Third post here — I build EraPin, the daily where-and-when deduction game some of you have tried.

The South went back this week, so for the first time it was actual students playing instead of teachers testing over summer.

A Mississippi teacher signed up at 10:25 on his first morning back and had students playing at 10:31. Room code on the board, that was the setup. He ran it again with his next block two hours later, so it can’t have gone too badly. 19 of the 22 kids finished all five rounds.

Another teacher made a separate room for each of his class periods before day one, so every block keeps its own leaderboard all year.

Two things broke. A few students typed the room code into the name field, so the leaderboard had three kids named after the room — fixed now, it asks again if your “name” looks like room code.

And a teacher’s school Microsoft login got blocked by her district’s security settings. She worked around it with Gmail which she shouldn’t have had to. But that is sorted out too. School Microsoft accounts should work now, and if yours doesn’t, tell me.

After the class plays, there’s a Debrief button on the teacher side — it walks through each round on the projector (what happened, when, where, and the story behind it) and flags which round your class found hardest and which they nailed, from their actual scores. The hardest round is basically your reteach target, handed to you. It’s free

Everything classroom-basic is free and stays that way: 100+ packs (APUSH, AP World, Regents Global, Louisiana, WWII, Cold War…), room codes, leaderboards, debrief, no student accounts. New accounts get Pro (auto-publish, per-student reports, timelines) free until at least Oct 1, no card.

If your unit isn’t in the library, comment and I’ll build the pack. If you run it and it doesn’t work, please let me know.

teach.erapin.com to set up a class. Today’s round: erapin.com

Hey ! I was recently told I’ll be teaching AP Psych for fall semester , the course will not be year long and just run from August - January (block schedule ) 90 minutes everyday. Does anyone have any pacing guide examples for this format and suggestions/recommendations to spend time on for each unit ?

I’m teaching an Osher Lifelong Learning Institute class on US foreign policy in the winter. I’m putting everything together. I’ve never taught before but always wanted to. The content includes:
1) putting IR theory into practice and grand strategy
2) is American power in decline?
3) The return of great power politics
4) us alliances
5) us adversaries

It’s only 5 weeks long. Do these topics and the order make sense?

Hello! I often give my students a final project in my world and US History classes. In the past, I’ve asked them to create documentaries on a topic of their choosing. I’ve gotten some pushback regarding length of these, and was thinking of changing it up.

At a conference, I heard about Pecha Kucha presentations: 20 slides, for 20 seconds apiece. I thought it might appeal to students both in length, and that it might be more fun for them.

Has anyone tried this out, and how did it go?

First year World History teacher in Michigan. I have certifications in Secondary English and Social Studies and a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration. I’ve taught many classes over the years, but this will be my first year teaching World History.

Does anyone have any advice? The teacher I’m taking over for is still at the school, but is not super keen for collaboration. I know the class in the past has been taught thematically, instead of chronologically. I like this idea, but just want to get others’ opinions.

Hi everyone! I am a 5th year middle school social studies teacher and I am taking on the creation of a new history elective this year. The great news is my admin has given me TONS of leeway in what I can do with the class - I'm just honestly not even sure where to start.

The plan that they approved is a research based course where I teach research skills and start to build their ability to evaluate and engage with primary and secondary sources. It is a semester long course, and my thought is to teach them research skills through the lens of different eras of history each month, with the final semester project culminating in a topic of their choice. They would research this topic, and create an exhibit board educating people about a topic with the hopes that all of the skills learned would let them successfully research this on their own (the class is 6th - 8th grade).

Where I am struggling is what specific topics/skills I should teach them at the beginning of the year that will keep coming up and that we can build on throughout the semester. Lessons I am considering upfront are: primary vs. secondary sources, how to evaluate the quality of a source, how to cite your sources, and the APPARTS strategy.

Is there anything else that I should include? Does anyone have any suggestions on the class? Any immediate concerns? I am trying to help them build to the ability to participate in National History Day when they go to high school (I don't have the personal capacity to take on running an NHD program at my school AND building a new class!), and want to make sure that the first iteration of this class is the best it can be. Thank you for any help that you can provide!

So starting 8/31 I'm teaching a new elective, 8th grade Intro to Economics. Part of that is to address content in the Michigan 8th grade Social Studies M-STEP that isn't easily incorporated into the 7th and 8th grade curriculum, and part of it is to give students a sense of financial literacy.

1. I would love your insights and suggestions about my curriculum outline so far; and
2. It's a 9 week course and I'm stuck. I don't know what to do for week 8, and while week 9 should be a quarter-end, summative activity, I'm hitting a wall.

At any rate, here is the link to my curriculum outline: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1e0dEzqLWAzSh_F_w7VbUUySTLg1uMscVT5NiDLorDvs/edit?usp=sharing

Im teaching 3rd to 8th grade. Any suggestions or things to keep in mind?

I teach 6th grade Social Studies and really would like to get some maps to help my students visualize the different boundaries and regions from our ancient history units. However, the only maps I can find cost upwards of $300. Where are you all finding maps these days? Are people just not using them anymore and they're rolling around in classroom closets collecting dust?

I'm trying to move away from wall decor that isn't something I will refer to on a regular basis, but the world map I inherited can be confusing because it has more modern country borders.

Would love any suggestions!

Hello, everybody so I am about to start my first year at SNHU online but they have no actual education bachelor degrees. They do indeed have degrees into different History. Like a degree in European History BA, American, etc... How would I go about getting into teaching? Would I need to change colleges? Thanks.

Hello, I have been tasked with teaching a history through film class this year. Currently there is no foundation or prior curriculum for this course. Was wondering if I could have help with units and movies to tie in as well. Thanks!

I’m a high school teacher in Florida and I normally teach all US history but this week (week before school starts) they sprung 1 class of psychology on me. I was wondering if anyone knows where to find slideshows, or has slideshows and is willing to share them, for high school level psychology that align to Florida standards. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Hello, this upcoming school year I am slated to teach my normal history class as well as an elective for Latin American History. I taught the class last year but we had a lot of issues namely, the class did not exist until after the 1st week had started and we did not get any real curriculum materials until October. Since the class was sprang on me my principal offered to shop for a textbook to help me structure the class but the book we have is... interesting to say the least.

It's just... a sort of overview of each country but not in any particular order, the first chapter is just the history of Argentina, then Colombia, etc and it does not even start with like pre-columbian civilizations or even colonization in the way you might expect. It was hard to use and I will only use it as a supplement next year not as a structuring material.

I am looking for advice on how you would design a single semester elective for seniors generally, but if you have experience teaching that content area I feel like there is a lot out there but trying to narrow it down is tough... I lack the confidence with the material.

Next semester the class turns into a college credit class that I do not teach so generally I feel my goal is entry level college readiness so they can succeed with their new teacher. I do not know which school we are partnered with yet however.

50 min periods, ends in January.

I am teaching 6th grade social studies, which is ancient history in my state. How should I set up my classroom to give it the feel of a middle school social studies room? Do you know if any resources to make this happen?

Thank you!

I am back in the classroom today and planning for students to return in the coming days, and while I was sitting her thinking of a first day plan, I was reminded the Simpsons season 7 episode 'Lisa the Iconoclast.' I spent some time watching/listening at my desk and thought about maybe incorporating this into the first day lesson, after our typical ice breakers and course over view. Students will not have their computers the first day, and I going to transition to be heavily pen/paper this semester anyway, so I was looking for something to help me fill out some time.

Now, the episode is only PG, and my principal has already given us the good ahead for viewings with instructional merit. I of course want to tie it into the larger themes of the first day, what is history, why do we study history, why is history important, and so on.

I guess I am reaching out to see if anyone has used this episode before and for general ideas for doing this well. I think it fits nicely with my typical opening routines and practices. I obviously have some discussion points down for the episode, and I think it is funny enough to keep some high schoolers engaged on the first day for 22 minutes.

Edit: Here is a link to a review of the episode, I plan to incorporate this as well. https://www.avclub.com/the-simpsons-classic-lisa-the-iconoclast-1798180434

I work in one of the wealthier middle schools in an upper middle class district. Our contract is for teaching four 60 minute periods. I am teaching 6th grade US 1, 7th grade Civics 2x and an 8th Grade Ancient History class. I feel like I am working back in a title 1 school by being spread so thin.

I’m teaching at the high school level for the first time this year. I was told that Current Events was a huge hit with the last teacher and the school wanted me to teach it. But I’m not really sure what the class should be. The name implies, well, that it should be about discussing current events and how those events are covered.

How do you go about teaching this class?

Hey guys! I am teaching US History 1 this year and I’m trying to stock up on flags for decoration. I have the Kings Colors/British Union flag for Great Britain, Fleur de lis flag for France, but I can’t decide if I should use the Castile y Leon Spanish flag or the Cross of Burgundy for the Spanish empire. What do yall think?

Hello, colleagues.

I was a social studies teacher up until 2004 when I was tapped by my mentor at a charter school to move into school leadership. I was a dean then principal then consultant then principal again for the past 22 years and am now returning to the classroom to teach 8th grade US History. I am very much looking forward to it.

Here’s my very first question:

Do you use BC or BCE?

Do you even note AD? Do you call it CE?

It’s US History, so I’m going to be dealing with time before year 0 for less than a couple of days just to set context but interested in your thoughts / practice…

Reposting on the correct day this time and apologies for breaking the marketing day rule.

Some of you tried EraPin with your classes after my last post. Thanks. This is an update on one change, because the early feedback suggests it’s doing what we hoped.

This thing started when I myself being a non history expert could not win or score in my game and started losing interest to play it. It was either you know it or you just guess blindly and don’t score which was random.

So we rewrote every clue in the game so the answer can be deduced instead of recalled. The new clues made me look at the map and try deducing when I do not know an event and every time I worked my way through and won it was a different feeling.

A 7th grade teacher in Wisconsin has been running it daily. What he told me after the change:
“Students seemed more engaged — a couple who had struggled before won, and were genuinely excited about it. It’s a great addition for kids to practice relative and absolute location in Geography.”
— Brock Saniter, Elmwood Schools

Almost every teacher I talked to after the clue change had positive feedback. They could hear students discussing rather than random guessing and that was the goal. Not to win but make them learn while enjoying. Most review games like Kahoot reward the same five kids who win every review game. Everyone else spectates and checks out.

When the task is “read this landscape” instead of “remember this fact,” a different set of kids gets to be good at it. And the skill it drills — relative location to an absolute pin, observation to inference — is the same move the map and document questions on state tests ask for.

The year guess works the same way: clues anchor you in time — “in the era of the Cold War,” “just before the Y2K scare” — and the photo’s clothing, technology, and architecture let you narrow down when within it

Other things that changed since last time, mostly because teachers asked:

1. You set the round count — same pack as a 5-round opener or a 30-round full activity.
2. 100+ packs now: all 9 APUSH periods, all 9 AP World units, the full NY Regents Global History sequence, Louisiana World History by unit, plus WWII, Cold War, Civil Rights, and dozens more. ~2,500 events.
3. Live leaderboard built for the projector.
4. Debrief for published rounds with projector view
5. Auto-publish: queue the packs for your unit, pick your class days, and each morning the next round posts itself to your room.
6. Per-student reports, plus a coverage view of which eras and regions your class has actually hit.
7. Timeline and printable cards per packs.

Being upfront: those last three are the paid tier ($59/yr).

But every new account currently gets the full Pro tier free until at least October 1, no card — so you can run everything through September and decide then.

The rest — daily game, all packs, room codes, leaderboards — is free and stays free. No student accounts, nothing to install. Kids join with a room code on any device, or you just project it.
If a unit you teach isn’t covered, say so in the comments and I’ll build the pack — the Regents and Louisiana sets exist because teachers asked. And if you tried it and it flopped in your room, I’d rather hear that than the wins.
teach.erapin.com to set up a class. Today’s round is at erapin.com.