Teaching with Technology

Comment

Comment by Rozella Kirchgaessner on November 2, 2009 at 8:10pm

HI Tom,
Have we worked out any type of meeting place for national in Atlanta? It would be nice to have a place people interested in the ning could stop by and see. Will there be any type of publicity, or a station where interested parties might pass by and see what's here? I'll be in Atlanta from Thursday through Sunday, attending the leadership conference Thursday, and HOD Friday and Saturday. Really looking forward to seeing lots of friends.
Rozella

Comment by Bev Craven on November 1, 2009 at 3:39pm

Anyone know of good resources for literacy in social studies?

Comment by Thomas Daccord on November 1, 2009 at 10:00am

Wanted to share a few resources I've come across of late:
-100 Awesome Blogs for History Junkies from bestcollegesonline.com
-So you want to study history?! OK, here's how! Writing, Research, Resources, Links, etc.
-Getting Google Scholar Alerts Web Strategy
-7 Things You Should Know about Google Wave from Educause
-Google Search Education lessons developed by Google Certified Teachers
-Classical Antiquity - extended list of links to Classical online resources.
-The Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy Recomemandation 6 on digital and media literacy
- Meehive and ThyNews. Create your own personal newspaper

Comment by Gregory Kulowiec on October 31, 2009 at 12:02am

Hello everyone. Just joined the group, I'm looking forward to learning and sharing ideas.

Comment by Jeff Williams on October 25, 2009 at 8:07pm

Hmmm......
Johnathan, that's very interesting. I wouldn't have thought of that, but that's a good idea. In class, we have watched a series of History Channel specials such as "Last Stand of the 300", "Nefertiti Resurrected", and a few others... the students can get their proverbial feet wet by writing a change to one of the films we watched - which in effect could be considered part of the actual project - and that way they can build their confidence and see how it can be done.

Or, they can change the ending of a movie they have seen, book they have read. I like the idea of starting them out slow.

Thanks Johnathan for the idea, I'll let you know how it goes.

Comment by Johnathan Chase on October 24, 2009 at 10:42am

Hey Jeff,

Thinking about your challenge and wondering if your students might warm-up or "practice" this skill by first working on movies or even a song lyric?

Check out this resource...

Movies With Alternate Ending

The final verse or several verses of many songs might be re-written to change the "outcome" of the song.

Comment by Jeff Williams on October 24, 2009 at 7:57am

Thanks for the comment Lynn and I'll keep it in mind. I am a little concerned about the level and the TIME it is going to take in order to do the project well, but, all you can do is do it and see hat happens. But your right, the usual research into "what if" scenarios are way too mature for the tenth grade student, so I'm thinking of having students research it more generally than getting into too many specifics on a certain aspect of "What if".
FYI - my project is going to be heavily integrated with technology. The student are creating a classroom Ning so they can collaborate and share information while researching, each "alternate history" essay will be accompanied with some form of multimedia i.e. movie, podcast/vidcast, comic book, etc. Groups will be fluid, meaning they will jump off and work with different groups inf the need arises, and a log will be accounting each members work in the class.
So I'm planning it to be a true collaborative project instead of just the usual group dynamic where only a few students do most of the work with no cross-pollination of effort within the groups. If the class buys into the project as a whole, then they will work with groups other than their own to create something special.
Then, there will be a website created to showcase all of the work created.

Comment by Lynn Kelley on October 24, 2009 at 1:00am

FYI - I have started my tenth grade history class with the potato essay in the past. I then asked the students to write a short "What if?" essay about their own lives. It is a nice way to get to know them a little better at the start of a year and to challenge their concept of what history is and how it happens. When I teach the history unit in my Theory of Knowledge class (12 graders), I also show the movie, "The History Boys." One of the boys develops the concept of "subjunctive history," which is similar to the idea of the "What if" books. The language and themes are too mature for tenth graders, though. Just thought I would chime in with this thought, even though it has nothing to do with teaching with technology. :-(

Comment by Jeff Williams on October 22, 2009 at 11:46am

Well... good question! :-)
That's been one of the hardest aspects of this project, to figure out exactly how in-depth I should expect my 10th grade World History students to go, and what topics they should concentrate on.
I can tell you I do not want them to concentrate ONLY on effects of battles and wars. Even though I do know that battles and wars will be a large part of what they research, I don't want it to become their sole focus. I like what was included in the second volume of "What if?", an essay on the importance of the potato and the effect it has had on nations and world events. The potato. I love it!!

Anyway, I'm thinking of some topics such as the Battle of Salamis/Marathon, Hastings, the South wining the Civil War, Germany winning WW2, the usual events you would think would be included. However, I want to also include some social events or movements that might not be entirely obvious... such as what would have happened if the freed slaves HAD received their 40 acres and a mule promised to them. How would the experience of African Americans be different over the last 150 years? I like the question of how our lives would be different if (any number of events could have made this happen) over the last 2000 years, western civilization did not become a Christian civilization. Of course, this would strictly be a historical assignment,but I like making the students think about the implications of actions.

ACTION and REACTION...EVENTS and CONSEQUENCES... that's what makes up all of world history, and if students can think about the types of actions and consequences that they face and will happen, then I think it will be worthwhile.

Thanks Dayna and Jonathan for your comments, I really have appreciated your ideas and suggestions. In fact, I wrote a blog post about this process and how collaborating on social networks (like this one) can really be beneficial. You can check it out here: http://wiredwednesday.com/2009/10/22/a-short-testament-for-collaboration/

Comment by Dayna Laur on October 21, 2009 at 9:12pm

Jeff -

What historical events are you considering at this point? I am intrigued!

Dayna

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