Ten years ago, I was coming down the steps from the 6th form block to the ground floor of the school where I was teaching, and a 6th former told me that a plane had just crashed into the World Trade Centre in New York. My wife had visited the previous year, and had pictures taken in the bar looking down on the city below, and also outside the entrance, showing the dramatic metal supports which made up the exterior structure of the towers.As I arrived home, the TV was on and my wife was watching the coverage, of the burning towers, and shortly after the first one collapsed.
The rest of the day had a strange mood of uncertainty as we watched the endless coverage and heard the stories of people in and around the area. At that stage, the predicted numbers of fatalities were many times higher than the final figure. My wife got out her holiday pictures from a few months earlier, and we recognised the metal shapes as the same ones that were visible: twisted and sticking up from the debris.
Liz Taylor of Homerton College, Cambridge uses an image of 9/11 to explore the idea of 'geographical significance'. The event could be said to have "changed the world", and established connections which were global in extent.
There are a range of useful 9/11 resources for colleagues who wish to spend part of tomorrow (the nearest school day to the anniversary) remembering and looking at the significance of the event.
Download a PDF by Liz Taylor and Simon Catling which describes more on significance, from the GTT website.
A fascinating NY TIMES map of (apparently) a million stories of memories from the day is being created. Click the dots to read the stories and memories - try the New York one and see the dots close to Ground Zero.
Oxfam's resource on Teaching Controversial Issues (click the link to download the PDF) has an image of 9/11 on the front cover.
Finally, the RGS-IBG website has a new section called GEOGRAPHY TODAY.
Click the link to download a PDF of the Geography of 9/11 written by Klaus Dodds.
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