Category Archives: Academic Skills

Timeline Wizardry!

I’ve been searching for an easy, collaborative, and sharp-looking timeline generator for a number of years now and hadn’t had success in finding anything until a few weeks ago. Previously I checked out Dipity, XTimeline, and some clever solutions for … Continue reading

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Going Medieval on Medieval Times’ Matinee Menu

Ages ago I wrote about my spontaneously developed “Junk Mail” lesson plan, which came to me courtesy of Medieval Times’ “educational division.” For a long time I’d planned to write a dissection of the menu as a reflection of the … Continue reading

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New Assignment Alert!!!: The Presidency and the Media – A Comparative Analysis

Just when I think I’ve got things in order and I’m happy with the trajectory of a unit, I end up dreaming up some new assignment that occupies my evening. Sigh. Tonight’s antagonist (though not an unwelcome one) is an … Continue reading

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Backlog Post #1: The Market Revolution, Atlantic Context, and Information Reorganization

While my last post ostensibly was going to open the flood-gates of a number of new posts dealing with what I’ve been working on in my classes, that plan fell through (read: baby + grad school + teaching = neglect … Continue reading

Posted in Academic Skills, Geography, Historical Thinking, history, teaching | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Building a Collaborative Comparison with Google Docs

This past week I had my US History students looking at the variety of developments, economic systems, political arrangements, and connections with Native Americans that took place in the North American English colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries. To … Continue reading

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Santayana Redux

I just wrapped up the first week of school and once again had some opening conversations with my classes about the purpose of studying history and what value history plays in the present. These discussions essentially followed the contours of … Continue reading

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Modeling Scrivener via Screencasts

I got some helpful feedback and responses about my post on organizing oneself for comprehensive exams with Scrivener and I’m looking forward to gaining a more in depth sense of how one uses the program for humanities-focused work. However, I … Continue reading

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Reading, Organizing, and Synthesizing Vast Quantities of Information

I feel like this title needs and “oh my” at the end as some sort of Wizard of Oz homage that will dress up an otherwise pretty wonky name for a post. Oh well. We’ll just have to be content … Continue reading

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“The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly”: Reflections on the New Deal in Fort Worth Project

In preparation for a presentation that I’m giving later today (which is what you have to say when starting to draft something at 12:18 am…ah, the liberties of summer!), I thought I’d put together a reflection post on an assignment … Continue reading

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There’s something about summer and rumination…

Just as I observed yesterday that it seems like the school year is hardly over before the next project or challenge commences, I’ve also come to the realization that the “downtime” (if it can really be called that) seems to … Continue reading

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