Welcome to my first blog. My interest is History, a subject many find boring. I will attempt to provide information on how to make it funny and exciting. Today's technology allows a person to examine documents, movies, sound recordings, maps and artifacts from around the world without leaving their home or school. Museums, archives, colleges, etc. have uploaded countless historical documents that can be easily view on electrical devices. The National Archives is one such institution that students can explore digitally by going to Docs Teach http://docsteach.org/ . Students will find primary sources to be more interesting if they see it first hand than if it was typed out in a book.
Docs Teach tagline is "Bring history to life for your students." They do so by introducing students to archival documents through interactive learning activities. The interactive tools/games allows the student to have fun while learning. The activities teaches the student to develop historical thinking and content skills through exploration and research. The student learns by exploring not by following a structured plan.
Teachers who signup for Docs Teach can create, save and organize activities that are related to their lesson plan. Teachers can also search and use relevant activities created by others. Students can interact with teachers who sign up for Docs Teach.
To learn more about Docs Teach: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3_kQDFqIyQ&list=PL118B3DEBEBA03192&feature=share
To learn how sign up for a Docs Teach account: http://youtu.be/u3h_plkWmz4
The two links above will lead you to other useful YouTube Docs Teach videos.
An Ipad app is available through iTunes.
Wonderful job David. Since you want to be a History teacher, you should make an appointment to speak with Jeanne DelColle in the Teacher Ed office. She is the NJ 2012 teacher of the year for Social Studies. I'm looking forward to learning some tech from you that will liven up History for us.
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