[Dan Moorhouse]

A sneek preview for you folks... this site is 85% complete but thought it would be worth letting people know about it now as there's some good stuff here that might influence planning for the start of term. If anyone spots any 'big' errors or has any problems with the site let me / Ian know please - either on here or via the feedback form on the site.

http://www.thinkinghistory.co.uk

thinkinghistory.co.uk is a new website providing free role plays and other
active learning techniques for use from KS2 to university level.

The site is being developed by Ian Dawson as part of a National Teaching
Fellowship awarded while teaching at Trinity and All Saints College, Leeds.
The primary purpose of the site is to introduce PGCE students to active
learning techniques but, in practice, the site provides materials which can
be used by teachers of all levels of experience.

For its September launch, the site features twelve different activities,
together with an introduction to active learning. Each month, from October
onwards, more activities will be added, hopefully including activities
submitted by teachers.

[Carole Faithorn]

Dan Moorhouse, on Aug 25 2004, 10:38 AM, said:

A sneek preview for you folks... this site is 85% complete but thought it would be worth letting people know about it now as there's some good stuff here that might influence planning for the start of term. If anyone spots any 'big' errors or has any problems with the site let me / Ian know please - either on here or via the feedback form on the site.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Brilliant!

Thanks for the sneek preview, Dan. This is/going to be a great site. As far as I can tell everything works beautifully and it's especially encouraging to see that Ian intends to develop A Level activities further.

It's certainly worth people having a look now as these 2 activities ought to be in everyone's repertoire.

Quote

The events of 1066 – could it have happened differently? Students take the key decisions of 1066 in role as the leading characters and have the chance to describe events in role as chroniclers and saga-writers.
Je suis le roi! What happened after 1066? Rebellions, castle-building, changes in land ownership, Danish invasions, the Harrying of the North and William getting angry in French- c’est magnifique .

[Dan Moorhouse]

The really good news is that this is just the tip of the iceburg. Ian's list of activities that could be included on the site currently has 30+ titles on it

[Paul Smith]

Very impressive. The ability to develop the Dissolution exercise for a variety of levels is excellent....certainly gives options for differentiated approaches at AS level.

This is exciting.


(Only a completely personal level Dan, could you enquire of Ian Dawson if the J.A.P. Jones, who was the series editor of The tudor century, once taught at Maidstone Grammar School - c 1970?)

Ta

paul

[Dan Lyndon]

BRILLIANT!!!!!

This post has been edited by Dan Lyndon: 25 August 2004 - 09:37 PM

[Ian Dawson]

This has a twofold pupose - to see if, as a new member, I can make this work and, far more importantly, to say many thanks for your initial enthusiastic response. I'd better get on and finish the remaining parts of the site!

As you'll guess, my level of technical expertise is what you'd expect of someone who regards making tabards and cutting the ears off bears as the height of sophistication. Without Dan's expertise and support there wouldn't be a thinkinghistory website - he's done a wonderful job and put up with my fiddling with details very patiently.

I can't help Paul re John Jones - I know he taught in Huddersfield before moving to Cheshire - very impressive man. When I wa slast in contact, which is probably eight or so years ago, he was training headteachers in cheshire.

many thanks again for the encouragement

Ian

[DAJ Belshaw]

I'd like to add my voice to the no doubt legions of teachers who will use this as an invaluable resource! It's great that active history lessons are being presented in such an easy-to-follow format - this should be encouraged.

I'll certainly be linking to thinkinghistory.co.uk when I get the 'teachers' section of my website finished! (probably sometime next century...)

Doug

[Andrew Field]

The best thing about this is that these are the best teaching ideas and lessons that you've ever had the chance to use. This will be a website offering something different to every other.

I think we should be thankful it has been put online for the use of all teachers - I am certain that many pay-for teaching resource sites are all in tears seeing all this.

Sharing the resources for free just seems too suspicious to me - what is the catch?

[Ian Dawson]

No catch, Andrew. The up-front funding comes from the award I received last year which is intended to improve the quality of teaching in higher education. Therefore the main audiences for the site are PGCE students and their tutors and mentors - and in 2006 PGCE tutors will receive a CD or DVD or something showing the activities I've filmed. I can't show all the activities or even whole ones but I can show segments - but with the full scripts or guidance on the site. However it wouldn't make any sense to say 'only PGCE students can use this site' so it's there for everyone! Hopefully including university lecturers - I did a session at a conference on History in HE last Easter on role play in degree teaching - quite fun having various august professors wearing tabards and moving round the room.

The limitation is that the funding only buys my time for one day a week - and at a fairly low rate of pay! So development will be slow, adding a couple of activities a month while I move into the filming phase of the project. But overall, thanks are due to the Higher Education Funding Council which makes these awards each year.

What happens in two years' time when the money runs out I don't know but I'll cross that bridge when i get there.

Ian

[Andrew Field]

Marvellous. Thank you.

[Carole Faithorn]

Great to see you mastering the complexities of technology, Ian! Welcome to the Forum!

Perhaps you may also have the time to contribute to other discussions here too?


.... and once again, many thanks for your generosity in sharing your brilliant resources.

[Dan Moorhouse]

For those of you who were quick off the mark -

There are two more activities online now:

Hotseating King John - also a guide to hotseating now on the site here.

Boudicca's rebellion

The 'Why active learning?' section can be downloaded as a pdf file for storage in departmental folders etc. The activities will be available as pdf's sometime next week.

Site development is intended to follow what most people will be teaching at specific times. If you know of one of Ian's activites that isn't on the site and want a copy, drop us a line as they're all knocking around in some format or other

[bemused1]

Many thanks Ian and Dan for these excellent resources.

[Richard Drew]

I am currently updating our King John SOW, and this hotseating exercise has just found iut's way into the scheme, just before the assessment lesson. an instant improvement in the enquiry!!!!