Women in Revolution

I've been thinking about posting this for a long time, but finally have been moved to action in light of the Women's March on Washington, D.C. on 1/21/17.  I thought it was a good time to encourage more inclusion of women in our study of history, especially political history.

For too long, most of the coverage of women in history has been more in the realm of social history, or the simplified narrative: rise of patriarchy with some matrilineal and matriarchal societies, some societies with some women who had more freedoms like the Mongols, some examples of extraordinary women (Joan of Arc, Mulan), Victorian womanhood, and maybe a mention of the Bread riots by women to Versailles, women working in the Industrial Revolution, then they got the right to vote!

For Period 5 and 6 on political revolutions, too often our textbooks look like this:

Yet, if we dig a little more beyond the textbooks, we see women alongside these men.  

Here's a link to the "World's 10 Most Fierce Female Revolutionaries" - (Yes, a problematic source, but gave me names of women I had never heard from before, and with some more research, I could see they were pretty fierce.)

http://anonhq.com/worlds-10-fierce-female-revolutionaries/  

And another link "Amazing Women in History" with the subtitle "kickass women that the history books left out": http://www.amazingwomeninhistory.com/

Here is one of my favorite female revolutionaries, and has been getting a little more attention these days - Qiu Jin, who was martyred in the revolution to overthrow the imperial Chinese government.  

http://www.amazingwomeninhistory.com/qiu-jin-chinese-feminist-revolutionary

And finally, Soong Chingling, who should be depicted next to her more famous husband, Sun Yixian (Sun Yat-sen) who led the Chinese Revolution of 1911 and could be called the "Mother of Modern China."  She was both a woman of action and a thinker, and is the only revolutionary that was hailed by both the Nationalists (KMD) and Communist.  

Finally, here is a presentation I gave at the World History Association in 2015 in Savannah, GA.  The theme of the conference was "Revolutions in World History" so I collaborated with my friend, Linda Black, and put together a presentation entitled: "Revolutionary Women:  Overlooked Leaders in Times of Resistance."   Please find the presentation and the resources for that presentation here:  http://bit.ly/womenrev

I think the title of the presentation was apt for back then, but I do hope that in the (near) future, the revolutionary women who led movements such as the Women's March will no longer be overlooked. 

WHAP Review Time!

REVIEW BOOKS

There are so many AP World review books on the market, but not all of them do the same thing!

• AP World History Crash Course, by Jay Harmon 
• Preparing for the AP World History Exam, by Barbara Brun-Ozuna, et.al 
• Cracking the AP World History Exam (Princeton Review) by Monty Armstrong – Good on skill-building for test-taking approaches. 
• 5 Steps to a 5: AP World History by Peggy Martin – Good for giving broad trends and themes in world history, great CCOT charts for different themes. 
• Kaplan AP World History by Patrick Whelan and Jennifer Laden – Great reviews of it from AP World teachers overall, though Patrick has told me that he has not had much to do with the revisions of the book since 2011. 

Though I always provide the caveat to my students that they should always go by what I have taught them in class, or just check in with me about the accuracy of their statements and effectiveness of their strategies if they are unsure. Although many of the authors are AP World History teachers who are at the top of the field, I don't always know what may happen in the final edits of a review book.

Online Review Sites

There are more and more online review sites out that that help students review, usually for a fee. There are a few sites that offer some free services, but if you want more, will ask for your money. The quality of what is online is inconsistent, but serve its purpose in helping you review content.

The two I've listed below are ones that have gotten better reviews from other AP teachers than normal. I've looked at the Learnerator site as well, and though the questions are not up to par, it is still helpful for content review.
GetAFive: Online Review site
Learnerator: Online Review site

And another fun game that students can go through to compete with one another.

The World History Game

Videos Helpful for Review 

Of course, there are plenty of videos out there that could help you review, but the best series by far (the exception) are the ones by John Green, Crash Course World History.
Crash Course World History Series 1 playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBDA2E52FB1EF80C9
Crash Course World History Series 2 playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8dPuuaLjXtNjasccl-WajpONGX3zoY4M There are more videos below -- depends on how your students or you want to spend your time!
AP Review in 12 minutes
TED-ED Videos: There is an increasing number of history videos that are excellent to use for review! Browse through the Social Studies --> History topics.
Some of my favorites to show through the year or as a review are:
Atlantic Slave Trade
Silk Roads
Five Major World Religions

FINALLY, I have collaborated with a few other teachers across the nation to bring live online chats for students to do review in the evenings. See link below for the 2016 schedule of online reviews: ONLINE WHAP Review-A-Palooza

Historical Argumentation: Using Art as Historical Evidence

I've been meaning to post this for months now.  Members of the Test Development Committee are tasked with presenting for teachers at various key conferences through the year.  I had volunteered to do one at the World History Association Conference in Savannah in 2015, and was paired with Craig Benjamin.  All I could think is, "WHAT? I'm presenting with Craig Benjamin, who has the biggest personality in all of the circles of world history!"  Even worse, Craig wanted to go FIRST. How do I follow in Craig Benjamin's footsteps?


Below is our abstract -- at the time of writing it, I had NO idea what I was going to do.
"Historical Argumentation: Using Art as Historical Evidence" Craig Benjamin - Grand Valley State, MI - benjamic@gvsu.edu; Angela Lee - Weston High School, MA - leea@weston.org 

Education researcher Sam Wineburg has been working with the Stanford History Education Group on a project titled "Reading Like A Historian”. The group investigates why students, even top students who have done well on AP history exams, do not utilize the skills that seem to come naturally to historians. This is certainly true about the way students deal with primary written sources, but it is even more true about the way APWH students struggle to use visual sources. Given that the AP world history exam continues to use a range of visual sources to assess student learning and skills, there is clearly an expectation that students should be able to use these sources effectively. In this workshop titled Historical Argumentation: Using Art as Historical Evidence, AP World History Test Development Committee members Angela Lee and Craig Benjamin focus on how to help teachers and students more effectively utilize visual sources as historical evidence. Craig Benjamin will present an initial overview of how art is referenced throughout the APWH Curriculum Framework, and how professional historians utilize art as evidence to support historical argumentation. Angela Lee will follow with a workshop based on a small selection of the images from the initial presentation, and have teachers work through various interpretations of these selected artworks. The presenters will also suggest methods and strategies for teachers to use on interpreting visual sources.  The overall aim of the workshop is to help high school and college students become more skilled at analyzing and interpreting art, and using it as evidence to support historical argumentation.

Almost a month before the WHA Conference, Craig sent me his completed Powerpoint, which he has graciously allowed any of us to use: Craig Benjamin's AP World History Historical Argumentation: Using Art as Historical Evidence  It helped me focus down and formulate what I felt would be the most helpful to teachers.

So, I went the route of what I know best -- how do I capture all the work I do with art into lessons plans that could be used across different time periods?    I decided to focus on the syncretism that occurs with art as cultures interact, and the art that made sense to focus on was Buddhist art, Chinoiserie and then I tacked on impressionist artists at the end because I've been fascinated by Japanese and Asian art and it's impact on Western art movements.  (Eisen's Courtesan and Van Gogh's The Courtesan below).  To be truly global, I also wanted to add Picasso's integration of African art, but ran out of time, so if anyone wants to take that on, please do, and let me know!

So, the result was my presentation with these three mini-lesson plans which can be found on this Google Slide presentation:  Buddha's Journey Through Art, Chinoiserie Goes West and Japanese Art Meets Impressionism.  I also threw in some cool edtech using Google Cultural Institute's Art Project and set up "galleries" for students to walk through at their own pace.  Not all the images match that of the Google Slide presentation, however,  it was whatever is accessible in their project.  Still, most of my images came from Google's Cultural Institute:

Buddha's Journey Through Art

Chinoiserie Goes West

Japanese Art Meets Impressionism

Here is the overall presentation, with corresponding documentation, student handouts/worksheet, bibliography.

As with all things I put together, I would love to get feedback!

Printing 3D History - Empires Project - Guest Blogger @alidahanson

I've been doing this Empires Museum Project with my AP World students since the first or second year of the course.  It has gone through quite a few transitions, but initially it was mainly a stab at integrating a creative Project-Based Learning opportunity into what seemed to me at the time a very rigid curriculum.  I was a new teacher, and I had not yet discovered the paradigm shift in terms of focusing more on skills rather than content.  For some reason, this year, the project took another spin and after posting the results on the AP World History Teacher's Facebook page,  I got more "LIKES" than any of my other posts ever did.  Many asked about the process, and since I don't have the technical know-how, I invited my colleague, our school's librarian to be a guest blogger for this post.

Guest Blogger: Alida Hanson, WHS Librarian @alidahanson and @WestonHSLibrary

3D printing arrived at Weston High School this year. The printer, requested in a grant by me, the librarian, is a fabulous Ultimaker 2, a highly rated workhorse. Each school in our district received one in August 2015. I knew nothing about printers until I got one of my own. I visited several makerspaces so I knew they existed (and more importantly worked), but actually having one was scary. How would I learn to work this thing?

Our district did something inspiring: they hosted a professional development day this summer about tinkering in the classroom. When we walked in the room, the Ultimakers were humming. Our Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, the Technology Director, and the Assistant Superintendent of Finance spent who knows how long unpacking these new machines and getting them to work. If they could do it, so could I!

I took the machine home and got to know it. Dealing with clogs and breezes from the AC became important. I learned how to use Tinkercad, an excellent free 3D modeller. The machine was ready for September. Lest you think all the learning is over, no it’s not! I continually tinker to solve problems and keep the machine printing. Remember, learning = time.

The Ultimaker lives on the front desk of the library. Students are fascinated by it and use it for a variety of personal and curriculum based projects. Personal projects include phone covers, gaming objects, and room decor. Curriculum based projects have been mainly for English, History, and Engineering.

One of the best projects was the Empires exhibit for Angela Lee’s AP World history course. Students created museum exhibits of objects describing the rise, height, and fall of various civilizations. Some students found 3D drawings of artifacts, printed them, and included them in their displays. Experiencing these objects in 3D was richer than seeing them in a photograph.

We saw samurai helmets, Japanese temples, and the Hagia Sofia.  In fact, we printed three copies of the Hagia Sofia for different groups.

Japanese Torii gate being printed

Finished Japanese Torii gate

At one point students realized that the Hagia Sofia model didn’t have enough spires. Then they realized that early in the mosque’s development there were no spires at all--so they clipped off the extra spires and added them where they were needed, creating two iterations of the building. This kind of learning and thinking never would have happened with pictures or a hand built model. The easily duplicated multiples were key.

Students needed to be reminded of scheduling. If many peers are printing for the same project, and the projects take a full day to print, you have to get in line a week or two before the project is due. A number of students came to me on Friday afternoon asking for completed projects on Monday morning. I could not make that happen.

Some people think the 3D printer is a gimmick, adding nothing important to the curriculum. I argue that it adds something important in short supply in school: permission to tinker, go through iterations, and experiment. Students and teachers think of new uses for it every week.

If you want to learn more how to 3D print, take a look at the libguide <http://libguides.weston.org/3dprinting>  I made for students. Pay attention to the vocabulary section. I recommend free software only, so it’s accessible to anyone. I spend a couple of minutes walking the students through the process, and they always come back with the right file with minimal involvement from me.

If you’re thinking of introducing 3D printing to your school, go for it! Be sure you have at least one person who will “own” it, i.e., keep the printer running. That could be a teacher, an aide, or students. In fact, Waltham High School in MA got seven 3D printers six weeks ago which are 100% managed by students. Their printers run all day long.

MT @mrshistorylee: Empires Museum is open at @WestonHSLibrary-learn about rise,height, fall of historical empires! pic.twitter.com/V2kcUhGFoa

— Weston HS Library (@WestonHSLibrary) January 4, 2016

ABQs (Artifact Based Question) and Instagramming at the MFA

When AP World colleague, Cherie Pinchem and I had a history nerd date at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in December 2015, we were both inspired by the "Made in the Americas" exhibit to do a joint field trip that combined our AP World classes.

Here are some reviews of the exhibit:

New York Times Review: "Made in the Americas Explores Globalism from Way Way Back"

The Wall Street Journal:  "The Beginning of Globalization"

Boston Globe: "Sumptuous MFA Show Traces Asian Influences in American Art"

For this joint venture, we had several important goals in mind:
1) students must collaborate together - all groups had 2 students from WHS and 3 students from BLS.
2) students would have to explore the syncretism of that time period, and
3) students needed to look at and document the artifacts that helped them devise a historical argument.

All the artifacts on display showed evidence of syncretism. We wanted our students to focus on that as it tied into Period 4 (1450-1750) which highlights the increasing globalization that was occurring in the world.  This exhibit seemed pre-made for a DBQ structure, though one of my students enthusiastically changed the name more appropriately to "ABQ" or Artifact Based Question.

Here are the instructions for students and the prompt that they grappled with during the course of the field trip.

In order to capture the thoughts of 100 or so students, and to allow for easy sharing of those thoughts and documentation, I wanted the students to record and annotate their thoughts about artifacts electronically.  Although there are many great photo sharing sites, I also wanted to use something where students could write longer annotations, and not just quick labels as they would on Flickr or Picasa.  The head librarian at my school (who is amazing with integrating technology into the curriculum!) gave me the idea of using Instagram, which is a social media network that is primarily for posting photos, and allows space to document and comment on each others' work.  Another advantage for using Instagram is that almost all students are familiar with Instagram even if they did not have their own account.  I created 4 separate accounts so that students would not have to use their personal accounts.

Below is the Storify from all 4 Instagram accounts that captures the work of our amazing students.  As we were wrapping up, my WHS colleague commented that the activity felt very authentic, like the work that real historians are doing.  I will have to come back to reflect on the final outcome.

**UPDATE** I received this from a current student as she was grappling with the essay assignment.  I thought it was an apt analogy.  

A Metaphor for Writing Essays in AP World by HL:

A normal CCOT or Compare/Contrast essay in AP world feels like you get handed a piece of granite and you have to chisel it into a beautiful statue with just your brain

A normal DBQ feels like you get handed a piece of granite that has been cut up into many confusing pieces that you must get back together and then chisel into a beautiful statue with your brain

This DBQ feels like you have nothing and must use your brain to create a piece of granite...you will be proud of yourself for even finding a piece of granite big enough even if it can ever be made into a statue or not.

Unfortunately, the exhibit is only here until February 15, 2016, after which it will be dismantled with artifacts sent back to their respective institutions.    However, not to despair, there is an amazing book published associated with the exhibit and written by the curator Dennis Carr entitled Made in the Americas.  My wonderful librarian bought it for our school library on our way out of the museum.

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. 

Conceptual Framework of the APWH course

I met with an old family friend for coffee tonight. He had graduated from high school in 2001, so it was before AP World was offered.  Since he majored in history in college, he was interested in what I'm teaching now (it's been since 2002).

I explained how AP World, which covers 10,000 years of history, is virtually impossible to do without focusing on broader concepts and themes.  I shared with him the Curriculum Framework (2012) as it stands now, as well as the Curriculum Framework going into effect in 2016-2017.  And the shift to the new exam as one that seems to focus more on the larger concepts than what they do now.  It's trying to streamline years of discussions and committee meetings of historians and teachers of history of the why students should be studying history.  

It intrigued him that AP World provides more of a conceptual framework of history, and since the overhaul of all three AP histories, there is also a shift to Historical Thinking Skills and an exam that streamlines these skills.  We don't know how this will look since the APUSH course is rolling out this new curriculum and exam format this academic year. However, I can see how the changes to APWH will be positive, and being able to articulate the advantages of the course to someone who isn't immersed in the details was refreshing.

My friend's response is that history would have been so much more interesting to study had he been able to approach it conceptually.  As a young man who has recently joined the US foreign service corps, he would have found learning the global, historical patterns, understanding how to contextualize historical events and being able to synthesize what one knows of the most value.  He is already fairly proficient at all of these skills as a young adult, but had wished for a jump start on those skills earlier in life.

So, my question is how do we better approach this course conceptually?  What kind of foundation do you set for your students that provides them a better conceptual framework of their understanding of history in general?  What are some strategies that are better for framing the course?  I have more questions than answers at this point, and would love to get some dialogue going for this!