World History Teachers Blog

World History PowerPoints

2012-01-26T20:37:00.001-05:00

One thing I like to do when we hire brand new teachers is to give them as many resources as possible so that they can focus on learning the content, getting to know one's students and to grade creative assignments. Here, then, are a number of PowerPoints for world history including Greece, Egypt, Absolutism and much more.

Online Project Rubrics

2012-01-26T19:49:00.001-05:00

I have written on some rubrics, but here is another one from Effective Online Teaching and Training. There are a variety of categories including blogs, wikis, e-portfolio, Twitter, online discussion and more. I found the item from a Google+ post from Eric Sheninger.

Still Room in my Social Studies Tech Class

2012-01-26T05:06:00.002-05:00

I am teaching a technology integration course (p. 42) for 7-12th social studies grade teachers (despite the heading above) for Fairfax County, VA teachers. It will start January 31st (so sign up soon) and run for 10 Tuesdays from 4:30 to 7:30. It filled up very quickly in the fall, so please sign up early. To sign up go to MyPLT, then put "social studies" in the search box and look for the title "Enhancing the Use of Technology in the Social Studies Classroom."

World War I - Animated Battle Maps & Much More

2012-01-25T21:08:00.002-05:00

Here is an animated map of each of the years in WWI that show the major movements of both sides. But there is much more on this BBC site including the human experience, international view, virtual tours of the trenches, Versailles and more. While we are at it, there is also a WWII and Cold War page.

Stickies on a Virtual Wall

2012-01-25T20:37:00.001-05:00

Just the other day I was at an in-service where the presenter suggested one technique where students could write one question on a wall and others could answer it. Then he said that during a test students could look at the wall for a minute or so. Obviously the point was that kids who are less reticent to ask a question would feel more inclined to do so. Well, while Wallwisher has been around for a few years, it allows students to put stickies on a wall and others can edit (i.e. answer it). So in the case of my kids who often take e-tests, this would be one way to get a lifeline.

Who Wants to be a Cotton Millionaire

2012-01-25T18:20:00.003-05:00

Studying the Industrial Revolution? Take your kids to the computer lab and launch this site and have them play this game. It allows them to evaluate the different factors that entrepreneurs had to make if they wanted to make money in the new cotton industry. It's a BBC site, of course and is terrific and is a fantastic introduction to the textile revolution. My thanks to my colleague, Jeff Feinstein, for sending me the link.

NY Times Story: "Istanbul Yields a Treasure"

2012-01-24T19:08:00.005-05:00

Archaeologists discovered a harbor town dating from the second century and the remains of a 5th century Byzantine church. The discovery is a big deal and some say it has the potential to become "the library of Constantinople." The story might add a bit of relevancy to our study of the Byzantine Empire. Here's a short video clip showing the harbor city that was discovered, Bathonea.

Geography Book Online

2012-01-23T22:18:00.001-05:00

If you look at my government blog you can see that Flat Knowledge already has a US government (AP) out (and next year a two part US one), but here is a world geography - the entire book! They are banking on people wanting to buy the paper copy so if you need it for your classroom, it is free for anyone.

Digital Books & A Little Self Promotion

2012-01-23T20:17:00.001-05:00

Today the DC metro affiliate of NBC news came to my classroom (and one other) to talk about digital textbooks which you can guess that I have been pushing for years up until this year when our entire county (27 high schools) went digital from 6-12th grades. If you want to be an advocate I should say that it started with my getting a few teachers and 1/3 to 1/2 of their students on board, then an entire grade pilot and that led to 18 middle and high schools doing it with a great deal of help from our curriculum great teachers, curriculum specialists and other administrators.

Tremendous Study Guide

2012-01-23T18:56:00.000-05:00

We just had our January re-testing for the students who failed the state exam over the summer or last spring. I gave the kids outlines found here on world history through the Renaissance and from the Renaissance to the present. While they are for VA tests, they are a great review for any world history class.

Interactive Assignments + Greek Government

2012-01-22T15:25:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow, assuming we do not have a ice storm that is forecast, I have a local affiliate of NBC coming to film my freshmen using their e-books. Here is what I have prepared. It is a combination of our e-book as well as a number of different sites on the Internet, several of which you might recognize if you have been following this website recently. I use Google Docs for all my assignments and have the students open their accounts first, then my assignment and then go to "file + make a copy." They put their names in the title and since it is digital they can do things like upload pictures as I have asked and write answers as long or short as needed. We will then go over it and I will grade it before the next class at which point they will be allowed to use it for a short quiz. Using the e-book as just one of several sites is fairly standard fair for me. Using Google Docs, by the way, has tremendously helped all my students with their organization (and yes I do have some kids without the Internet at home and have had to do some fancy differentiation to accomodate them).

World Connections

2012-01-22T12:49:00.000-05:00

I am constantly trying to connect what we are doing to do the lives of my students. This video on the iphone does a good job of showing kids how it impacts (positive and negative) our economy. For example we just finished ancient China and so now my students can understand a bit of the connection to that country and the five other ones which makes components of the phone.

100 years in 10 minutes

2012-01-20T11:56:00.002-05:00

Interesting clip produced by Donolinio Studio about the past century. Their choice for what makes the cut is interesting-- mostly war , assassination, and other sad events.

A Fantastic 3D tour of Picasso's Guernica

2012-01-19T19:10:00.002-05:00

Only two minutes long but terrific.

Amazing Video on the Hagia Sophia

2012-01-18T12:58:00.000-05:00

This is a super video which explains the history of Istanbul, but also of the Hagia Sophia. It also show the tremendous mosaics, architecture and windows in it. Best of all it is only four minutes long!

Communism and Socialism

2012-01-17T21:45:00.002-05:00

If you’re teaching communism and socialism in World 10 or even AP World, you and your kids might enjoy this clip from PBS Heaven on Earth. The clip shows Robert Owen’s model utopia based on socialism in New Harmony, Indiana in 1825.

WeVideo Editor

2012-01-16T10:45:00.002-05:00

Ever since Jaycut was bought by Blackberry, I have been looking for a cloud based editor where one can edit videos in the cloud. Finally I have found it with WeVideo. Wevideo gives you two options (see video above) to either edit it in your own youtube account or to use their editor. If you want to collaborate (think student projects) then you can have others collaborate in real time from other locations and computers. There is a limit to the space, but students could make one video and put it on youtube and then have plenty of space for others. Cloud based video editors (or any tool) have the advantage over MovieMaker as it can be done on any computer and not lost. Thanks to Freetech4teachers for the heads up.

Greece: Oligarchy, Tyranny, Democracy

2012-01-15T07:19:00.000-05:00

Great Primary Sources

2012-01-14T21:53:00.007-05:00

The History Department and students at Hanover College developed this site with primary sources covering both world and US history. According to the site, "The Project's principal aim is to make primary texts readily available to students and faculty for use in history and humanities courses." The site is not as good as Halsall but definitely worth considering. Thanks to Jeff Feinstein for sending along this site.

3D Sistine Chapel

2012-01-13T22:18:00.004-05:00

The Vatican Museum has an amazing 3D visual of the Sistine Chapel. Turn out the lights, put it on the screen and watch your students be amazed at what one human could paint. It is an awesome website.

The Trojan War

2012-01-12T13:15:00.000-05:00

This will date me, but one of the biggest songs the summer I went to college was Tainted Love by Soft Cell. Thanks to the comment a few posts ago for this one on the Trojan War.

The World in the Last 200 Years

2012-01-11T18:38:00.001-05:00

This is a great video that shows ownership of different parts of the world in the last 200 years.

Percy Jackson and the Greek Gods

2012-01-10T13:50:00.000-05:00

I like (as I am sure you do) to relate our content to what my students are doing in their own lives. The Percy Jackson series are a very popular series read by elementary and middle school kids. So to start the Greek gods of my teaching, I like to show the above clip to help the kids remember what the gods each do.

Fantastic Digital Model of Ancient Rome

2012-01-09T14:48:00.000-05:00

This is a fantastic 3d Digital model of Rome beginning near Rome's height in 320CE and it's only 4.5 minutes long. There is a slightly longer version at the UVA site that produced the model. My thanks to my colleague Frances Coffey who sent this to me last year.

2012-01-05T14:10:00.002-05:00

I've seen a lot of good teacher websites in the ten years that I've been a teacher but this is probably the best one I've seen, especially for maps. This teacher has a map for every event in world history (most are taken from the same textbook we use). He also has outline maps for every civilization we study. In addition to maps, you'll also find primary sources, power points, and worksheets. My thanks to Jeff Feinstein who keeps sending me great sites like this.

Greek Gods

2012-01-04T06:30:00.002-05:00

Give the kids a crash course on the heavenly residents of Mount Olympus in this 3.5 minute animated clip.

Industrial Revolution in England

2012-01-04T06:00:00.001-05:00

My colleague, Jeff Feinstein, sent me this really cool site about the industrial revolution in England. It includes three interactive journeys through the cotton industry. Learn about the life of a young mill worker in one, how cotton cloth was made in another, and how to create a fashion feature in the third.

Want To Take My Course?

2012-01-03T17:21:00.001-05:00

I am teaching a technology integration course (p. 42) for social studies teachers for Fairfax County, VA teachers. It will start January 31st and run for 10 Tuesdays from 4:30 to 7:30. It filled up very quickly in the fall, so please sign up early. To sign up go to MyPLT, then put "social studies" in the search box and look for the title "Enhancing the Use of Technology in the Social Studies Classroom."

Deconstructing the Acropolis

2012-01-03T08:00:00.005-05:00

I love this short clip that deconstructs the building of the Acropolis in an engaging way that students should enjoy. The site also deconstructs other wonders like the Colosseum, the Pyramids of Giza, and Stonehenge.

Animated Historical Maps

2012-01-03T07:00:00.004-05:00

This site has over 175 online animated maps. You have to have an account to access the vast majority but many are free. For example there are two great animated maps of ancient Greece. One is an overview of Greece from Mycenae and Greek colonization to the the empire of Alexander the Great. Another free Greek map offers an overview of Greek democracy. Other animated maps include the Age of Discovery, World War I and World War II.

So You Want To Use An E-book...

2011-12-31T21:57:00.000-05:00

I am heading up a group that is doing our county's in-services at the end of January. Since we are in the first year of using county wide e-books (fortunately we have been doing it for several at my school), I put together a Screencastomatic to show teachers (and you if you are interested in seeing what can be done) the amazing number of "extras" that can be done with the Patterns of Interaction e-book. Here is the activity (meant to take at least a 90 minute block of class) that utilizes the e-book as well as several Internet resources I found. Both the video and the lesson are for the Byzantine Empire.

Carl Sagan Introduces the Library at Alexandria

2011-12-30T22:33:00.004-05:00

Carl Sagan mentions some of the great contributors to the Library like Euclid and Hypatia in this interesting four minute clip. There is also a nice written history of the Library at this site.