7 ways to use your iPad in the social studies classroom

Have iPads? Getting iPads? Confused a bit about how to actually use iPads?

You’re not alone. Tons of schools are jumping on the mobile tablet bandwagon. But they often jump on without giving teachers a whole lot of training. The infographic below – created by Tony Vincent and posted on his awesome Learning in Hand site – can be a jumpstart to learning more about how the iPad can impact teaching and learning. (Head over there and get the large six page version or a huge 24 page version.)

It highlights seven ways that you can use iPads in the classroom:

History Now journal

It’s the middle of June.

I’m guessing most of you are not missing your classroom yet. But if you’re like most teachers, eventually you’ll need a history fix. You’ll need to start planning for next fall. You’ll need to pick up a book or a journal to learn something new.

And when you do, come back here because here’s the link you need:

Tip of the Week: Fact Pyramid, Because Box

I’ve had the privilege of working with 40 middle school social studies teachers this last week. It’s the last few days of a three year Teaching American History grant and, yes . . . some teared up a bit towards the end. It’s been a great ride. We’ve all learned a ton – both content and pedagogy.

This week, we had the incredible privilege of working with three history studs -  Mark Fiege, Elliott West, and Thomas Andrews – while also learning more about the best ways to incorporate their history content into actual lessons.

Master Teacher Nathan McAlister walked us through a variety of learning activities including panning for gold, cutting up buffalo, and arguing pros/cons of fracking during a city council meeting.

One of the smaller activities we did was a bit simpler and much easier for you to drop directly into your instruction.

Called Fact Pyramid Because Box,

Tip of the Week: 4 Bloody Brilliant British Websites

Okay.

You probably won’t find a ton of US history on the four sites listed below. Cause, well . . . they’re British. But trust me, there are tons of things for just about everyone.

Really. Especially if you’re looking for Ancient, World, European, geography, games, activities, online tools, lesson plans, then you need to take the time to check these out.

What’s it like to be tech naked?

I don’t know if the term has been used before. I’m pretty sure someone else coined it long ago.

Tech naked

I’m also pretty sure that I just got blocked by 50% of all school filters. Which is a shame. I think we all need to get tech naked every once in a while. What is tech naked?

. . . going for an extended period of time without access to, or choosing not to access, technology such as computers, internet, social media, email, and the Apple App Store.

(Also no Scramble with Friends.)

And it’s a good thing. There has been some interesting research about how the misuse of technology can screw with attention span and deep thinking skills. How the use of social media can be addictive. Let’s be clear. I am a firm believer of using technology as a part of everyday life, of how powerful it can be as part of the educational process.

But . . .