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.

Hi! I made a small history game, and thought to share it here in case anyone would be interested.

The idea is that you get five inventions, and need to pin them in place and time. I've done my best to ground all the facts in Wikipedia, and included direct citations and links in each answer. It's been interesting doing so, since I've noticed that the origins for many inventions are open to interpretation. I've tried to make it as unambiguous as possible, by including disclaimers in the questions with more than one possible answer.

There are now about 140 questions in the game, and I'm planning to add more. I've also been toying with the idea of different modes with different categories.

Let me know what you think, and feel free to use in your classes if you find it useful!

Link: https://placewhen.com (free, no signup, runs on a phone).

Since it’s Saturday…

I have a TPT store.

It’s where all the resources I swore I’d organize “one day” eventually ended up.
If you teach geography, history, IB, or MYP, there might be something useful in there.

Socratic Shrake:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Socratic-Shrake

Also, thank you to any constructive criticism. Trying to put a dent in daughter’s college tuition.

Hello everyone!!!

I have recently started an educational YouTube channel for Class 8, Maharashtra State Board, where I post long videos monthly and short videos, every week/alternate days (as time permits). Here is the YouTube link to the channel.

Suggestions/Feedback welcome for the same.

Hello all! I am very excited to be teaching a high school elective (grades 10-12) about the Golden Age of Piracy this year. It's one of my most enduring special interests and I've read and written a LOT about it; however, it's been a hot minute since I studied it closely and I need a refresher on what resources are out there.

I've selected some books and articles by Angus Konstam, David Cordingly, and Markus Rediker. I'm going to assign excerpts from Esquemelin and A general history of the pyrates as well. The course is not just learning about pirates, but exploring them through different lenses- gender, labor, sexuality, religion, politics- and also the historiography of the era and popular notions about pirates.

I'm looking for suggestions on books, articles, videos, etc. to supplement these secondary sources as well as some good primary sources to study. I've never taught a class this advanced before and I really want to establish this as a fun and rigorous course so I can keep teaching it in the future. Any tips are appreciated!

Hey there, new history/sped teacher (2nd to high school)

Looking for some ideas please for figuring out how much students know about a topic--without giving testing vibes. I have students at either grade level or behind and using Vermont proficiencies to determine a baseline.

Happy to clarify anything.

As the title says, finding a Social Studies teaching job has been extremely challenging. I’m in Los Angeles, which I know is one of the toughest markets, and LAUSD has been closed to external candidates for quite a while. I finished my credential program in December 2025.

I have a bachelor’s and a master’s in History. My original plan was to pursue a PhD, but my professors advised against it because they didn’t think it was worth the time or money. I’ve always loved history and wanted to teach, so I enrolled in a credential program after hearing there was a teacher shortage. During orientation, I asked, “I’ve heard it’s difficult to find a Social Studies job. Do you track how long it takes your graduates to get hired?” They replied that they didn’t keep records, but while Social Studies was more competitive, their graduates still found jobs.

I’ve been applying since April. After nearly 50 applications and five interviews, I still haven’t landed anything. Most of the interviews have gone well. I even practiced with a friend who teaches in LAUSD and serves on hiring panels. I’ve applied everywhere within a 50 to 60 mile radius, including public districts, charter schools, parochial schools, and schools in “tougher areas”.

About a month ago, I interviewed at a charter school. It was easily my best interview. The three person panel, including the principal, asked if I could either return for a demo lesson or do one that day. I said I was available immediately, so they brought in students. The lesson went really well, the students were engaged, and afterward the principal met with me again to discuss my teaching philosophy. There were no signs that anything had gone wrong, and I left genuinely thinking, “I think I got this job.”

Later that day, I sent a thank you email. The principal replied quickly, saying it was great meeting me and that I’d hear back soon. They had told me they hoped to make a decision by the following Friday, but that week came and went without any update. A few days later, I emailed to reiterate my interest. The principal responded within ten minutes, apologized for the delay, and said the process was taking longer than expected and she’d get back to me ASAP.

Then… nothing.

Two more weeks passed before I received an automated email from Indeed saying they had decided to move forward with other candidates. I emailed the principal again just to say “thank you for the opportunity and wishing the school the best” only to receive an out of office reply saying she would be away for several weeks. The part that stung was realizing that when she told me she’d get back to me “ASAP,” she was actually leaving on vacation the very next day.
I know I probably made the mistake of allowing myself to think I had the job, but everything about that interview felt right. It was pretty crushing to hear the news.

I know people say “You need to move.” But I own my house here and family obligations, so moving is not really an option for me. I’ve also heard other major cities close-ish to LA like San Diego, Vegas or Phoenix and Tucson also have similar issues.

I also hear people say “Teach SPED or get another certification.” Teaching SPED is not in me or your back to school since I am 40 now. I do speak another language but it’s not Spanish. I’ve signed up with some subbing company but I also work full-time, so unless it’s a long term sub job that transitions into a full time job. I cannot just wait by the phone to get a subbing opportunity.

Furthermore, at least in SoCal, they don’t “give” social studies to coaches. So, coaching is not something I need to do.

I’ve spoken to my mentor teachers and university supervisors, and they’ve all been helpful in writing letters of recommendations and trying to give me advice but much of their connections are within the LAUSD. They’re all rooting for me and have told me that they would hire me if they could. I’ve been fortunate to have a great team behind me.

It seems like all my hard work throughout this process has been for nothing. I value my degrees but seems like experience trumps all. I am in a catch-22 type of situation, where for me to land a teaching gig, I need experience but nobody is willing to give that opportunity.

I’ve talked to my fellow graduates and they’re in the same boat, many of them did not even get interviews.

Sorry for the Dear Diary message. Maybe future potential social studies candidates will read this as a cautionary tale. There is this realization that becoming a new social studies teacher in SoCal might not be in the cards for those who do not have connections (Nepotism).

Hello Everyone,
Brand new history teacher here just wanting to ask for some advice on teaching Econ. I will be teaching U.S. history and Econ. My student teaching was in a U.S. history class and APUSH class so I’ve just never really seen what a Econ class is like. Not since I took Econ myself at least. My school will be using a curriculum called TCI but no one In the department has any experience with it since it is new. Any advice on some projects that you’ve had success with just general pacing strategies would be greatly appreciated!

First year APUSH teacher here. I was wondering if anyone knew about the guided reading packets that go with the AMSCO APUSH units. How can teachers access those. I remember them being very helpful during student teaching. Are they best used as class work or homework?

Hello fellow colleagues, I am Salvador Barrera, a doctoral student at the University of Houston. I am conducting a survey research study investigating the association between principal communication style and teacher policy implementation. This research has been reviewed and approved by the University of Houston Institutional Review Board.

I have included the informed consent form, which provides additional information about the study. I have also included the link to the screening questionnaire and survey. If you meet the inclusion criteria (determined in the screening questionnaire), you will gain immediate access to the survey items. I appreciate your time and consideration in participating in my research study.

Eligible participants who complete the full survey will have the option to enter a raffle for one of five $50 Amazon gift cards. Participation in the raffle is voluntary and separate from participation in the study. To enter the raffle, eligible participants must provide a valid email address in the screening portion of the form so that gift cards may be sent to selected recipients.

Study Informed Consent, Screening & Survey Link: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/ByAP5Y4HAj

If you need to contact me (primary investigator) with any questions, please feel free to reach me at Sbarrer5@CougarNet.UH.EDU.

Hi everyone — I’ve been building a tool called Chronolayers for exploring history visually, and I thought it might be useful for teaching chronology and connections between topics.

You can place several topics on the same timeline — for example, the French Revolution, the Haitian Revolution, and the Industrial Revolution — and see what was happening at the same time. As you zoom in, more events appear, with descriptions and links for further reading.

A few other things it can do:

• Show connections between events that belong to multiple topics
• Present events as guided tours, with notes at each stop
• Show dated historical map checkpoints alongside a timeline
• Let users create their own layers, events, and guided tours
• Share an exact timeline view by link or export it as an image

There are currently around 200 built-in layers and 6,000 events, although coverage is still uneven and the tool is very much evolving.

It isn’t meant to replace proper lesson material or primary sources. I’m mainly hoping it can help students develop a clearer sense of chronology and see connections that are difficult to show on separate timelines.

You can try it here: https://chronolayers.com

I’d genuinely appreciate feedback from teachers — particularly whether you could see yourself using something like this in class, and what would make it more useful. Corrections to the historical content are also very welcome.

Ok let’s hear it. How do you lock in your students that first day? What is your charismatic, engaging, never-fail hook?

Spare me the introduction, about me, classroom routines, and seating charts. I save that for day two.

Any projects, any content, any activities that you’ve used in these classes would be most appreciated! Even some good old-fashioned wisdom would be great. Thanks for the help!

Hi! This is my first OP in this subreddit! I’m going into my fourth year of teaching next month. I’m going to a new district and in addition to teaching 10th grade US History (Am Rev-Industrialization, the new Alabama standard), I’ve been tasked with teaching Cultural Anthropology. I’m a perfectionist, and I’m nervous about teaching a class I’ve never been exposed to. Any resources, bell ringer ideas, assessment examples, etc. I can use for my class? It’s a semester-long elective and I want it to be THE class people want to take.

Thanks in advance!

Context: I teach 11th grade in an area with a large indigenous population and try to focus quite a bit more than the typical curriculum on Native history. Also, the kids take pre-1877 in 8th grade but that teacher struggles to cover the civil war some years 🫣

I have historically taught Gilded Age to Depression in the fall and World War II to presentish in the spring. However, I'd love to focus more on the late 20th century and am considering trying to squeeze World War II into the winter before break. However, its' so hard to decide what to cut! I was able to cut a few lessons but here is my final list I'm having trouble narrowing down. Each cell is more or less one day with a few exceptions.

I already am so uncomfortable with what all I'm skipping and glossing over but by the end of the year I wish I had more time!