TechToolkit: ICivics, being a responsible citizen.

Right now there is concern among some older demographics, over how involved young people are in their civic duties. While there is no one answer to get young people more active, teachers should help guide students towards becoming informed citizen. This weekend I was introduced to ICivics. “ICivics is a non-profit organization dedicated to reinvigorating civic learning, through interactive and engaging learning resources.” Their desire is that the next generation of citizens, is not only knowledgeable but also engaged.

 

Their games are interactive, and incorporate real issues that apply to students. They currently have 19 games available, which focus on issues ranging from how to vote, to the importance of counties, and all the way up the chain to becoming the president. One of the games that I tested out is called Executive Command. This game is fast paced (it only takes about 30 minutes); during that time you are introduced to many of the issues, that a President faces in their 4 years in office. Some of the things you will deal with while playing are: giving an Inaugural Address, and lobbying congress to gather support and pass law, you may also encounter declarations of war!

This website also includes lesson plans, and guides for teachers, to see where they meet state and federal standards. The lesson plans incorporate basic knowledge and vocabulary, which will help students play more effectively.  They also include scenarios for you to work out as a class.

I think it would be wonderful to use the various ICivics games, to introduce the workings of government to my students. As they learn more about how government works, I would use this to get them talking about the importance of having a government. After that as a class, the students would decide on roles and offices, that they would need for their own government. Moving through the semester they would elect class members, and choose how their government will be run. Doing this will along with Icivics, allows them to see things that are happing, or have happened in real situations.

 

This game (Argument Wars) focuses on various Supreme Court cases. The cases available are ones which students are able to relate with. This case was New Jersey versus T.L.O. It focuses on a students right to privacy, in accordance with the 4th amendment.

 



Even if you are not a history teacher or future history teacher, I encourage you to check this website out.

https://www.icivics.org/

This is a game which focuses on citizenship and immigration.

Tech Toolkit: Phet Simulations, Fun For All Ages!

Okay! So, since I am someone who is torn between History and Science, today I am going to introduce something that is more science centered. Here we have PhET Interactive Simulations. It is a website dedicated to creating free, interactive, math and science simulations. It is a project of the University of Colorado Boulder, which was created in the hopes of engaging students, through interaction with the sciences, in a game-like environment.

 

Students and Teachers can start to search for simulation, either filtering first by grade levels elementary through university, or simply by subject. The subject areas include: Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science, and Math. The thing that I like about this software is that it allows students to use the simulations, in conjunction with their lesson, and see multiple outcomes. Think, if you were to do a science experiment using acids, or with projectiles to analyze angles, mass, and gravity, you probably only can allow the students to experiment once or twice. With the PhET simulations you can still do those experiments, but you can also add in the online simulation. If you were to use the simulation before doing it in person, it would allow the students to practice, and makes mistakes in a fun way. You can even have them do the simulations way out of balance, in order to demonstrate what would happen if everything is not properly aligned.

Here I have a picture of a simulation that plays with projectile motion. The topics that this simulation includes are: motion, speed, angles, mass, and resistance. If you are a registered teacher, you can also access teacher aids. They do confirm your license before allowing access. The aid you can receive includes teacher tips for learning goals, lessons and activities posted by other teachers, and other outside recourses to aid your lessons.

Other games I tried:

Above is My Solar System; which allows you to create your own solar system, control  the mass of planets along with other factors, and see how they rotate.

Below is a game to help students practice arithmetic.

Tech Toolkit: Khan Academy, a different approach to learning.

By now many of us may have heard of Khan Academy. Only now it is not just math, science, and computer sciences that are available. The broad list of subjects available, are Math, Science, Economics and Finance, Arts and Humanities, Computing, and they even have an S.A.T, and other test prep sections. Their mission is to provide a world class education, for anyone, anywhere. If you have not tried Khan Academy, it is defiantly worth it. The way that Khan Academy works is that, they allow learners to not only work at their own pace, but they also track what areas a student is excelling in, and where they still need improvement. This is great, because sometime the only thing holding someone back is one or two small concepts. Khan Academy allows you to continue to work on those areas that you may be struggling with.

https://www.khanacademy.org/

As teachers it is our job to recognize, that students learn at different paces, in different ways. It can be hard to meet the needs, of both children who are stuck, and those who are ready to move ahead. If you are a teacher (or even if you home school your kids), Khan Academy now has a coaches section. When you register as a coach, you can set up classrooms, and either create logins for your students that are under 13, or set up your classroom by entering student’s emails. You can then either watch videos on your topic in class, or assign them as homework, and allow students to work through problems related to the tutorials. As their registered coach, you will be able to see who needs extra attention, and who is flying through the lesson. You could even encourage those who are excelling to guide other students. This would allow those students to further cement what they have learned.

My one problem, is that you are only able to track math and computer sciences, through coach at this time. Hopefully soon, the other areas will be available as well. Even without being able to track where my students are at, as a future history teacher there are still many tools available. You can incorporate the original Khan Academy videos, as well as find crash course videos. Crash course is like a quick review, on a broad range of historical subjects. The narrator John Green is engaging and down to earth. I would say they are good review videos, maybe at the beginning of the week, or just before a quiz. Using this website, along with my regular curriculum, I will be able to even more closely understand where my students are struggling and excelling.

 

             This is a crash course video on how World War 1 stared, just so you can see what it is.         

Tech Toolkit: Mission U.S are you ready?

Today is all about Mission U.S; Mission U.S allows middle school and high school students, to interact with American history. It has four key games, which range from 1770 until 1907. The site is free, and has activities for both students and teachers. Its goal is to get students thinking in the mindset, of someone who lived during the time, which the mission is taking place. In using Mission U.S, the creators hope, that students can learn to care about history, by seeing it through the eyes of their peers.  All of the characters are young teenagers, portrayed in a typical setting for the topic and time frame. It allows students to see how people lived in the past, and the concerns and realities that were common.

http://www.mission-us.org/ 
The goals of Mission US are to help students:

• Learn how Americans struggled to realize the ideals of liberty and equality

• Understand the role of ordinary men and women, including young people, in history

• Develop historical empathy 

• Build understanding and critical perception to think like an historian.

When you register as a teacher, you can access additional information. This information helps you to form lessons around the game, which meet the common core standards. These missions are not intended as an introduction to a topic. As a teacher, the site provides lesson information, to help you introduce the time period and vocabulary. Once these have been introduced, Mission U.S gets students thinking and talking about history, from the perspective of those who lived it.

Use these activity suggestions, to introduce your students to the subjects. The activities for Mission 1 "For Crown or Colony?", may center around things such as the Liberty song, the Stamp acts, or the Townshend acts.

Look under the background tab to see what you students may want to know, before starting the game. There are some opportunities within the game to gain more information, but it may be more immersive for your students if they already know it.

The overview of the game, tells you about the mission, its characters, tips for teachers, learning goals, and the nation standards.

Use these additional resources to help enhance student learning.

 

This technology helps students to start thinking on a broader scale, about history and how it still applies to us today: “Research has shown that, by assuming the roles of peers from the past, students develop a more personal, memorable, and meaningful connection with complex historical content and context” – Mission U.S website. This tool allows students, to start making connections that would be difficult through reading alone. I would use this game, to start discussion in my classroom on history, and how it relates to us.

Here is a quick video on Mission U.S: