Continue reading “The Americas: A Free, Open Textbook in Progress”
Category: Uncategorized
Open Ended Social Studies has the chapters that your world history textbook is missing
What is the root cause of our world’s troubles?
If you ask me, it’s not a trade imbalance or a terrorist threat. If we’re talking about the problem that lies at the heart of everything, it’s got to be a severe, devastating lack of empathy – the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. Continue reading “Open Ended Social Studies has the chapters that your world history textbook is missing”
Who made your smartphone? Globalization, raw materials, and slave labor from Potosi to Silicon Valley
Globalization is nothing new – the indigenous peoples slaving away in the Potosi mines 500 years ago could tell you all about it, while Europeans cracked the whip in order to buy Asian-made goods at affordable prices. Add in the fact that the mines were supplied with food and coca by African slaves laboring away in the low lands, and you have a template for the modern integrated global economy – exploitation, unequal rewards, and all. Continue reading “Who made your smartphone? Globalization, raw materials, and slave labor from Potosi to Silicon Valley”
New Mini-Documentary: What Happens in a Mosque?
Our new Open Ended Social Studies video has gone live. Use it in your classroom to supplement your lessons on Islam. Kick start a conversation about salat and the Five Pillars. Answer the question: What happens in a mosque?
LESSON PLANS
Continue reading “New Mini-Documentary: What Happens in a Mosque?”
Five Pillars to Hold Myself Up: What do Muslims Believe?
What are the basic teachings of Islam, and what does it mean to be a Muslim? Continue reading “Five Pillars to Hold Myself Up: What do Muslims Believe?”
Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam
Who was Muhammad, and how did the Arab world of the seventh century shape his teachings? Continue reading “Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam”
Mapping Our Human Story: A Mini-Doc on Openendedsocialstudies in Action!
Here’s a short documentary featuring an Open Ended Social Studies lesson on The Silk Road playing out in a sixth grade world history classroom:
United Arab Emirates Case Study: How would you diversify your single resource economy?
This lesson was reported from:
Some Jet-Lagged Reflections on the Middle East and Islam
Some timely, evergreen thoughts from a fellow TEACH fellow…
I don’t know if it’s stupidity or a renewed sense of “helping people is important, dammit” but after a 34-hour trip from Doha to Danforth and a shortish but passionate love affair with my bed, I made questionable decision #1 (I answered the phone) and followed it almost immediately by QD #2 (I agreed to help Travis move).
This actually worked out okay in that it helped marshall my thoughts a bit. Both Trav and Alan (intrepid partner in questionable decision-making) are pooh-poohers of all that is social media so when they asked about my trip, they were working from the blankest of slates.
“What’s the Middle East like?” asked Alan. “And is that how you pronounce ‘Qatar’?”
**SIDE NOTE: Ever since I did/did not date that Navy fellow, who was frequently shipped off to Qatar in between his deployments to Rivalries and OPT, where he flexed obnoxiously while wearing closed-toe…
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November 22, 2016: Haram in Qatar, or How I Learned Not to Cast the First Stone
According to The Qatar Tribune, Qatari customs officials destroyed some 31,000 bottles of wine seized after routine inspections of incoming shipping containers in the nation’s port. Continue reading “November 22, 2016: Haram in Qatar, or How I Learned Not to Cast the First Stone”
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