What is more universally interesting than food? Whatever time or place we might be studying, someone was eating. And so, one of the most fascinating and underused resources for exporing history is period cookbooks. Early cookbooks weren’t just about food. They often contained recipes for medicines, advice for gathering wild plants safely, and instructions for … Continue reading
February 4, 2013 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Rosa Parks, often called the First Lady of the Civil Rights movement in the United States. A petite woman, Mrs. Parks stood tall when she refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man. In honor of this event, the … Continue reading
One of the great gifts of a career that runs on a school calendar is that we can claim at least two “New Years” each year. We start the school year (whenever it begins) with resolutions to be our best teaching selves, and then, in January, we have another chance for a fresh start. So … Continue reading
I don’t expect a log of blog traffic on Thanksgiving Day. I surely hope that those of you in the U.S. are enjoying time with friends, family, and, of course, food! But perhaps you are looking for some pre- or post-feast entertainment, or perhaps you are in another country wondering what all the fuss is … Continue reading
Class blogs can be a fabulous way to motivate students to write and to provide families with insight into your class. Sites like Edublogs and Kidblog make it easy to get started. But if students are to blog safely, it is important to have clear and effective blogging guidelines. Luckily, such things are not hard … Continue reading
I am fortunate enough to live just a quick-trip-down-I94 from one of the country’s most interesting museums, The Henry Ford. While there as part of a one-day vacation recently, I discovered a treasure trove of resources for teaching students about innovation and creativity. Home base for the materials is a site called On Innovation. There … Continue reading
Have you wished to wander among the stones at Stonehenge, walk through the ruins of Pompeii, visit the shrines of ancient Kyoto, or even explore Yellowstone National Park? Now you can! Visit the Google World Wonders project. The ever-amazing folks at Google have collaborated with a host of partners, including UNESCO and the World Monuments … Continue reading
Recently, The New York Times has been publishing the results of its Found Poetry contest for students. This is a grand opportunity to introduce students to the poetic form of found poetry and to share exceptional examples of work done by high school students. Found poetry takes words and phrases from existing texts, rearranges them … Continue reading
One of the basic principles of creativity is that it often entails looking at something in a new way. Flexible thinking can help us look at something from another person’s point of view, from another angle, with another purpose, or in another form. One way we can help students think flexibly is by asking them … Continue reading
7/17/2012 Currently My Fake Wall appears to be off line. It had been on and off for a while so I continue to hope for its return. Fortunately, “Fakcbook”, from Classtools.net now offers very similar options. You also might want to check out these options from the Web 2.0 blog. What if Christopher Columbus had … Continue reading
creativiteach 