Podcast #71 - A Great Day at METC 2007 in St Louis

Hello. It was a great first day at the 2007 METC (Midwest Educational Technology Conference) in St. Louis. It is my first visit to a METC conference and I'm impressed. I heard a great presentation on Google Earth from Cindy Lane, Middle School Podcasting from Randy Gindler and Podcasting and Blogging by Steve Dembo. I also gave a presentation "Teaching History Using 21st Century Technology" - in the afternoon. I think the presentation went well - presentation notes can be found in the previous blog post. Many of the sessions were full with lots of great questions and sharing taking place.

I also had the pleasure of enjoying dinner with Wes Fryer of the "Moving at the Speed of Creativity" podcast and David Warlick of the "2 Cents Worth" podcast - two of the educational podcasters and bloggers that I respect the most. They were two of the first podcasters I started to download to my i-River MP3 player and listened to in my car and as I mowed my lawn. It was an enjoyable evening of talking about family, education and technology. Tomorrow will be another great day of discovering how we can use these new tools in our classroom.

If you have any questions or comments please leave a comment to this blog post or e-mail me at speakingofhistory@gmail.com

Subscribe directly to the Speaking of History podcast through i-Tunes here.

Direct link to Podcast #71 - A Great Day at METC 2007 in St Louis - MP3 Format - 10:00 minutes

Show Notes for Podcast #71:

- METC 2007 site

- David Warlick blog post about the "Teaching History with 21st Century Technology"

- Wes Fryer blog post about the "Teaching History with 21st Century Technology"

2007 METC Conference Handouts and audio from presentation "Teaching History with 21st Century Tools"

Hello. The following are links for my presentation on February 27th at the METC conference in St. Louis. Please feel free to send any comments to speakingofhistory@gmail.com

- Audio of the entire presentation as an MP3 file - thanks to Wes Fryer of the Moving at the Speed of Creativity Podcast for the recording!

- PDF Handout of the "Teaching History with 21st Century Tools" Presentation at 2007 METC Conference in St. Louis

- PowerPoint Presentation of the "Teaching History with 21st Century Tools" Presentation at 2007 METC Conference in St. Louis

Podcast #70 - Park Ranger Talk from Ford's Theatre

Hello. Today while in Washington DC I stopped by Ford's Theatre for a few minutes. I have been there several times - including just a couple of months ago during the NCSS convention - but since my last visit I have read Manhunt - The 12 Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson and wanted to go down to museum in the basement to see the compass that John Wilkes Booth had with him during the entire 12 days of the escape. It is amazing what a book can do - I had never really noticed it before but after reading Manhunt it became the most interesting item in the museum to me. I have included a picture of the compass with this podcast. By the way, I also stopped by the Library of Congress this afternoon and in the gift shop they had signed copies of Manhunt for regular price. I almost bought one but since I already own one copy I'll just hope that someday I can meet Mr. Swanson and have him autograph the copy I read. Great deal though if you are looking for a book on the assassination.

Back to the podcast - just as I stepped into the theatre the Park Ranger - Lauren Gurniewicz - was getting ready to give a short presentation to the visitors in the theatre Friday morning - mostly school groups. She did a great job and I learned several new things about the assassination that I had never heard before. I recorded the presentation and decided to podcast it. I asked Lauren's permission and she thought it was a great idea. Thanks to Lauren for letting me publish it for everyone to share.

If you have any comments or questions please post a comment to this blog post or send an e-mail to: speakingofhistory@gmail.com

You can subscribe to the Speaking of History podcast on i-Tunes here.

Direct link to Podcast #70 - Park Ranger Talk from Ford's Theatre - MP3 Format - 22:55 minutes

Show Notes For Podcast #70:

- Ford's Theatre - National Park site
- Ford's Theatre - Active Theatre site
- Manhunt - The 12 Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson

Podcast #69 - The War by PBS and Washington's Birthday at Gadsby's

Hello. Just spent a great day in Washington DC attending a symposium at PBS headquarters on an upcoming project and then celebrating Washington's birthday. A tremendous documentary on World War II by Ken Burns, Lynn Novick and Sara Botstein will be shown on PBS in September of 2007 named "The War". The documentary will be 14 hours in length and has taken over 6 years of work to complete. PBS is currently in the process of developing teacher resources and curriculum connections to accompany the video series. Today PBS had roughly 50 people - teachers, students, professors, and people from the Library of Congress, History Day, NCSS, Teaching American History Grants, Archives - meet to discuss how this documentary can be used in the classroom. It was an amazing day. Producers Lynn Novick and Sara Botstein were also present and gave us some great background on how the video was produced. There will be resources sent to schools in the fall of 2007 and PBS is creating a very complete web site with teaching resources, clips, handouts, curriculum guides, etc. Any teacher who includes World War II as a portion of their curriculum should check it out next fall when it airs on PBS.

After the symposium I traveled to Old Town Alexandria and celebrated George Washington's birthday at Gadsby's Tavern. This tavern is the original building from colonial times and was a favorite place for George Washington to eat after his presidency. Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and James Madison also ate there from time to time. I had a George Washington favorite - cider glazed duckling. Also included was a very tasty smoked bacon spoonbread. The food was excellent and you can't beat eating by candlelight in a room once shared by several presidents. Check it out the next time you are in the DC area.

If you have any questions or comments please e-mail me at speakingofhistory@gmail.com or leave a comment to this blog post.

Subscribe to the Speaking of History podcast through i-Tunes.

Direct Link to Speaking of History Podcast #69 - The War by PBS and Washington's Birthday at Gadsby's Tavern - MP3 Format - 10:15 minutes

Show Notes for Podcast #69:

- article on upcoming PBS series "The War" by Ken Burns
- official PBS site
- PBS Teacher Source site
- Gadsby's Tavern in Old Town Alexandria

Podcast #68 - Buying an iPod

Hello. Last week, after saving up some money and thinking about it for a while, I bought an i-Pod - one of over 88 MILLION sold by Apple since they started selling i-Pods. I have been podcasting for over a year and a half but up until last week did not own an i-Pod. I often have to explain to people that you do not need an i-Pod to create a podcast. I do own three i-River MP3 players - which I love to use to recording on the road and at conferences. One of the most commonly asked questions I receive via e-mail is "What kind of MP3 player should I buy to use in schools if students want to record podcasts away from the classroom and do interviews?" I would still say that the i-River is a great choice for that purpose because of the excellent internal microphone, cost and easy of use with Windows (drop and drag audio files from the player to any folder).

I do love my new black 30 GB video i-Pod. I originally thought I would get a nano but for the extra $100 you get so much more memory and the video was appealing. Many of you already own your own i-Pod so I won't gush on about the cool video screen, the ability to carry thousands of pictures, taking your Outlook contacts and calendar with you and easy sync with i-Tunes. Recently I've downloaded some great video presentations from TED.

I am looking for suggestions on use in the car. I currently use a Belkin FM transmitter to listen to my MP3 player in the car but haven't really been happy with it. If you're in the middle of nowhere it works but close to areas with a larger population it fades in and out. Our car does still have the cassette player and I've heard that a cassette player device from MP3 player does an excellent job. I saw one last week for $9 and thought I might give it a try. Is anyone out there really happy with the device they use to listen to their i-Pod in the car? I would love to hear any suggestions. Please let a comment to this blog post and share your own experiences. (I have had to add the moderation feature to the comments because of spam but will quickly publish all comments relating to this topic.)

Subscribe to the Speaking of History podcast via i-Tunes here.

Direct link to Speaking of History Podcast #68 - Buying an i-Pod - MP3 Format - 9:32 minutes

Show Notes for Podcast #68:

• Apple 30 GB Video i-Pod

Podcast #66 and #67 - Jerry Armstrong of the 1966 Texas Western NCAA Basketball Champions - The "Glory Road" Team

Hello. Today's episode is a presentation by Jerry Armstrong, a player on the 1966 Texas Western team which won the NCAA National Championship. This team is historically important since it was the first NCAA championship team to start five African American players. This team has recently been in the media with the opening of the movie "Glory Road" which is based on their championship season.

Jerry Armstrong, one of the white players on the team, is the father of my principal at South Valley Jr High - Brad Armstrong. Jerry Armstrong does presentations all over the country discussing his experiences as a member of the team. He recently spoke to the students and faculty at South Valley Jr High in Liberty and later that day did a presentation at the Garrison Center in Liberty.

I have created two podcasts from the presentation at the Garrison Center. Podcast #66 is the presentation by Jerry Armstrong and Podcast #67 is the Question and Answer session which followed his presentation that night.

Please check out the shownotes below for additional information about the movie "Glory Road" and the 1966 Texas Western team. If you have any questions or comments about this podcast please feel free to leave a comment to the this post or send an e-mail to speakingofhistory@gmail.com

Direct link to Speaking of History Podcast #66 - Jerry Armstrong of the 1966 Texas Western NCAA Championship Team - The "Glory Road" Team - MP3 Format - 31:57 minutes

Direct link to Speaking of History Podcast #67 - Questions and Answers from Jerry Armstrong of the 1966 Texas Western NCAA Championship Team - "The Glory Road" Team - MP3 Format - 25:55 minutes

Click here to subscribe to the Speaking of History Podcast on iTunes.

Podcast #66 and #67 Show Notes:

Official Glory Road movie site

Article about Jerry Armstrong in Rural Missouri magazine

UTEP page on the 1966 Texas Western National Championship Team

ESPN Classic article on the 1966 Texas Western Team

Wikipedia article on the movie Glory Road

Podcast #65 - Interview with Author John R. White of "Hands on Archaeology - Real Life Activities For Kids"

Hello. I've been thinking a lot lately about how archaeology can be added to the social studies classroom. A couple of months ago I picked up a great book from Dr. John R White entitled "Hands on Archaeology - Real Life Activities For Kids". It is a great book for any teacher looking at ways to incorporate archaeology in their class. Dr. White is a professor of anthropology at Youngstown State University in Ohio.

I really enjoyed this book for 3 reasons: 1) it has 43 activites that are ready to use in your classroom with all neccessary forms and worksheets, 2) you can jump in at any activity and do as much or as little as you like with your class, 3) it contains good background information about the terms and procedures you will be using so that your activites are grounded in good science.

The podcast is an interview with Dr. White about his book and the use of archaeology in the classroom. Be sure to check out the show notes for additional information on purchasing the book and his personal contact information if you have any additional questions.

If you have any questions or comments about the podcast please contact us here at speakingofhistory@gmail.com or leave a comment to this blog post. We'd love to hear from you.

You can subscribe to the Speaking of History Podcast on iTunes here.

Direct Link to Speaking of History Podcast #65 - An Interview with Dr John R. White about his book "Hands on Archaeology - Real Life Activities For Kids" - MP3 Format - 15:20 minutes

Show Notes for Podcast #65:

• Buy a copy of the book "Hands on Archaeology - Real Life Activities For Kids" by Dr. John R White


• E-mail Dr. John R. White


• Youngstown State Department of Sociology and Anthropology

Teaching Inference with Editorial Cartoons in History Class

Today we are studying inference - our building's focus for the month - and we are doing an activity that has a "History CSI" theme - Caution Students Infering. We are using editorial cartoons and have yellow caution tape around the room as we try to discover the meaning behind various editorial cartoons and then create our own with a Manifest Destiny theme - our current unit. More on this activity later.

Podcast #64 - Tagged by Wes Fryer - Why Do I Blog and Podcast?

Hello. Today's podcast is a short response to being tagged by Wes Fryer of The Speed of Creativity blog and podcast. Last week he did a post about how he makes the decision what to blog about on his site. He then asked other bloggers and podcasters to answer the same question. So here is my response to the question: How do you decide what to post about on your blog.

Direct link to Speaking of History Podcast #64 - Tagged by Wes Fryer - Why Do I Blog and Podcast? - MP3 File - 8:00 minutes