Historic Election Results (and other related resources)

Click on this link and watch the country change colors: Historic Election Results!  Of course, what is missing are the changes in party platforms to accompany the color-shifting map.  For comparison of those, follow this link to The American Presidency Project.  The same site also has the nomination acceptance speeches–some linked to YouTube–available going back to Lincoln for the Republican Party and to Wilson for the Democratic Party.

It is a piece of cake to tap into the history of electing our POTUS and to make comparisons from year-to-year, especially from the 20th century to the present.  This is potentially useful tool for specific historically-focused units or more general election-focused civics and government classes.  Or, it is of simple interest to those of us who like to be informed when it comes to the election of the POTUS and who are conscientious of the historical background surrounding the elections.

I would love to hear peoples’ comments, below!

Last minute costume ideas from the vaults of history, ’12 edition

Last year’s last minute costume ideas went over pretty well, so I thought I’d revisit it: soooo, whatcha gonna wear for Halloween, tonight?  Here is my top 5 list of last minute history-inspired costumes for 2012:

1. Templar knight

What you need: An old white top sheet; grey sweats (top–with hood!–and bottoms); belt; boots; sword or lance; additional white sheet (optional).

What to do:  Take your white sheet and cut a hole in the middle large enough to fit over your head, and again on either side to create a narrow scapular–shoulder-width, touching your boots in the front and back, and belt this over top your grey sweat suit (make sure the hood is out).  You should paint a red cross on the chest and back of the white sheet.  If you have the additional sheet, it is your cloak.  Wear it around you and paint additional red crosses on it where it meets in the chest.

What to say when someone asks who you are:  ”Beau Seant!”  It is hypothesized by one scholar that this may have been the Templar battle cry, meaning in the medieval French something akin to “Be noble!” or “Be Glorious!” (The author in question, John J. Robinson, is loosely a scholar, and should be regarded warily, but this is for Halloween not your dissertation, so we’ll go along with it for now.)

Historical accuracies: 1) While a knight would have worn chain mail and not sweats, the basic design of the “uniform” is the same. 2) Medieval French–it’s what many Templars would have spoken, and their banner was certainly called a Beauseant.

2. American soldier, War of 1812

What you need:  Blue shirt or jacket; white or khaki pants; black boots; with gaiters (can be made with black duct tape or construction paper); gold construction paper for trim (optional); musket (could be improvised with a broom stick spray-painted silver and a wooden or cardboard stock); leather shoulder bag for cartridges.

What to do:  If you want to be an authentic soldier at the outset of the war, your going to need the gold frippery, but it wasn’t long before the U.S. government couldn’t afford to provide all the extras on the uniforms and began issuing them without the extras.  So, you could basically pull it off with navy blue shirt and blue or grey pants, if you can’t scare up a pair of khaki cargo pants (after all, it isn’t the ’90s anymore).  If you like the frippery–which is nifty, certainly–then cut up some gold construction paper in the pattern you see above.  If you smudge some “dirt” on your face you can claim you lost your hat in battle and forgo that step–though, the government will take the cost of the hat out of your already-months-late pay.  Sling the cartridge bag over your shoulder and keep your musket close at hand!

What to say when someone asks who you are:  ”Remember the Raisin!“

Historical accuracies:  1) I already explained the historic changes in the uniform.  2)  Yep, that’s right, the Raisin:  A river in Michigan, and the sight of the bloody defeat of American forces.  If you live in the Chesapeake Bay area, you may just want to holler, “Remember the capital!”  I just don’t know if that is as fun as remembering the Raisin. 3) While we had a rifle contingent at this time, the bulk of the army went to war with muskets.

3. Phillis Wheatley

What you need:  A dress–long-sleeved and floor length, a bonnet, a shawl (optional), an apron, a Bible or book of classical Greek or Roman literature–i.e. Homer, Ovid’s Metamorphoses, or Horace (optional).

What to do:  Get dressed, apron goes on the outside.  Carry the book with you wherever you go.

What to say when someone asks who you are:  ”Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain,/May be refin’d and join th’ angelic train.” (“On Being brought from Africa to America,” by Phillis Wheatley)

Historical accuracies:  1) Phillis Wheatley was a colonial era slave and poet, extensively educated by the family who owned her and wrote complicated poetry about America’s slavery institution, full of literary allusions from the Bible and  classical  Rome and Greece.  2) She was well-read particularly of the Bible and Greek and Roman classics.  3) She was a successful poet, though many doubted a slave capable of her poetic production.

4. Viking

What you need:  A grey sweat suit; a long, large grey t-shirt–hanging to mid-thigh or knees; a belt; a grey ball cap or skull cap; axe, sword, or spear; large round disc–either card board spray-painted grey/silver, or similar; a large sack full of books, gold, jewels, or any other stuffing to make it look full of loot (optional)

What to do:  Put on the sweat suit, then the over-sized t-shirt, after you’ve removed the sleeves, and belt it.  If you have a grey ball-cap cut the bill off of it or simply wear the skull cap.  Make your shield and carry it along with your weapon.

What to say when someone asks who you are:  ”Valhalla!“

Historical accuracies:  1) Vikings wore chain-mail–if you have a kilt or animal skin that you can wear like a kilt, this would probably be more accurate, but maybe it’s cold outside, tonight.  2) Vikings would not have worn horns on their helms.  So, unless you are going as an opera viking or a Minnesotan viking, forgo the horns.  3) Vikings carried a simple round wooden shield–if they carried one at all.  You may forgo the shield to carry the sack–remember, the vikings were robbers and marauders from the sea (or, from Scandinavia  by way of the most convenient waterway).  4)  Valhalla was the sacred mead hall of heaven reserved for warriors who died gloriously.

5. Rosie the Riveter

From the Rosie the Riveter Trust; http://www.rosietheriveter.org

What you need:  Blue button-down, collared, long-sleeve shirt; blue work pants; red hankerchief.

What to do:  Put your clothes on.  Roll your sleeves up and tie the red bandanna on your head, with the bow on the top.

What to say when someone asks who you are:  ”We can do it!”  (And, show your guns off while you say it!)

Historical accuracies:  1) This is obviously the image from the famous WWII propaganda poster highlighting the blue-collar work of women on the homefront during the war.  2) Blue collar variations could include tools or welding helmets, etc. as women worked in various “manly” positions so “our boys could go off and fight the war.”

Batwoman: Or, the times they are a-changing

My evolution in “Bat-tastes” and society’s evolution on being gay

Growing up, I did not watch the Saturday morning cartoons many of my friends watched.  When I came home from school, however, I did often catch reruns of the classic episodes of Batman.  The 1960s show featuring Adam West and Burt Ward, as Batman and Robin was goofy and brilliant all at the same time.  (Even if it was at times awful, I still have a fondness for it and a nostalgia for one of my elementary school-aged favorites.  Around the same time, I was also watching The Rifleman, Gunsmoke, and Ponderosa reruns on Saturday mornings.)

It was much later before I got into comic books and, even then, I was never a seriously devoted fan–too expensive for me, and too difficult too maintain, though I have kept my small, humble collection still to this day.  While, I was always interested in the Detective Comics I was daunted by the vast size of the collection and skeptical about being able to keep up or follow along.  As a result, I was more of a Marvel-made X-Men fan.  (Comic book fans will recognize that this doesn’t actually make sense, as Professor X’s X-Men had a long story-line, as well, and it would be little different as far as “jumping in media res” was concerned, but somehow it made sense to my junior high brain.)

I find myself finally swinging back to Batman and DC Comics–the comic book company that publishes the Batman storylines, including the longstanding series Detective Comics–thanks to the newly recreated Batwoman.  Ruminating on her original introduction and comparing it with her reintroduction is an interesting demonstration of cultural evolution.

The Bat-woman’s debut, Detective Comics Issue #233, July 1956

Batwoman was the first new “Bat” in the Batman family.  She was introduced in response to allegations that Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson had a romantic relationship.  In the 1950s, this could cause a great deal of trouble.  Comics had to be approved for content as they were believed to be children’s lit and suspiciously regarded as [potentially] dangerously subversive.

U.S. Congress got involved, investigating juvenile delinquency in a Senate subcommittee and any potential role comics may have played in the phenomena.  (Check out some of the texts/artifacts from this investigation held in the National Archives.)  Self-regulation was instituted by the comic book industry to protect itself from outside censorship, effectively creating self-censorship.  This is more or less how we get the Bat-woman in Detective Comics issue #233 in July of 1956 (the success of Superwoman didn’t hurt, either):  In 1954′s Seduction of the Innocent (published in the same year as the self-imposed Comic Code Authority), Frederic Wertham let fly the allegation that Bruce and Dick were a homosexual item.

The Bat-woman was, thus, not only a female heroine, she was a love interest for Batman.  So, clearly, Batman was not gay.  Here, was a romantic foil for him: the large-breasted, buttoned-to-the-collar, utility-purse-wielding, motor-cycle-riding love interest.  Here was a crime-fighting woman, an effeminate and shapely “champion of the law” to be his “great rival … the mysterious and glamorous girl.”  (Detective Comics, #233, July 1956)

Is it not interesting that in her re-introduction to the comic world in 2006 she is a lesbian; indeed, a would-be Army soldier ousted from West Point under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy (introduced in 1993).  In her new incarnation, she is depicted as a model West Point cadet at the top of her class, ousted by the accusation of “homosexual conduct.”  While she is given an out by her supervisor, she chooses to be guided by the West Point code, instead: “A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do.”  This effectively ends her career as a U.S. Army soldier, setting her on the path towards Batwoman.  She is driven by personal loss and a desire to serve–a career she was deprived of in the military.  Hooah.

Army issue comic for administering “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, 2001
(Comics with Problems)

In this context, it seems ironic to me that the Army released a comic book in 2001 on its policies regarding DADT.  (Comics with Problems)  The medium seems destined to portray our national debate or sensibilities on the subject.  It has certainly always been an art-form that has  idolized and aggrandized the human body.  To the extent that comic art can be sexually appealing to anyone, it certainly stands to reason that on this level, at least, a gay following would be as likely to develop as any other.  But, comic book heroes are also often struggling with their otherness, their separation from everyone else who does not have to hide their identity–a theme that is especially relevant and poignant to gay adolescents and adults.

Plus, comic books are relatively safe to read.  A teenage boy reading comic books will not call any attention to his alter-ego if he is in the closet.  Similarly, a girl reading Wonderwoman comics is likely to be safely empowered, but not obviously outed.  This may get trickier for the boy who prefers Wonderwoman to Superman, but even this can be done in safety, without threatening to unmask the fan’s identity.

It is the DC Universe’s constant question of identity, and the question of resulting isolation that resonates with many gay readers of comic book series.  (Marvel’s mutant X-Men treat this subject slightly differently, focusing on the biological “otherness” and persecution of mutant superheroes.)  But, it is the relatively recent decision to provide a greater pantheon of superheroes and seeks to give every reader challenged with isolation through “otherness” a hero in their like-identity that makes the new Batwoman storyline a sort of redemption of the original Bat-woman.  Where  there was originally fear of Batman representing an “other,” there is now the deliberate embrace of that exact “otherness.”  Instead of the Bat-woman saving Batman from accusations of lust for Robin, the new Batwoman is about saving Gotham City (she just happens to be falling in love with women, too).

Batwoman in the 21st century

The telling works of Phillis Wheatley

Phillis Wheatley statue in the Old South Meeting House (Boston)

While in Boston earlier this August, I had occasion to pick up an Applewood Books publication of Phillis Wheatley’s poems, Poems of Phillis Wheatley, A native African and slave.  The significance of this particular publication over other collections of Wheatley’s poetry is that Applewood Books specializes in reprinting historical American works, so not only do I have the poems themselves, but also the editor’s note emphasizing that the poems are indeed the work of an African-born American slave–complete with the names of notable Bostonians who will vouch for her and the promise that a copy of their Attestation with their original signatures may be found by applying to “Archibald Bell, Bookseller, No. 8, Aldgate Street.”

I enjoy these features.  It gives context and color to the poems included in this collection.  Beyond this, I am impressed with the range of themes and intertextual allusions in the poetry itself.  It is clear, that while she was a slave, the relationship between slave and master is very different from the one we often hear or think about.  It is also clear that the same relationship and Wheatley’s success could be used to justify slavery as a liberation from savagery [in Africa].  Indeed, some of her own poetry might be used as ammunition for just that.

I want to set this particular aspect of the discussion aside, for now, as it is illuminated much better by the more capable hands of other scholars.  I want to look at her poetry from the long perspective of a Western Civilization professor.  In this long view slavery has played a consistent role, but there other features revealed in Wheatley’s poetry that speak to the strength of other long-enduring legacies, clearly prioritized in her education.

Phillis Wheatley

To Mæcenas

     MÆCENAS, you, beneath the myrtle shade,
Read o’er what poets sung, and shepherds play’d.
What felt those poets but you feel the same?
Does not your soul possess the sacred flame?
Their noble strains your equal genius shares
In softer language, and diviner airs.

     While Homer paints, lo! circumfused in air,
Celestial Gods in mortal forms appear;
Swift as they move hear each recess rebound,
Heaven quakes, earth trembles, and the shores resound.
Great Sire of verse, before my mortal eyes,
The lightnings blaze across the vaulted skies,
And, as the thunder shakes the heavenly plains,
A deep-felt horror thrills through all my veins.
When gentler strains demand thy graceful song,
The lengthening line moves languishing along.
When great Patroclus courts Achilles‘ aid,
The grateful tribute of my tears is paid;
Prone on the shore he feels the pangs of love,
And stern Pelides‘ tenderest passions move.

     Great Maro‘s strain in heavenly numbers flows,
The Nine inspire, and all the bosom glows.
O could I rival thine and Virgil‘s page,
Or claim the Muses with the Mantuan Sage;
Soon the same beauties should my mind adorn,
And the same ardors in my soul should burn:
Then should my song in bolder notes arise,
And all my numbers pleasingly surprise:
But here I sit, and mourn a groveling mind,
That fain would mount and ride upon the wind.

     Not you, my friend, these plaintive strains become,
Not you, whose bosom is the Muses’ home;
When they from tow’ring Helicon retire,
They fan in you the bright immortal fire;
But I less happy, cannot raise the song,
The fault’ring music dies upon my tongue.

     The happier Terence* all the choir inspired,
His soul replenish’d, and his bosom fired:
But say, ye Muses, why this partial grace,
To one alone of Afric’s sable race;
From age to age transmitting thus his name
With the finest glory in the rolls of fame?

*He was an African by birth.

     Thy virtues, great Maecenas! shall be sung
In praise of him, from whom those virtues sprung:
While blooming wreaths around thy temples spread,
I’ll snatch a laurel from thine honour’d head,
While you, indulgent, smile upon the deed.

     As long as Thames in streams majestic flows,
Or Naiads in the oozy beds repose
While Phœbus reigns above the starry train
While bright Aurora purples o’er the main,
So long, great Sir, the muse thy praise shall sing,
So long thy praise shal’ make Parnassus ring:
Then grant, Maecenas, thy paternal rays,
Hear me propitious, and defend my lays.

This is a complex poem.  Lacking a knowledge of classic literature, however, would make it far more complicated, still.  In the opening pages of the book, her slave master John Wheatley, acknowledges that he bought her when she was brought to America in 1761 at age 7 or 8.  In sixteen months time, she had a knowledge of English, “to such a degree as to read any, the most difficult parts of the Sacred Writings, to the great astonishment of all who heard her.”  (John Wheatley, a letter to the publisher included in the first publication of Wheatley’s poems, dated in Boston, Nov. 14, 1772)  He further acknowledged that she acquired no schooling outside what the family provided her, led by her own curiosity.

John Wheatley also explains that Phillis was interested and had an inclination for Latin.  In “To Mæcenas,” she shares a great knowledge of Greek and Roman classical literature.  These references are made in Wheatley’s own request to be so gifted a poet as those she mentions and to receive the patronage of Mæcenas.  There would be a great deal to unpack in this poem to do it justice, so it is perhaps unfair (or unwise) for me to reference it, but I do so for these reasons:

1. It is loaded with references to the origins of our literary tradition in ancient Greece and Rome–a tradition she gained in the household of John Wheatley;
2. Thus, it speaks to the continued reverence for such works evident in colonial Boston (and, therefore, also England), while also attesting to the continued influence of these ancient authors on these Early Modern students, readers, and authors;
3. It reveals a complex request from Wheately for patronage–a term loaded with meanings–from Mæcenas to receive the Muses, but perhaps also to receive liberty.

To the University of Cambridge, in New England

     WHILE an intrinsic ardor prompts to write,
The muses promise to assist my pen;
‘T was not long since I left my native shore
The land of errors, and Egyptian gloom:
Father of mercy! ‘t was thy gracious hand
Brought me in safety from those dark abodes.

Students, to you ‘t is given to scan the heights
Above, to traverse the etherial space,
And mark the systems of revolving worlds.
Still more, ye sons of science, ye receive
The blissful news by messengers from heaven,
How Jesus’ blood for your redemption flows.
See him with hands outstretched upon the cross!
Immense compassion in his bosom glows;
He hears revilers, nor resents their scorn.
What matchless mercy in the Son of God!
He deign’d to die that they might rise again,
And share with him in the sublimest skies,
Life without death, and glory without end.

Improve your privileges while they stay,
Ye pupils; and each hour redeem, that bears
Or good or bad report of you to heaven.
Let sin, that baneful evil to the soul,
By you be shunned; nor once remit your guard:
Suppress the deadly serpent in its egg.
Ye blooming plants of human race divine,
An Ethiop tells you, ‘t is your greatest foe;
Its transient sweetness turns to endless pain,
And in immense perdition sinks the soul.

This is a challenging poem.  On the one hand, Wheatley appears to be castigating her homeland and the life she would have lived as an African among her people if  she had not been enslaved.  I think we must acknowledge that Wheatley was genuinely grateful for her education and her Christian faith, two things she would not have gained had she remained free in her African home.  The question must be asked, did she believe her knowledge justified her enslavement?

I am incapable of answering this question directly, but in my historical interest of the poem and its time, perhaps some indirect suggestions might be gleaned (and possibly dismissed, as I do not claim proficiency in the literary arts).

Wheatley’s poem to Harvard University, the University of Cambridge, New England (Massachusetts), makes reference to one of the intellectual pursuits of the time: astronomy.  That she chose this is assuredly not random, as “traver[sing] etherial space/And mark[ing] the systems of revolving worlds” is connected to the spiritual heavens, “And share with [Son of God] in the sublimest skies/ Life without death, and glory without end.”  That this poem reads in part like a sermon or a warning to the students that they cannot neglect to shun sin, “that baneful evil to the soul,” from an African–”the land of errors … those dark abodes”–is rather interesting.

Indeed, it is still more interesting that she links “the land of errors” specifically with “Egyptian gloom.”  The heavily Puritan population would no doubt be fully prepared to acknowledge that Egypt, known from the Old Testament, was a land of errors.  Would they have credited Wheatley for suggesting that its errors were those of slavery–namely enslaving God’s people, the Hebrews?  This would become powerful imagery and iconography among slaves in a later America, but is Wheatley calling attention to it, here?  Egypt, throughout most of the preceding centuries, is precisely referenced because of its direct association with the pride of Pharoah in refusing God in the signs of Moses when he demands in the name of God that the Hebrew slaves be freed.  The errors of Egypt are the sins of Pharoah.  The sins of Pharoah are the enslavement of the Hebrews and his pride in doing so despite God’s demands.

Why she includes this at all, and in her opening stanza no less, is certainly interesting since she intends to warn the students and scholars away from sin.  She admires the institutions of learning, she is grateful for what she has learned, and for Christian conversion, but does she imply that there is something more these learned scholars have yet to learn, specifically about her own social station in Boston?

Student affirms my life’s decisions

I am always driven to use my subject to maximize the value of all the skills history offers students (or, people).  In order to achieve this, I frequently build reflection on methodology into the course.  I just graded one student who has, in one paragraph, affirmed my life’s work:

“Historians are very important people that supply or lead us on to important information or even historical events. Without their documentation a lot of things that exists in our world today would just be a mystery. But unfortunately sometimes the information that we are left with isn’t quite enough for ordinary people to determine what it is or what it really means, this is why professional historian researchers are very important individuals. These historians obtain degrees in different types of history that help develop the ability to decipher dead languages or even draw more information out of something that others would not see.”

I’m a VIP.  My graduate studies have been affirmed.  My work, here, is done.

A Review of SimpleK12 Resources for Educators, Integrating tech

(All images from the http://www.simplek12.com site.)

SimpleK12, located at http://www.simplek12.com/, is a professional development site for educators specifically designed to integrate technology into the curriculum.  The website provides two services: one is the Teacher Learning Community and the other is a guide for integrating technology into specific student curricula.

The Teacher Learning Community is a membership available for teachers just like you who know integrating the latest educational tips and techniques in the classroom will engage their students and increase academic achievement. When you join, you’ll get immediate access to a global network of educators with whom you can share and collaborate, live and recorded webinars with education leaders, a resource center for sharing classroom documents, as well as a collection of over 500 hours of classroom technology how-to videos available anytime anywhere. It’s all the help and support you’ll ever need from your very own personal learning network (PLN)!

~ From the SimpleK12 website

The Teacher Learning Community is a membership program for interacting with other educators regarding personal experiments and experiences in teaching and utilizing technology in the classroom.  The idea is to stimulate discussion with the website’s resources and augment it with on-the-ground experiences from other teachers.  In the webinars available on the site, you are introduced to the concepts and the intent is to facilitate making yours a competent edtech classroom, successfully integrating tech into your classroom regardless of your own technical prowess–or lack thereof!

They bill themselves as relevant, in-touch, professional development.  As you teach history or social studies you can make use of these tools to help facilitate training your students the skills that will be of increasing value in the 21st century.  There is a difference from simply augmenting your instruction with technical tools and building useful skills for your students.  With these tools, aim for both.

Add to this the Student Curriculum, and you have some considerable aids to incorporate, including edtech built-in to lesson plans and modules for assessments and grading.

But, there is a catch.  The full membership requires a paid subscription fee of over $200.  That may be prohibitive for some teachers/schools.  This does not mean that the service is completely inaccessible, however, as there is an active blog, toolkits for specific technology, webinars, collaborative online forums and a series of free e-books for a free membership good for many professional development assets–you just can’t do everything.  Even at this level, you can still develop a professional development profile and print out the completion of hours earned through the site.  Despite the price of full membership, the freebies are copious and valuable even without spending the dough.

I encourage educators who are interested in edtech and integrating tech-skill development for their students into their regular classroom activity to pursue the options and see if it is right for you.  Not just classroom teachers, but homeschool teachers can also make use of these tools in home education utilizing the technology they own.  To feel it out, start with the blog: http://blog.simplek12.com/education/top-7-ebooks-for-educators/.

The Tech-fallacy vs Quality Edtech

I’ve recently advocated a great deal of edtech.  My approach to education has always emphasized content and skills.  Because of this, I see a real value in incorporating technology into coursework.  There are, however, unfortunate side-effects that can emerge.

Recently, Jay Matthews wrote a Class Struggle column for the Washington Post online, called, “How computers can hurt schools,” discussing a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan.  He describes the case of Melvin highlighted in the lawsuit whose English class functioned “virtually” with little to no interaction from his teacher.  The computer was, in his teacher’s mind, supposed to educate him.  It didn’t work.

I have also in the past advocated “slow reading,” bound paper books, and handwriting.  There are many advantages to technology, but it comes with its own drawbacks.  In this post,  I want to highlight the challenges.  These are a generous sampling of issues, not a particular tirade.

Access to technology
A great teacher in my area teaches STEM classes at an elementary school that has had a surging percentage of ESL students.  In her mind, technology is the equalizer.  If you were to walk into her classroom and watch her students working through a Robotic Legoes project in which they measure their designed cars’ ability to drag a load, you’d agree with her immediately.  The key to success has been her ability to write grants that allowed her to procure the equipment.

Few of her students have access to such technology at home, of course.  And, many of her ESL students without her instruction would not gain the advantage of expanding their English vocabulary.  Technology works in this case because the school owns it–the students need bring nothing but their thirsty minds–and the teacher is excellent at maximizing gains.

I advocate using technology to do a number of projects that many students simply cannot do unless the school provides the access to the technology.  Incorporating smart phones or tablets only works if every student has access.  Does this mean we will add such technology to our school supply lists?  Perhaps it means teachers in low-income areas need to learn to write grants as part of their training.

Screen time
South Korea is one of the most strongly plugged-in, high-speed technological cultures.  They recently halted a plan to transition all textbooks to e-books.  The reason for this was centered on studies about the dangers of excessive screen time.  These include brain-patterning and chemistry that develops over time, mimicing addiction.

In general, students with higher screen time hours tend to have a host of attendant health problems.  Some of these are cognitive though many are related to inactivity.  There are also concerns about reduced face time with other human beings and minimized time outdoors.  Besides concrete health concerns, such as a lack of sunlight and its natural provision of vitamin D, this creates a disconnect with the natural world which will, among other side-effects, challenge future conservation.

Scanning
The reliance on getting information digitally impairs a slow, concentrated ability to read in depth for comprehension of complex ideas.  Scanning is a useful skill for a quick upload of information–I use it all the time when I am referencing a source for a particular idea or concept to be sure of the context.  But, true comprehension of complex ideas, whether in a great work of literature, a written study, political analysis of an issue or legal problem, a work of philosophy, etc., requires more than a cursory scan.

It is also an essential cognitive skill to maintain and foster.  Slow reading promotes the ability to focus deeply.  This is a basic skill used in decision making, destressing, and problem-solving.  It is also life-enriching.  Consider the difference between the experience of social media memes and contemplating a Raphael, Van Gogh or El Greco three feet from your nose.  As with much of “slow” movements it comes back to experiences.

Experiences
I am an advocate of using technology to recreate experiences that cannot be otherwise accomplished.  You can use the web to create a virtual field trip even if the resources are not available to make the trip any other way.  But, the understanding is that this is a substitute resource.  Emphasis on substitute.

History instructors can use leisure activities, food, music, etc. (see the sub-categories under my Experiencing category) to recreate another era.  These are also very social activities.  The learning is achieved together and it uses the human senses, which in turn stimulate the brain and its learning.

Poverty limits experiences, obviously.  While technology can be used to ignite curiosity and encourage experience, it can also deprive one of experience and reality.  Naturally, this comes back to balance.

Handwriting
Studies show that practicing and learning handwriting does important things for our cognitive development with language.  Many schools have already abandoned it in their curriculum.  Keep in mind that part of the issue here is literacy, the other part circles back around tothe aforementioned concern about access.

On the one hand, learning to write by hand is a stronger means to learn literacy.  On the other hand, anyone who cannot afford a computer can still write out a job application or send a letter to his or her politician.  That same citizen should know how to type, too, because some day he or she may be able to get a computer, but until then… it’s all about access.

Some students in our area-elementary schools are extremely poor, relying on school for two to three meals out of the day (with after school programs), going to school in the winter in flip-flops because they do not have shoes, missing the afternoon of classes if they spoil themselves because they don’t have a change of underwear when they go home, and having no money for basic school supplies such as paper and pencils, let alone tablets and computers.

Teacher participation
The final x-factor is the instructor.  Technology cannot be a substitution for instruction in a classroom setting.  You walk into the classroom and it’s game on, period.  Teacher interaction has an incredible impact on students.  Buy-in problems and student management troubles are often the result of poor teacher interactions.

I can look back on my own career and identify those moments when I created problems with my students that otherwise, with a different pattern of interaction would have shared a productive learning experience with me.  They were not problem students, but I created problems.  In the end, their rebellion was unproductive but justified.  I can also look back at those teachers who had a lasting impact on my life for a point of comparison.

If it can make that much difference, think how much impact ignoring a student can have, telling him, like Melvin, to learn from the computer.  How inspiring.

What if Twitter had existed in other historical eras? Tweeting historiography.

I recently was tickled to find this piece on (where else?) Twitter: British r Coming. Pls RT! | Foreign Policy.  It’s really funny.  It gets one thinking, too.  Others have pointed out the value of challenging students to make observations in a succinct 140-character medium.  This forces students to use precision about the subject they are evaluating and to prioritize the material succinctly.  This is also a moment of frivolity to share with your class.

Aside from being fun, you could actually delve into some real historiographical issues.   Each set of tweets could be altered based on the different interpretations from the historiography.  For example, assign small groups a different scholar and encourage them to create tweets from the primary documents based on the assigned scholars interpretations.  Then you could compare the results.

It adds an extra layer of education, but it’s still fun!  Done well, this should be a slightly addictive exercise in levity and history.  Students should get addicted because its funny and entertaining.  You may find they actually have a better grasp of the scholarly concepts at the end, as well.  Maybe you throw it in right before or after exams or a big paper due date to get productivity despite the intensity of their coursework.

This is similar to the concept behind making fake Facebook walls.  You are asking students to use the technology with which many of them are well-acquainted as the medium in which to present their findings.  This does not suggest that you abandon papers or other means for testing their knowledge and developing skills, it is an alternative that can give students a bit of break without simply putting in a movie and having them unplug.  These exercises introduce a little levity and they should be fun.  At the end, they’ll be #Twitterstorians!

Smart Summer Fun: 30 Ideas for History Dorklets

Geek Mom of Wired.com recently published this brilliant post about fun things to do with your geeklets: Smart Summer Fun: 30 Ideas For Your Geeklets | GeekMom | Wired.com.  I love it!  But, it got me thinking, what about your history dorks?  Don’t they deserve a little geeky, history-dork fun this summer?

So, I have come up with my list of Smart Summer Fun: 30 ideas for Your History Dorklets!

1. Are you going to a beach this summer?  Come prepared!  Build a trebuchet catapult to assault the sand castle!  And, learn a little about applied, medieval physics while you’re at it.
2. Ok, this idea is lifted from Geek Mom, but make a point of hitting some of the local historical sites in your area (or beyond) and have the kids send themselves postcards from monuments and historical reenactments (etc.).
3. Get historical with the Olympics this summer and be active!
4. Instead of playing video games, have your kids create a “Choose Your Own Adventure” story/game.  There are a bunch ways to do this with video, text-based game creation, board games, role-playing games (both digital and card-based), etc.  I cover a ton of resources for this in my “Gaming the Past” post.
5. Research the history of your home.  Who lived there before you?  What historical moments did your house witness?  What history is hiding in the walls’ memory that they can’t tell but you can discover?  The House History Man will show you how fascinating this investigation can be!
6. Dig through your old photographs and put them on Historypin.com, see how the places where you and your families grew up have changed!
7. Design board games (preferably with a history twist–because that’s what I do–but they don’t have to be, of course) the family can play for family game night.  Here are some practical tips.
8. Get poster board, family photos, and other craft materials and design a family tree or timelines.  You could, for example, draw the outline of their bodies or have your kids lie down on pieces of poster board and measure their height with strip of paper measuring tape clued to the poster board and then have them fill in the years along the measuring tape, including different events and moments of growth–it will amaze you what the kids choose to select for their timeline!
9. Write a story.  Or, you could have them write a historical story.
10. Read historical fiction about a time period before you visit an historical site.  That will help them connect with what you are seeing and visiting.
11. Get National Park Service Passports and get stamped!  It’s really fun… even when you’re my age.
12. Look at old family photos together and if possible talk to older family members–even better: record these interviews.
13. Buy a collection of small figurines–toy soldiers, colonial figures, medieval knights, etc.–and use junk from your house to create a village or city that the kids romp through.  (It’s much cheaper than Legos, but operates on a similar idea.)
14. Build models: airplanes, cars, historic buildings (like the Parthenon or the Colosseum).
15. Make costumes and teach the kids to sew!  Host a costume party around a particular era and include era-appropriate games and activities, food, and music!
16. Attend a Renaissance Festival.
17. Cook a historic feast!  Work on their cooking skills, too.
18. Make a historical toy: the Jacob’s ladder.
19. Dig up history at local public archaeology digs.  There are many opportunities around the country–most of them are free!  Google your local public archaeology and historic preservation service–both your state and county government may have a division devoted to this–or simply inquire at local historical sites.  In Maryland, try these sites–others may find inspiration for their area by perusing this, as well.
20. Learn to play Nine Mens Morris, a colonial game, or the game of Viking Chess, Hnefatafl, (you can make your own board, too).  (If you play on the computer, Nine Mens Morris is against the computer, whereas Hnefatafl requires you to play with an opponent… or against yourself.)  Here are some other colonial games.
21. Make a map of your day’s travels and indicate the treasures!
22. Read old family letters and look at other interesting family documents, such as military orders, etc.
23. Read newspapers that are 100 years old to the day!
24. Write a daily/weekly newspaper about your family/neighborhood and store them in a chest, next summer see what happened a year ago.
25. Invest in some nice journals that your kids like and encourage them to keep a journal.  It can be a whatever they want–nature journal, record of their day, record of their thoughts, a way to work through a challenging time, etc.–whatever they need it to be.  Alternatively, you could also have them keep a summer scrap book.  You’re teaching them to keep primary sources–one day they’ll be historical documents!
26. Too hot to go outside?  Play history with these online history games.
27. Explore the world with maps!  Or, explore the historical world with historical maps!  Or, explore World Wonders!
28. Make scavenger hunts!  You can do one in your home or beyond: for your library, local museum, neighborhood, community, city, historical site, etc.  You can also do them online using programs like Google Maps or Google Earth.
29. Explore what your local, community and state historical societies have to offer–many of their events may be pricey fundraisers, but many will also be free.
30. Have them make illuminated manuscripts!  This how they were made in medieval years.

Teachers Speak About Educating the Digital Generation

Increasingly, students are not only becoming acclimated to the digital world and its tools, they are surpassing the competency of the adults around them.  This forces us to make a decision as educators: embrace the digital world or ignore it. The option is actually a false one as choosing to ignore technology is a losing option.  The students who have access to it will not ignore it and thus education will be forced to compete with digital technology, while the students who cannot afford the technology will be left unexposed to it and thus not learn how to use it to the same degree as their peers.

So, while research supports the value of handwriting and slow reading–best done with books as opposed to digital media and readers–it is clear that the digital tools must be integrated.  This can be as simple as allowing students to Tweet about works in progress, assigning students to design useful websites on historical persons or events, using role-playing games or assigning students to create such games, geo-caching or other scavenger hunts utilizing History Pin or Google maps,  create fake Facebook pages for historical figures, etc., etc.  If you are not so confident in your own skills, enlist the aid of others, including the students themselves (many of the ideas I just suggested can be found in posts on my blog).

Don’t remove students from the library, but be prepared to grant increased access to the historical eras you are teaching by means of digital access points and tools.  Don’t cut them off from the art museums that showcase humanity’s history, but allow them use of the internet to build their content-knowledge before they look at stone-carved hieroglyphs.  Don’t give up on books and paper maps, but allow students to also explore an historical era through a role-playing video game.

Use the technological skills of one class to help you develop technological tools for next year’s class.  In enlisting their help in teaching with technology they will learn more.  And, so will you.

Enjoy the short, below, and make use of the resources and activities I have amassed at my site (including posts for retaining the use of paper!), especially in my posts in the, “Experiencing History – Project Based Learning,” category and its sub-categories.  You should also check out the resources at http://historytech.wordpress.com/ and http://teachinghistory.org/.  For more from, “The Digital Generation,” by Edutopia, visit the website: http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation.

Good luck!