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have been a big fan of UbD for a couple of years. After we started our incredible staff development work a couple of years ago, a friend and colleague of Karl Fisch's, Chris Lehman, suggested the book since his school, The Science Leadership Academy, uses it extensively. I picked it up and read it right away buying the workbook as well. Soon, I found out that a colleague of mine, Lauren Gaffney, used it in her graduate studies at Trinity University as well. We have talked about UbD a lot with our cooperative planning on English Literature and 9th grade units. She has actually showed me more applications of it seeing as how the first time I read it, it was challenging to make it work in my mind.

Students interact with music, movies, software, and other digital content every day-but many don't fully understand the rules surrounding the appropriate use of these materials, or why this should even matter. To help teach students about intellectual property rights and encourage them to become good "digital citizens," software giant Microsoft Corp. has unveiled a free curriculum that offers cross-curricular classroom activities aligned with national standards. The Digital Citizenship and Creative Content program was designed for students in grades 8-10 but can be adapted for use in grades 6-12, Microsoft says. In one unit, students are given a scenario in which a high school sponsors a school-wide Battle of the Bands. A student not involved in the production decides to videotape and sell copies of the show to students and family members. Later, one of the performers ("Johnny") learns his image has been co-opted by the maker of a video game without his permission. Students research intellectual property laws to see who owns the "rights" to the Battle of the Bands as a whole, as well as the rights of individual performers, to determine three or four steps that Johnny can take. http://digitalcitizenshiped.com

Based on the integral role technology played in President-elect Barack Obama's campaign, as well as recent announcements that he will be creating a chief technology officer in the federal government for the first time, ed-tech experts suggest that the new administration could revolutionize the way technology is viewed in the United States, and, it is hoped, in education. President-elect Obama is doing for the Internet what John F. Kennedy did for television, says Hirsch, by making it a common and essential staple of American life.

videos in the vein of United Streaming

New center for researching information and digital technologies and the impact on learning has been created.

Comprehensive research on how advanced computer and communication technologies can improve all levels of learning has been funded. This National Center was created and signed into law on August 14, 2008 in the United States. I think that research is a great thing. I they will involve all educators in developing their primary questions. Research based best practices underlie all we do and we do need more. I hope, however, they don't get too hung up on the technology (i.e. wiki, blog) and focus on what technology lets us do.

Middle-school students across the United States are invited to submit their solutions to environmental problems in their communities. Teams of two to three students from sixth through eighth grade working with a teacher will identify an environmental issue in their community, research the issue using scientific investigation, and create a replicable green solution using Web-based curriculum tools.

New contest for middle school science! Love the website!

I was pleased with how this introductory unit turned out. You'll notice, we created wikis, I had assigned 2 grades, one for technical (do they know how to do things) and another as the regular grade. For bonus for the test, students could make flashcards on proprofs (they are printable) or games on classtools.net and embed in the wiki. Also included is the assignment and my grading rubric made in excel. Sharing in case you'd like to use something similar. There are many ways to introduce wikis. First, each student created a sandbox page with basic requirements, then, this was their first group project.

Assignment for computer fundamentals - first wiki team project of 9th grade year.

The United States is failing to develop the math skills of both girls and boys, especially among those who could excel at the highest levels, a new study asserts, and girls who do succeed in the field are almost all immigrants or the daughters of immigrants from countries where mathematics is more highly valued.

Excellent Series of Lesson Plans on Reading and It's Purpose

Math and Science fellowships for beginning math and science teachers.

Math and Science teachers -- beginning teachers should consider applying for these fellowships. These are in the United States. Here is what the ocmpany says about the fellowships (applications due Jan 15): "The prestigious KSTF Teaching Fellowship is valued at nearly $150,000 over the course of five-years and supports aspiring teachers of promise as they embark on careers teaching high school science and mathematics. Designed to meet the financial and professional needs of beginning teachers, the Fellowship exposes educators to a variety of teaching resources, new curriculum materials, and research and experts in the field. Most importantly, the program fosters professional development within a community of high school science and mathematics teachers and prepares Fellows to become leaders in their field."

Interactive Timeline\n\nExplore the lives and administrations of twelve Presidents of the United States.

Interesting example of using a class LMS.

An annotated guide to the best sites on the history of the United States in World War II.

The Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum (MCLM) maintains the largest and most academically substantial, independently held collection of rare and out-of-print books, documents, films, music, photographs and memorabilia on African American history and culture in the United States.   MCLM's primary goal is to make the collection available to the public as a cultural compass to a more complete view of American history. 

Built for Research Work in Ledes: The smallest unit of a story Quickly enter and navigate Ledes Save rich text descriptions Tag with your own categories Search through full content or by tag Track your progress Secure and Reliable Runs on Google's cloud infrastructure Ledes and Tags restricted to each user Auto-saves edit progress every ten seconds Simple privacy policy: All your data is private; nobody will view it unless a critical bug requires doing so

10 alternative tools that either offer a different perspective on digital writing or are a little known tool, that may have huge potential in the classroom. Not everything is free nor is it online - but the list will hopefully provide food for thought when you are looking at your next non-fiction or narrative unit with your class.

These interactive whiteboard games are great review activities for a class that has reached the end of a unit of work, or for the teacher who wants to check up on how much has been learned so far.

This site provides an overview of Understanding Media Literacy: Inside Plato's Cave, a 13 unit, 3-credit course for those wishing to know more about the nexus between children and media literacy. The course is especially designed for those who teach at the grades 7 - 12 levels,

After sharing my writing territories with students,  I had some time to watch them as readers and writers in the library as they interacted with nonfiction text.

"Ever wondered how to make science or math flash cards for students to use with their mobile devices? This typically comes about because finding science and math flash cards specific to a particular concept, topic area, or unit is difficult. Often when appropriate flash cards are found, they are too expensive or need modification. Technological advances have uncomplicated the process of making tailor made free flash cards for students."