A History Teacher

Beautiful Day

danmcdowell@cox.net (Dan McDowell) — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 03:21:00 +0000

Haven't felt like this since maybe 1992.

What is it good for?

danmcdowell@cox.net (Dan McDowell) — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 05:52:31 +0000

Absolutely nothing. Two stories, one topic.

Story 1.

My oldest son (5) has been into a series of books called the Magic Tree House. A brother and sister find a tree house that can transport them through time and around the world. In ten chapters and about 80 pages we've visited Pompeii, the Titanic, the age of dinosaurs, the ice age, Ancient China, and about fifteen other destinations. They usually involve a riddle or simple mystery and have served as a good learning tool.

When the latest group of books came into the library, my wife and I noticed that two of the books were about war - the Civil War and the Revolutionary War. My children are probably a bit sheltered. We do not let them watch much television, and even then, it is stuff that both the five and three year old can watch together. We do not own a toy gun, nor do we let them play with them at other kid's houses. We know that will change eventually, but we are not looking forward to that day.

Last night I tried to explain the concept of war to him.

"Sometimes groups of people fight one another"

"Why"

"For lots of reasons. For this war, there were two groups fighting. The Northerners were trying to stop the Southerners from hurting another group of people."

"Well, why didn't they just ask them to stop?"

"They did, but they didn't listen. So they started to fight about it. Now we try to avoid fighting, right?"

"Yes."

"But does it make sense that somebody is doing something wrong you might have to fight them to get them to stop?"

"Yes." (still a little puzzled)

So I start reading the book. The tree house takes them back in a Civil War battlefield where injured soldiers are walking towards some destination.

"Why are they hurt?"

"Well, people can get hurt when fighting a war."

"Do people die?"

"Yes, sometimes people die."

Tears start to well up, "Why do people fight then?"

"They fight to stop other people from doing bad things. Or they fight because they are making bad choices. Or they fight because they just can't agree."

Tears turn into sobs. "I don't like this, I don't want to read this."

After he calmed down, I read him a nice book about jungle animals.

He was probably too young, for this book and conversation. As are the children who actually have to witness war firsthand.

Story 2.

Last February, I wrote about a former student who visited me after his second tour in Iraq. Today, I got another visit from him. As soon as I saw him walk in I knew something wasn't right. He was shipped out for his third tour in March. He still had several months before his tour was up. Then he limped through the door. I left the front of class - the students were involved in a self directed activity for the time - and went back to talk to him. His leg had almost been "blown off." Had it not been for the swift reactions of his friends, he would have died. He spent two weeks in a medically induced coma and was able to wake to the face of his wife.

I didn't feel comfortable asking him too much about his injury, but he pulled up his pant leg and showed a nasty wound, now filled with scar tissue and skin grafts from his upper thigh.

He stayed only a few minutes. I shook his hand. As he left, I thought, at least HE does not have to go back.

------------

While I am a pacifist at heart, I do recognize that war is part of humanity. One thing I always tell my students is that people, human beings as a whole, have issues. Humanity has always needed a good therapist - self help books just don't work. Religion doesn't seem to be the answer for world peace either.

Some times wars have to be fought. Sometimes they are fought over pettiness and greed. In middle of any war are the innocent, the children who just don't understand why people would kill each on purpose. In the middle of any war are the young men (and women today) who follow orders, fight, and die for what they, or what their leaders, believe is right. When is a sacrifice for the common good, just a waste and when it is it justified.

technorati tags:war

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Taking My Own Advice

danmcdowell@cox.net (Dan McDowell) — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 13:20:00 +0000

Over the last few weeks I have taught four different groups of teachers about various technology topics. The emphasis in three of them has been on Web 2.0 - the read/write web. Every time I do one of these workshops I get the same types of responses about technology:

This is very cool
This is a priority
I don't know how to use it
I'm overwhelmed

In response, I try to emphasize that this technology is not the answer to everything. While I have a web page that ideally drives my classes and serves as the backbone, most activities, on a day-to-day basis are actually not where the students directly use computers. They have to take small steps. Do one or two things. Get comfortable with those things first. Otherwise it is overwhelming.

In a moment of exhaustion last night I finally decided to take my own advice. The first six weeks of my AP World History curriculum need some major revisions, but I also decided that my college prep curriculum needed some retooling. So I have spent an inordinate amount of time reinventing and fine tuning lessons I've been doing for years. Part of my plan from the start was to changing my Industrial Revolution major project to a branching simulation (like my Holocaust Wiki Project). However, seeing that I still had hours work to do, I realized I have done a lot already and my students will survive if I do another non-technology lesson in its place that I have implemented successfully in previous years. I will work on it over the summer and have it ready to go next year.

This hits at the core of the problem that most teachers face when trying to do new things. Time. There is simply not enough time. For all the cool ideas that Will Richardson, David Warlick, and others have, those of us actually in the trenches have to find the time and resources to actually put these great ideas into practice. There are some schools and districts that are making these ideas happen (how I wish I could be a part of Chris Lehmann's new school), but for most it is difficult. How can we tell the new story or have new conversations when we barely have time to do the same old thing.

I love the ideas that will be central to the k12 Online Conference (I knew I would be over extended so I didn't submit a proposal) - but schools have a lot of changing to do in order make them mainstream. Individual teachers, even with the Internet and the blogosphere, can only generate so much progress.

We are still a minority in the teaching world.

Technorati Tags: k12online06 k12online web2.0

Ask the Mentor - Published!

danmcdowell@cox.net (Dan McDowell) — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 12:45:00 +0000

My column in Teacher Magazine has been published online and will also be in the print version that is being sent out soon. You have to register to read my responses to submitted questions (maybe yours?). Access the article here.

Still treading water. Here are the items consuming my life

The first two months of AP World needed to be completely redone.
I'm finally getting around to revising much of my college prep world history curriculum.
I'm focusing a lot more on student achievement and making sure students are learning.
I'm teaching a one unit graduate-level seminar on digital video at SDSU in a couple weeks (in San Diego? There are seats left. Interested, click here).
NECC 2007 presentations are due tomorrow.
We are implementing a professional learning community (PLC) this year in world history.
I'm teaching five technology integration workshops in October and November.
Add it all together and I have to leave my classroom 12 times first semester for school-related reasons.
The Padres made the playoffs, and might actually advance :)
The lawn needs mowed.
Life at home is particularly crazy.... perhaps more on that soon.

In other words, I will be back, but blogging is last on the priority list. I still need to fine tune what I'm teaching today.

First, First Day of School

danmcdowell@cox.net (Dan McDowell) — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 13:04:00 +0000

I've had some 29 first days of school since I started attending my local public school in kindergarten - 13 as a K-12 student, 6 as a college/student teacher, then another 11 now as a teacher.

On Monday, my oldest, had his first, first day of school. We have been pumping it up for months now and he was very excited to go. When he got home, he was all smiles. Claimed he wanted to go everyday (don't worry!) and wanted to live there (we can walk by on the weekends if he wants).

I hope his teacher and his parents can help him keep that excitement beyond the first few days of this new thing. When you think about it, school is the long haul. 13 years. If you don't have the interest and/or the support network, it has got to be tough. It certainly explains some of the attitudes towards school and education I see at the high school level.

Good luck, kiddo! Your mommy and I are proud!

Genocide and Rock

danmcdowell@cox.net (Dan McDowell) — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 13:19:00 +0000

Still too busy to think much, but I just read this:

BBC in league with a rock band to broadcast a documentary about genocide, starting with the Armenian massacre
Source: Press Release -- Total Assault LLC (10-10-06)
In Iraq, Reagan did not want the horrors of Saddam Hussein’s massacre against the Kurds to come out, because then he would have to do something to stop him. In Bosnia, world television coverage of the genocide convinced the international community to step in...but only after 200,000 had been murdered.
In Rwanda, Bill Clinton did not want the true horrors to come out ...because then he would have to do something. And now, in Darfur, George Bush has finally declared the desolation of the Southern Sudan a “genocide”—yet refused to do what it takes to stop it.
Why? Because, once again, as in 1915, when the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, Henry Morgenthau, first reported the wholesale extermination of the Armenian population by the Ottoman Turks in Anatolia, it was denied so the United States would not be forced to act. That reaction gave Hitler his impetus for the Holocaust: “Who remembers the Armenians?” he declared in 1939, before ordering the murder of 6 million European Jews.
In “Screamers,” Garapedian and the multi-platinum selling, Grammy-winning Armenian-American rock band System of a Down trace the history of modern-day genocide from the fertile “Holy Mountains” of Anatolia to Darfur ... in a documentary as shattering as it is powerful, laced with seven of their most famous songs from “Holy Mountains” to “P.L.U.C.K.” to the #1 hit “B.Y.O.B.” that illuminate why the world’s inability to recognize the Turks’ annihilation of the Armenians leads directly to Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. And shows us we can stop it. (You can read the whole press release here).

Genocide is a subject I spend a lot of time on in my world history classes during the spring. One of the more powerful ways students connect with these events (or any historical topic for that matter) is through some sort of individual connection. To have a rock band lie System of a Down with a personal link to an event like the Armenian Genocide could be powerful. I'll have to watch the documentary to see if I can use it in the classroom.

Not Gone...

danmcdowell@cox.net (Dan McDowell) — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 05:27:00 +0000

Teaching has been consuming my free time - or at least the planning part. A couple posts are coming soon.

Annoucing K12 Online 2006

danmcdowell@cox.net (Dan McDowell) — Sat, 02 Sep 2006 02:44:00 +0000

What an amazing idea developed by the people who are THE leaders in Web 2.0 in education. Don't miss it! A complete description is available at Weblogg-ed.com. Hopefully, I will find the time to participate (and they will take me!).

Announcing the first annual “K12 Online 2006″ convention for teachers, administrators and educators around the world interested in the use of Web 2.0 tools in classrooms and professional practice. This year’s conference is scheduled to be held over two weeks, Oct. 23-27 and Oct. 30- Nov. 3 with the theme “Unleashing the Potential.” A call for proposals is below.

There will be four “conference strands”– two each week. Two presentations will be published in each strand each day, Monday - Friday, so four new presentations will be available each day over the course of the two-weeks. Each presentation will be given in podcast or screencast format and released via the conference blog (URL: TBA) and archived for posterity.

THE FOUR STRANDS ARE:

Week 1

Strand A: A Week In The Classroom

Strand B: Basic/Advanced Training (one of each per day)

Week 2

Strand A: Personal Professional Development

Strand B: Overcoming Obstacles

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

We’d like to invite you to submit a proposal to present at the conference. If you have something you’d like to share with the community, both people who are new to blogs and/or experienced bloggers please email the appropriate conference convenor above with your ideas. The deadline to submit a proposal (just the proposal, not the finished product) is September 30, 2006. One of us will contact you to finalize the date of your presentation. Your presentation may be delivered in any web-based medium (including but not limited to…podcasts, PowerPoint files, blogs, websites, wikis, screencasts, etc.) and must be emailed to your assigned conference convenor one week before it goes live, (see above strands) so that it can be uploaded to the server.

If you have any questions about any part of this, email one of the conference organizers:

Darren Kuropatwa

Sheryl Nusbaum-Beach

Will Richardson

technorati tags:k12online06, blogging, education, conferences

They Don't Get It, We Can Help

danmcdowell@cox.net (Dan McDowell) — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 13:38:00 +0000

Each year I spend the first couple weeks of my college prep world history classes looking at why history is important and the process of creating histories. During my Evaluating Evidence lesson I set up a criteria that historians and students need to consider when using a source. I really focused on point of view and bias. Then I started talking about the Internet. Our students now turn to the Internet for information first; few make special trips to the library to find something out. As I started talking about having to be very critical of the sources we find online, I got a lot of blank stares.

I started getting concerned, so I conduct a quick, informal survey (which I would repeat with my two other college prep classes). The results struck a cord. Most claim they don't consider the source. If it shows up in Google, they are good to go. I mentioned the Martin Luther King, Junior page that use to show up in the top ten of Google searches on MLK which was really a skewed attack clandestinely sponsored by a white supremacist group (I believe Alan November used this example for a while). They were a bit shocked.

As this conversation developed in my first class, I decided that I would take them over to Wikipedia. About half of the students had been to Wikipedia, but only a handful actually understood it. Several mentioned that it was a cool place to easily get information. One person across three classes claimed he had contributed. When I clicked on the edit this page tab, I saw mouths drop open.

"You mean anyone can edit it?"
"Can you change it now?"
"Wait, it only changes it on your computer, right?"

The history tab (where you can see the past changes) surprised almost everyone. They have a good concept of creating content on the web (no doubt many of them have a MySpace account), but they were having trouble wrapping their head around the central concept of Wikipedia and wikis in general. When we got back to our discussion on evaluating evidence and examining information for validity, they seemed to get it a little more. We will certainly work on it all year.

It seems like no really owns teaching these skills. Who should do it? English teachers? Social studies? Technology classes? Everyone? I'm sure there are schools and districts that have made the effort and passed the policies to incorporated them, but I am betting a vast majority do not. We already have too much to cover and do. Throw in the issues I discussed in an earlier post and the problem becomes even more complex. It seems like technology is evolving so fast that education simply can't keep up.

Perhaps, like wikis and blogs, it has to be bottom up. Squeeze it in between lessons or build a skill builder into an existing unit. They don't get it. I can help my students. Can you help yours?

Ask Me Question, Darn It.

danmcdowell@cox.net (Dan McDowell) — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 05:39:00 +0000

Have a burning technology related question? Ever see a technology infused lesson or lesson idea and wonder how did they do that? Well, here is your chance to ask.

I am working with Teacher Magazine this month on a new column called Ask the Mentor. There have been several submitted already, but the editors (and myself) would like a few more.

The process is easy:

Click on this link (it will take you to Teacher Magazine).
Register for FREE if haven't already.
Submit your question.
Feel satisfied that you will soon know the answer to your question.

I mentioned this in a bit more here. If you can spread the word, we would love to have a lot of questions.

Ask the Mentor

danmcdowell@cox.net (Dan McDowell) — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 05:18:00 +0000

Teacher Magazine has given me the honor of participating in their new Ask the Mentor column this month. Readers are asked to post questions about technology integration in the classroom. After a couple weeks the editors will select a number of the questions that I will answer. The answers will appear online and in the print edition of the magazine. If you want to post a question, please visit the Ask the Mentor web page.

For those of you visiting from that site, let me give you a short overview about my experience integrating technology into my classroom.

WebQuests - This was really my first experience bring computers into my instruction. I was lucky enough to end up in a class that what was Bernie Dodge's second use of WebQuests back in 1997. For the next five years, I worked with Bernie developing WebQuest related staff development for the San Diego City School District. I've written and integrated WebQuests into my world history, United States history, and geography classes.
Classroom Web Pages - I create my first classroom web site in 1997. Since that time I have had a web site for my classes that has included grades, notes, calendars, assignments, and resource links.
Classroom Presentations - I regularly use PowerPoint for direct instruction, combining video clips and images with words. Inspiration is another great tool I have used for class brainstorming sessions.
Digital Video - For both my world and United States history courses, I have implemented a major digital video project. I've received three different grants to support these projects.
Blogs and Wikis - While earning my MA in Educational Technology, I began researching the use of blogs and wikis in the K-12 classroom. Over the last two years I have implement three different wiki-based projects (see my NECC presentation). I have kept this blog for almost two years and have been reading blogs for three years. This fall, I will begin using blogs with my students.
Moodle - This past year I began using Moodle, a learning management system. Unlike a static web site, it allows students to interact online through forums, blogs, and messaging. This coming school year I am expanding my use of Moodle.
ahistoryteacher.com - You can explore this web site for more examples of my work. Use the navigation on the left side of the screen.

While I do teach at a "nice" suburban school, we are not technology-rich. We constantly struggle with a lack of resources (e.g. one open lab for 2400 students). I know many schools have much more technology while others have less.

Thanks for your interest and if you have a question, please visit the Ask the Mentor web page.

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Wiki Podcast

danmcdowell@cox.net (Dan McDowell) — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 13:11:00 +0000

Vicki Davis (a computer science teacher in Georgia) and Adam Fray (from Wikispaces) were interviewed by Steve Hargadon of EdTechLive.com (the podcast can be found here). They discussed using wikis in the classroom - a topic that has become near and dear to my heart.

Vicki has done some amazing things with wikis in her classroom, really bringing the spirit of Web 2.0 and wikis directly to the students. Her educational wikis are great examples as to how to make a wiki central to a class. I have been inspired by this podcast to take the integration of wikis into my AP World History classes a step further then I had initially planned. Instead of using one single wiki project closer to the AP exam as a review guide (as I did last year), I am going to start it now - building a bigger collective of world history knowledge that will help them prepare for the exam. Hopefully the students will buy in and participate.

I did like another point Vicki made about the difference between blogs and wikis. Blogs are for opinions and wikis are for facts. I really think that nails the standard using of blogs and wikis right on the head. In a recent post on her blog, she also outlines ways she uses wikis (each of these are fully explained on her blog):

Lesson Summaries
Collaboration of Notes
Concept Introduction and Exploratory Projects
Dissemination of Important Classroom Information beyond the Classroom
Individual assessment projects

I have long used traditional web pages and even a blog to accomplish #3 and #4. Now I am using Moodle, which allows a different sort of collaboration and communication. I really like the idea of the collaboration of notes and lesson summaries, perhaps created by an assigned scribe. What I would like to see more flushed out is the individual assessment projects. The Design Patterns for EduWikis is certainly a good place to start. Wikis are an incredible publishing tool which provides teachers and students ability to easily create web pages AND collaborate online.

The First Two Weeks

danmcdowell@cox.net (Dan McDowell) — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 13:55:00 +0000

It's been a long and tiring couple weeks.

Two weeks ago we went back for a series of meetings - mostly focusing on improving school achievement. My school has been deemed a "school in crisis" by WASC - we were only given a 2 year accreditation. Crazy. There are certainly areas we need some improvement, but we are a good school. Over 90% of our students passed the math and 88% passed the English part of the high school exit exam on their first try. As the principal put, it is something of a slap in the face.

Our problems are more about inconsistent leadership (4 principals in 7 years), an inconsistent attempt to improve problems (related to the principal issue), and the district turmoil which was resolved only weeks after the WASC committee visit. In fact, we decided to work to the rule during the visit and only met with the visiting committee once. The two year accreditation is certainly a slap in the face, but it is also a wake up call that we (the teachers) have to keep a school-wide focus on school improvement, not just focus on our classrooms. I was just as guilty as anyone else on this one. A big chunk of the meetings focused on

Like I mentioned before, I spent a considerable amount of time moving classrooms. I really didn't start focusing on curriculum until Thursday.

The first week with students was great. My classes all seem good. Class sizes are reasonable. No major problems, issues, etc. I'm excited to be in the new room and starting the new school year. I hoping to find the time to make some major changes to the college prep curriculum... we'll see if I have the time.

Organize Through Orchestrate

danmcdowell@cox.net (Dan McDowell) — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 15:19:00 +0000

One of my goals this school year is to move away from apps like Word and PowerPoint to the open source or online versions that are popping up all over the place. For the last few years I've been using OmniOutliner to set priorities, print out lists, and keep basic to do lists. As with all organization tools in my life, I have periods of intense use followed by periods of sporadic use. One of the reasons why I usually end up not using it is actually quite simple - it is just another application, sometimes one of 10 or more that are open. Plus, I have so many "projects" that my list ended up being cluterred, and in the end, unorganized. I did try and use Entourage's project management feature, but that was the space shuttle solution for my skateboard problem.

I may have just found the perfect tool and solution.

Orchestrate is an online task manager created by a guy named Yongfook. He created it out of a personal need to manage multiple tasks easily. Essentially, you can create any number of task lists, which are subjects, projects, etc. These are always visible on the left side of the screen. You can pull one or more of the task lists to the right side of the screen where they open up into simple lists with check boxes. Adding task lists or items to the list is as simple as typing it in a small text box and hitting return. It is incredibly simple to use and elegant in its simplicity. When you check a box, it smoothly moves the item to the bottom of the list, greys it out, and makes it smaller.

Here are a couple screen shots.

Here we have the Task List. It tells you how many items you have completed and how many are "pending."

Next we have the actual to do lists. You can hide these if they are not currently what you need, but they the list title will always appear in the task list above.

During the last week, I've had it sitting open in a tab in FireFox and have found that with it right there, instead of another application, I am referencing it more often AND the tab is constantly in view (unless I have more then about 10 tabs open, which does happen sometimes...).

While not necessarily a community Web 2.0 application, it shows what many, including Will Richardson, have been saying. The web is the new OS. I think I originally found Orchestrate on Techcrunch.

technorati tags:web2.0, orchestrate, organization

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Great Quote

danmcdowell@cox.net (Dan McDowell) — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 07:06:00 +0000

"The secret, I don't know... I guess you've just gotta find something you love to do and then... do it for the rest of your life. For me, it's going to Rushmore." (from the Bill Murray movie, Rushmore).

Well, maybe not great. It might be one you want to avoid if you are a best man giving a toast at a wedding.

No kidding.