As a former history teacher, I "get it". My kids were in the grade range of 8-12. It was small school that was set up to meet the needs of children who could not function in a mainstream environment. Images were essential. Not just images, but gimmicks. I was shameless. Global Studies can bring tears of boredom to a child's eyes. So I acted out scenes from history. Government is another attention tester. We rearranged furniture to approximate the three branches of government. I was accused by fellow teachers of having a noisy classroom, but never charged with having kids who didn't achieve. This is a great blog. No matter the student, or the environment, a teacher has to find a way to communicate.