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

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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.

Podcast #204 - The History Geeks Book Club

Hello. One of the ways we engage our students in history outside of the classroom is the History Geeks Book Club at South Valley Jr. High School. In this podcast I discuss the History Geeks Book Club - the books we are currently reading, how the book club is created, etc.

Book #1 - Guns for General Washington, A Story of the American Revolution by Seymour Reit

Book #2 - George Washington Spymaster by Thomas B. Allen

Book #3 - Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson

If you have any suggestions for books that we might consider in the future please leave a comment on this blog. Thanks.

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2009 Veterans Day Program - Join Us Live on the Internet

Download the 2009 Veterans Day Poster shown above here

Hello. This week we celebrate Veterans Day and I wanted to do something special this year along the lines of the History Channel's "Take A Veteran to School" program. I contacted our local VFW here in Liberty, Missouri and Commander Pate was very helpful in finding me two World War II veterans who would be willing to visit my classroom on Wednesday morning (November 11, 2009) and speak to my 8th grade students about their experiences. Every World War II veteran has an important experience to share and I feel especially honored to have these to veterans coming to my classroom. One fought at Iwo Jima and the second one fought in five campaigns, including the Battle of the Bulge and Normandy.

I feel very lucky to have these two gentlemen in my classroom and if possible I want to share the experience. I will attempt to stream the presentation on the Internet live for anyone who cares to join in with us. I can't promise it will go off without a hitch but I'm willing to try and see what happens. I also plan to video tape it and post some of it on YouTube later.

If you would like to join us please visit www.livestream.com/speakingofhistory at 9:30 AM central time on Wednesday - November 11, 2009. The presentation should last around 45 minutes.

I would also be interested in any questions you and your students might have for these two gentlemen. I will encourage my own students to ask questions but if time allows I would like to include some from others as well. Please leave your questions as a comment to this post prior to our presentation. I'm posting this on Monday evening so it is rather short notice but it would be great to include some other schools.

Thanks and please keep your fingers crossed that everything works on Wednesday morning.

Teaching History with Technology article in Canada History Magazine

I was honored last spring when Joel Ralph, Manager of Education and Outreach Programs for Canada's National History Society of asked me to write an article for a special education issue of Canada's History Magazine : The Beaver to be published this fall. The issue is now available and in addition to the print copy you can also view the entire magazine online as an interactive publication, complete with active links. I have embedded a copy of the online interactive magazine in this blog post. You can also view the online edition by using this link (starts on page 30). If you speak French you can also view the entire issue in French here, which I think is pretty cool even though I don't understand any French.

It was a pleasure working with Joel and the staff in Canada and I thank them for asking me to write for their publication. I encourage you check out the education issue with lots of great ideas for connecting with history students in the classroom. I also encourage you to check out Joel's blog : The New Digital History Education.

Presentation at Wright City School District in Missouri

Does Technology Make You A Better Teacher

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Friday I'm spending some time with the staff at Wright City, Missouri to discuss the use of technology in the classroom. I'm providing a morning session on podcasting and editing audio, at lunch I'm giving a short presentation entitled "Does Technology Really Make You A Better Teacher?" and in the afternoon my session is on the power of collaboration and a variety of web 2.0 tools which can help teachers in the classroom. I'm excited and looking forward to a great day of discussing and sharing ideas about technology in the classroom.

Podcast #203 - History Geek Author Visit - Author, Historian and Illustrator Cheryl Harness

Last year I started a group at South Valley Jr. High called the "History Geeks". It is an extracurricular group to provide students opportunities to explore historical topics - a field trip to a historic site, a book club which reads an historical book and providing historically themed speakers. During the school year we try to have one historic speaker a month. Last week we started our historical speaker programs with Cheryl Harness sharing her experience as an author, historian and illustrator.

Cheryl is an incredible artist how also writes historical biographies. Her work is well known nationally and associated with National Geographic. Our students enjoyed listening to Cheryl discuss her start in art and how she researches her books. The podcast today is the audio from Cheryl's presentation and is about 50 minutes in length.

Be sure to check out Cheryl's site and one of her recent books, a graphic novel about the life of Harry Truman : "The Harry Book - A Life of President Truman in Words and Pictures" . You can check out more books from Cheryl Harness here.

If you have any thoughts you'd like to share please leave a comment on this blog. Thanks.

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Direct link to Podcast #203 - History Geeks Author Visit - Cheryl Harness

Videos from Watkins Mill Fall on the Farm Day

Yesterday the family went out to Watkins Mill State Park in Lawson, Missouri to attend their annual Fall on the Farm Day. Watkins Mill is a great place to learn about Civil War era Missouri. Each year they host a day in fall with living history exhibitions to demonstrate life on a farm in this era. I brought along my Flip camera and took some video which I have shared with this blog post. I have included videos on sheep shearing and a blacksmith. It was a great day and I look forward to attending a similar event in the spring when they host Spring on the Farm.

Podcast #202 - Using History Alive! for Constitutional Convention Activity

Hello. Today's podcast is an update from Speaking of History Podcast #197 when I asked for suggestions on teaching the Constitutional Convention with each student representing a delegate in Philadelphia. I received some great suggestions - check out the comments from podcast #197 - and several of them pointed me in the same direction : the History Alive! United States History curriculum.

I remembered receiving a History Alive! curriculum kit a couple of years ago from a representative at a conference and am very excited about using it in my classroom in a couple of months when we cover the Constitutional Convention.

Another great idea came from Lance who suggested that my students try out the quiz from the National Constitution Center which matches you with one of the Founding Fathers based on your answers. Very cool and something I plan to do with my students during our Constitution unit.

Thanks for all the suggestions and e-mails. It is amazing that you can throw a question out there and so many people are willing to respond and contribute to the conversation. If you have any comments for this blog post - maybe you currently use the History Alive! curriculum - please leave a comment on this blog post.

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