Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Liberal Conservative Differences

While I am not sure I agree with everything on this image it is mostly accurate and does bring up a great way to discuss the differences between what is meant by a liberal and a conservative.  Thanks to one of Doug Zywiol's students for finding it.  

Monday, October 27, 2014

History of Halloween

The video above is great as it touches the potato famine and ancient Irish history connecting it to All Hallow's Eve and even looks at the origins of trick or treat.  

Friday, October 24, 2014

Egypt and Better Learning


So one of the things I have learned is that we remember something better if we see an image - or draw it.  So here is an exercise my students carry out on ancient Egypt.  It starts with watching a short screencast I made and then students have to answer question, find and insert images about things we have learned such as hieroglyphics, identify map parts in Egypt and finally the kids watch the explanation above on how to create papyrus.   Now that is what I call using the Internet for deeper learning.  

Thursday, October 23, 2014

My Book is Getting Closer, Pre-Order Now!

So I started my blogs in April of 2008 - which means I have been hawking free wares for quite a long time.  But no more!  My book manuscript should arrive in my in box in a few days and after I initial it, the next stop is the printer.  The publication date is the last week of January, but you and/or your school or district can pre-order it now.  

The title pretty much says it all.  I believe that technology is great since that is the world we now live in, but two terms I use in my book are "first and second order" uses of technology.  First order is just digitizing everything you normally do on paper while "second order" is using technology to do learning with your students (such as individualizing) that you could not do without it.  Not only do I give you the research, but I give you the step by step instructions for how to do this.

Over the next few months, I will be giving you more details on the book so please keep reading if you aren't yet sure if you want to purchase it yet.   If you go here, there is both a very detailed chapter outline as well as the early reviews and a way to order the book.  

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

East India Company: Qatar Digital Archives

Studying exploration? Here's a great summary of the East India Company.

Want to learn about slavery in Arabia in the 19th century?  Here are documents that outline the slavery that the British encountered. And its different from the slavery the British instituted in the Atlantic.

These documents and readings are part of the Qatar Digital Archives which outline the cultural and historical heritage of  Qatar and the wider Middle East region.

You can search their archives or you can search articles like the one above about the East India Company. You can also search by subject and you'll find interesting resources on Arab nationalism, the petroleum industry, or even the rights of states.



Scientific Revolution Clips

Studying the Scientific revolution? Here are three short clips from the History Channel. The first is about Galileo, the second Copernicus, and the third Newton. They come from the History Channel's Beyond the Big Bang series.


Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Twitter Warm-up for Your Classes

Today my colleague, Doug Zywiol asked his US history classes to Tweet him the biggest hurdle facing George Washington when he started his presidential term.  If you go to @dougzywiol you can see the student responses.  To have your students do it, they simply need to add your Twitter handle to a text and then you can project the responses on the board or simply have your students use their smartphones to look at and discuss the answers.  Alternatively you could make a hashtag (just put the "#" symbol along side any class name you might invent (such as @Zywiolclass) and then have your students add this to their text.  Then go to the newly made site to see all of the Tweets.

By the way Zywiol's government students were doing their government service hours and met Barbara Comstock (see image above) who is likely to be a new member of Congress come January and of course they Tweeted about it so Zywiol's other students could see it.

Obviously no matter the subject you teach, you can use Twitter to start your warm-up.  If you are like us and have slow laptops, it can be done while the laptops are logging in. 

Saturday, October 18, 2014

Middle Passage: Great Clip



Here's a great short (3 minutes) clip about the Middle Passage from Assignment Discovery. My thanks to my collegue Frances Coffey for the link

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Remind Gets Even Easier


Remind (which used to be Remind101) is getting even easier.  Stating in November all your students and parents will have to do is to text "81010" and your unique class code (which you make) and they will be signed up.  I have been using the site for the past three years and their CEO even gave my upcoming January release book (Deeper Learning Through Technology) a nice endorsement.   I can't say enough for how it has improved my students' memory to get their nightly text reminders in finishing any lingering work they may have for me.  

Oliver Cromwell & Charles II: Horrible Histories



Here's a hilarious review of Oliver Cromwell and Charles II.

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Before Columbus: Zheng He - The Great Voyager



As we celebrate Columbus Day, don't forget Zheng He.

His great treasure ships sailed throughout the Indian Ocean, and maybe beyond. His ships dwarfed those of Columbus and the Chinese might have given Europeans serious competition if they had not decided to end the voyages and look inward while the Europeans looked outward.


Thursday, October 9, 2014

Tropical Cave Art: Older than European Art

Here's a short documentary form Nature Video about the discovery of cave paintings in Indonesia that "may change what we know about art."

That's because these paintings date back more than 39,000 years ago, which could make then older than the earliest cave paintings in Europe.

Ken has a post about them below but I thought students might enjoy this five minute documentary explaining the significance of the finding. You can also see more great photos of the paintings at World Mic


Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Cave Art


This is a very interesting article that you might add to when you talk about cave art at the beginning of your World History I course.   What is most interesting is that it is about cave art found in Indonesia that is at least 39,000 years old and is the oldest painting of human hands.
Above is a short video on the cave art most of show - Lascaux - which I had the pleasure to see as a child.  Below are a series of pictures I show my students and questions I ask them to consider about them.  

Friday, October 3, 2014

A Cargo Colossus on the Sea


Here's a cargo ship as long as the Empire State Building is tall. It contains enough steel to build eight Eiffel Towers. 

It might be interesting to show kids how much trade has changed and how much the world has become a global marketplace, as the New York Times notes in this fascinating story

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

How to Make a Map in Google Drawings


It is rather important that our students be able to locate areas on US and world maps.  If you want to do it digitally in Google Drive, then watch the video above as it explains it in 150 seconds.