Source: Historical Tweets

A post by Francesca Tonchin in Classical Archaeology News just alerted me to Historical Tweets. The specific tweet relates to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79AD and the consequent disaster that befell Pompeii, Herculaneum and other regions of Campania. [This event and the societies of Pompeii and Herculaneum are a core unit of the Ancient History course in the New South Wales Higher School Certificate.]

The idea generated some thought and made me wonder about other possible applications such as “Famous Last Tweets”. Imagine asking students of literature, during a break or diversion in that programmed syllabus, to compose tweets that would have been written by writers such as Plato, Lawrence, Dickens, Twain, Pepys, Shakespeare, Orwell, Donne, and so on. I believe John Donne’s tweets could have been particularly telling…. “This bed has fleas…” or “Just picked up a nice compass“.

Care to suggest others?

On the 19th February, 1942, the city of Darwin in Australia’s Northern Territory was bombed by Japanese military aircraft. Two bombing raids took place. It was just four days after the fall of Singapore. The bombing raids were led by the same commander that presided over the attack on Pearl Harbor on the 7th December, 1941.

At least 243 people were killed during the raids. The casualty list published in newspapers at the time was much lower so that the Australian public would not be alarmed and panic. This bombing raid was followed by countless more at various points across Australia’s northern coastline. Towns such as Exmouth, Broome and Townsville were bombed during this period.

There are some informative resources regarding these attacks that teachers and students would find useful. There is Australia Under Attack at the anzacday.org.au site. This section is a subset of the Battle for Australia component of the site. There are a number of photographs that educators and students can also freely use as long as they acknowledge the Australian War Memorial. One such image from the web site is displayed below.

AWM 026977 Damaged RAAF hangar. A Douglas dive bomber lies in ruins.

The Australian War Memorial also has a valuable suite of resources including the article, Australia bombed, strafed and shelled. It incorporates a map illustrating sites that were attacked around the Australian coastline. Of course you can always conduct a search for resources at the Australian War Memorial.

There is also an informative page set up by the Australian government at The Japanese bombing of Darwin and northern Australia.

Additional resources and sites:

Photographs of the bombing of Darwin
Bombing of Darwin ~ Wikipedia
The Darwin Bombing WWII ~ YouTube

Please feel free to suggest more resources by posting a comment.

I met Darcy Moore the other day. I enjoy reading Darcy’s blog and catching up on his tweets. We grabbed a brew at the Laconia coffee lounge in Kiama. I like that place. Like stepping back in time as you stir your coffee, complete with a real cup and saucer, as you sit in one of those luxurious booths that hark back to the glory days of the 1950s.

Our conversation covered career, driving and the change that is happening with the Internet and mobile technologies. The other day Darcy gave a presentation at the Illawarra and South East Regional Conference (DET). As Darcy wrote on his blog his “aim was to propose a way that educators could engage students using new tools by transforming professional development in the ISER region with Web 2.0 concepts”. Darcy’s post is an informative read and a number of great comments have been added to the post. I suggest you give Darcy’s post a read and add to the conversation. I commented as well and I thought I would take my words and repeat them here…

Darcy, your drive and passion will have an impact. You have sown the seeds and now is the time to nurture the growth and spread the thinking, rationale and implementations of the programme set out above. Incremental yet formative steps.

Change is underway in how many members of society communicate and act. Individuals are no longer simply the passive recipients of news and information. They now have the power to publish and disseminate information. Passive has been replaced by proactive. That entails a measure of responsibility.

Decision making and choice was often imposed upon society via marketing and regulation. Now, via the web, individuals have the ability to make change occur from the ground up via rapid publication and the sharing of their views and decisions. Ideas and actions, both good and bad, can be disseminated quickly and efficiently.

Technology has provided society with a new swathe of communication and publication skill sets. These new skills have arrived rapidly. Much can be achieved with the change that is taking place with respect to the empowerment of the individual and the group facilitated via the changing use of the Internet. The wise and beneficial use of these skills as positive change agents within society predicate that good exemplars and education is required.

The Internet as a platform has changed. individuals are not simply an audience observing a performance on stage. They now have the potential to be part of the performance whether they be actors, writers, directors or producers. Education has a role to play in facilitating the staging of a good performance.

Think upon the car. A rapid impact on society. Imagine driving on the roads if driver education had not taken place. Not the best of similes yet I feel that the evolution of the Internet as a media that primarily facilitated consumption to one that fosters participation educators (and also those elected to oversee the functioning of our society) cannot simply sit back and watch it happen. They need to be involved and, at least, to understand. Comprehension of the change can facilitate sound judgement and the provision of good exemplars for students, colleagues and the wider community.

On another level the Internet and mobile technologies have collectively allowed the individual to be either a passenger or a driver on this new road. Our students have already made the decision to be drivers. The ride can either be bumpy or smooth. Would you rather be a passenger or a driver? Certainly not hiding in the boot of the car.

Compulsory PD re Web 2.0? Will it happen? Frankly, I am not sure. Perhaps, like the car, the impact on society of Web 2.0 will become so significant and so pervasive that educators will want to secure that license and learn how to drive it anyway. Not all, but many.

We all need to grab a map, buckle up, turn that ignition key and make the journey happen otherwise we will be left behind, standing at the kerb, and observing opportunity as it disappears over the horizon.

Gateway to Tanilba Bay

During a recent holiday on the north coast of NSW my wife Shao Ping and I stumbled across Tanilba Bay. This small town is located on the Tilligerry Peninsula  and is part of the Port Stephens region. We explored the town and discovered that a significant number of the streets had been named after individuals and facets of World War One.

View Larger Map

Street names include Lloyd George Grove, Clemenceau Crescent, Diggers Drive, Avenue of the Allies, Conquest Crescent, Navy Nook and Pershing Place.

Development Plan

The town plan consists of concentric circles. I believe that there were hopes that the town would become a significant centre on the eastern seaboard of Australia. There was a historical display near Tanilba House that included images of the original development plan from the early 1930s.

Tanilba House

This interesting and attractive little town could form the basis of a research assignment for a history class studying World War One. Who planned the town? Why did they choose those particular street names? Who was Pershing? What was a Pershing boot? Who was Clemenceau? Whey do we remember them? How is the Great War remembered in your town?

Okay fellow history teachers…. here is my challenge for this week. How would you use this knowledge of Tanilba Bay in your teaching of history? I am thinking of asking my students to design a town that utilises a different historical event as the basis for the nomenclature within the new town.

Stills from “How Quiet Helps At School” Coronet Films [Prelinger Archives]

Is your class characterised by the presence of “work sounds”? Not sure? In that event I recommend that you watch this informative film “How Quiet Helps At School“. This instructional film was produced by Coronet Films with advice from Dr. Henry Bonner McDaniel, a professor at Stanford University and the first director of guidance and counseling for the California Department of Education.

The films compares and contrasts two different classrooms. During the investigation of the second classroom a number of classroom management strategies are shared with the audience.

Some of the baby boomers that occasionally read this blog should look closely. Perhaps you are in either or both of these two classrooms.