Mr Yell's Social Studies

I've taught every social studies discipline in every secondary grade when electives are included; most of my teaching though was in American and World History at the middle level. In 2020 I retired from 45 incredible years in education. Early in my career I used filmstrips, overhead projectors, a chalkboard, and checked out a large teletype machine from the media center for my students to connect with the Internet. I completed the secondary classroom portion of my career with a paperless classroom, operational control of my SMART Board from anywhere in the room, and connected my students in real time with others throughout the world. So many things changed in so many incredible ways during that time, changes which I embraced, but one thing that has endured is the need for engaging instruction in which kids are active, thinking, and enjoying learning. I continue my career in education as an instructor in the education department of a nearby university, as a freelance writer, a teacher trainer, and now in this online marketplace.

My philosophy as a teacher has been to develop a classroom culture of engagement, enjoyment, and thinking. As such, I continued to learn, adapt, and develop teaching strategies to use in my lessons. These lessons are constructed to provide variety, keep students engaged, utilize inquiry, incorporate cooperative learning structures, and have students think their way through them.

Teacher of Excellence in Minnesota and in Wisconsin (called Herb Kohl Award in WI); Former National Teacher of the Year (social studies); Former Executive Board Member, National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS); Former President, National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS); National Board Certified Teacher (NBCT) young adolescent social studies/history

St. Cloud State University, bachelors and Masters in Social Studies Education; National Board Certification (NBPTS) in Young Adolescent Social Studies-History

I can be contacted through this page or through my website mikeyell.com. If you use my website, in the subject line please put "TpT question" and I will reply promptly.