Started Example Blog Post

Do you ever sit awake at night wondering if the universe will end?  Spoiler alert it will, but don't worry the universe will go on until long after our lifetimes.  

The Big Bang is the theory that explains how the universe began. 

According to dictionary.com the Big Bang is defined as "a theory that deduces a cataclysmic birth of the universe (big bang)from the observed expansion of the universe, cosmic background radiation, abundance of the elements, and the laws of physics."

The Big Bang basically states that the universe began as.....

Sources:

Dictionary.com
Big History Project

Image:

Earth from Space

History as Mystery

"In 2004, 30 decapitated human skeletons, all male, were discovered in York, England. Scientists dated the bones to the third century CE. The heads of the decapitated bodies had been placed around the knees and feet. Eventually, about 80 male skeletons were unearthed." 
-Excerpt from the student worksheet

Students worked in groups to create hypothesis that might explain the reasoning behind this gruesome event.  Some of the student ideas are listed below.  

"Maybe they fought a battle and were captured and executed."

"They might have been sacrificed to a god."

"They could have owed someone money and the person wanted to make an example of them" 

"They might have upset the king."

"Maybe they were Christians and didn't want to follow another religion"

"It could have been a warning to others."

"We thought they might have been traitors or assassins."

The goal of the activity was to show students the difference between learning history from a book, and actually being a historian. They learned that the study of history depends on forensics, a bit like the crime labs we see on television, because true historians don’t retell neatly written stories—they solve mysteries. Historians must use a variety of approaches and seek input from a variety of experts to make sense of the past. This lesson illustrates the importance of using an interdisciplinary approach to solve complex questions...

We watched a 15 minute clip from the BBC video below.  Students took note of the variety of experts who were brought in to solve this mystery.   

Tomorrow we will finish this activity with a short reading and students will discuss the problems future historians will have when learning about our time period.  We have so little evidence about the Romans to go on, but future historians will have far too much information about us.  How will they decide what is important and memorable about our time period, and who will decide?

* Please note I adapted this project from materials over at the Big History Project, a free online course focusing on history from the big bang to today. 

First Day Welcome Back to School

On behalf of the entire Beacon Team, I would like to extend a warm welcome to all of our new Beacon students, parents, and guardians. I am excited to have the opportunity to work with your children this year. 

On our first day, we introduced your children to our team and briefly discussed what we would be doing over the course of this year. After this initial meeting, we ran a series of breakout sessions the session I ran was on Growth Mindset. 

Instilling or reinforcing a Growth mindset in your child is the concept behind much of what I do and believe as a teacher.

I am looking forward to another amazing year of learning at NMS.