Showing posts with label teacher. Show all posts
Showing posts with label teacher. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 13, 2015



Memorial Day Comic Strip Activity: summarize wars the US has been involved in


This download includes a 21-slide PowerPoint that guides students in turning a blank piece of paper into a comic strip that highlights all of the wars that the United States has been involved with. Each box will have a title, an image, and a description. Each topic is summarized, and then ideas for what to draw are provided. Each topic is also linked to a relevant summarizing video on YouTube. Enjoy!

Download here: 

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Are you counting down the days to summer break?  How many days do you have left?  16 days left for us!

What grade level do you teach and what end of year activities are you using? 

Anyone have any fun vacation plans?  


Monday, May 11, 2015

AVID Facts of the Week (REVISED AND EXPANDED FOR 2015-2016)


This donwload includes a PowerPoint with 36 digestible fast-facts that encourage students to stay in school and go on to higher education. All slides are designed with text and visuals to promote discussion and provoke thought.

The AVID facts-of-the-week discuss topics like: school, universities, scholarships, jobs, the achievement gap, and opportunities in America.  

Our school reads one fact for the school bulletin each morning, selecting a new 'AVID fact-of-the-week' for each week of school. This resource can be read each morning during the student bulletin or school news...can be discussed weekly in homeroom class...or can be posted weekly in an AVID classroom...or any other classroom for that matter :). Enjoy!

download now!




BBC Would-You-Rather FUN GEOGRAPHY ACTIVITY! #7



My students absolutely love this activity and cannot wait to do the next one (but I spread them out during the school year).

The worksheet has 3 scenarios of life around the globe. Students circle one, then you show the class the BBC video clips associated with each scenario. Students then fill out information about the location of the clip and two sentence frames. They usually need some assistance identifying the continent, country and climate zone, so consider this when teaching your lesson.

The BBC clips are not included, but each worksheet has copies of where to find the links on YouTube (there are 5 versions of the worksheet, making 15 total scenarios). 1 worksheet with 3 scenarios and associated video clips can easily take 30 minutes. Video clips are anywhere from 2-7 minutes in length.

This worksheet is designed for middle school, but can be easily modified to fit any grade level.

download now! 

Sunday, May 10, 2015

About Me

Wow, thanks for taking the time to look at my blog!  I had a sit down with a student for an interview recently, you can find a bit of the dialogue below.

Student: So, tell me a little bit about yourself...

I've had the honor of teaching history for about 10 years now.  When I'm not in my classroom you can find me sitting at a local coffee shop, hanging with my family or playing basketball. I have been blessed with a gorgeous wife and three beautiful children.

Student: When did you know you wanted to become a teacher?

Each grade I was in since first grade, I thought I wanted to teach that grade.  After college I realized I loved History so I narrowed it down to teaching that subject in the middle and high school grades.

Student:  What are five "must-see" history movies that you would recommend to me?

There are too many, but I'd say watch:  Saving Private Ryan, Forest Gump, Last of the Mohicans, Dr. Strangelove, Gladiator, Schindler's List, Band of Brothers, and if you have time, watch a few episodes of Downton Abbey.. hahah.

Student: Your class was one of my favorite classes, why do you think that is?

Well, history is really just a bunch of stories, so it should be fun.  I try to make sure each assignment is both challenging and relevant. If I'm able to connect topics to things that students already know about, it's easy to keep them engaged.