Flash Games and Activities for History
History
of Website
In 1992, computers were just beginning to make their way into the
classroom. I was the first person at my school to be interested in using
computers for learning activities with my students. Our school was fortunate to
have a wonderful librarian who was also interested in technology. Thanks to Ms.
Jerri Gurley, the librarian we purchased the following programs, Ami Pro,
CorelDraw, and by 1994 Instructor Toolbook. With these programs, it was
possible to create interactive programs and computer based tests for my high
school students.
A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing so I began
searching the Internet for other people who were using Instructor Toolbook so I
could use with my students. It was through the Internet that I met Stephen Hustedde,
a college professor from Arizona. Stephen was much more advanced than I was in
creating activities; he was also using Instructor Toolbook and creating amazing
crossword puzzles and other interactive learning activities. Stephen and I
became friends through numerous phone calls and emails. All the while he was
sharing his knowledge with me and guiding me along as I became more adept with
programming. Eventually, we both switched over to Adobe Flash and once again
Stephen was my mentor. With his guidance I began creating the first of over 200
learning games that are now on this website.
Next, I was able to put all the above into a learning situation.
Mr. George Alexander, principal at Etowah High School hired me as a social
studies teacher and programming instructor. The cool thing about Cherokee
County is as I learned from Mr. Alexander was that they had a technology department at the county office that
helped any teacher with their computer programs. In addition, if you took
the classes taught by Debbie Childers you could obtain computers, tablets,
clickers, smart boards, and projectors. It was awesome, so not only were you
learning but you could put into practice what you learned. At Etowah, all
teachers had websites where students and parents could access lessons and classroom information at any
time.
In 2001, Mr. Alexander was able to start one of the most innovative
programs ever started. He picked a core group of teachers that would teach with
laptops and the internet. Eighteen lucky students were issued state of the art
computer laptops from Dell. Later, we added tablets. Mr. Alexander got us a breakage contract with Dell so students
could break or damage their computer without them paying for the cost. This group had to have
keyboards, hard drives, and screens replaced before the year was over. The student laptop plan turned out to
be a complete success. Not only were these students computer savvy but they
were also motivated to bump their learning to AP classes. When the year ended,
the students had to turn in their laptops so they could be cleaned for the next
group. They all came back the following year to see who got their laptop. It
was at this point, we changed the way we made programs from Toolbook over to
Adobe Flash. The years with Mr. Alexander, were my best and most productive
years in education.
Though I have retired from teaching, I still enjoy
designing activities that help students learn.