World History
As teachers, I believe, we teach a very neat history in our class. Our textbooks have made history very neat, almost, in some cases, different than what the every day people of the time would remember. I like to ask my students why, and how we decide what should be left out of our books. A case in point is hieroglyphics which, according to this article, was the language of the elite (re: pharaohs). Did you know, for example, that on the Rosetta Stone both Greek and Demotic, the language of the everyday Egyptians was also found. This is a fascinating article on a now completed dictionary of that ancient Egyptian language.
- Reading For Winter Break
Here are two terrific books, one about Cleopatra from the Pulitzer Prize winning author, Stacy Schiff, and the other about the development of nationalism, called Imagined Communities, by the recently deceased...
- New Theory On How Pyramids Were Built
How did Egyptians move such big stones? According to this fascinating Washington Post story, a group of researchers from the University of Amsterdam argue that the Egyptians simply used wooden sleds and overcame the problem of friction with wet...
- Catching Cheating Using Technology
I like to think that when I teach I am embarking on an adventure with my students, but kids are kids and there are lots of pressures they feel from trying to impress their friends, pleasing their parents and, in some cases, not even being aware of cheating...
- Nice Translator
Just two days ago I was talking to an ESOL teacher in my school who had no idea about online translators. I have a number of ESOL kids in my classes and use the translators for essay writing. My thought is that if I am trying to teach the...
- Google Translate Goes Audio
I have been using Google Translate to e-mail students' parents who do not speak English. They usually write me back in their native language and then I tranlate it back to English. Well now, if you want, you can listen to what was written. ...
World History
Demotic - Language of Everyday Egyptians
- Reading For Winter Break
Here are two terrific books, one about Cleopatra from the Pulitzer Prize winning author, Stacy Schiff, and the other about the development of nationalism, called Imagined Communities, by the recently deceased...
- New Theory On How Pyramids Were Built
How did Egyptians move such big stones? According to this fascinating Washington Post story, a group of researchers from the University of Amsterdam argue that the Egyptians simply used wooden sleds and overcame the problem of friction with wet...
- Catching Cheating Using Technology
I like to think that when I teach I am embarking on an adventure with my students, but kids are kids and there are lots of pressures they feel from trying to impress their friends, pleasing their parents and, in some cases, not even being aware of cheating...
- Nice Translator
Just two days ago I was talking to an ESOL teacher in my school who had no idea about online translators. I have a number of ESOL kids in my classes and use the translators for essay writing. My thought is that if I am trying to teach the...
- Google Translate Goes Audio
I have been using Google Translate to e-mail students' parents who do not speak English. They usually write me back in their native language and then I tranlate it back to English. Well now, if you want, you can listen to what was written. ...