For over a decade, I’ve been teaching people about the political process and how to be engaged citizens. So I suppose it’s only right that I get involved myself. For the last few months, there have been a lot of conversations around town about who would run for Board of Education. A few people approached […]
Author: Brian
I just finished Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, by David Epstein, and it’s got me thinking about a lot of things. The book is about a lot of things. It deals with chess, athletes, musicians, artists, and scientists. The overarching premise – as you might discern from the title – is that […]
2020 has been a helluva year. It brought an end to the Trump presidency, so maybe civics education can get back to normal next year. But it also brought Covid – and along with it remote learning and lots of anxiety. Teaching remotely is tough, but going to work in a school building where Covid […]
When COVID-19 prompted schools to physically close last spring, one of your first thoughts was probably, “How am I going to teach remotely?” More specifically, “How am I going to teach civics remotely?” Virtual learning poses a lot of problems, and teachers around the country struggled to address those issues all spring. As the fall […]
NewsFeed Defenders is a game by iCivics about media literacy. In this review, we’ll take a look at how the game is played, the teacher resources available to use alongside it, and what’s great and not so great about the game. NewsFeed Defenders is a good introduction to an important topic. Through the game, students […]
Immigration Nation is an iCivics game that helps students begin to understand restrictions on immigration to the United States. In this review, we’ll take a look at how to play the game, whether it’s any good or not, and how you might use it in your class to teach civics and government. It’s quick, and […]
Sortify is an iCivics game developed in partnership with Brainpop. In this review, we’ll take a look at how to play the game, whether it’s any good or not, and how you might use it in your class to teach civics and government. I’ll start up front by saying this isn’t one of their best […]
iCivics recently re-released one of their election games, Cast Your Vote. Since tomorrow is election day, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to give it a run through and share a review of the game. In Cast Your Vote, your students will learn how they can be informed voters in an election. They […]
This year, I took a new job about an hour away from my house. I’ve also been trying to be more active – running and hiking. All of this means a lot of “busy” time where my brain isn’t busy – perfect for listening to audiobooks and podcasts. Some of these are for pleasure. I […]
Between my hour long commute and my regular morning hikes, I’m finding myself with a lot of time to listen to audiobooks lately. On one recent hike, I queued up On Power by Robert Caro, and I was done around the time I got back to the house. On Power is brief, but it is […]