World History Castle Projects

These are some of our Castle Projects from the Middle Ages unit. The kids did a great job this year. It was a lot of fun to hear their descriptions of their castles and their essays have been outstanding. I would say, "Best Castle Projects - EVER." :)


Castle Project 2008 from fordee on Vimeo.

Project Description Slideshow:

Castle Project

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own.

Auschwitz-Birkenau Remembered

In a couple of weeks I will be teaching about WWII and the Holocaust. This year I plan on spending more time with the genocide of the Holocaust. Partly it is because I am so interested in it and it always seems to be short-changed by the rush of the end of the semester. Also I plan on spending time on this subject because I really think my students need to know exactly what happened. Maybe this group in particular because they have come a long way in developing empathy. I think a solid Holocaust study will emphasize a theme we have had throughout the year.

Today Jews marched at Auschwitz to recall the memory of the Holocaust. Newslink at MSNBC. The iron gate that opens to Auschwitz is crowned with the words "Arbeit Macht Frei," or "Work Sets You Free." How horribly and tragically ironic. It makes me sooo mad.

I have begun to read Night again. My students are reading it now in English class. So I wanted to highlight it while they do in my class. "In Night," Wiesel said, "I wanted to show the end, the finality of the event. Everything came to an end — man, history, literature, religion, God. There was nothing left. And yet we begin again with night."

Hopefully we can end our school year with this issue and learn from the giant suffering of others to improve our world.

World History - Digital Projects

I am really proud of the work that my kids have done on their digital projects. They have three broad areas to choose from:
1. The Environment
2. Africa
3. Modern World

The kids have had 4 chances to go to the computer lab during the period and work on research. But the majority of the work on a digital project like this is done at home. They also have to write a research paper and present the material to the class.

Two of the projects have really stood out so far. Both have been videos. The kids in the class were pretty silent after clapping at the end. It really made an impact. I wanted to share them both here on this blog. It is a wonderful feeling to see your students learn about a topic, feel deeply about it, and then pass that knowledge on to the class. But, it is also great to then be able to share it with the rest of the world.


starvation in the african horn from christian deluxe on Vimeo.

Uganda Today by Zac S from fordee on Vimeo.

The National Razor

I must say, I love teaching the French Revolution. The kids really dig all the violence, corruption and emotion. A math teacher stopped me in the hallway today and said, "How are you today David?" I said, "Great we are 'cutting off heads and marching them through town on a pike today' in the French Revolution!" She looked at me strangely and then said, "I envy you. How am I to make X squared seem interesting?" I don't know how math teachers do it?

This subject begins a real slugfest in my World History classes. We go from the French Revolution and then quickly pass through the Industrial Revolution & Imperialism. Then I spend a lot of time on WWI and WWII. The 'delight in destruction' becomes apparent pretty quickly. Kids just can't believe what happened. As I say so many times during the spring, "You couldn't make this stuff up and have people believe you." A Hollywood movie producer would never believe that the French did the things they did, if it were in a script put in front of him. He'd laugh you out of the office and say, "People would never believe this crap."

That is what makes it fun. History is an amazing subject to teach. There is always a new wrinkle that I am finding and a new twist on an old story.

I am just lucky I don't have to worry about X squared!
--
track the comments on this entry at co.mments.com