Youtube: It's More Than Cats

Hello again Parents,
Today i am presenting how I use Youtube in my classroom.

  I know what you are thinking:

       But actually, your kids love this stuff! So again, instead of denying access to it, I embrace it.  Now I am aware of the *ahem* "less than appropriate" material on Youtube.  But for every video or vine that is meant for outside the classroom, there is one that is useful inside the classroom. Sometimes these videos may not even seem academic at first. Let me explain.

Take for instance this old music video from 1932 by legendary jazz artist Louis Armstrong

       This video seems like just an old video, but when my students and I look at the context and the details of the video, and the stereotypes portrayed, what we see is a glimpse of how minorities, specifically African-Americans, were perceived in the 1930's.  It is this kind of critical thinking about history, media, and perception that only technology can elicit. 

I would then compare this video with more modern music videos, like so...

(Now this video has explicit language so I would mute the video and play the radio version of the song, but the focus is video images.)
     By comparing these two videos, students learn about culture, stereotypes in media, historical context, and the fact that things we thought only happened in the the past (racism) are still present today. They just look differently, ala the music videos.

Then I wrap up the day's discussion with one more music video:

      This video was created by a group of black male students who were tired of being labeled with stereotypes. Finally we would compare all three and discuss the merits of each, as well as the implications of agency on each of these videos and their performers. Your students are learning culture, history, media analysis, critical thinking, and how a 21st century world operates from Youtube anyway, shouldn't they have someone to help guide them?
      That's what I do with technology and Youtube in my classroom.  The students have already chosen the medium, I just decide to help steer them to good content and the right context with which to view this plethora of information.

Apps For History

Hello parents,

So today I would like to share with you some apps I plan to use in class.  A few I would like for the students to have and others I wouldn't ask you to spend the money on, but I want you to know I am using them.  Before I get into the apps and their usefulness, I want to address something rather controversial in education: cellphone/smartphone usage in class.  I believe asking a child not to use their cellphone at all in a 21st century classroom is ridiculous. While there is a time and place for cellphone usage and they do need to learn quitting sense and should respect me enough to acquiesce to my request to put their phones away, it is rather silly of me to not make use of the most powerful tool each student has, which is often either a phone or a tablet.

In fact, no device should be, or is, off limits in my class.  Students need to see that their education is worthwhile and for a generation that has never known what it is to be without internet, online content and technology are their source of validity.  In fact, even amongst my generation, my friends and I always joke that nothing is legitimate until its on Facebook or Twitter. We say this jokingly, but this generation lives that idea! So rather than change that or demean it, neither of which are appropriate responses, we should embrace it and teach them how to use their tech to learn, create, and grow. So, on to the apps!

First all of these apps are great for history as supplements, but are in no way a comprehensive look at history and the required course objectives. So if your kid tries to sell you that they do not need to use their book ever, you now know better.  I love tech in my classroom, but I also love a great book full of primary documents and information directly form the source. Anyways, the apps....

WORLD BOOK - This Day in History (Free)

Mac download 

 For a similar app on android, try Today in History

This app is a wonderful way to incorporate history into the modern day.  By sharing with each student something worth while that happened this day, X-number of years ago, really does seem to make it feel more real.  What's more, I always try to have them connect dots.  Explain how we went from that moment, that event, that person, that idea, to now. For example, in the picture to the right, Vermont became the 14th state in 1791 on March 4.  I would then ask them to explain / postulate how Vermont came to separate from New Hampshire. Also I would take that opportunity to have them remind me of the process necessary to become a state.  Also I could draw connections to Vermont becoming a state to modern events like the fight over North Colorado, or modern secessionists.  In short, this app is great at setting a stage that I can then call upon each student to act on, thus deepening their knowledge and making events seem real and temporal rather than infinite and intangible.

Today’s Document- National Archives (Free on iTunes and Google Play)

 National Archive's Document History

It is similar to the World Book app, but I think document-based learning is extremely affective.  It does run similarly though in that a new document is presented each day, but the actual text of the document is provided allowing students to read the original words and then we can discuss the implications of each document. 

Shmoop (App and study guide downloads from iTunes Store and Google Play range from $0.99- $3.95.  The Website though is free to peruse).

I LOVE this site and their study guides.  I would suggest getting a few study guides when your student is have trouble making sense of the material.  They even have study guides for the SAT, ACT, and AP exams! The website is very user friendly and I would highly recommend any one to Shmoop's U.S. History site.  It is  organized into topics, has timelines, and more links that you can shake a stick at!

One final app...

United States History (Be sure it's MTC Apps version for Google Play Download - Free)

A similar app on itunes is here ($0.99).

Just a great collection of timelines, primary documents, interesting information, and important dates.

This is a handy source for each student to have access to and I do recommend downloading them to ensure each student has everything he or she needs to be successful in my class!

What is The Cave?

       It did not take long for me to settle on a title for this blog. The Cave focuses on education, technological tool use in a history class, and encouraging parents to be a part of the learning process. So where does the name "The Cave" come from?  Let's go back about 2400 years to the time of ancient Greece.  Around 400 BCE (Before the Common Era), a philosopher named Plato was beginning to make his mark on the evolution of western thought, and perhaps his greatest work was The Republic.  In this seminal work, Plato created what has come to be known as the allegory of the cave.  Lets look at an illustration:

      The idea is that human beings are prisoners to their own mental, intellectual limitations. We are all down in the cave and are seeing shadows projected onto the cave wall and we believe that is reality!  Plato says that there are a few who choose to look behind themselves- those who notice the fixed images and the performers who are placing these shadows in front of us.  These few then break their chains and leave the cave. They see sunlight; they see true reality and true knowledge.  The role of the educator, and the parent as well, is to go back into the cave and encourage those down there to see that what they think is real is just shadows dancing on the walls. Young adults and students are not always willing to leave the cave.  In fact, Plato is very clear that most will fight with us about the cave and do not want to leave.  But if we consider ourselves lovers of wisdom, truth, and enlightenment, we must do what is best for them, even when they are fighting us along the way ( I am sure you can relate to that sentiment parents). 
     So what I do in the classroom everyday is attempt to drag kids out of the cave and show them the world for what it is. I do this using history as my tool and technology as my medium. So what I need from you is to help me go into the cave and bring them out of the darkness and into the light.  They are ready for reality, but we have to help them.  So grab you spelunking gear and lets teach some young people about the world they are about to inherit.  

Welcome Parents...

Hello Parents and Welcome to The Cave.
The point of this blog is two-fold.
    1.) I want to share with you, the parents or guardians, exactly what I am doing in the classroom to educate you student in the discipline of history. This will be a place where you can go and be updated on what we are learning in class. Furthermore, I am using new methods of technology and innovation to convert what happened long ago into a relevant event for your child's life and sense of self. This is, however, a difficult task.
    2.) The other purpose of this blog is to encourage you as parents to help me reinforce what students are learning.  I do not expect you to know the content of what we are discussing in class like a historian, but I do need you to converse with your student.

 “If you want to learn something, read about it. If you want to understand something, write about it. If you want to master something, teach it.” - Yogi Bhajan  

     I want these students to be able to master this information, which means I need them teaching someone.  The most likely candidate to care about what your student has to share is you! If you show an interest, they are also more likely to show an interest in my classroom. So what I am saying, quite simply, is...

...to be interested in history and how I plan to use new methods and technology to share a very old story that is still writing itself out today!

     So what role does technology play in all of this? Well check out this great video on technology and education and maybe you will begin to see why we have to meet the challenges of the 21st century classroom with 21st century methods and mediums.

     In my classroom, I will use all sorts of new pieces of technology. SMARTboards, Youtube, blogs, podcasts, websites, even smartphones and apps are useful for learning. Nothing is too "out there" or "mainstream" that it has no educational value.  That is not say I will not have them pick up a book, I just can't guarantee that it won't be an e-book.

Also check these handy links for seeing ways I may choose to use technology in the classroom.  Furthermore, if you see anything sounds helpful for you, the parents, let me know and I can see about implementing that as a part of our means of communication!

Education World: Using Technology in the Classroom

Still not sold on all the neat things tech can do, read this article and I think you may change your mind!