The march towards flipped classrooms continues, and I have another fun resource for you and your educational peers. It's called Crash Course, but the Green brothers. John Green does WAY MORE than history. He, together with his brother Hank, do lit, chem, ecology, etc. And the videos are fun and easy... a great intro to topics. Keep in mind, you are getting some bias and snarky, mature sarcasm... so you should PREVIEW before you VIEW. But, there are about 40 10 minute videos in US History alone that serve as a great foray into Constitutional underpinnings, politics, and economic theory. They fact check with educators to make sure they're not getting history WRONG... and they've been picked up on YouTube for Schools, along with the Khan Academy and other vloggers who are ready to bounce into your virtual classroom.
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In the spirit of the Tip and the Gipper (yep, still reading it.), I will give some credits where credits are due, even if it's not me who is creating these gorgeous sites. I am learning that competition is good for the soul. (Really?) I was digging around while my kids are taking their quarter exams, and I ran across this great website that has the top 25 teaching blogs of 2012. As the site suggested, I did indeed move on over to the post on teaching (government) thematically on Diana Laufenberg's Living the Dream blog. While I don't teach history, government is really thematic. Our units weave history, current events, science, philosophy, math, data analysis, sociology, psychology, ehhh. Well. A lot of stuff together, right? So, I get this! I really do! I then moved onto her learning visually post, primarily because I am developing a visual literacy unit with materials from the National Portrait Gallery this month, and I am trying to get some background before I roll my old bones down there. And, bam! Hello, beautiful! Here are some gems... resources, thoughts, approaches... So, Diana is the kind of educator I want to be... ripping down what she does and reconstructing it in a way that kids get and *shockingly* retain. And then, OMG, I read this post and saw about half the dudes and dudettes I work with embedded between the sweet prose of this stream of consciousness. So, I think I am a convert to teachbad, too. Now, I could wax philosophic about my career choice... (As one student of mine told me not twenty minutes ago, I am not rich because I chose this field and that was a risk I took. Thanks, citizen of the week. You know who ya are.) ...but I am not gonna do that. Not here. Not usually. It's cathartic, I know, but taking me away from what I set out to do. But, perchance you need a little cathartic exercise. It's Friday. Come on. Now. Last coolio item for this post. Since I so love and advocate for tech in the classroom, here is a fun infographic that I may send out to the next parent who is totally skeptical of the BYOD policy in the school. Thanks, topmasters. |
Photo via Flickr/Ted Eytan
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