What is a Qwiki?
A Qwiki is hard to explain, you'll just have to see it for yourself.
It's an amazing amount of information, communicated in a concise and entertaining way.
According to the Qwiki founders a Qwiki is information turned into an experience that you can watch...
It's a marriage of Art and Science...
It's a platform you'll love to use in your classroom. You can have your students type in any content...and learn in a fun way. Perhaps you can give them a broad topic, say... the Silk Road, and from there they can explore for themselves anything having to do with the Silk Road.
With each experience you can click on a picture to learn more, or wait for related Qwikis to hatch after viewing the Qwiki. For example, the Han Dynasty, Cities along the Silk Road or Roman Chinese relations. The possibilities are endless.
Try it out, you'll be impressed.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Byzantine Podcasts: Lars Brownworth's Lost to the West
In doing some De facto research on the Byzantine Empire I found an excellent series of podcasts from author Lars Brownworth. The site was set up as a means to promote his book Lost to the West: The Forgotten Byzantine Empire That Rescued Western Civilization
Besides making his lectures accessible in this way, Brownworth makes them palatable and entertaining for the layman. My wife thinks I'm cute for listening to history lectures while doing the dishes, but hey, I'm a world history teacher. It's my job, but I love it. My point is that with a little knowledge of Roman history, even mechanics and marketing execs would benefit from his lectures.
I've already listened to two of them... The introduction is a great as a follow up to the Roman Empire and an introduces the Byzantine Empire from a straightforward approach.
Tonight I listened to Diocletian. Again, Brownworth's tone and cadence are pleasing. It sounds like he's talking to you, instead of lecturing at you. A conversational style, if you will. His theory on Diocletian and why's he's responsible for the fall of the Roman Empire is interesting. Can't wait to listen to more...
If you've the time, Brown explains things in such a way that it's palatable to most.
Enjoy the link.
http://anders.com/lectures/lars_brownworth/12_byzantine_rulers/
Brownworth introduces his book with a short video on Amazon, which you can see here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/m1UO03EL2EAINK/ref=ent_fb_link
Besides making his lectures accessible in this way, Brownworth makes them palatable and entertaining for the layman. My wife thinks I'm cute for listening to history lectures while doing the dishes, but hey, I'm a world history teacher. It's my job, but I love it. My point is that with a little knowledge of Roman history, even mechanics and marketing execs would benefit from his lectures.
I've already listened to two of them... The introduction is a great as a follow up to the Roman Empire and an introduces the Byzantine Empire from a straightforward approach.
Tonight I listened to Diocletian. Again, Brownworth's tone and cadence are pleasing. It sounds like he's talking to you, instead of lecturing at you. A conversational style, if you will. His theory on Diocletian and why's he's responsible for the fall of the Roman Empire is interesting. Can't wait to listen to more...
If you've the time, Brown explains things in such a way that it's palatable to most.
Enjoy the link.
http://anders.com/lectures/lars_brownworth/12_byzantine_rulers/
Brownworth introduces his book with a short video on Amazon, which you can see here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/m1UO03EL2EAINK/ref=ent_fb_link
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
A History of the World in 6 Glasses
I just finished reading Tom Standage's A History of the World in 6 Glasses
. The book is an entertaining and highly informative romp through world history highlighting six distinct beverages that have influenced the course of time.
Beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea and soda.
If anything, the book makes you appreciate your favorite beverage even more. I'm a certified beer geek. I make my own beer and scoff at certain restaurants if their idea of "good" beer is an Amstel Light and a Sam Adams seasonal. I especially enjoyed the chapter on beer as it discussed beer as a means of currency.
During the Neolithic Age as hunting and gathering civilizations gave way to a more agricultural way of life, grain became a symbol of wealth. Grain in turn could be turned into bread and beer. Thus, bread and beer became a form of currency. Mesopotamia and Egypt are among the cultures who used beer in this way.
Standage shows how beer, and the idea of sharing a beer quickly became rituals that many cultures shared. Wine was no different and was also a part of many rituals and activities. Namely the idea of a symposium which means "to drink together" in Greek. Symposiums were forums for men to gather and debate and discuss current events. From its introduction to Mediterranean from the Middle East by a wealthy Greek King's celebration, wine was viewed as the aristocratic drink. As a drink just a step above beer.
The chapters on coffee and tea bring even more to light. It is very interesting discovering how cultures reacted to these newly found drinks, driving some to ban the substances altogether.
I suggest getting the book and reading it for yourself.
The introductions for each chapter are brilliant in the fact that they set the scene for a time in history - the introductions themselves are great to use in the classroom. The book itself is a great hook to get kids interested in history. It is works like this that make history come alive and keep us laymen wanting more.
Read the book and use it in your classroom.
. The book is an entertaining and highly informative romp through world history highlighting six distinct beverages that have influenced the course of time.Beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea and soda.
If anything, the book makes you appreciate your favorite beverage even more. I'm a certified beer geek. I make my own beer and scoff at certain restaurants if their idea of "good" beer is an Amstel Light and a Sam Adams seasonal. I especially enjoyed the chapter on beer as it discussed beer as a means of currency.
During the Neolithic Age as hunting and gathering civilizations gave way to a more agricultural way of life, grain became a symbol of wealth. Grain in turn could be turned into bread and beer. Thus, bread and beer became a form of currency. Mesopotamia and Egypt are among the cultures who used beer in this way.
Standage shows how beer, and the idea of sharing a beer quickly became rituals that many cultures shared. Wine was no different and was also a part of many rituals and activities. Namely the idea of a symposium which means "to drink together" in Greek. Symposiums were forums for men to gather and debate and discuss current events. From its introduction to Mediterranean from the Middle East by a wealthy Greek King's celebration, wine was viewed as the aristocratic drink. As a drink just a step above beer.
The chapters on coffee and tea bring even more to light. It is very interesting discovering how cultures reacted to these newly found drinks, driving some to ban the substances altogether.
I suggest getting the book and reading it for yourself.
The introductions for each chapter are brilliant in the fact that they set the scene for a time in history - the introductions themselves are great to use in the classroom. The book itself is a great hook to get kids interested in history. It is works like this that make history come alive and keep us laymen wanting more.
Read the book and use it in your classroom.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
The Ends of the World as We Know Them - Why Civilizations Collapse
Jared Diamond, probably best known for his best-selling book Guns, Germs and Steel has ideas on what forces some civilizations to collapse and others to prosper. His main theme of GG&S was wrapped around the idea of geographic luck.
Geographic luck wrestles with the idea that civilizations in certain places were able to advance and prosper because of the natural resources available to them. Some cultures were never able to overcome their primitive ways and couldn't be part of the Neolithic Revolution, because they didn't have the ability to cultivate crops and domesticate animals because the climate and/or animals needed to do so, just weren't available to them.
His theory for the collapse of civilizations could follow that same path... it deviates slightly however. Diamond believes there are outliers, and geography isn't the only thing to make or brake a civilization, but many of his five interacting factors leading to a collapse are geography based.
1. Damage that people have inflicted on their environment;
2. Climate change
3. Enemies
4. Changes in friendly trading partners
5.The society's political, economic and social responses to these shifts.
It is factor #5 which is most important, as this is the crux the determines a civilization's fate. I haven't read Diamond's book on the subject, but have discussed his theory in class with my students.
We read this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/01/opinion/01diamond.html?_r=3&pagewanted=print&position=
...and then had them answer some discussion questions. It worked well enough to explore the theory further and modify it for next year.
In class we're currently studying the fall of Rome and comparing its factors to the modern day United States. I was impressed when some of the students used Diamond's theory to support some of their own thoughts on the fall of the Roman Empire.
Geographic luck wrestles with the idea that civilizations in certain places were able to advance and prosper because of the natural resources available to them. Some cultures were never able to overcome their primitive ways and couldn't be part of the Neolithic Revolution, because they didn't have the ability to cultivate crops and domesticate animals because the climate and/or animals needed to do so, just weren't available to them.
His theory for the collapse of civilizations could follow that same path... it deviates slightly however. Diamond believes there are outliers, and geography isn't the only thing to make or brake a civilization, but many of his five interacting factors leading to a collapse are geography based.
1. Damage that people have inflicted on their environment;
2. Climate change
3. Enemies
4. Changes in friendly trading partners
5.The society's political, economic and social responses to these shifts.
It is factor #5 which is most important, as this is the crux the determines a civilization's fate. I haven't read Diamond's book on the subject, but have discussed his theory in class with my students.
We read this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/01/opinion/01diamond.html?_r=3&pagewanted=print&position=
...and then had them answer some discussion questions. It worked well enough to explore the theory further and modify it for next year.
In class we're currently studying the fall of Rome and comparing its factors to the modern day United States. I was impressed when some of the students used Diamond's theory to support some of their own thoughts on the fall of the Roman Empire.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
A History of Religion
MapsOfWar.com has put together 5,000 years of religion in 90 seconds. It's a good way to get the kids to see the spread of religion through the years.
The map can be a jumping off point to discuss the world's major religions. Students will get a good sense of the geography associated with religion, as well as giving students a good sense of time.
The map can be a jumping off point to discuss the world's major religions. Students will get a good sense of the geography associated with religion, as well as giving students a good sense of time.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Our Global History, Take 1...
So I've had this other blog (USHistoryBlog.com) for some time. I love US History and I love finding resources to help teach US History. The site has been good to me. I've made some online acquaintances, it's given me an outlet for some of my thoughts, and I get lots of free stuff from it. The problem is, that I currently don't teach US History. I used to teach it... but I've really learned to love the culture and discovery of World History. And I don't foresee a change in that regard anytime soon. So I'm transitioning to a new outlet with this blog.
I'll still keep USHistoryBlog.com up and running, and update periodically, but this new blog will allow me to share things I'm actually doing in class and learning on my own.
Thanks for hopping over... I hope you like this as much as you've enjoyed USHistoryBlog.com.
I'll still keep USHistoryBlog.com up and running, and update periodically, but this new blog will allow me to share things I'm actually doing in class and learning on my own.
Thanks for hopping over... I hope you like this as much as you've enjoyed USHistoryBlog.com.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)