Welcome to history, 7B!

Dear 7B,

This is my Year 7 History Blog, an amateur mini-website that you can use to brush up on your knowledge and extend your reading beyond your text book.

The best thing about this blog is, you can visit it any time, whether at school or at home, so long as you know the address. That means you can use it to check on what we’re doing in class, to flick through class powerpoints, to revise for tests and to find websites with useful information.

There’s a little alien whose name is at the top of this blog. His name is Emit Repoons. You can see him in the picture below. In a way, he is the mascot of the blog.

My name is Emit Repoons. I'm blue, alien and clever.
My name is Emit Repoons. I'm blue, alien and clever.

You have been a delightful class so far, full of ideas and quick with intelligent comments and knowledgeable remarks.

Kind regards,

Ms Green.

A lucky history teacher

Ros in jumperGosh, I’m lucky.

Every year I get a bunch of bright, questioning students for whom History is a new subject. Sure, they’ve learned history in primary school, they’ve read some “Horrible History” books and they’ve watched some gruesome documentaries. They know plenty. But I get to be their first History teacher. I am the one who discovers their lively minds, harnesses their curiosity, delves into their already considerable knowledge, regales them with my favourite stories of the past and introduces them to the secrets, what-ifs and endless possibilities of History. How lucky can a teacher be?

Could this be the site for a ritual self-mummification?
Could this be the site for a ritual self-mummification?

Sometimes I have a fear that the school administration, in its unfathomable wisdom, will take my year sevens away from me. I imagine what kind of tantrum a history teacher might throw, in such circumstances. Would I perform a ritual self-mummification in the quadrangle? Would I start a one-woman demonstration, holding a placard with the words, “Teacher’s rights violated”? I can certainly picture myself grovelling in the principal’s office. “Please,” I would beg. “Please don’t take those little tackers away from me.”

I bet you don’t think that you’re little tackers. But you will feel that way for a little while at your new school. The senior students are so BIG. I even find them big. Don’t worry. This school is a wonderful, friendly place. I’ve been here for ever and I never want to leave. I hope you’ll feel the same. At least for six years…

Ancient stones revealing ancient secrets...
Ancient stones revealing ancient secrets... (Photo kindly provided by Mrs McQueen)

Hmm, now about History. We start out with the dawn of humankind. I love that phrase. We meander through the Stone Age. We visit ancient Egypt. Ancient Greece and ancient Rome are also a couple of bus-stops along the way. I mean chariot-stops. Then we go to medieval Europe. You know, peasants aplenty, knights, castles, rotten sanitation, plague, crusades, a semi-constant state of war. It’s messy but fascinating. I hope you like it all as much as I do.

Don’t forget, your job is to ask questions I have never thought of, to find out information not already in my dwindling memory, to delve into the past with all the passion of a thinker, a philosopher and archaeologist. Picture yourself with a mental shovel. Start digging!

Oh, and have a great time at high school, S1X!

Kind regards,

Ros Green, your lucky History teacher

A Balancing Act

Welcome to high school, 7X! You might find it a bit tricky at first, but I know you will master all the critical information very quickly. Last year was harder. We had just changed all the room numbers, so even the teachers kept getting lost. At least this year we should be able to help you out if you are wandering in a panic around the school, wondering where you should be.

Boy on donkey JB

***Other kids have balancing acts too!***

(Photo taken by John Bayley during his recent trip to Egypt. He’s my brilliant photographer friend, who should be working for National Geographic. He travels and I stay home. For some reason I think he’s happier about the arrangement than I am!)

All the same, you will find that you need to balance all the conflicting demands of your subject teachers, new friends and family life this year. For most of you, this will be part of the fun. There will never be a dull moment (except, perhaps, in a history class when I talk for far too long).

Now, about History. We start with Stones and Bones. That’s prehistory, archaeology and the Stone Age.

Egypt in Stones jBAnother shot from the lens of John Bayley

Next, we move to ancient Egypt (you could call it Peasants and Pyramids, or Mummies and Mud-brick, or Pharaohs and Floods). Then there is ancient Greece OR ancient Rome. You have a choice there. It’s the only time I allow a little bit of democracy. Most of the time I’m a typical teacher autocrat. Be warned.

Pyramid and camel JBPhoto by John Bayley

Finally, we move on to the medieval period: Benedictines and Buboes, perhaps, or Battles and Battlements. You know the kind of thing.

About this blog: you can go back into the deep past and see what other students have done and achieved before you. You can try their quizzes, look at their assignments and read up on topics they have covered. You can also see what we are doing now very easily by reading the most recent post or the homework box on the top left. You may also like to leave a comment, ask a question, suggest a website, or educate us all about history, school or life. Make sure your comments are thoughtful, constructive and entertaining.

If you do leave a comment, never put your family name in it. We use only first names and I avoid referring to our school too. This blog is private; you can only find it through the address, not through google searches. So when you get home, bookmark it or add it to your favourites so that you can find it. Whenever you leave a comment, as if by magic I receive an email. I can write a response to a question to you individually or to the blog, whatever you wish. All part of the service! Of course, some comments are for others to read and require no response from me.

Now, have a brilliant year and I hope the balancing act of Year 7 is a challenge, a thrill and a joy for you all. It is part of the pleasure of being a teacher that I get to observe my year sevens as they settle in and begin to show their humour, wit and confidence in their new setting.

Kind regards,

Ros/Ms Green.