The transatlantic slave trade: The Understanding Slavery initiative (USI)

English: Triangular trade between western Europe, Africa and Americas. Français: Commerce triangulaire entre l'Europe occidentale, l'Afrique subsaharienne et les Amériques. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The transatlantic slave trade: introduction

The Understanding Slavery initiative (USI) is a national learning project which supports the teaching and learning of transatlantic slavery and its legacies using museum and heritage collections. Over the past eight years six museums across the UK have worked in partnership to share expertise, develop resources, training opportunities and school sessions.

One of the main tenets of the USI partnership is that the history of transatlantic slavery does not belong to any one cultural group, or nation. It is a global history whose legacy can be seen and felt in various areas of today’s societies on an international scale. The USI partners have developed resources and approaches with an understanding that by reviewing the history, and understanding its wider global impacts, teachers and learners gain a better understanding of how to read history and ways in which to make sense of the world in which they live today.


The kidnapping of Africans occurred mainly in the region that now stretches from Senegal to Angola. However, in the 19th century some enslaved Africans were also transported across the Atlantic from parts of eastern and south-eastern Africa. Read More... 

Related articles

• NYC Pauses To Its Slave History
• Slavery shouldn't distort the story of black people in Britain | Miranda Kaufman
• Anti-Slavery Mobilization
• Slavery's Legacy

Questions Lead Way in One School's Teacher Training

Tiferes Bnos is an all-girls school located on the first floor of an apartment building near the border of the Williamsburg and Bedford-Stuyvesant sections of Brooklyn. It would be unsurprising if the school had a poor academic track record. None of the teachers went to college. All the students speak Yiddish as their first language. The vast majority of the schools 430 students are extremely poor. So are the teachers: the base teacher salary at the Orthodox Jewish school is just $6,000 dollars a year. The students spend less than half of the week studying math, reading, science and social studies; most of their class time is spent on religious instruction.

The principal started off the meeting, as she always does, with a critique of her own performance. Then, she spent most of the rest of the meeting listening. Teachers went around the circle, sharing obstacles they were facing and asking one another for advice about how to better monitor small-group work and manage their classrooms. More experienced teachers, a couple with several years on the job, shared ideas with the newcomers and offered to lead workshops about the topics that came up. Amsel suggested some books.




“They don’t feel forced to grow, but they would feel out of place if they didn’t,” she said.

ventriloquist ventriloquism Instructions on How To

Ventriloquism

Ventriloquism is the art of making an inanimate object seem to come alive. This article provides tips and instructions for becoming a good ventriloquist.

 You'll notice that the letters "b," "f," "m," "p," "q," "v," and "w" will make your lips move. To say these without moving your lips, you must use substitutions. For "b," say "d" or "geh." For "f," say "th." For "m," say "n," "nah," or "neh." For "p," say "kl" or "t." For "q," say "koo." For "v," say "th." And for "w," say "ooh". You may think the new words with the substituted letters sound ridiculous, but if you learn to put the stress on the syllables that don't contain these letters, the words will begin to sound natural.

 Check Out Nina Conti: Her Master's Voice ( http://www.hulu.com/watch/410874 )

Related articles

• Nina Conti: Her Master's Voice
• 'Nina Conti: Her Master's Voice' (2012) (Short Ends and Leader)

Hey Man - Zucchero and B.B. King

B.B. King - Let The Good Times Roll - With Zucchero found onPop


 

Related articles

• BB King at 87: the last of the great bluesmen
• Songwriters Hall of Fame nominees include Elvis Costello, B.B. King

Incentivizing Innovation in Education; or A Role For For Profits in Education

Rethink Education's Tom Segal responds to critics of edtech's 'profit motive'


Some bloggers are quick to point to the evils of the “profit motive” and the dangers of politics pushing technology for technology’s sake; but those same bloggers are often quick to praise new apps that they find particularly creative and helpful. I say, you can’t have one without the other. You can’t have high-quality digital tools without the profit motive (heck, you certainly can’t have that computer without the profit motive, and I imagine even the most ardent haters of private sector in the classroom would agree that a computer is a useful educational tool).   Instead, what you need is the profit motive coupled with a truly transparent market filled with a multitude of options. Does this market exist yet in today’s educational landscape? Nope. But the way to get there is to promote the symbiotic relationship of schools and entrepreneurs, not to detract from it.

To be sure, there are tricky issues to navigate in making this kind of public-private partnership work. But these are the real stakes now. Do we move forward and find sensible ways to capture the public benefits that private-sector innovation has brought to every other field? Or do we stay trapped in old ways of doing things that aren't meeting America's needs? When even a famouslyegalitarian society like Sweden is embracing private sector innovation to help improve schooling, our own path should be clear.


If Bill and Melinda have anointed the chosen one (ahem, Sal Khan) and distributed capital accordingly, the infusion of cash and attention may help in the short-term, but it is not a way to assure that the best products get to market—it is only a way of making sure that a few products designated by a few philanthropies will have an edge. I don’t mean to pick on Khan Academy, because I think Sal has brought phenomenal exposure to the idea of blended learning, but others have begun questioning the efficacy behind the product.


The Case for the Private Sector in School Reform


The good news is that the Common Core Standards, now adopted in 46 states, are creating incentives for innovation at the heart of the system. At last there's a common definition of what "good" looks like for students and teachers, at least in core subjects like math and English. This helps explain why venture capital is now flowing in record sums to startups seeking to serve K-12 schools—and why larger firms (like the one I lead) are for the first time assembling world class teams of educators, technologists, and designers to tackle these challenges.

Albert Shanker Institute

Albert Shanker Institute   

Top 10: Mafia Movies

Avalon Project - Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy

Avalon Project - Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy
Major Document Collections

Grievance settlement gives protections to teachers in excess

Grievance settlement gives protections to teachers in excess

Free Markets vs. Government Intervention: A Never-Ending Debate

 The on-going debate in Washington, over how to decrease unemployment while stimulating economic growth, centers on both parties conflicting views of the role of markets and government in the economy. The concern of this essay will be to show why the policies of each party are unable to cope with the aftermaths of a recession caused by a financial crisis. 

Perennial Conflict: The State vs. Free Markets

Paul Volker Says Republican Economic Plan Is Inadequate

To oversimplify, Democrats say expand demand and supply will follow, while Republicans say put more money in the hands of suppliers and demand will increase. What do you think?

See Entire Interview in Link 

Teaching with the News: Egypt's Uprising

The Choices Program

Brown University – Box 1948
Providence, RI 02912
choices@brown.edu
(p) 401-863-3155
(f) 401-863-1247




This lesson is the first in a series on the recent events in Egypt. The latest, Protests, Revolutions, and Democratic Change, helps students consider the potential effects of the protests on democracy and stability in the Middle East and North Africa. The second, After Mubarak, helps students consider the implications of a leadership change in Egypt on the protests for democracy throughout the Middle East and North Africa. 
Why should high school students learn about what is happening in Egypt?

 What is the historical relationship between the United States and Egypt?
What is the relationship between the United States and Egypt?
What role have social media played in the protests in Egypt and Tunisia?

Are We Still Motivating Students Like Before The Great Depression?

Are We Still Motivating Students Like Before The Great Depression?

[Show as slideshow]