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2011 Edublog Award Nominations

2011-11-23T16:03:00.003-05:00

I read a lot of blogs and would like to thank each and every one of the educators around the world who take the time to share their resources and to challenge my thinking every day. Here is the chance to get to know a few of them:

My nominations for The 2011 Edublog Awards are:

Best Individual Tweeter: Steven Anderson (@web20classroom)
Best Resource Sharing Blog: Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day
Best Twitter Hashtag: #sschat
Best Teacher Blog: The History 2.0 Classroom by Greg Kulowiec
Best Free Web Tool: LiveBinders
Best Webinar Series: Classroom 2.0 Live
Best Use of a Social Network: Social Studies Chat Ning
Lifetime Achievement: Jerry Blumengarten (Cybraryman)

Matt Damon's Message to Teachers

2011-07-31T12:07:00.003-04:00

Please Come to Boston

2011-07-05T22:13:00.000-04:00

It's That Time...

2011-04-30T10:39:00.001-04:00

cc licensed flicr photo by Amit Burstein

While I have never been great at updating this blog, you may have noticed that there have been even fewer posts than usual lately. It's that time of the year. With state testing, AP exams, end-of-the-year activities (not to mention record rainfalls and flooding)...I have not had a chance to finish a post in quite awhile. However, with only 19 school days left in the 2010-11 year...I should be back soon. Thanks for waiting.

Chernobyl Disaster Resources

2011-04-26T19:07:00.001-04:00

To learn more about the nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl, try the following resources:

The Chernobyl Disaster (BBC)
The Chernobyl Disaster (Dimensions)
Chernobyl Disaster 25th Anniversary (Big Picture)
The Chernobyl Disaster: 25 Years Ago (Atlantic)
Inside the Chernobyl Zone (Time)
Long Shadow of Chernobyl (National Geographic)
Past Nuclear Events (Wall Street Journal)
Revisiting Chernobyl (IAEA)
Voices of Chernobyl: Survivors' Stories (NPR)
The Worst Nuclear Disasters (Time)

(Ongoing) Unrest in the Middle East

2011-04-03T19:04:00.003-04:00

cc licensed flickr photo shared by Wasfi Akab

To learn more about the ongoing unrest in the Middle East, try the following resources:

Anger in the Arab World (CBSNews)
Challenges Facing Countries (New York Times)
Middle East in Revolt (Time)
Middle East in Turmoil (Washington Post)
The Path of Protest (Guardian)
Unrest - Country by Country (CNN)
World Democracies (Associated Press)

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

2011-03-25T12:53:00.002-04:00

Image of Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

To learn more about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, try the following resources:

One Hundred Years Later, A Tragedy Remembered (New York Times)
Remembering the Triangle Factory Fire (Cornell University)
Remembering the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire (Time)
Remembering the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire (NPR)
Triangle Fire (PBS)
The Triangle Fire: A Blaze That Woke a Nation (CNN)
Triangle Fire: A Half Hour of Horror (New York Times)
Triangle Fire, Plus 100 (Wall Street Journal)
Triangle: Remembering the Fire (HBO)
Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Remembered (ABC News)
The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Trial (Famous Trials)

Cold War Resources

2011-03-22T20:24:00.000-04:00

Soviet Tanks Face U.S. Tanks at Checkpoint Charlie

To learn more about the Cold War, try the following resources:

Behind Closed Doors (PBS)
Berlin Wall: Deconstructed (History)
Cold War (Stanford University)
Cold War: A Brief History (Atomic Archive)
Cold War International History Project (Wilson Center)
The Cold War Museum
The Cuban Missile Crisis (ThinkQuest)
The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 (George Washington University)
Ground Zero (Carlos Labs)
Living in the Atomic Age (NPR)
Race for the Superbomb (PBS)
Sputnik Mania (TEDTalks)
The Spy's Dilemma (Truman Library)
The World on the Brink (JFK Library)

Operation Odyssey Dawn

2011-03-21T22:00:00.000-04:00

USS Barry Fires Tomahawk Missile

To learn more about the events unfolding in Libya, try the following resources:

The Battle for Libya (New York Times)
The Battle for Libya (Time)
Detritus of War (New York Times)
Dispatch from Tripoli (Time)
Libya Air Strikes (Guardian)
Libya: Allied Military Assets (Guardian)
Libya Conflict (The Telegraph)
Libya: Protests & Revolt (New York Times)
Libya's Civil War & UN Intervention (CNN)
The Rule of Libya's Colonel Gaddafi (Time)
The Strategy of Operation Odyssey Dawn (ABC News)
Timeline: Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi (New York Times)
Tracking Events in Libya (Washington Post)
Western Nations Attack Libya (BBC)

Earthquake in Japan

2011-03-11T15:14:00.010-05:00

Today's massive 8.9 earthquake was the most powerful to hit Japan in recorded history. The event triggered numerous aftershocks and tsunami warnings for the at least 50 countries throughout the Pacific Basin. Waves of seven to eight feet were reported in Hawaii, Alaska, and California. And while casualty and damage reports are still coming in, one thing is for sure - this will go down as one of the biggest earthquakes in history.

Below is a quick list of resources I have compiled on both earthquakes and tsunamis in general, and the Japanese earthquake in particular. I will, of course, continue to add as more information is made available.

For more information on the earthquake in Japan, try the following resources:

Aftermath of the Earthquake & Tsunami (New York Times)
The Calamity of Japan's Quake (Time)
Comparison of Notable Earthquakes (ABC News)
Disaster in Japan (CBSNews)
Disastrous Japan Earthquakes (Wall Street Journal)
Earthquake Rocks Japan (CNN)
Help Japan Infographic (Digital Surgeons)
Images of the Tsunami (Time)
Japan Before & After (New York Times)
Japan Earthquake (BBC)
Japan: Earthquake Aftermath (The Big Picture)
Japan Earthquake & Hawaii Tsunami (The Telegraph)
Japan Reels from Huge Quake, Tsunami (NPR)
Japan Tsunami: 20 Unforgettable Pictures (National Geographic)
Map of the Damage (New York Times)
Massive Earthquake Hits Japan (The Big Picture)
The Rundown (PBS NewsHour)
Shaky Ground (Wall Street Journal)
Shifting Plates (New York Times)

Celebrate Presidents' Day

2011-02-21T02:00:00.000-05:00

To learn more about the presidency and the executive branch, try the following resources:

American Leadership & War (Maps of War)
American President (University of Virginia)
Ask a President (CNN)
The Executive Branch (iCivics)
Presidential Timeline (University of Texas)
The Presidents (PBS)
Presidents' Day (History Channel)
US Presidents (Biography)
US Presidents (Google Earth)
US Presidents (Scholastic)
White House (Official)

Education Is Broken

2011-02-19T13:30:00.000-05:00

Power to the People

2011-02-13T15:34:00.004-05:00

Overview | What is civil disobedience and how does it differ from other forms of protest? How has it been used to bring about change in the world and in the United States? In this lesson, students will work together to define civil disobedience and engage in research to help them create displays that highlight the history of civil disobedience in the United States.

Warm-Up | Students will work in small groups to respond to the following prompt:

How would you define the term civil disobedience? What makes it different from other forms of protest? What examples from history illustrate your ideas?

Groups will record their definitions, historical examples, and other ideas on a graphic organizer that will be shared with the class in order to construct a working definition of the term "civil disobedience."

The VoiceThread presentation "Global Disobedience" provides photos and brief overviews of civil disobedience around the world. Students will view the entire presentation, using the questions below:

What are the commonalities and differences between and among these events?
Without the captions, what story do these photographs tell? If you had not read the captions, what would you think that this presentation was about? Why?
Do all of the events included in this slide show fit our definition of civil disobedience? Explain.
What questions do you come away from this slide show with? Which of these events would you like to know more about?

Activity | In small groups, students will research different examples of civil disobedience from American history. They will then work together to create a display that highlights the history of civil disobedience in the United States.

Going Further | Students will work independently to write an essay in response to the following prompt:

Civil disobedience is an effective means of change.

The Long Walk of Nelson Mandela

2011-02-11T17:51:00.014-05:00

On this day in 1990, South Africa's Nelson Mandela was released after spending 27 years in prison. Mandela, who became a symbol of the anti-apartheid movement, was originally opposed to violence. However, following a massacre of unarmed black South Africans, he began to advocate for acts of sabotage against the government. After several arrests, in 1964 he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Mandela spent the next 18 years at the notorious Robben Island prison before being moved to another location, where he lived under house arrest.

In the 1980s, international pressure calling for the Mandela's release built. Finally, in 1989, F.W. de Klerk was elected president of South Africa and began the work to end apartheid and transform the nation into a multi-racial democracy. In February 1990, he ordered Mandela's release from prison. Three years later, the two were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their work to "break the vicious circle that their country was caught up in."

The following year, in South Africa's first multi-racial election, Nelson Mandela won 62% of the votes. On May 10, 1994, he was inaugurated as the country's first black president.

To learn more about Nelson Mandela & the end of apartheid in South Africa, try the following resources:

A Glimpse Inside Nelson Mandela's Memoirs (CBSNews)
Hopes of a Nation (Los Angeles Times)
The Long Walk of Nelson Mandela (PBS)
Mandela: An Audio History (NPR)
Mandela Celebrates 90th Birthday (BBC)
Mandela: From Prisoner to South African President (AP)
Mandela's Life and Times (BBC)
Nelson Mandela (Time)
Nelson Mandela Foundation
Nelson Mandela International Day (UN)
Nelson Mandela's Life & Leadership (Time)
The Nelson Mandela Trial (Famous Trials)
South Africa: Overcoming Apartheid, Building Democracy
What Mandela Taught Us (CNN)

Honoring Fred Korematsu

2011-02-06T16:25:00.005-05:00

Fred Korematsu was one of the many Japanese-Americans living on the West Coast during World War II. Born in Oakland, California to Japanese immigrants, Korematsu attended public schools, participated in sports, and worked in his family's plant nursery. Still, he faced discrimination because of his ancestry. Restaurants refused to serve him, barbers wouldn't cut his hair, and the US military classified him as a "enemy alien" even though he was an American citizen.

Things just got worse following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Four months later, Korematsu's family was sent to Tanforan Racetrack where they awaited transfer to an internment camp. Korematsu refused to go. He was, after all, an American citizen, and didn't think the "government would go as far as to include American citizens to be interned without a hearing," he later recalled.

However in May 1942, Korematsu was arrested. He was found guilty of violating military orders and sent to Tanforan to await internment. With the help of the Northern California ACLU, Korematsu appealed his case to the U.S. Supreme Court - and lost in a 6 to 3 decision - in 1944. The government argued his internment was not based on racism and that the Army had proof that Japanese residents were signaling enemy ships and prone to disloyalty. Four decades later, his conviction was invalidated by a federal judge on factual grounds. Research had uncovered Justice Department documents stating that the government’s evidence contained “intentional falsehoods” about the security threat.

In 1998, Korematsu was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and this year - on January 30 - California celebrated the first Fred Korematsu Day.

To learn more about Fred Korematsu & civil liberties in a time of war, try the following resources:

A More Perfect Union (Smithsonian)
Children of the Camps (PBS)
Civil Liberties in Wartime (PBS)
Fred T. Korematsu Institute for Civil Rights & Education
He Said No to Internment (New York Times)
Korematsu v. United States (Landmark Cases)
Of Civil Rights & Wrongs (PBS)
Photographs of Japanese American Internment (Library of Congress)

Unrest in the Middle East

2011-02-01T19:32:00.018-05:00

Photo Credit: Al Jazeera English

To learn more about the unrest in Egypt & beyond, try the following resources:

18 Days at the Center of Egypt's Revolution (New York Times)
Analysis: Egypt's Unfinished Revolution (BBC)
Anger in the Arab World (CBSNews)
Arab & Middle East Revolt (Guardian)
Arab World on the Brink (Guardian)
Challenges Facing Countries (New York Times)
A Closer Look at the Unrest (New York Times)
Egypt: The Camp that Toppled a President (BBC)
Egypt in Crisis (Associated Press)
Egypt News: The Protests (New York Times)
Egypt Protests: An Interactive Map (Guardian)
Egypt Protests: Q & A (The Telegraph)
Egypt Unrest (PBS NewsHour)
Five Minute Guide to the Unrest in Egypt (The News in Australia)
Harrowing, Historic Week in Egypt (The Big Picture)
In Peril: The Arab Status Quo (New York Times)
In Pictures: Egypt Protest (BBC)
Middle East in Revolt (Time)
Middle East in Turmoil (Washington Post)
Mid-East: Will There Be a Domino Effect? (BBC)
The Morning After (Newsweek)
Now See the 11 Countries at Risk (Business Insider)
Photos from the Protests in Egypt (New York Times)
Protests' Payoff (Wall Street Journal)
Regional Upheaval (Wall Street Journal)
See How the World Comments on Egypt (Guardian)
Spreading Revolution (New York Times)
Tempers Flare Across the Middle East (Time)
Timeline: Egypt Erupts (ABCNews)
Top 10 Autocrats in Trouble (Time)
A Tunisian-Egyptian Link That Shook Arab History (New York Times)
Unrest - Country by Country (CNN)
US Relations in Mideast, North Africa (CNN)
Twenty Reasons Why It's Kicking Off Everywhere (BBC)
Where Will the Protests in Egypt Lead? (New York Times)
Will Egypt's Unrest Spread? (CNN)
Young Egyptians Guide Revolt (New York Times)

Honoring Martin Luther King

2011-01-23T21:13:00.000-05:00

While I am a few days late in posting this tribute, I can't imagine a better one. The video above was produced by Dennis Noack, an eighteen year-old senior at Beaverton, Oregon's Arts & Communication Magnet Academy for the community's 10th annual celebration honoring the Civil Rights leader's legacy.

Let the Word Go Forth

2011-01-20T18:26:00.004-05:00

Fifty years ago, President John F. Kennedy delivered one of the most memorable inaugural addresses in American history. In honor of the event, more than three dozen people - ranging from Congressman John Lewis and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to General Colin Powell and former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown - repeated its words, creating a powerful video that challenges a new generation to serve their country and the world.

To learn more about President Kennedy's inauguration and its anniversary, try the following resources:

Inside Kennedy's Inauguration (Newsweek)
JFK's Call to Service Still Resounds (ABCNews)
JFK's Inauguration Speech: 50 Years On (Guardian)
John F. Kennedy Inaugural Address (Washington Post)
John F. Kennedy Inauguration (Library of Congress)
John F. Kennedy's Inauguration in Pictures (Los Angeles Times)
Kennedy's Inaugural Address Presents a Challenge Still (Washington Post)
Kennedy's Inauguration Still Captivates (PBS)
Passing the Torch to a New Generation (CBSNews)
Rare & Unseen: JFK's Inauguration (Life)

Consider Adding StudyBlue to Your Toolbox

2011-01-11T09:56:00.007-05:00

Want to help your students build their own online learning network? Try using StudyBlue, the site that allows users to connect with "classmates" in order to share notes, documents, flashcards, etc. And while there are a number of sites that boast similar features, what sets StudyBlue apart is the number of connections that a user can make. You can search for "classmates" - and their resources - based on their school, course, or even textbook. Talk about not re-inventing the wheel. All of that plus some pretty impressive iPhone and iPad apps too.

For more classroom learning networks tools, try the following resources:

Art

2011-01-08T12:26:00.001-05:00

General Art Resources
ArtBabble
Artchive
Artcyclopedia
ArtLex
Art Project

Art History Resources
Art History on the Web
Exploring Themes in American Art
French Art History
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Smarthistory

Artist Resources
Artist Index
Exhibition Monet 2010
Van Gogh Museum

Museum Resources
Art Institute of Chicago
J. Paul Getty Museum
Louvre Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Museum of Fine Arts Boston
National Gallery of Art
National Portrait Gallery
Vatican Museums

Christmas 1914

2010-12-22T15:26:00.005-05:00

Lunar Eclipse

2010-12-21T19:23:00.003-05:00

For the first time in 372 years, last night's total lunar eclipse coincided with the Winter Solstice - the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Actually, the two events only occurred on the same day in part of the world. Read this article to find out why.

Upset because you missed the big event? Watch the time-lapse video above...or catch it live in the Eastern Hemisphere on 21 December 2094.

To learn more about lunar eclipses, try the following resources:

A Chilly Solstice (Big Picture)
Lunar Eclipse 2010 (National Geographic)
Lunar Eclipse (Christian Science Monitor)
Lunar Eclipse + Winter Solstice (National Geographic)
Top 10 Lunar Eclipse Facts (Space)
A Total Eclipse of the Moon (MSNBC)
Total Lunar Eclipse (Guardian)
Total Lunar Eclipse (Weather Channel)
What Causes a Lunar Eclipse (MSNBC)

TEDTalks for Social Studies Educators

2010-12-17T09:14:00.000-05:00

Embrace Failure

2010-12-16T13:08:00.000-05:00

Diana Laufenberg, who teaches American history at the Science Leadership Academy, shares 3 surprising things she has learned about teaching -- including a key insight about learning from mistakes.

A Date Which Will Live in Infamy

2010-12-07T10:43:00.000-05:00

To learn more about the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, try the following resources:

Attack at Pearl Harbor, 1941 (Eyewitness to History)
Attack on Pearl Harbor (Holt)
The Attack on Pearl Harbor (Time)
Learn about Pearl Harbor (Pearson)
My Story: Pearl Harbor (Scholastic)
Pearl Harbor (History Channel)
Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation (American Rhetoric)
Remembering Pearl Harbor (National Geographic)