Teaching the 1980s

In my regular (Non-AP) United States history class we are in the final two weeks of the quarter and have hit the 1980s. As I have mentioned recently, I use documentaries and docudramas whenever I feel they will be helpful. If the documentary is even tempered in its presentation and is not “boring” I can keep my students engaged. What I mean by “even tempered” is the slant or point of view of the video. Today I showed a video at the recommendation of another teacher. The video, Images of the 80s, produced by ABC and Time Magazine, narrated by Peter Jennings. I got a kick out of it, the 1980s was of course the start of what our textbook calls the “Conservative Revolution.” I won’t even go into how the textbook portrays the events. How Jennings described Ronald Reagan? “Simple” and “lucky.” Now you could call the man lucky (he didn’t die when shot at point blank range), and he did speak plainly to the American people and proudly (patriotism) and he did indeed believe in American Exceptionalism. I’m sure it’s just me, but you could tell just how much Peter Jennings hated the 1980s while watching this video.