I had the great privilege this week of attending a meeting at the Eisenhower Library in Abilene, KS. The purpose was to identify concretely some ways the partnership between K-State and the Eisenhower Library, Museum, and Boyhood Home could continue to grow. The experience was wonderful as we were able to visit the Director’s office which at one time was occupied President Eisenhower himself. Additionally, I was afforded the opportunity to go through the museum, which was fabulous! Great exhibits were filled with the artifacts of the life and times of the president. Continue reading “I Still Like Ike” & A “History Day” Training Opportunity
Teaching the 5 Themes Using Movies – Location and Place
Teaching 7th graders reminds me how much I loved walking in to the classroom when I was in school and saw the t.v. pulled to the front of the room, MOVIE DAY!! Of course, now I just have to turn the projector on, no pushing a t.v. cart around, but the kids still instinctively know that they will not have to listen to me in class that day. I can remember watching movies and wondering, even as a student, what is the point of watching this movie? Continue reading Teaching the 5 Themes Using Movies – Location and Place
Anniversary of Quantrill’s Raid
August 21, 2013 marks the 150th anniversary of Confederate guerrilla William Quantrill’s devastating raid on Lawrence. The raid took 150 lives and left 80 women widows. Even the most ardent Kansas State fans would have to agree that it was a horrible and despicable deed. Continue reading Anniversary of Quantrill’s Raid
Primary source lessons aligned to the Common Core
There’s an elephant in the room. We all know it. Somebody needs to say something. So . . . here goes.
School starts soon. There. I said it.
For a lot of you, you’re just a few weeks away and excited about getting back in the classroom again. You’ve had a few months to relax, read, research, to re-charge a bit. And now with school start dates just around the corner, you’re looking for handy resources.
How about some sweet primary source lesson plans aligned to the Common Core? Well . . . the National Archives has got you covered.
Seriously. If you haven’t made it over to the National Archives Education page, you are missing out. Lesson plans. Professional development stuff. Handy graphic organizers. It’s one of those sites that is non-negotiable for social studies people. If you’re not taking advantage of all of that goodness, you’re not as good a teacher as you could be. It’s just that simple.
But NARA has lots of other goodies out there.
DocsTeach is one of the those. Continue reading Primary source lessons aligned to the Common Core
I’m GOing places….
This summer I have had the privilege of teaching 30 students from Ecuador in the GO program here at Kansas State University. The students are teachers of English from Ecuador on behalf of the Ecuadorian government to improve their teaching skills for their English program back home. They have been a pleasure to teach and have taught me tons about their culture, educational system, and their lives back home. Continue reading I’m GOing places….
