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In the year 48 B.C., the great Roman general Julius Caesar traveled to the city of Alexandria in Egypt. He took up residence in the Egyptian palace and demanded to have the country's rulers, 21-year-old Cleopatra VII and her younger brother, Ptolemy XIII, brought before him. Cleopatra was hesitant. She and her brother were in the midst of a long and bitter battle for power over Egypt. She thought--with good reason--that her enemies would try to kill her if she were seen approaching the palace. Still, she knew it was important to answer his demand. Caesar was extremely powerful, and Cleopatra knew he could be helpful in her struggle against her brother.

In Cleopatra's brief life she was involved in war- and peace-making, royal intrigue, a ruthless struggle for power, violent and treacherous acts, and legendary love affairs. She ruled over--and then lost--an entire kingdom, and her name is forever linked with two of the most powerful men of the ancient world, Julius Caesar and Marc Antony. Although we know little of absolute fact about her, she lives on in our imaginations--on movie and television screens, in books and newspaper articles. Somehow Cleopatra's vivid, larger-than-life story reaches out from centuries ago and continues to enchant us today

Cleopatra's full name was Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator. In Greek, Cleopatra means "glory of her race," and Philopator means father-loving. She was born in 69 B.C., the third daughter of Ptolemy XII, king of Egypt. Ptolemy XII, who was known by the more familiar name of Auletes ("flute player"), was a descendant in a dynasty that had begun in 323 B.C., when Ptolemy I, a native of Macedonia and a subordinate of Alexander the Great, became one of three Diadochi (successors) to gain control over portions of Alexander's massive empire. Cleopatra would ultimately become the last of the Ptolemaic dynasty to rule Egypt.

There is a new digital divide on the horizon. It is not based around who has devices and who does not, but instead the new digital divide will be based around students who know how to effectively find and curate information and those who do not.  Helene Blowers has come up with seven ideas about the new digital divide – four of them, the ones I felt related to searching, are listed below. The New Digital Divide: In an age of information abundance learning to effectively search is one of the most important skills most teachers are NOT teaching. They assume students know how to conduct a search, and set them free on the internet to find information. They assume that students have the skills to critically think their way through the searching and the web. Sadly, this is not the case and everyday we are losing the information literacy battle because we often forget to teach these crucial searching skills in our schools. Teachers – especially in the elementary grades  -need to develop a shared vocabulary around the skill of searching. They need to make sure their students learn some basic search strategies and keep applying them until they become almost automatic. Here are some of the searching skills and vocabulary we should be teaching students : Quotation Marks: Students should always use quotes to search for an exact word or set of words. This is useful when you want something like quotes, song lyrics or text from a an exact historical time period. Example: “The Great Chicago Fire” Dashes (or minus sign): Use this symbol directly before a word to help exclude unwanted information from your search Example: Great Chicago Fire -soccer Two Periods: Use this to help you find information between those two numbers. For example you might want to try: Example: Great Chicago Fire October 8..10 Site Search: For a look through the Chicago HIstory Museum site only Examples: Great Chicago Fire site:chicagohs.org         site:Chicagotribune.com

A few Tips & Tricks for Student filming in the Classroom

Take short clips

Hold the camera with two hands to keep it steady