Project : Building a Comprehensive Twitter List of American History Teachers

Hello. I am attempting to create a comprehensive Twitter list of any classroom teacher who teaches American History. You can check out the list - even if you don't have a Twitter account here : http://twitter.com/ELanghorst/american-history-teachers

If you are a classroom teacher who teaches American History and have a Twitter account please send me a tweet - my Twitter name is @elanghorst - and I will add you to the list.

More on this project later but I wanted to start to get the word out to get the ball rolling. Thanks.

Podcast #205 - 2010 Summer Workshop Opportunities for History Teachers

Hello. The holiday break is right around the corner - a time to spend some time with family and recharge the batteries. I would also encourage you to think about applying for a great summer history workshop through either Gilder Lehrman or the National Endowment for the Humanities. Both offer amazing workshops that allow you to experience a historical setting, learn from amazing presenters and share ideas with fellow history teachers from across the country. Both include stipends if you are selected to attend. I have attended workshops from both of these organizations in the past and they were outstanding.

Please listen to the podcast and then check out the links below to learn more about these opportunities. The deadline for the Gilder Lehrman seminars is February 15, 2010 and the deadline for the NEH workshops is March 2, 2010.

I would be interested in hearing about your experiences with either of these workshops if you have attended on in the past. Please leave a comment on this blog post to share with others. Thanks.

Gilder Lehrman Summer Seminars for History Teachers 2010

NEH Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshops 2010

Click to subscribe to the Speaking of History Podcast at the Zune Social

Click to subscribe to the Speaking of History Podcast at i-Tunes here

Direct link to Podcast #205 - Summer Workshop Opportunities for History Teachers in 2010

Wordle of Obama Speech on Afghanistan

I was working on a couple of projects tonight while listening to President Obama's speech on the war in Afghanistan. It is clearly a critical moment for the United States in this situation. As I thought about the meaning of what the President said tonight, I automatically thought about placing the text of the speech into a Wordle so I could visualize it. I have included the Wordle from tonight's speech on our role in Afghanistan with this post. I think this is an amazing way to reflect on this speech. Look at some of the most prominent words : "security", "must" and the mentions of "Vietnam" and "Pakistan".

There are a ton of ways this could be used in a classroom to start a discussion with students. Incredible. A couple of years ago I would have never used this tool and tonight it was one of my first thoughts as I began to think about the speech.