Twenty for Tech Interview

Just a quick note to say that I was recently interviewed by Dave Solon (http://k12geek.com/blog/) about my blog. This interview was for his Twenty Minutes for Tech podcast.

Thought you might enjoy listening sometime when you have a few minutes: http://www.twentyfortech.com/?p=9

Until next time....

Hardtack to Harddrives

Eric Langhorst, over at the Speaking of History Blog recently presented at the METC 2008 Conference on Hardtack to Hard Drives. The presentation is related to Eric's use of the book Guerrilla Season in order to integrate blogs into his classroom.

What really got me thinking was how can you, as a classroom teacher, share your presentations with others. Eric's use of Slideshare is a great way for you to do this or you can use VoiceThread which will allow you to add audio to your slides. This type of collaboration allows you to share information with others and bring others into your classroom. Perhaps you are doing a discussion of the same book and now you can participate with Eric. Are you reading another book and want to collaborate with others?

Another way for you to share what is happening in your classroom is via Ustream.tv. Ustream allows you to "Broadcast Yourself" and have others interact with you via a chat room. Eric recorded his NECC presentation on Web 2.0 in Social Social Studies with Ustream and now you can watch his presentation. Do you have someone coming to your classroom to present? Why not stream the event for others or even record it and share the recorded session. Do you have kids doing presentations then you can setup a private Ustream session and allow parents to watch. All you need is a computer with a webcam and a microphone.

How are you collaborating on projects? Let me know....

Thank You...

While I was attending the recent PETE&C in Hershey I was amazed at the number of people who 1) said that they read my blog and 2) that they are sharing it with others. So, I wanted to take a moment to say, Thank You to all of you who read this blog. It is my sincere hope that teachers take some of the ideas I post here and use them within their classrooms.

I also thought I would share a few common questions I received about my blog:

Question: Do you have a wiki as well?
Answer: Not yet but the more I hear my friends Mike B and Kristin H talk about them the more I want to create a wiki around this blog. I think this will happen soon.

Question: Will you be doing a podcast?
Answer: The more I talk to people like Dave S, the more I want to do a podcast. Similar to when I started this blog, I have to ask, "who would listen?" I have ideas for content and have dabbled in recording and editing audio, however it will have to wait until after the dissertation is complete.

Question: How is the dissertation going?
Answer: I'm pleased to say that I am 3/5 done. I have completed three chapters and I have my proposal meeting next week. After that, I can run my study. My goal is to defend this summer. Thanks to everyone for their encouraging words of support.

Question: Are you available for a Skype call into a classroom?
Answer: Depends. I'm usually not on Skype during the day but I could schedule a call in advance to come into a PD session or classroom. Feel free to email me.

So again, thank you so much for reading and supporting this blog.

If you missed PETE&C...check it out for next year.

Until next time...

Harper's Weekly Online

Ever wonder how newspapers during Civil War covered the battles? Are your doing any research into an aspect of the Civil War and need a great primary source? Well, the Son of the South website has digitized versions of Harper's Weekly online for your review. According to the website, they have "over 7,000 pages of original Civil War content, and is full of incredible photographs, original illustrations, and eye-witness accounts of the defining moments of this Historic Struggle." They have even organized the information based on each year of the war, different battles, generals, slavery, medicine and the Lincoln Assassination. How can you use this collection in your classroom?

• Have students use this as research for a paper or report
• Have students create their own newspaper with accounts of a battle
• Have students read the July 18, 1863 and the "First Report from Gettysburg" and ask why did it take 17 days to get information out in the paper?
• Have students review and reflect on the ads in the papers
• Have students review and reflect on the cartoons in the paper and what impact they may have had on attitudes toward the War.
• Check out the sketch of the Maryland Battery at Antietam, then have students research where the Maryland Battery was located at on the Antietam Battlefield. You may even want to contact an Antietam park Ranger or two? (talk about Subject Matter Experts!)
  

Let me know your thoughts on how you can use this great resource. Until next time...happy reading!