Tweet the Debates: Using Twitter to recreate history

Twitter is a pretty amazing tool. Think about it. With Twitter, I can get constant updates from my friends, family, and colleagues on what they had for breakfast, how their drive to work went, and truly important stuff like how hot they think it will be this afternoon.

Seriously. How did we live without Twitter?

I kid because I love.

Twitter really is a pretty amazing tool. Revolutions in Egypt. Live updates on natural disasters. Connections with loved ones thousands of miles away. Not to mention a decent instructional strategy.

We’ve talked about using Twitter in the social studies before. And so when I came across Tweet the Debates, I was more than just a little curious. Created by artist and lawyer Toby Grytafey, Tweet the Debates is his attempt to recreate the summer of 1787 as if those attending the Constitutional Convention had access to social media.

It’s an interesting concept that has worked for other historical events. And it sounds pretty cool. Toby started a Kickstarter project that was hoping to raise funds for a mobile app and other goodies. Even if the fundraising idea fell through, the actual Tweet the Debates idea is awesome.

Toby uses a quote from James Madison, apparently written in the spring of 1835, as inspiration for the project:

History Tech Podcast: Episode Three – Tweetalongs

Besides being really fun to say, tweetalongs have the ability to connect you and your classroom activities to parents, the community, and other classrooms.

Find out more about tweetalongs and how they got started.

Use the #tweetalong hashtag to follow all sorts of folks.

Blatant self promotion and re-tweeting history

I had the chance yesterday to sit and chat with some incredibly interesting folks. There were five of us:

• Alwyn Colliinson – creator of the @RealTimeWWII Twitter feed
• Marion Jensen – runs the TwHistory website
• Michael Hobbs – historian and creator of the Cuban Missile Crisis Twitter feed
• Zach Hughes – tech blogger

We were asked by the Huffington Post to share our thinking about the practice of “re-tweeting” history.

So we did.

Tip of the Week: The Teacher’s Guide to the Library of Congress

The list of non-negiotable resources that every social studies teacher should be using is really not that long. But every time I edit my list, the Library of Congress always finds its way on.

It’s got great lessons, documents. social media, primary source teaching tools . . . basically the sort of stuff every teacher can use. And I’ve written tons about all of their goodies.

But sometimes it’s nice to have all of the goodies in one place. So if you’re looking for that sort of thing, head over to The Teacher’s Guide to the Library of Congress. You’ll find an handy infographic and tons of LOC links broken into tips, tricks, guides, useful tools, and resources.

It’s a nice collection that I probably should have put together years ago. But now I’m off the hook and you’ll find great stuff. Win, win!

5 Days of Helpful Tools: Day 4 – 440 Ways to Use Social Media

It’s Day Four. The question is easy to ask – with so many tools out there, what would best to share? No easy answer but today we’re going with social media tools.

I’m convinced that when used appropriately these sorts of tools can help improve teaching and learning. But a lot of us shy away from using them in education because we’re not sure what that use looks like. So here ya go. Lots of ideas on using social media in the classroom.

• 35 Interesting Ways to Use Twitter in the Classroom
• 100 Ways To Use Twitter In Education, By Degree Of Difficulty
• How To Use Twitter For Teaching And Learning
• 16 Ways Educators Can Use Pinterest
• 37 Ways Teachers Should Use Pinterest
• 100 Ways to Use Facebook in Your Classroom
• 100 More Ways You Should Be Using Facebook in Your Classroom
• 52 Secrets Students Should Know About Google Docs

So go just a little bit crazy. Pick just one of these 440 ways and give it a try.

(I’m sure there’s more than 440. What have we missed?)