Incorporating Twitter Hashtags into Teaching Current Events

     Have you ever thought of using hashtags to learn about current events?  One of the great tools of the past few years is Twitter.  Hashtags are key words that help you find others talking about the same topic.  For example, if you are learning about Occupy Wall Street in class, you can use their hashtags to get up to date news.  This is awesome because you can create a class discussion about the current event you are talking about.  In my history class, we have a set time where we talk about different current events.  If we talk about something interesting, each one of us who use twitter can enter the topic as a hashtag.  You can get awesome information about the event.  Hashtagging is a extraordinary tool that can keep you up to date on World news.  

The New Way to View History Maps

       I think we can all say that we have had to look at a map in history class.  Usually it involves a teacher pointing to one in the front of the room, and a lot of eye squinting from students.  HistoryMaps is a great substitution for this old viewing system.  It is is a free application that can be downloaded by any teachers or students.  This app has huge selection of maps from many time periods.  If a teacher has found a map to display to the class, they can all open the application and find it that particular map through the search bar.  The zoom feature is great because it makes it easier to view and clarifies the picture beautifully. HistoryMaps is a great application that I recommend all history teachers and students download.

Great Organizational Apps for History Class

   

       We all know that a major part of history class is note taking.  With that in mind we have selected a few great apps to help you stay organized.  Our top two recommendations are Evernote and inClass.  The best thing about Evernote is the cloud based system.  This means that no matter where you are, if you have a internet connected device, you can retrieve your notes.  This is great because if you accidentally leave your device at home, you can hop on a school computer and print your notes.  Tagging is another great feature of Evernote.  When creating a note, you can enter tag words into the tagging box.  Down the road, when looking for your notes, you can search your tag words into the box, and find your note.  We recommend anyone who wants great notes taking app, to get Evernote.  inClass is another great app that incorporates a agenda book into the app.  We did not get agenda book this year, so this is a great substitute.  inClass can also take notes, but is not cloud based.  Evernote and inClass are two awesome apps everyone should download.  

Socrative in Mr. Coughlin's Classroom

     History Teacher Mr. Coughlin using Socrative

      Have you ever used Socrative? "Socrative is a smart student response system that empowers teachers to engage their classrooms through a series of educational exercises and games via smartphones, laptops, and tablets."  Mr. Coughlin has intergrated Socrative into his history classroom with the use of student ipads.  He says the main reason he uses Socrative is for review games.  Before a big test, he forms the students into groups, and asks questions related to the topic.  He likes that Socrative can record data real time, seeing a live feed of student answers.  Mr. Coughlin says the major downside is he wishes Socrative could record a little easier, and keep record of what each student said for grading.  Overall, Socrative is a great tool that should be considered by all teachers who want an easy review process.

Technology Sit Down with Mr. Milton

Mr. Milton: BHS History Teacher

     

      We sat down to talk to history teacher Mr. Milton.  He gave us insight on how iPad technology has incorporated into his classroom.  Mr. Milton has taken full advantage of tools such as Edmodo, Noterize, Socrative, and Google Docs.  He finds Edmodo to be most useful, because it saves lots of paper.  Instead of running down to the copy room and making fifty copies of one worksheet, teachers can simply have students pull it up on their device.  So easy.  We asked him if he has taken advantage of Google Docs or Socrative and he said he has used it much more in his English class.  Many teachers in the school have used Socrative to review material, before a big test or quiz   Mr. Milton says that he considers he and his students, "Digital Detectives."  There is not one person in this school that knows all the iPad tools out there, and that is what has made this journey so incredible.  With the app store producing knew applications each day, there is endless possibilities to digital learning with the iPad.  

Welcome to the BHS History Blog!

We hope you find that our new blog will keep you up to date with what is happening inside the History Department!