Dr.+Margaret+Haviland



By way of introduction, my name is Margaret Haviland. Sometimes I stick my maiden name "Morris" in the middle but mostly for simplicity I go without. I have been teaching at Westtown School off and on since fall 1994. While my graduate degree is in US History and my research focused on Quaker charitable organizations in late 18th century Philadelphia, what I currently teach and do at Westtown has little to do with that. I teach World History and Asian History. These are upper level electives offered to 11th and 12 grade students. Last year I discovered Ramachandra Guha's //India after Gandhi// and had a great time teaching modern Indian History.Unfortunately, this year enrollment in Asian History was way down so I will teach a section of Ancient World History instead. Oh well, next year! Teaching a section of Ancient World History and a section of World History from the Classical Period to WWI (which I have done for several years now) means I will have time to continue to experiment and expand the ways I integrate technology into the classroom. Along with teaching I am also the Upper School History Department Chair.

The single biggest part of my job percentage wise and time wise is as the school's K-12 Curriculum Coordinator. This work takes me throughout the school and affords me lots of opportunities to work with teachers in a variety of disciplines. Though I am not a tech specialist in any way, I have worked over the past several years to integrate technology into my teaching. Way back in the ancient of days (1999/2000) my students created a web page on modern China as a project. Dreamweaver was the product the school offered us and we muddled through. Thank goodness for Wikis and Ning which lets students focus on content and presentation and leaves the coding behind the scenes! Last year our department experimented with Ning to create a current events forum for our students. Six sections of classes participated. We liked it so well that we are continuing it this year and are adding the rest of the upper level history sections. Across the school teachers are experimenting with 2.0 tools especially those that connect students to each other and their education. My hope is that our participation in PLP/ADVIS will help us be better at this! I am looking forward to a great year learning more about all of the "Tools "mentioned on the bar on the left and getting to know folks from other schools in the area.