Jennifer Janzen has invited me to come in next week and talk to her students about Canada and the First World War. I'm a little nervous but very excited about the chance to step into a classroom. I'm mostly concerned though about making sure I don't stand and talk for two hours non-stop about the First World War, Trenches, Machine Guns and all kinds of other traditional material.

It's difficult to create engaging but historically relevant activities surrouding the first and second world war. I've watched enough of the history network to know that it's easy to sit there and drop into unending debates about Ross Rifles vs. Lee-Enfields or Panther tanks vs. Soviet T-34 Tanks. While maybe interesting for military history geeks, it's not really educational.

So what do you cover in a couple of hours and how do we get students to assess and think about the campaigns that were fought. I'm thinking about approaching it from after the war and discussion of where to build the monument to mark Canada's First World War effort. Vimy wasn't the only choice, and many would still argue that other campaigns - Ypres, Hill 70, the last 100 days - were all at least as important, if not more so.

I'm hoping the discussion could lead to some insightful research into the battles themselves, especially if supported with a variety of sources. I'll keep posting ideas over the next few days as I find more material.