Smithsonian Presetation to Teacher Ambassadors

Last year I had the honor of participating in Smithsonian Teacher Day 2008 in Washington DC as the Missouri Teacher of the Year (2007/2008). Smithsonian Education gave us behind the scenes access to their museums and staff. They also gave us materials as Smithsonian Teacher Ambassadors which we could share with other teachers to share information on all the Smithsonian has to offer educators. Last year I did several podcasts and a couple of screen cast videos to share Smithsonian resources.

Today I have the privilege of sharing some of these techniques with the current state teachers of the year from around the country as they participate in Smithsonian Teacher Day 2009. I have included the presentation below via SlideShare and links to the podcasts, screen casts and applications that I mention in the presentation.

Smithsonian Teacher Day 2009

View more presentations from elanghorst.

Links to Podcasts and Screen casts :

Podcast #166 - Using "Smithsonian in the Classroom" to Teach Lincoln

Podcast #172 - Preview of the Smithsonian's Upcoming Online Conference Featuring Lincoln

Screen cast - Smithsonian's Interactive Gettysburg Address

Screen cast - Smithsonian's Interactive Star Spangled Banner

Podcast #175 - Smithsonian Museum of American History Using Web 2.0 with Blog

Podcast #177 - Review of Smithsonian's Online Lincoln Conference


Links to Resources:

Twitter - free micro blogging at 140 characters each

Blogging - free blogging application

Audacity - free audio editing program which can be used to create podcasts

Jing - free application to create screen casts

You Tube - free application to share video content on the web

Flickr - free application to share images online

The National Museum of American History

The following post is a collection of photos from my visit today to The National Museum of American History in Washington, DC. I was very excited to walk through the museum for a while since it has been closed for a while and recently re-opened to the public.

Battle of Yorktown Display

George Washington's field glasses and travel desk used in the Revolutionary War
Chairs used at Signing of Surrender Papers to End the Civil War

Coffee cup used by Lincoln on the night he was assassinated

What Does A "Trillion" Look Like?

News concerning today's economic crisis occasionally uses the term "TRILLION" but can we really visualize what that means. I saw the following site via a tweet on Twitter from David Warlick. The visualization of a trillion was created by the people at PageTutor.com and it is amazing. Check it out here. Great to use with a class of students.

By the way, the image below is NOT a trillion - not even close....

Podcast #187 - How I Use Twitter as a Teacher and Educator

Hello. Twitter has been all over the news this past week and although I don't have a million followers - and I don't know why anyone would want a million followers - I thought I would comment on how I use Twitter as a teacher. I don't Twitter with students but the podcast discusses how I use the application as an educator.

Please listen to the podcast and let me know how you are using Twitter. Please leave a comment on this blog or contact me on Twitter where my user name is ELanghorst

Direct link to Podcast #187 - How I Use Twitter as a Teacher and Educator

James Swanson Interview on Lincoln Assassination from Ford's Theatre You Tube Channel

Today as we reflect on the anniversary of Lincoln's assassination (April 14, 1865) take a few moments to watch some great videos from the Ford's Theatre You Tube Channel. These videos include some great segments from author James Swanson "Manhunt : The 12 Day Chase For Lincoln's Killer".

I have embedded one of the segments below in this post but please check out the entire Ford's Theatre channel on You Tube for other great segments of this interview, and others about Lincoln. Awesome content and I'm so thrilled that another major historical site, like the Smithsonian, has embraced web 2.0 tools such as You Tube!

You can also check out another great Swanson interview on You Tube from C-Span Book TV.

Podcast #186 - Review of Upcoming PBS / American Experience Series "We Shall Remain"

Hello. This month I have the privilege of hosting the PBS blog "Media Infusion" and discussing the upcoming PBS and American Experience series "We Shall Remain". The series will be shown on PBS stations beginning in mid-April 2009, check your local PBS station for dates and times. "We Shall Remain" describes the Native American story within the context of American history. Each of the 5 episodes are unique and the entire 7.5 hours of content is excellent.

In the podcast I discuss the series and how a teacher could approach it for use in class. I also encourage you to read the Media Infusion blog post and leave a comment during the month of April describing how you incorporate Native American culture in your history class.

You can also leave a comment on this blog post or contact me directly at speakingofhistory@gmail.com

Direct link to Podcast #186 - Review of PBS / American Experience Series "We Shall Remain"

RSA Video from Ken Robinson - Author of "The Element"

Here is another great video from author/presenter Ken Robinson. If you enjoyed his TED video on creativity in schools check out this one from RSA. I can't get enough of this guy. Finished his book, The Element, a couple of weeks ago and really made me think about the lens through which I view myself and my students.

Thanks to 2008 National Teacher of the Year Mike Geisen - I first saw this video posted on his blog.