Presenting at the 2014 History Teachers Association Victoria Annual Conference was a fantastic experience. Please find the material for my presentation “Using online tools to drive learning” here.
More later.
Tag: history
bookmark_borderIB Workshops
I have just finalised Day 3 of my fourth IB workshop. These professional development events never fail to inspire and it’s always informative, as well as exhausting. I have used this blog and Twitter to record my thoughts. Here are the links to my notes from this workshop and others:
MYP Category 3, Humanities (Melbourne), June 2014
- Day 1: http://thinkedu.net/blog/day-1-myp-humanities-individuals-and-societies-workshop/
- Day 2: http://thinkedu.net/blog/day-2-myp-humanities-individuals-and-societies-workshop/
- Day 3: http://thinkedu.net/blog/day-3-myp-humanities-individuals-and-societies-workshop/
Continue reading “IB Workshops”
bookmark_borderCauses of WW2, Hexagons!
Hexagons are better than circles or squares because hexagons fit together in many ways. Much has been written about Hexagon Learning, and this activity is my interpretation of it. I have used it twice in my classes and both times have been very successful. The best thing about this activity is that it gets students discussing and arguing about the Causes of World War 2. They have to come to an agreement about how to arrange the hexagons and because the possibilities are endless, many different versions will arise.
Below are three Word Files. I hope they speak for themselves.
Continue reading “Causes of WW2, Hexagons!”
bookmark_borderRecognizing and Addressing the Barriers to Adolescents’ “Reading Like Historians”
I believe that every History teacher should read Professor Jeffery Nokes’ well-written paper on “Recognizing and Addressing the Barriers to Adolescents’
“Reading Like Historians”. He makes a very strong argument for creating a learning and questioning culture that is more like the actual discipline of History, rather than just uncritically rote learning and accepting what is in a textbook. Nokes’ research is firmly rooted in real classroom practice, which makes it all the more powerful and easier to apply practically.
Below you will find my highlighted sections and summary of the article. There is also a very clear overview table that lists the four barriers to “Reading like a Historian” and some suggestions as to how to overcome these barriers.
Some resources:
- http://teachinghistory.org/
- A blog post about ‘ahistorical thinking’
- http://historicalthinkingmatters.org/why/
- http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/high-school-teachers/807
- http://www.historymatters.group.shef.ac.uk/
- http://www.thinkinghistory.co.uk/index.php
- Great reading: http://www.criticalthinking.org/files/historical%20thinking.pdf
- Using the textbook as A source, not THE source. Here are some guided questions for students while reading A textbook and here are some ways to challenge the textbook, created by Stanford University.
- Nokes’ book: Building Students’ Historical Literacies: Learning to Read and Reason with Historical Texts and Evidence
Continue reading “Recognizing and Addressing the Barriers to Adolescents’ “Reading Like Historians””
bookmark_borderCritical Thinking (Coursera #1)
I am enrolled in the Coursera Course “Critical Thinking in Global Challenges” by Professor Mayank Dutia, Dr. Celine Caquineau from Edinburgh University. It is good to see how a MOOC is run and the course contains great videos and some very stimulating reading materials. I can already see how I can apply these skills to improve my students’ essay writing skills. Critical thinking means to gather and assess information in a logical, balanced and reflective way to reach conclusions justified by reasoned arguments based on the available evidence…. That to me sounds exactly like what a good IB History Essay should be like.
I hope to write some more posts about what I am learning. Here is the first one:
Essential Concepts in Critical Thinking
- Fact: something which can be demonstrated to be true
- Assertion: something that is held to be true, but which has not been, or cannot be, actually demonstrated to be true
- An argument: a series of logical statements, leading to a fair conclusion, with reasons offered to support the conclusion.
- A valid argument: is based on one or more premises (starting points), which may be facts, observations, or assumptions.
- Premise: a previous statement or proposition from which another is inferred or follows as a conclusion. Continue reading “Critical Thinking (Coursera #1)”
bookmark_borderColorized Photos, Ghosts of History
I see more and more amazing examples of “colorized” (You have to use the US spelling to get more results on Google) photos and “ghosts of history” photos. New technology is really bringing history to life. Look at these two photos:
The original, from Reddit. The comments at the bottom of the Reddit stream are worth reading.
The “Ghost of History” version, combining the old and new version: (see Reddit comments here) Continue reading “Colorized Photos, Ghosts of History”
bookmark_borderHistorians on World War 1, the debate goes on
It promises to be a great year for World War One Historiography. In the first week of 2014 UK’s Tory Secretary of Education Michael Gove started a heated debate about the way the centenary of WW1 should be commemorated. Gove attacked the “Left-wing” and “the Blackadder” interpretations WW1. Twitter erupted in response and soon many respected historians weighed in on the debate. I found all of these viewpoints fascinating so I collected some of the recent articles and summarised them. Below you will find key excerpts of articles by Richard Evans, Gary Sheffield and Nigel Birrar. I outlined book reviews of Christopher Clark, Sean McMeekin and Margaret McMillan and there is a great article by History teacher John Blake. I included an old interview (YouTube) with Niall Ferguson on his book “The Pity of War” and there is a fantastic Twitter discussion between History teacher Russel Tarr and Historians Simon Schama, Tom Holland and Gary Sheffield.
It is vital for any society to discuss historical interpretations so we should be thankful to Michael Gove for igniting this debate. It also highlights the importance of good History teachers, they should present students with different viewpoints and let them arrive at their own well-informed and well-substantiated conclusions.
‘History: the best debates and the best arguments’ #historyteacher #histedchat http://t.co/YXMq9Ce7bc
Download a Word version of the WW1 historiography dinner party. The sheet contains student tasks and all information in this post.
Continue reading “Historians on World War 1, the debate goes on”
bookmark_borderHistory Blogs
Below is a list of blogs about History, as suggested by the participants of an online PD I am enrolled in for the IB History IA. One activity was to share our favourite History blogs.
- I really like the aptly named “A Blog About History” (http://www.ablogabouthistory.com) which contains mainly news. Great way to keep up to date.
- http://jivespin.wordpress.com/ John Mitchell shares a lot of creative resources for teaching history.
- My preferred method of to keeping up with History news is using the app “Zite“. It allows you to choose areas of interest which the app will then aggregate and curate for you. (e.g. “History”. “Ancient History” “Archaeology” “World War II” etc etc.)
1. http://coldwarhistorian.com/
This blog is written by Nick Blackbourn. The website blog contains information for people specifically interested in the cold War. It is particularly useful as Blackbourn offers information on books and movies related to the topic which he reviews regularly. There is a newsletter which students can subscribe too and there is information of academic links that students can use. Blackbourn also comments regularly on latest developments within the history of the Cold War. Continue reading “History Blogs”
bookmark_borderHTAV Conference, Keynote speech: Richard Broome on Aboriginal History
Richard Broome, keynote speaker
Below are my notes taken during Richard Broome’s keynote. I picked up some interesting things, it was interesting to learn about the “history of Aboriginal history”. He referred to Guns, Germs and Steel, which is always good. I must say that Richard Broome’s style of delivery was a tad old-school, a long stream of interesting but rapidly delivered information; typical history professor! I think ‘learned’ people like this need to transfer their considerable knowledge in a more lively, engaging manner, this is taking me back to my uni days!
Notes: Continue reading “HTAV Conference, Keynote speech: Richard Broome on Aboriginal History”
bookmark_borderSkills in History and Geography (ACARA, IB DP and our Dept)
Below are the History and Geography skills from three different frameworks / sources: The Australian National Curriculum, our own Humanities Department and the IB DP Group 3, History and Geography. It’s very useful to have them all together as they confirm and compliment each other.
[toc levels=2 title=”Table of contents”]
History Skills Nat. Curr.
Skills needed in the Australian National Curriculum History, by the end of Year 10:
Content related
- Refer to key events, the actions of individuals and groups, and beliefs and values
- Students sequence events and developments within a chronological framework
- Identify relationships between events across different places and periods of time
- Explain patterns of change and continuity over time.
- Use historical terms and concepts
Critical analysis
- Analyse sources to identify motivations, values and attitudes.
- Analyse and draw conclusions about their usefulness, taking into account their origin, purpose, and context.
- Analyse the causes and effects of events and developments and explain their relative importance. Continue reading “Skills in History and Geography (ACARA, IB DP and our Dept)”