Just received an email from a company that has created a website/iPhone application dedicated to making to providing information on what happened today... In History.
In other words, it's not just another of your average Today in History sites. This one actually gives you the content you want, where you want it... on your iPhone or iPod
Today In History is an effective tool to share: it simply offers snack sized pieces of information to get the reader hooked, lets them look up a bit more on wikipedia, and then once the seed is planted they'll hopefully act on it and seek more information in a library or in school.
Here's their website for more information: http://www.todayhistory.net/
And here's the Today in History iPhone application: http://bit.ly/diIMmS
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In honor of President's Day, A&E Home Entertainment is having a special on "The Presidents" documentary on iTunes! You can download all eight episodes of the documentary for only 99 cents each.
The Presidents 3-DVD set is an eight-part survey of the personal lives and legacies of the remarkable men who have presided over the Oval Office.
From George Washington to George W. Bush, The Presidents gathers together vivid snapshots of all 43 Commanders in Chief who have guided America throughout its history--their powerful personalities, weaknesses, and major achievements or historical insignificance.
Based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning book by James McPherson, The Presidents features rare and unseen photographs and footage, unexpected insight and trivia from journalists, scholars, and politicians such as Walter Cronkite, David Brinkley, Wesley Clark, Bob Dole, and former President Jimmy Carter. Viewed within the changing contexts of each administration, the Presidency has never seemed more compelling and human. Narrated by Edward Herrmann (The Aviator), this three-DVD set is a proud addition to the award-winning documentary tradition of THE HISTORY CHANNEL.
Link to The Presidents on iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewTVSeason?id=272208661&s=143441 (You Must have iTunes for this link to work)
If you've got iTunes or an iPod or any other iProduct that could download the information, the entire set is yours for about $8 bucks until February 23. Each episode is about 45 minutes long, so that's a pretty good buy. If you don't want to shell out the money, I'm giving one away. A&E has agreed to send one to me, and one to one of my readers.
So here's the deal.
To enter into the Free DVD sweepstakes tell me which President you'd most like to spend a day with, and tell me what you'd do. I'm looking for historical accuracy and creativity.
Good luck.
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I just came across a cool website featured in an old American Teacher magazine. American Teacher is the national publication of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). The AFT is basically the union of all unions.
Which is very fitting considering the link I found is the online museum of all online museums.
The Museum of Online Museums, or MoOM, is an ongoing experiment of web publishing, design and commerce from the Chicago based design company, Coudal Partners.
http://www.coudal.com/moom/
The MoOM is updated often and they have a rotating gallery. There probably isn't a museum you can think of which isn't listed.
Online museums are a good way to bring otherwise inaccessible art to the classroom. Often times the museum will allow you to zoom in and navigate each piece and the good ones will have a background of the piece to help set the scene.
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I like books. I like collecting books and referencing books and knowing that I have books that could cover almost every part of American history. But like most of the free world, I don't like to pay for books. To subscribe to the books that Library of America (LOA) offers, one has to pay a heft price.
LOA usually has some kind of introductory offer that is too good to pass up. I acquired 3 books this way. I was browsing my own web site, http://USHistorySite.com and saw an add for an Abraham Lincoln collection for about $5, and a free book about US Grant. I clicked on the add (even though it was on my own site... sorry GoogleAds, I probably have 3 fraudulent cents in my pocket), and I got the books and quickly sent back the invoice with 'cancel' on it... Of course I still received a shipment of books, paid for them to be returned and made a phone call to cancel my account. I didn't like the idea of paying monthly for more books. But I do have some pretty good looking cloth bound books about Lincoln now in my collection.
And another good thing about giving them my information is now I receive The Library of America Story of the Week via email. This is simply a link to a blog written by an LOA staffer which gives their service more exposure and allows you short previews of the books the peddle.
The story I received last week struck a chord... John Muir. I'll be honest, I hadn't hear of John Muir until a few years back when my wife and I were visiting family in San Francisco on the way back from our honeymoon. We were fortunate to be able to spend a few hours driving Muir Woods just north of San Francisco. Naturally the curiosity in me nudged me to research a little more about Muir. That year while teaching in Atlanta the high school librarians were getting rid of old books that hadn't been checked out in a few years - and I was able to convince my wife to allow a box load or two to come back to our 2 bedroom apartment in Atlanta. One of those two boxes of books was a collection of John Muir writings, with a narrative by a more modern writer of the same vein.
To make what's already a rather long post shorter... John Muir is founder of the Sierra Club and a catalyst for the preservation of Yosemite National Park. Library of America pays tribute to the best thing since Thoreau in their blog: http://www.loa.org/storyoftheweek/2010/01/wind-storm-in-forests.html
Enjoy his prose. And then go outside...
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Here's a great resource for teachers and students. Scrolling through the list you can probably find something for almost any topic in world history, government, economics, etc...
100 Lectures for History Lovers
I might suggest having some of your students listen to some of these lectures for extra credit and then report the highlights back to the class. You can show bits and pieces of the lectures in class, or for your tech-savvy students, perhaps they can edit the lectures to say something that wasn't really said... kind of a propaganda technique.
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I'm trying like heck to get through the Wilderness Warrior... I'm loving every page of it...but I can't seem to find time to actually sit down and read it.
This in and of itself is kind of a paradox... and here's why. In the book Teddy Roosevelt seems to accomplish an amazing amount of work with what seems to be very little free time. I envy his passion, his drive and his determination to do his job, and still find time for his adventures and his passion of wildlife.
The book opens up a whole new version of TR that I had never seen before. It recognizes his love of family and his conservative, almost secretive nature in revealing his relations with his wife. He's a good husband. He doesn't kiss and tell.
But there's good news ahead...
Our school has implemented 2 days of Sustained Silent Reading during our Seminar/Study Hall period. I now have those days to find time to read. And this will hold me accountable to finish reading.
Disclaimer: This entry is by no means a reflection of the book. With my busy schedule and so many interests, I find it hard to actually sit down and read. But I made a New Year's resolution to finish the books I start. Because I read mostly history books, I have a tendency to read a lot of it, really enjoy it, and then pick up another book, and thus have 2, 3, 4 books at the same time. This is going to stop. The disclaimer is the book is great, I'm learning a lot, and my love for TR grows with each page.
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It's not often I let down my online wall and allow people into my personal life. This post is an exception. I'm very proud to say that my school has been highlighted in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the online version of the this article has been picked up in several national news feeds. It's nice to know the work we've been doing wearing many different hats, as founding teachers at a new high school is starting to be noticed.
Here's the article: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/81206917.html
We're in our second year. We have just 9th and 10th graders. I'm happy to say as the boy's basketball coach and Athletic Director, we got our first ever victory as a high school yesterday, with a dramatic win. The kids rushed the floor as if we upset Duke or UNC. The school spirit is high... kids love coming to school here. The teachers love coming to work. It's an excellent environment.
I say this to preface some of the comments on the ensuing page below the article. I invite anyone to come into the school, and perhaps they'd change their mind.
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The National Council for Social Studies (NCSS) is now accepting nominations for the 2010 Teacher of the Year Awards. The Teacher of the Year program is part of the NCSS's continuous efforts to highlight social studies teachers and their importance in education.
Winners will receive $2,500 cash award and an opportunity to present at the NCSS conference and up to $500 in travel and lodging expenses.
If you've got someone in mind who is worthy of such an award, or perhaps you'd like to nudge someone to nominate you, you must have the nominations postmarked by April 1.
For more information and details go to http://socialstudies.org/awards/teaching
Keep reading for another award opportunity for teachers...
The National Teachers Hall of Fame (NTHF) is searching educators to honor in 2010. The NTHF is a non-profit organization that has been honoring outstanding educators for 18 years. They are now accepting nominations for the Hall of Fame. The nominations must be postmarked by January 2.
Nominees must have 20 years of teaching experience at the preK-12 level. For more information, hurry to http://www.nthf.org/
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It seems the holiday of Christmas is a combination of many different cultures and many different rituals that have come together over the last 2000 years. The curiosity of the holiday is something that has always interested me.
It was last year that I showed a film about the history of Christmas to my World History students and since then, I've had a fascination with its history. Here's the post I wrote last year about the Americanization of Christmas, with the video in full.
http://ushistorysite.blogspot.com/2008/12/brief-history-of-americanization-of.html
Happy Holidays!
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The American History Guys of BackStoryRadio.org make history accessible... they talk in common terms and interview pertinent guests that help bring out the story of their discussion.
This month's podcast discusses the history of Christmas in America. I've downloaded the podcast and have enjoyed the conversation. Here's the rundown of this episode:
The History Guys, examine the history of the “holiday season” in America. Is Christmas more less religious then it used to be? How has Christmas evolved or changed? Is it true that Hanukkah was born as a reaction to Christmas? And how have American Jews helped to shape the winter holiday?
The conversation is laid back, informative and perfect for that long drive to the in-laws on Christmas afternoon.
So go to BackStoryRadio.org and download the show for yourself.
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While sitting around eating left-over Thanksgiving turkey a few weeks back, the conversation turned to Walter Cronkite. It was at this time that somebody mentioned if I had heard of Walter Cronkite's television show... "You Are There" - I had not.
The series ran on CBS in the 1950s. Here's more information on the series: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Are_There_%28series%29
I was told he would broadcast different events in world history and that CBS would recreate the scenes as if it were breaking news... I was hooked. I had to find some of these episodes, and I did...
After a few minutes of searching I discovered the Museum of Broadcast Communication and 13 of the episodes in their archives. Though only 8 of them have video. You can do a search for yourself here: http://archives.museum.tv/archives
The show is a hoot... I've been having trouble uploading the video to the blog, but it was quite easy to pull it from The Museum of Broadcast Communication's website. They're a little dated, but still entertaining... and used in the right way, and with a sense of humor and a grain of salt, could definitely be used in the classroom.
Some titles include: The Assassination of Julius Caesar, The Chicago Fire, The Death of Socrates, The Emancipation Proclamation, Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad, Grant & Lee, The Death of Stonewall Jackson, The End of the Dalton Gang and The Crisis of Galileo, et. al
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Sure.. it's a link sent to me from an online university trying to increase their Google rank by getting a lot of relevant incoming traffic.... but they still do a good job of compiling the information.
Watch the 100 Greatest Moments in American History on YouTube
Categorized for your convenience... enjoy.
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So as not to reinvent the wheel... I'm bringing back a post from last year...
This year, my favorite veteran... my grandfather is no longer with us - and I know he took this day to call many of his friends from the service and the grea
t men he's met throughout his years.
Now Grandpop is in the sky hanging out with all his 'doughboys' celebrating upstairs.
Here's a brief history of veterans day - http://ushistorysite.blogspot.com/2008/11/veterans-day-brief-history.html
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I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm an excitable reader. By this, I mean that I get excited about reading, and usually try to bite off more than I can chew. But this is never a bad thing.
When it comes to books, I have a problem. I rarely finish them. This is probably due to my excitability around books and the subjects they cover. I'll read 90% and gladly pick up another if the mood suits me. I'll read 4, 5, 6 books at one time. And as a dedicated teacher and father it is hard to find time to sit back and relax with a good book.
This weekend is no different. I'm going to Gettysburg, and I'm excited about a few books.
For my birthday my wife has decided to take me to Gettysburg this weekend. A short drive from our home in Philadelphia, Gettysburg is one of those places that has always eluded me. So I'm excited to finally get the opportunity to go. And we're not just going. We're GOING. We're leaving tonight (Friday) and staying all day Saturday and some of the day Sunday.
In preparation, and for the little downtown I'll have (with bringing our 3 1/2 month old son with us), I've brought with me, two books. One I've already read; The Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara
. It's a favorite of mine, and because of the way it's written, it's a book I've finished. I hope to thumb through this and pull out some good dialogue concerning the battle.
The other book I've brought with me is a collection of speeches and writings of Abraham Lincoln
. This book, from the Library of America collection is a cool looking canvas bound book, which looks great on a book shelf. (a book shelf that doesn't exist in my house)
These books, along with the history of Gettysburg, the nightly ghost tours, the quaint little town of Gettysburg and my incredible wife and son, are sure to make my birthday weekend enjoyable. Oh, and an Eagles win over the Cowboys Sunday night would help too. All of this might make the Phillies loss a little easier to swallow.
Happy Reading!
Go Birds!
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