About

I am a Social Sciences teacher at a large high school in the suburbs of the Midwest.  These days, my primary focuses are teaching Geography and World History to teenagers, and sharpening my skills for my courses.  One of the ways that I am doing this is by writing my own “textbook”.  I am creating an illustrated guide to human geography.

In the age of budget cuts and iPads (an oxymoron isn’t it?), there is more and more talk about districts cutting out the costly purchasing of textbooks and having their teachers write their own guides; an exciting, controversial, and daunting process.  In an effort to find out more about what this process is all about, I am chronicling my attempt at creating my first “textbook” for my students, the time it took, the processes that I followed, the creative steps, and the logistics of making this hypothetical a reality.

Mostly, this blog will be my therapy for when it gets tough, but if you are interested in learning about making your own textbook or illustrated guide to something, follow along!

Here I go.