Saturday, March 31, 2012

ChronoZoom: A new kind of timeline (Amazing)


Get Microsoft Silverlight
This
is a fascinating time line. Watch the two short video clips to see how it works and then go to the site and play around. Looks like students can create stories using it. It's really cool. Thanks to Daniel Beylerian on Twitter for the link to ChronoZoom and to this Microsoft website which explains the vision and research for ChronoZoom. David Christian, who wrote This Fleeting World and An Introduction to Big History, is a consultant.

Friday, March 30, 2012

Transforming your Classroom from Analog to Digital

I may be displaying a bit of geekiness by adding this video to the blog. Greg Kulowiez is a history teacher and tech expert. This is a lecture he gave earlier this month about transforming your classroom from analog to digital. He offers some interesting ideas (like using Skype for guest speakers who can't actually come to your classroom) But unless you are a real technology geek, you might want to listen in bits and pieces.

The Song Dynasty (China's Golden Age)

I am teaching the Tang Song Dynasties after Spring break. Columbia University has an awesome site, Asia for Educators, with a series of pages about the Song Dynasty. It includes the five categories you see above (economics, technology, cities, Confucianism, and the world outside). Each category has short sub categories with pictures and links to other sites. I think I might get my freshmen to create a google presentation with a couple of slides with content and pictures for each category.

Collaborate in Google Docs While in a Google+ Hangout


This video does a great job of going through all of the new parts of Google+ hangouts such as how to edit Google Docs, diagrams and doodles together with others in the hangout.  If you have not heard of "hangouts" it allows you to meet with up to nine other friends in a video chat.  If you have a Google account, you have a Google+ account in which you can go into a hangout.  It can be used to collaborate with colleagues in different locations.  I found out about the video from a G+ post from Jason Mayes who is an engineer for Google. 

Technology Time Savers for Teachers

A blog writer, Jill Scott, at the Teacher's Lounge evaluates a number of interesting technology teacher apps for the Ipad from the use of Dropbox to Teacher Assistant to Stick Pick, to name just a few. It's very interesting.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Schools Abandon Textbooks To Go All iPad


Jeff Feinstein sent me this link to more on IPads and schools from Boston's NPR news station WBUR.

The Travels of Ibn Battuta


A California teacher developed this great site (it will take a minute to load) with illustrated chapters from Ibn Battuta's travel book, Rihla. I used the site with a lesson plan five or six years ago and then the site disappeared. My colleague, James Dahlgren, found this archived version of the site. Here is a homework assignment we developed for the site.

Tablets in the Classroom

CopyofFCC-COSTMODELFINAL.ppt

My colleague, Jeff Feinstein sent me the link to this All Things D article about digitizing the classroom. The FCC and the Department of Education met today along with reps from Apple, Intel and McGraw Hill (to list just a few)to discus the idea that digital textbooks save money. Interesting story.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Creating a Hanging Indent in Google Docs


A hanging indent is used in bibliographies where you do not want to indent the first line, but you do all the other ones.  Above is a nice demonstration of how to do that.  Just skip to the one minute mark and begin. 

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Tips for Teaching in a Connected Classroom

I read with great interest this article from the WashPost telling readers that South Korea was scaling back its digital e-book use.   When I hear complaints the two at the top of the scale (and so it is in the article) are that kids can't concentrate online and the screen time is bad for them.  But, from my experience, students can be trained to stay on task and honestly if they are not on their laptops they will be on a smaller screen (esp. in South Korea which is much better connected than the US) called a smartphone.

But I have created an e-sheet with some of the tips for better teaching for connected classrooms.  If you bookmark it (and I suggest Diigo), I will make changes as I figure them out.  For example, three weeks ago I started allowing quiet music (defined as the teacher can't hear it) to be played while the students are working on their work.  Since then productivity has gone up! 

Monday, March 26, 2012

TimeRime For Creating Timelines



I used to use Timerine on a regular basis as an alternative for my students who didn't want to put a timeline on paper or Google Docs. Well tomorrow my technology integration students will be watching the above video and teaching it to themselves (part of my class is making sure that they can figure this out after they leave the class) with me jumping in to help when needed.  Timerine allows for you to have short descriptions, then links to much longer ones, Internet links as well as video. Click on the pictures above to see all of the features.  It really has come a long way since I first posted on it in 2009

John Green's Silk Road

John Green is putting these out a very quick clip.  Above is his overview of the Silk Road. 

The Maginot Line

Thanks to my former "school wife" Maren Hoover (we shared a classroom for five years) for this great link on the Maginot Line.  It has virtual tours of it (and brings back memories of when I saw it in middle school), videos, facts, a map & if you were going to be in France, a little on visiting its parts. 

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Buddha: 350 Years old Yields Interesting Documentss

Documents inserted into the mouth of this 1662 Buddha shortly after it was carved are part of the Lotus Sutra, according to this interesting Washington Post story about the results of an X-ray and endoscopy of the statute. Click on the story and you can also see a fascinating "gallery" of pictures showing the Buddha, the documents, the x-rays, and there is even an image of the endoscopy.

The History of Beer and Egypt


This engaging clip is from a series called "Seven Wonders of the Microbe World." What's neat about this history is that it's also a history of Egypt.  If you like this video, you might enjoy the very popular A History of the World in Six Glasses.

Plague report: Horrible History



Less than a minute in length, but still entertaining if you're studying the plague in World History

Use Google Docs in a Google+ Hangout

While people still love their Facebook, Google+ is starting to have lots of amazing features that Facebook doesn't have. For example I have written about how you can have a video chat with nine others (and I've seen some Google people doing it with up to 30, so look for that soon enough).  But now you can bring up your Google Docs documents and look at them on the screen as you work as well as make phone calls from within a G+ hangout to a phone.  To look at the documents in a hangout, just click on the "docs" button.  Fellow blogger used to have get togethers for AP teachers but it proved to be a problem due to the sheer size of our county (we have 27 high schools).  Well now you can get your fellow educators in one room online and meet and collaborate on documents at the same time!

The Kaaba During the Hajj Season


Nothing like a very short and powerful view of the amazing number of people who can move around the Kaaba at one time. This video is from 2005. 

Google Earth's Tour of The Rain Forest


If you ever wanted to let your students see the rain forest up close,  you just need to click here and see the newly photographed work by Google.  It is amazing, to say the least.  I just added the video above showing how it the pictures were taken. I found the video at Open Culture

Publishing a Screen Cast in Google Apps


I am asking the kids to create a screen cast covering different topics in their contemporary AP World Unit (1900-present). The problem is that they cannot upload their screen cast to You Tube within the school’s network. Consequently, they have to save it as a video file (MP4). They can then open it in QuickTime or Real Player. The problem was how to share the file so that I or others could view it. After a couple of trials, I figured out how to insert the file into a goggle presentation. Here are the steps that I included in this 3 minute presentation.

For those not in FCPS, I (this is Ken) should add that you can upload a Screencastomatic straight into Youtube, but (as George notes above) this is not allowed in all school districts.  If you have a closed Google Apps, this is a GREAT way to share a video.  

Friday, March 23, 2012

Indian Ocean Trade

Studying Islam in India or Africa, then you are also probably studying trade in the Indian Ocean? This website offers one of the best resources I’ve seen on Indian Ocean trade. It’s an interactive site that has animated maps from each period in history (prehistory, classical period, medieval, global). The maps show what products were traded and where they went. You can click around the maps and find out what technologies were used (like the astrolabe).

Animated Map of WWII

Rebecca Lacquey sent me the map above as part of our contest to give out the Alger Hiss book.  With each click you can see the expansion of the German advancement and then the backwards trend. But there are also cool things like planes that fly around the map.  It makes for a great way to summarize WWII.  I'll be taking submissions through Wednesday of next week if you can find an interesting site for us to promote and attach an explanation with it. 

Genghis Khan


Here is a 45 minute video from Discovery School on Genghis Khan. It's very good, even if you only show 20 or 25 minutes of it. The kids really like it and one one my colleagues had the kids do a storyboard for Genghis Khan as they watched.

Byzantine PowerPoint


My students will only see about one-third of the PowerPoint above since I have moved to many interactives (here is a simple one on Islam, for example) instead of lecture.  But to let you see how powerful a Google Docs Presentation can be, I am putting up my entire PowerPoint.  It includes videos (the first one on the Hagia Sophia only works if you go to youtube, but the others are fine).  You can, of course, copy it and then tailor it to your own needs. 

Thursday, March 22, 2012

PollEveryWhere Adds Picture Components to Questions


Image Support for Multiple Choice Options from Poll Everwhere on Vimeo.
I just taught my tech integration class how to use PollEverywhere this past week and along comes their newest innovation which is to add pictures to the questions.  Frank (Panterfan) starts every class with five review questions from the day before.  Polleverywhere allows students to text answers to multiple choice questions so you can instantly see if the kids have learned what is needed.  For those without a phone, you can do it from a webpage.  Also it is insanely easy to use. Skip to 1:38 in the video above to see how to write questions and ask pictures.   Then stop spending money for the "clicker system!" 

Virtual Tour of the Hall of Mirrors


Anyone teaching US or world history has to venture to the Hall of Mirrors where the Treaty of Versailles was signed to end World War I.  Here is a great slide show on it form the NYTimes.  This, though, is the most amazing virtual tour around since the Hall of Mirrors is amazingly spectacular.  

Hagia Sophia 360 Tour

If I could pick one place to visit more than any in the world (even 2 blocks from the Eiffel Tower where I spent my high school years, it would be Istanbul (perhaps because I also spent four years in an Islamic country and love the confluence of both cultures there).  At any rate we start the Byzantine Empire tomorrow and so I have been looking for lots of new things.  Here is a 360 degree tour of the Hagia Sophia.  The money angle that everyone knows inside is here and it is stunning. Once you are on that page, you will see the link to the other four parts of it. If you want more, here is a slideshow and here are the posts I have done on the Hagia Sophia in the past.  One of the old posts gives a nice short video history of Constantinople. 

Making Badges for Historic People or Events

Bighugelabs is really neat site that allows you to make badges, puzzles and other things. I particularly like the badge maker because of its applications in history. I made the badge above in about three minutes and think it might be a neat assignment for kids to do with famous people or it might work as another way to make flashcards.

How to make a Paper Slideshow



Too tired to search for images online for a goggle presentation or power point? Try making a paper slide show for a screen cast. This short clip shows you how. Not sure whether this is high tech or low tech but its kind of interesting.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Problem Based Learning and video games

James Gee discusses learning with video games in this interesting eight minute lecture. And here's a blog at Edutopia about gaming and learning. Not sure if any of this fits in with history but it's still interesting and reminds me of Jane McGonigal's lecture on Ted Talks. See post above above about the Top Ten Ted Talks Posts.

Page Snooze on Chrome


One of the great reasons for using Chrome or Google Docs/Apps is that you do not have to wait around until a new version comes out in a six months to a year. For example, Google announced that their dictionary will be continually expanding as languages grow.

Another new feature of Google Chrome is that it allows you to download an app (to the browser and not your laptop) which lets you "snooze" an article if you don't have enough time to read it right now and want to save it for later.  What is also great about Chrome apps is that you download it on one laptop, it will be on the next one when you go login there. 

Top Ten Ted Talks for Education

Here is the link for the Top Ten Ted Talks for Education. The videos include Ken Robinson, above, Salmon Khan, Jane McGonigal, Shulka Bose, Adora Svitak, and Richard Baraniuk. I haven't listened to them all but I have listened to Robinson and McGonigal and find their arguments fascinating. Robinson, for example, thinks we need to move from a linear view of education to a more organic view. He argues that now everything in education is standardized like fast food and does not account for diversity of talent. McGonigal sees kids who are involved in gaming concentrating with an intensity that she rarely sees in school kids. How can we get that same degree of inspiration, collaboration and motivation that kids apply to online gaming to problems in history or math. Check out a couple of the videos The speakers offer some great ideas.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

How and When to Use Pinterest in the Classroom


Pinterest is growing like a virtual weed and is now in the top 30 of all websites in the US.  If you have no idea what it is or how to use it, this five minute video will be very helpful for you. Here, and here ways to use it in the classroom. This is the best link, though, has it has 37 ways you can use Pinterest and has links to show you each example. 

Two More John Green World History Review Films



Tonight in my integration class we were talking flip videos and how the students prefer their teacher to be in the video. Well John Green's world history videos are the exception.  He combines humor with great history which can be used as a great way to review your material.  Above are his two latest ones on Chinese and Alexander the Great. 

Differentiated Instruction



We have been discussing differentiation in my school.  Above is a super video giving you several examples of what it means to have a differentiated classroom.  The video on top is even better (don't be deterred by its start mentioning math as it doesn't do so in the video).  It begins by talking about differentiation in teacher presentations and then goes to differentiation for student centered learning. To find the videos above I used WatchKnowLearn which I mentioned a few posts below.  Here are all the videos from my search on WatchKnowLearn. 

Monday, March 19, 2012

Exploring Africa

This is an interesting site from Michigan State University with different modules of study and activities about Africa. For example, I'm teaching the West African kingdoms of Ghana, Mali and Songhai and Module 7A has an interesting map and graphic organizer.

A Plethora of World History Links

This is an amazing site put together by Fordham University. It is nicely broken into the typical parts of world history (absolutism, scientific revolution up to WWI, WWII, Cold War, post Cold War, etc.   It is a great resource for both US and world history teachers.  For example under World War I, there are links to life in the trenches, primary resources, lectures on the different causes of the war, Zimmerman Telegram, personal accounts, life after the war and I am just touching the surface on just one of the links. 

Flipping the Class When You Can't Make It To School


Of my my "teacher-students" and fellow social studies chairs, Brian Plancich, had to miss school today, but such is his dedication that he is still teaching his students. As you can see he made a short "flipping the class" which is 10 minutes and will probably take 15ish to watch (since kids tend to stop and replay parts).  This one deals with world religions.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

World War I Propaganda Posters

Here is a new site I just found with hundreds of propaganda posters from the US, UK, Australia, Belgium (where I was born!),  France, Germany, Italy and Russia.  Just click on each country on the top right and then a poster will show up in the middle of the page. Then click on the poster and you will a new one with each click. 

Quizlet Review for Rome Unit


My students will be taking their test on Rome next week.   They have a traditional study guide to work on  as well as the Quizlet flashcards above.  Quizlet lets you create your own flashcards or you can use others.  My students will be given the choice of filling in their study guide or creating the flashcards on Quizlet. 

WeVideo On the Smartphone

Just two months ago I wrote about WeVideo which is in essence a Google Docs of MovieMakers. It allows multiple users to create a video with pictures, sounds, words, effects, etc. The difference with MovieMaker is that it is all on the cloud and can be done collaboratively from different locations. Now thanks to Android4Schools, I just found out that you can get an Android app for your smartphone and upload it straight to the website and even edit it from your phone using this Android app.  You can also edit your Youtube videos using Wevideo.  Unfortunately I can't find it for the iPhone.

I must add that my screen just stopped working on my Andoid (and thankfully it was replaced right away by Verizon for free). But what was amazing is that using Google Play I pushed one button and all my apps were loaded up just like that.  Likewise all my contacts are done virtually since they are the ones in my g-mail contacts, which means I can move seamlessly from my phone to my laptop and the brand does not matter (ie no locked down iCloud). Having said that I am writing this from my Macbook Air!

Friday, March 16, 2012

Historical Simulations

As we all know learning by doing is the best method for learning history. With that in mind, here are three simulations you can get (from a fellow teacher) that will have your students running simulations for WWI, WWII and the Cold War (sometimes collectively referred to as the "Long War.")

Educational Video Search Engine

When I interview respective candidates for our department, not surprisingly I do it with my laptop a buzzing.  Last year we had the pleasure of adding Jeannine Cotner to our staff.  I must say that she was the first person who interviewed with us who gave me more sites in the interview than I could keep up with. She has continued that this year flinging the department lists of great sites every other week.  One of them is WatchKnowLearn which is an educational database and an aggregator of educational videos from other sites. For example, here is the list of ones on the Byzantine Empire

Thursday, March 15, 2012

More on Map Drawing


My students today were working on map skills for ancient Rome and they (as you can see below) were working on "free hand" drawing using Google Drawing.  I had them split their screen so they could look at a map and draw it, but one of my students figured out how to essentially trace a picture and then delete when he was done. I loved it and have made a video on how to do it above. 

Drawing Maps


After my in-service yesterday I was contacted by one of the teachers who pointed out that drawing maps (as opposed to labeling ones given to you) is a better way to learn.  My kids always have to label two maps (once at the beginning of the unit and once for review). Now I am going to change that to they have to free hand draw it in Google Drawing the second time. Above is a video that shows you how. Basically you go to "insert," "line" and "scribble" to be able to do it (see picture above).  I partially drew above by splitting the computer screen and laying my drawing and the picture side by side.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Black Death from Seven Wonders of the Microbe World


Great four minute clip on the Black Death from a series called "Seven Wonders of the Microbe World." It's fascinating and the kids will like it and learn something. There is also a great clip from the same series about the ancient Egyptians and beer making that I will soon post.

Cold War in Pictures: We Didn't Start the Fire

Found this on Open Culture. A University of Chicago graduate student put together a montage of pictures from 1949 to 1989 to Bill Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire." There's a photo with every name or event mentioned in the song. It's a great montage of 40 years of world history. Check it out. You might even play it for your kids if you're teaching the Cold War.

How To Integrate Google Docs/Apps Into the Classroom



Today I am presenting at Lake Braddock High School (Burke, VA) on how to integrate Google Docs into the social studies classroom.  As part of the discussion I will start with the slideshow above.  Can you answer the questions and imagine if so much has happened so recently, how quickly your classroom will be changing in the next few years.  Then I will essentially (live, not on youtube) show how my department and I use Google Docs/Apps and finally we will use this document to have have everyone learn by doing doing for Google Docs/Apps.  

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Roman Contributions


One of my "standard" world history freshmen just turned in this great Prezi on the contributions of the ancient Romans.  It is a great way to present information in a fun format. 

Monday, March 12, 2012

Search Our Blogs

We have a lot of new visitors coming to the site now so it probably is wise to mention that between the three teacher sites (US, world and US government), there are now over 2500 posts going back four years.   So go to the upper left side of the page and put in a topic and see what you get.  You can do it for both content as well as technology.  

How Was Were The Giant Pyramids Built?


This video shows the theory on how the giant pyramids at Giza (which I have been fortunate enough to see twice) were built.  It is a fascinating clip on the construction basically saying the outer portion was developed with a giant outside ramp (the same was used for the temple at Luxor) while inside tunnels were used to bring the smaller stones to the top levels.  I found it on Open Culture.  Here is part one of the  series. 

Artifacts show Ancient Nomads Sophisticated


Interesting New York Times story suggesting ancient nomads had a pastoral strategy that helped them maintain networks and thriving cultural exchanges. The evidence comes from burial mounds in the Altai Mountains of eastern Kazakhstan. Might be an interesting story to use when we teach the Mongols later this Spring.

Kahn Academy Apps

Admittedly there are few Khan Academy videos relating to history (about 20), but if one is inclined there is now an Android, and iPhone (as well as iPad).  

Containerization of the World & Ted Talks on Education


Thanks to a message on Google+ from Larry Ferlazzo for telling me that Ted Talks has now started an education channel.  Ted Talks are usually less than 15 minutes (fits nicely into the flipping the classroom concept) and on some innovation.  Above is one on the innovation of putting supplies that need to be shipped into containers. It is fascinating and can be useful in both US and world history class. 

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Sal Khan on 60 Minutes (Flipping the Classroom)


Sal Khan was on 60 minutes tonight talking about his Khan Academy which discusses the philosophy of flipping the classroom which essentially espouses watching 10 minute videos at home and working on assignments in class where the teachers can help the students.  

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Great Depression Photographs

The Denver Post has this marvelous collection of depression era photographs from the Farm Security Administration Office of War Information and according to the Post "are some of the only color photographs taken of the effects of the Depression on America’s rural and small town populations. The photographs and captions are the property of the Library of Congress and were included in a 2006 exhibit Bound for Glory: America in Color."

Copy and Paste On Your Cell Phone


Another new skill!  The two videos above tell you how to copy and paste - a necessary skill to know. 

Friday, March 9, 2012

Pretty Much the Cold War

Hillarious summary of the Cold War that your kids will love.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Splicd

I'll take the cue from George in the post below.  If you want to show a portion of a Youtube video, all you need to do is to go to Splicd and enter in the url as well as the starting and ending point and you can omit the rest of the video.  For example if George wanted to start the video below at 10 seconds and end it at 5:01, here is what it would look like. 

Socrates with Alain de Botton


Saw this on Open Culture and watched about 15 minutes. Kids might get a little bored after 5 or 6 minutes but I found it to be an excellent primer on Socrates and might even show 5 or 6 minutes of it next year when we do Greece. de Botton does a good job of explaining Socrates ideas in an unpretentious way.

ThinkBinder


Saw this on Not Another History Teacher and thought it looked pretty cool. It allows students to log into the site at a specific time designated by you and ask each other questions about an upcoming test. It's an online study group. Here is the site.

A Nice Definition of Social Studies (Science)


Above is a nice definition of social science (studies) I found at  Soomopublishing). 

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Utzi was Lactose Intolerant and Had Brown Eyes

"...researchers have sequenced the complete genome of the iceman, nicknamed Ötzi, and discovered even more intriguing details. They report in the journal Nature Communicationsthat he had brown eyes and brown hair, was lactose intolerant and had Type O blood."

16 Century Amsterdam in 3D Animation

Open Culture put this on on their site and it's very interesting if you are studying the 16h century, which most of us are not right now. Nonetheless, it's worth checking out. The animation is amazing and the history is good. AP Euro teachers may especially like this.

History of Religion via Maps

One of my teacher-students, Jessica May, just pointed out the site mentioned below showing via maps how the history of religion has grown.  Believe it or not, it was one of my first posts back in 2008.  It details how the geography of religion evolved over the centuries, and where has it sparked wars. The map gives us a brief history of the world's most well-known religions: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism. Selected periods of inter-religious bloodshed are also highlighted. Want to see 5,000 years of religion in 90 seconds? Ready, Set, Go! Click here. There is also another map that has "The March of Democracy."

The Shiite-Sunni split

Great clip from the Today show a few years ago about the Sunni- Shiite split. Reporter Richard Engle outlines the basic differences in 3 minutes. I'm teaching Islam now and plan to use it. There is also an audio slideshow about the split at NPR here. My thanks to Frances Coffey for sending me the link.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

App Sites for Android and iPhone


One of the questions I often get is where do I get my information.  Well I have a Twitter feed, iGoogle page and Google+.  One of my iGoogle feeds is the "Offical Google Blog" which today announced one place to get all your Google products called Google Play.  For example a few weeks ago I uploaded all 4023 of my songs from my iPod (it took two days on an old computer) and now I can get them on my phone, any computer or tablet on Google music (as opposed to using the iCloud which limits you to being used on Apple products).  But I digress!  If you go to Google's site for Android apps, you can find all of their apps and narrow it down by using the search engine.  Here is the site for Apple's iPhone apps. 

Autosummarizing

One of my teacher-students, Jerry Walsh, just told me about "autosummarizing" which literally summarizes a long passage.  This might work well if you have your students go to a Wikipedia page that has much more information than you want.  I, of course, do not want something downloaded on my computer like Microsoft Word, so I found Tools4Noobs which does the same thing for free. For example here is a Wikipedia passage on Campaign Finance and here is the Tools4Noobs summary. Obviously you would have to look at it yourself first to see if it kept your most important parts, but it's worth a try. 

More Great Summary World History Videos By John Green


John Green of Crashcourse is on an amazing tear through history (I have put up his other two videos).  Above is one on Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt and Buddha and Asoka. 

World War I And Blackadder


Your kids will love this excerpt about World War I from "Blackadder Goes Forth" featuring Rowan Atkinson, Hugh Laurie and Tony Robinson. My thanks to Christine Ingeman for sending me this link.

Monday, March 5, 2012

Google Maps for Educators

Really cool clip showing how to use google maps. Shows you how to do a number of cool things like measuring the distance of a lake or a desert.

Friday, March 2, 2012

The Imperial War Museum

The Imperial War Museum in London has an absolutely amazing site with resources that cover both World Wars and the Cold war. And the really cool thing is the way it is organized--historical notes which provide an overview of key events, personal stories from key events, teaching activities for formal lessons and based on primary sources, and source packs with primary sources relating to one historical event or period. If you are teaching this period, you should take a look it. My thanks to my colleague Jeff Feinstein for sending me this excellent site.

100 People: A World Portrait

I'm sure that you've seen clips and stats on what the world would look like if it were only 100 or just 10 people. This site is a global education toolbox on a quest to find 100 people that represent the 7 billion of us through photographs, stories, videos and global issues. This video from the site is really cool and worth watching. And students would find these statistics amazing.

Roman Contributions



On Monday my world history students will be working on their Roman contributions project.  Above is a set of flash cards I found on Quizlet.  Quizlet lets students (and teachers) create flashcards to study for a test.  As my students finish their projects I will have them use this to see if they have learned everything before they take their own quiz.  Here is a Quizlet review for all of ancient Rome. 

50 Sites To Help Your Teaching

50sites ver3
View more presentations from David Kapuler
I will be going through this site soon, but again here is an amazing list of sites that could help you. 

App Search Engine for Educators

I found this from a Google+ post from Judy Arzt.  It is called APPitic and is a search engine for apps for education.  It has both free and paid ones as well as ones for Apple and Android products.  I will be going through here over time and featuring some of what I find, but if you want to beat me to the punch, have at it! 

Istanbul Not Constantinople: They Might be Giants


From they Might Be Giants (who also have a great song about the Mesopotamians) is this song about Constantinople. We are studying the Byzantine Empire and one of my students showed me this.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Free online courses

Ok, maybe you don't teach philosophy. But you might teach Greece and the free introductory online courses from Open Culture look very interesting. And the links to other online courses from great college instructors look really cool. There are lectures about Hannibal from a Stanford professor and dozens of other history lectures. I'll definitely watch a couple this summer.