Annotate Any Videos on Youtube

From time to time I have my students build simple PowerPoint projects (naturally using Google Docs).  I always like them to insert a video as part of it, but I have never been able to know if they actually viewed the video (short of putting comments in another slide). Now students can annotate any video on youtube and even decide where the video will start and end by using EmbedPlus.  For example above is the video from the Apollo 11 video (post below).  I have added four comments in the first 20 seconds.  Also here is a link to the video.  Additionally here is a video I just made on how to use Embedplus. 

High Def Video Montage of Photos from Apollo 11

I found this at OpenCulture.  They are photos taken by the Apollo 11 astronauts which are remarkable.  They take me back in time as I was not quite six and living in Tehran.  Later that year the three Apollo 11 astronauts visited the US embassy there. 

Consulting for Your Department, School or District

Have led 15 district-wide, in-services for Fairfax County, VA (12th largest district in the US), as well as international conferences such as the Global Education Conference.  Initiated, piloted and implemented e-books for Fairfax County Public School (FCPS) district.  Teach a technology integration course which is applicable to all content areas.  Advise school districts regarding converting to teaching entirely online, including network requirements, preferred interface (laptops v. tablets) for student use and best websites to enhance online learning.  Featured in the Washington Post (here and here), in Education Week and cable television.  Worked with e-book companies, created an online course, am a national board certified teacher and have a Ph.D. in my primary content area (full C.V).  For consultation services for your department, school or district, e-mail me at kenhalla@gmail.com.  

Civil War Photos

I found these great Civil War pictures from a tweet from KevinLevin.  To see them all, go here. 

US and AP US SIte

This site is well known to NewYorkers for its PowerPoints for regular and AP US classes.  If you teach using the Americans (for regular US) or Brinkley for APUS, then it is a great site to visit as it has the previously mentioned PowerPoints as well as organizing questions, quizzes and a tremendous number of weblinks including ones for DBQs. 

Qwiki

I love Qwikis as they give your students a short video, pictorial and written definition of a word.  Above is a Qwiki on Marbury v. Madison. 

Gadsden Purchase

Gadsden Purchase from Michael G on Vimeo.

For some reason a lot of people like to search for my old post on the Gadsden Purchase which was done on the Jimmy Fallon show.  It is well done and will help you teach it. 

App for the American Revolution

I received an e-mail from a UPenn frosh who developed an app last year as a high school senior for the American Revolution.  Any student who loves technology and history is worth listening to!  Since I do not have a tablet, would some readers please try it out and tell me how well it works for them.  

Teaching with Documents

If you are ever in need of some primary documents for your class, the National Archives has done a nice job of finding documents and labeling them by eras.  They also have analysis sheets for such items as written documents, artifacts, cartoons, movies, and more. 

Comprehensive Site of Presidents

This is an amazing site that has found a ton of sites about US presidents from the expected things such as biographies, first ladies, pictures, but also cabinet members, presidents of the Continental Congress, presidential libraries, recordings from Cleveland to the present and so much more. 

Election of 1800 in their own words

Thanks to the great US team in my school for this and the two videos below it.  People think that today's campaigns are hard, but the early US ones were more harsh especially with the two New York City newspapers dueling it out (and not even trying to be unbiased).  Above is what Adams and Jefferson said about each other. 

Alien and Sedition Acts/XYZ Affair

Sorry to have so many videos in a row, but there are some good ones out there.  Here is one from the movie John Adams on the Alien and Sedition Acts.   The one on the bottom is cheesy, but it will get the kids to watch. 

Classtools to Make Learning Fun

Just a week or so ago I posted on Fakebook which is built by "Classtools."  Well I finally got around to looking at that site and was impressed as there are a number of games (most of which I had not heard of - but that will make it even more interesting for your students).  There are also more traditional items such as a Venn diagram which you can write upon the computer screen and then turn into the teacher.  Above is a video explaining how to use the site. 

Smart Song Raps

Tim Busch, one of the teachers in my department, just told me about SmartSongs which has a bunch of raps on US history and government.  Above is one on the three branches of government. 

The Library of Congress - Thanksgiving Pictures

The Library of Congress has a rich number of pictures in their online files.  Here, for example, are all the ones that they have pertaining to Thanksgiving.