific skills for assessing evidence, but background knowledge about the subject is also essential.
theconversation.com
New Article! Better thinking about online information requires skills, practice, AND knowledge. I make the case that this new crisis highlights just how badly we need great history classes. theconversation.com/why-history-...
Why history instruction is critical for combating online misinformation
Critical thinking involves specific skills for assessing evidence, but background knowledge about the subject is also essential.
theconversation.com
Chess masters and physicists show how expertise, not innate talent, enables flexible thinking. For evaluating online info, that means knowing #history and civics. A scholar explains: buff.ly/gFAFTB3 @lightningjay.bsky.social, Binghamton University, SUNY #highered #psychology
Why history instruction is critical for combating online misinformation
Critical thinking involves specific skills for assessing evidence, but background knowledge about the subject is also essential.
buff.ly
Dear Higher Ed: It won't help to take away faculty control of academic departments. It won't help to ban masks or empower campus cops. It won't help to overhaul admissions to favor white students. .... ... ...They were always going to shoot the puppy no matter what. www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...
Exclusive | Columbia Is Nearing Agreement to Give Trump What He Wants
The school faces a deadline to yield to administration demands in negotiations over federal funding.
wsj.com
Why history instruction is critical for combating online misinformation @us.theconversation.com @lightningjay.bsky.social theconversation.com/why-history-...
Why history instruction is critical for combating online misinformation
Critical thinking involves specific skills for assessing evidence, but background knowledge about the subject is also essential.
theconversation.com
Young-earth creationism: social-studies edition. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/14/u...
Oklahoma Proposes Teaching 2020 Election ‘Discrepancies’ in U.S. History (Gift Article)
The Oklahoma Board of Education recently approved a new, more conservative social studies agenda that has irked even some Republicans.
nytimes.com
