A Principal's Reflections
NOVEMBER 10, 2024
As my Aspire Change EDU consultant team and I visit classrooms on a routine basis, we strive to lead administrators, coaches, and teachers in reflecting on their practice using questioning techniques. The majority of these often revolve around engagement, and it is quickly realized that when students are compliant, it is because the adult is doing all the work or talking.
TeachThought
NOVEMBER 21, 2024
What Are The Best Questions For Teaching Critical Thinking? by Terry Heick What are the different types of questions? Turns out, it’s pretty limitless. I’ve always been interested in them–the way they can cause (or stop) thinking; the nature of inquiry and reason; the way they can facilitate and deepen a conversation; the way they can reveal understanding (or lack thereof); the stunning power of the right question at the right time.
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NCHE
NOVEMBER 21, 2024
After Valencia Abbott’s school day ended, we met to discuss her experiences as a history teacher. At the top of our time together, we discussed a quote from an article she recently wrote: “ When students sense that you are all-in for them, they are more likely to give you their best in the classroom.” “That’s not something that came about because I was in the classroom,” Valencia said.
Cult of Pedagogy
NOVEMBER 24, 2024
Listen to my interview with Megan Sumeracki ( transcript ): Sponsored by Alpaca and The Gilder Lehrman Institute This page contains Amazon Affiliate and Bookshop.org links. When you make a purchase through these links, Cult of Pedagogy gets a small percentage of the sale at no extra cost to you. What’s the difference between Amazon and Bookshop.org?
World History Teachers Blog
NOVEMBER 29, 2024
One of my favorite sites for teaching medieval cities like Mali, Calicut, and Quanzhou is called Sites of Encounter in the Medieval World. It comes from The University of California at Davis and includes lessons with primary sources, maps, charts, and graphs. The lesson on Calicut, for example, explores the importance of the spice trade in food and medicine and even includes medieval recipes.
The Hechinger Report
NOVEMBER 18, 2024
Like learning to read by third grade, taking eighth grade math is a pivotal moment in a child’s education. Students who pass Algebra 1 in eighth grade are more likely to sign up for more advanced math courses, and those who pass more advanced math courses are more likely to graduate from college and earn more money. “Algebra in eighth grade is a gateway to a lot of further opportunities,” said Dan Goldhaber, an economist who studies education at the American Institutes for Research, in a recent
A Principal's Reflections
NOVEMBER 24, 2024
Unless you are living under a rock, AI is all the rage right now, and rightfully so. It can revolutionize various practices by addressing gaps in efficiency, accuracy, and decision-making. By analyzing vast amounts of data, AI algorithms can uncover patterns and trends that human analysts may miss, leading to more informed and effective strategies. For instance, in healthcare, AI-powered tools can analyze patient data to predict disease outbreaks, optimize treatment plans, and streamline adminis
Social Studies Network brings together the best content for social studies educators from the widest variety of thought leaders.
Sapiens
NOVEMBER 12, 2024
Archaeological evidence and Oral Histories show people in what is today Ghana lived sustainably for millennia—until European colonial powers and the widespread trade of enslaved people changed everything. ✽ It’s the year 2065. West Africa’s cool seasonal rains wake Abena. She rides her bike to work, where she pushes investment in cultivating insects as renewable protein sources.
Passion for Social Studies
NOVEMBER 29, 2024
Teachers have a huge goal: to prepare students for the real world! This includes helping them to become informed, empathetic, active, and responsible citizens. While all teachers feel this pressure, social studies teachers have a bit of added stress. They are responsible for preparing students with the knowledge, skills, and critical thinking abilities to know why this is important.
World History Teachers Blog
NOVEMBER 20, 2024
Here is a terrific site that features biographical stories of specific slaves, slave owners, and traders. It comes from the same people who created the "Slave Biographies: The Atlantic Database Network." You can read dozens of short sketches about specific slaves like Felisberta who was born in 1820 in Central West Africa. She was a household slave and wet nurse who served a wealthy family in Southeastern Brazil.
ED Surge
NOVEMBER 12, 2024
Veteran multimedia producer and professor Lynn Rogoff has long experimented with ways to bring history alive for young people. So as she saw the rise of AI tools, she was quick to try them. In her latest film, “Bird Woman: Sacagawea,” viewers not only watch the story of Sacagawea — the young woman from the Soshone tribe who helped guide the Lewis and Clark Expedition back in 1804 — they can chat with her and ask questions about her life.
The Hechinger Report
NOVEMBER 27, 2024
Hello! I’m traveling back from the Bright Start International Conference where I spent the last few days learning about early childhood policies, systems and best practices worldwide. This week’s newsletter comes to you from Caroline Preston, Hechinger’s managing editor, who writes our climate and education newsletter. You can sign up for the newsletter here.
Geography Education
NOVEMBER 17, 2024
I love introducing Geoguessr to my students; I love the practical geographic skills that it combines in a games that can get the competitive juices flowing. It gets users to analyze the cultural and physical landscapes, relate a stimulus to other places on Earth, use maps at a variety of scales, etc. Guess Where You Are is an alternative to Geogussr without all the bells and whistles, but it also has no time restrictions w But I’m also a history buff and I love a good twist on a geographic g
Moler's Musing
NOVEMBER 22, 2024
This week, we dug into the foundations of the United States government and explored how early laws shaped the country’s growth. EduProtocols were front and center as we kept students engaged and active in their learning: Monday: Introduced The Tier List to rank government systems and used Iron Chef with Padlet to analyze types of governments. Tuesday: Gummy bears turned abstract government concepts into tangible representations, followed by another Tier List ranking activity.
Passion for Social Studies
NOVEMBER 15, 2024
Are you always searching for ways to make your lessons more engaging? Similarly, are you constantly trying to get students to be active in the thinking process? Honestly, both of these questions make teaching overwhelming! Teachers want students to enjoy school and be the ones thinking, but there is a lot to get through! There are so many standards and not enough time to teach everything.
World History Teachers Blog
NOVEMBER 28, 2024
Here are some fascinating Islamic art and architecture threads from the Arabic Art House Bayt Al Fann. They include threads about Islamic calligraphy, Islamic gardens, unique mosques in Africa, the dome interiors of mosques worldwide, and the use of geometric patterns in Islamic art. These threads, which I have saved as pdfs, could work well in a unit on Islam in World History.
ED Surge
NOVEMBER 4, 2024
As Alexandra Delano prepared to moderate a civil discourse event for fellow students at Providence College in anticipation of the presidential election, some people quipped “good luck with that” or “you’re brave for that.” They predicted that the event, whose blue and red flier read “There’s an election in two weeks? Let’s talk about it!,” would be tense.
The Hechinger Report
NOVEMBER 6, 2024
Over the past few years, it’s become clear that states need more money to support kids. Pandemic-related aid is long gone, but effects from that era still linger, evident in persistent child care shortages and ongoing child behavioral and mental health concerns. Now, states are increasingly trying to generate new sources of money to support young children, although in at least one state, a ballot measure was designed to pull back on just these kinds of efforts.
Anthropology.net
NOVEMBER 23, 2024
Neanderthals, often regarded as robust and resourceful survivors of the Ice Age, have left yet another clue to their remarkable ingenuity. Archaeologists have uncovered evidence 1 of a 65,000-year-old hearth in Gibraltar that may have served as a "glue factory," used to produce tar for hafting weapons and tools. This discovery not only predates the arrival of modern humans ( Homo sapiens ) in the region by 20,000 years but also highlights the Neanderthals' sophisticated engineering and teamwork.
Sapiens
NOVEMBER 26, 2024
New archaeological research reveals insights into the first-known seafarers to brave ocean crossings from Asia to the Pacific Islands more than 50,000 years ago. This article was originally published at The Conversation and has been republished under Creative Commons. ✽ In the deep human past , highly skilled seafarers made daring crossings from Asia to the Pacific Islands.
C3 Teachers
NOVEMBER 14, 2024
I’ve been using the C3 Inquiry Design Model (IDM) for over a decade. Generally speaking, I’ve felt successful and have shared my best practices with others in the field. But despite my students’ success in producing rich products from their work on formative performance tasks, arguments, and taking informed actions, the sensory experience of walking into my classroom did not reflect the intellectual energy that I knew was pulsing in my students’ heads.
World History Teachers Blog
NOVEMBER 30, 2024
Teaching the French Revolution? Was it just ten years of senseless killing? That's what columnist Peggy Noonan suggested in an essay for the Wall Street Journal. Two historians, Mike Duncan, a revolutionary history podcaster, and David A. Bell, a history professor at Princeton, took Noonan to task on Twitter for not knowing her history. Both historians suggest that the revolution, while horrifically violent, made significant contributions to the world.
ED Surge
NOVEMBER 11, 2024
In 2024, if you want to make a dinner reservation, you’re very likely to open an app on your phone, input a few details and then filter your results to see which restaurants have availability for your party size, date and time. If you want to find child care, on the other hand, good luck. In most states, you can visit a website and see a map of providers in your area, along with some basic information about them — ages served, operating hours, quality rating — but details about their enrollment
The Hechinger Report
NOVEMBER 12, 2024
PHILADELPHIA — Every weekday morning for six months, instead of taking college classes, 25-year-old Tamari Natelauri made the 45-minute drive from Philadelphia to Voorhees Township, New Jersey, to go to work at a large accounting firm. It’s her dream job – and she hasn’t even graduated from college yet. By the time she walks across the stage at Drexel University’s commencement ceremony in 2027, Natelauri will have spent 11 years of her life – and a lot of money – on higher education, including s
Anthropology.net
NOVEMBER 7, 2024
The Ancient Artistry of Ochre Mining in Eswatini The Lion Cavern at Ngwenya, Eswatini, holds groundbreaking evidence 1 of humanity's earliest intensive ochre mining practices, dating back 48,000 years. This remarkable find suggests not only a profound commitment to artistic and symbolic expression but also the beginnings of human impact on the environment.
Teaching American History
NOVEMBER 5, 2024
Every presidential election year revives questions about our system of voting through the Electoral College. Teachers tell us that students find this the most perplexing feature of our constitutional system. Below, we offer an explanation of why the Electoral College exists, how it works, and what happens when the electoral count in any state is contested.
TCI
NOVEMBER 12, 2024
Civic education is the cornerstone of a functioning democracy, yet recent evaluations reveal significant gaps in how it is taught across the nation. High-quality civics and U.S. history instruction is essential for developing informed, engaged citizens who can navigate the complexities of modern society. However, recent studies indicate that many states are falling short of providing students with the educational foundation needed for active civic participation.
World History Teachers Blog
NOVEMBER 27, 2024
Should we throw out everything we’ve learned about the Silk Roads? The writer William Dalrymple thinks that we should in this fascinating essay for the Guardian titled "T he Silk Road still casts a spell, but was the ancient trading route just a Western invention? " He notes that the term “silk road” was a Western invention popularized by a Prussian geographer in 1877 and did not appear in English until 1938.
ED Surge
NOVEMBER 6, 2024
When I came out to my family during my first year of college in the early 2000s, my mom’s immediate concern extended beyond my safety and happiness to my future as an educator. She asked, “But what about your career?” as though living authentically meant I’d have to hide my queerness to succeed in teaching. In that moment, even before I entered my teacher preparation program, I confronted a troubling reality: in education, there would always be scripts I’d be expected to follow.
The Hechinger Report
NOVEMBER 3, 2024
Those of us who worked with high school students in the wake of the Supreme Court’s historic decision overturning race-conscious admissions can’t profess shock over news showing decreases in enrollment among Black and Latinx students across many college campuses, especially those considered competitive for enrollment. We saw this coming. Last year we saw too many highly qualified students shy away from applying to schools because they were sent a message that they wouldn’t get in without affirma
Anthropology.net
NOVEMBER 8, 2024
High in the Zeravshan Valley of Tajikistan, the Soii Havzak rock-shelter has provided researchers with an invaluable glimpse into early human migration routes and daily life in Central Asia. Discovered 1 only recently, this rock-shelter sits 40 meters above a tributary of the Zeravshan River, approximately 10 kilometers north of Panjakent. It contains layers of human occupation spanning the Middle and Upper Paleolithic periods, approximately 150,000 to 20,000 years ago.
Strange Maps
NOVEMBER 7, 2024
Historically, things don’t end well when German Chancellors start drawing lines on maps. Could the Brandt Line be the exception that proves the rule? To be fair, Willy Brandt was no longer Chancellor of West Germany (as he had been from 1969 to 1974) when he drew this line. In 1980, a commission chaired by Brandt published a report on international development that introduced the Global North and the Global South as meaningful concepts in public discourse.
Dr. Shannon Doak
NOVEMBER 13, 2024
In the ever-evolving landscape of education, the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been heralded as a transformative force. I am one of the biggest proponents of this viewpoint! However, recently, I attended EDUTech Asia and have connected with many vendors. My recent interactions with these vendors at conferences and through social media reveals that many AI applications are merely reinforcing outdated pedagogical practices, particularly in areas like exam preparation.
World History Teachers Blog
NOVEMBER 19, 2024
Bantu Migrations: Resources Here are three good clips about the early Bantu migrations, and a terrific site about iron in Africa. One video clip comes from Masaman, who produces educational videos on his YouTube channel. He does a good job of explaining the groups of people who lived in Africa before the Bantu migrations and the changes the Bantus brought, especially regarding language.
ED Surge
NOVEMBER 8, 2024
Once upon a time, educators worried about the dangers of CliffsNotes — study guides that rendered great works of literature as a series of bullet points that many students used as a replacement for actually doing the reading. Today, that sure seems quaint. Suddenly, new consumer AI tools have hit the market that can take any piece of text, audio or video and provide that same kind of simplified summary.
The Hechinger Report
NOVEMBER 11, 2024
For too long, incoming students not deemed fully prepared to do college-level work have had to enter a remediation track intended to teach foundational concepts that institutions assume students haven’t learned yet. It is a logical premise with a significant flaw: This approach to remediation simply does not work. Institutions funnel hundreds of thousands of first-year students into math and English remedial courses every year, including 40 percent of students at public 2-year colleges.
Anthropology.net
NOVEMBER 22, 2024
The Maya civilization is celebrated for its monumental architecture, intricate calendars, and cultural sophistication. However, new research highlights their lesser-known mastery of aquaculture. Archaeologists have uncovered 1 a 4,000-year-old network of fish-trapping channels in Belize's Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary, suggesting early Maya communities engineered entire wetlands to sustain large populations.
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