History Bloggers I follow

At the start of 2015, I was inspired to start blogging, mainly because I couldn't find a good blog that was focused on the teaching of AP World (though there are many excellent blogs by APWH teachers for their students!)  I was hoping to post more often, but as usual, the hectic life of a teacher makes it difficult to post often.  That's just an excuse, and I've been re-invigorated by the #AprilBlogADay movement that is happening on Twitter. Although I can't keep up with blogging every day, I would count pushing out a couple blog posts as a success.  Here is encouragement from the moderator of #AprilBlogADay:

@mrshistorylee @cvarsalona Consuming is the first step! Then creating #satchat
— Chris Crouch (@the_explicator) April 18, 2015

So, in the interest of "consuming", I wanted to provide some great blogs to follow.  As internet resources and social media has exploded over the last decades, it's sometimes difficult to sift through all the resources out there that would help APWH teachers in particular.  I've tried to start a Twitter chat #WHAPchat with limited success, and the APWH History Teacher's Facebook Group is an amazing resource for anyone teaching the course, still I was hoping for some deeper interaction over the pedagogy and teaching of world history.

Here is a compilation of links and blogs that have helped me grow as an APWH teacher.  It's not exhaustive in the least, so please let me know if you have a great blog for me to add to my collection.


Blogs/Wikis I follow: **UPDATED**

Paperless History by Bram Hubbell @bramhubbell
http://paperlesshistory.com
A recognized leader in the circles of World History, Bram is a self-professed history geek.  I've gotten to know Bram through the AP World reading and he will be my go-to person when it comes to issues of teaching world history.   He just launched the Paperless History blog this year, and already I can tell that it will be a favorite of mine.

AP World History Teacher by Jonathan Henderson
http://apworldhistoryteacher.com/about-this-blog/
Long-time AP World History teacher who started a blog in the May of 2015 to help support and supplement the work that he does with AP World summer institute participants.  Jonathan is someone who has been on my radar for awhile, since he managed the two websites that were very useful to AP World History teachers: www.historyhaven.com and www.apworldipedia.com
 I'm glad to see another blog devoted to AP World history teaching!

On Top of the World History Podcast by Dave Eaton @dave_the_prof and Matt Drwenski @drwenski
http://www.ontopoftheworldhistory.com/
World History professor Dave Eaton and former secondary school teacher Matt Drwenski pair up to discuss various issues in teaching world history through their podcast, and accompanying materials.  They have a great energy on their podcast, dealing with relevant issues,  and provide and evaluate resources for the teaching of world history.

World History Educator's Blog by George Coe @ggcoe and Ken Halla @kenhalla http://worldhistoryeducatorsblog.blogspot.com/
I "discovered" this blog last year and signed up to get their email notifications last year.  I was excited to "meet" George through Twitter this winter and love all the great resources that he posts to his blog as he curates things off the web and off Twitter. 

Resources for History Teachers
http://resourcesforhistoryteachers.wikispaces.com/AP+World+History
This wiki was started by Prof. Bob Maloy from UMass/Amherst who had started this wiki many years ago, utilizing the work of his students to give them resources to start their career as history teachers.  A few years ago, he had also started one focused for APWH.  I have contributed (minimally) and it's a nice resources to have at hand for any history/SS educator.

Jay Harmon's APWH website:
He is the pioneer in putting together something for History teachers even before there was blogging, or internet even.  He was also the first moderator of the beloved AP World Listserve before our beloved Monty Armstrong -- of course, it's Jay Harmon.  Although this doesn't count as a blog, per se, it is updated and has links that cut through most of the junk that is out there:  http://harmonhistory.com/apwh.html

History ReWriter by Scott M. Petri @scottmpetri
http://historyrewriter.com/
I also "met" Scott online through Twitter, and his blog is dedicated to helping history teachers become writing teachers. He recognized that most history educators are not given the specific training to be writing teachers (that's usually given to ELA teachers).  Besides this site, he also ran a MOOC that focused on training history teachers to teach writing.

Time Traveling Teacher by Ben Brazeau @Braz74
http://timetravelingteach.weebly.com/
Ben is the moderator for #sstlap (Social Studies Teach Like A Pirate) chat that happens on Thursday evenings at 9 pm EST.  He is an innovative teacher that has a real passion for integrating technology and pedagogy. 

A History Teacher's Tool Belt @MSHistoryTeache
https://davidqua17.wordpress.com/about/
Although this is by a MS teacher, the organization of the blog and the discussions of pedagogy makes this a great blog to visit!

Musings on History and Education by Michael Milton @42ThinkDeep
http://michaelkmilton.com/

The Bridge Project:  
https://historybridgeproject.wordpress.com/
Bringing high school and college history teachers together to talk shop -- what a great idea!  I get to do that every year when I go to the APWH reading.

Histocrats Bookshelf for history enthusiasts and educators @histocrats
http://thehistocratsbookshelf.blogspot.com/
Some great resources posted. 

Sokoscart by Dave Sokoloff @davesokoloff
https://sokoscart.wordpress.com/
A fellow APWH teacher that reflects on different approaches to content and pegagogy in his APWH classroom. 

A New WHAP Blog?

This is my first attempt at a blog since 2007. Back then, I used it more as a method to communicate and discuss issues with my AP World students -- it was somewhat effective, but as technology evolved, it did not remain attractive for students to utilize it.

A few things getting me started on this new blog that will be directed at history educators for integrating of technology and world history.  There's been a lot of work done out there already, so I am not yet sure of the focus of my writing, or if this will simply be a repository of the great material that I curate from others, but this is part of my New Year's Resolution to start writing and reflecting more, sooo here we go!

New Year's Resolutions 2015 in regards to AP World:
- Reassess Best Assessment practices -- I already started doing this because of my reflections on teaching and assessment practices this summer while I was traveling in China.  More about that later, but I'm interested in looking at mastery rather than the end-game be the grade.  Some of my thinking has been spurred by what I've reading about #TTOG:  http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/leadership_360/2014/12/grading_students_work_past_or_future_world_tbt.html

- Rework my WWI lesson plans -- I know that I really teach this event in history in a totally Euro-centric way.  Thoughts about revamping was also spurred on by a recent FB interaction on these articles:
1) A Global Guide to the First World War -- http://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2014/jul/23/a-global-guide-to-the-first-world-war-interactive-documentary
2) The Forgotten Soldiers: India in the Great War - http://wilsonquarterly.com/quarterly/fall-2014-the-great-wars/forgotten-soldiers-india-in-great-war/
3)

3) The African Roots of War, but WEB DuBois - http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/08/the-african-roots-of-war/373403/

- New Curriculum Framework:  Last but not least -- wrap my head around the new APWH CF and the new structure of the exam:
Here's the new CF which is rolling out in the 2016-2017 academic year:  bit.ly/APWHCF