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Debbie Moore

Center for Civic Education Home - 3 views

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    The Center for Civic Education is website designed to educate students in citizenry, the constitution and democratic constitutionalism. The Center offers a full curriculum at all three learning levels: elementary, middle school and high school. Their materials include full lesson plans and textbooks that support their program. The lesson plans include critical thinking exercises, vocabulary lists, problem solving activities and cooperative learning activities. The program is designed so that teachers can use it to supplement an existing curriculum or as the foundation of their curriculum. My cooperating teacher is going to use parts of the program to supplement her curriculum. The lessons focus on life in American, the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, political traditions and institutions, different levels of government (local, state and federal), constitutionalism and the rights and responsibilities of citizens. The center also offers professional development seminars that are often free of charge to DC teachers. For example, on October 27th, there is a free seminar for DC teachers on "We the People Through Primary Sources and Documents" being held at the National Archives….they even provide a free lunch! Here is the direct link to the professional development page: http://www.civiced.org/index.php?page=state_programs&&p=101&&st=DC.
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    Haha, I love this site! I posted on it the week before last. I reeeeeeaally want to get a job working for them! :-)
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    Laura, that is funny....we seem to like the same sites. It is an awesome sight...and the program is awesome too. Do you have a set of the books? Good luck...I hope that works out for you!!
jbdrury

Re-thinking Newsweek and U.S. News Rankings - 0 views

  • Re-thinking the Rankings
  • B-CC had been ranked as the nation’s 64th best high school on the 2008 Newsweek list, but it was missing from U.S. News’ top 100. One parent e-mailed: “Should I be worried?”
  • In the 2009 Newsweek rankings, released in June, four county schools (Richard Montgomery, B-CC, Thomas S. Wootton and Winston Churchill) were ranked among the nation’s top 100, with two others (Walt Whitman and Walter Johnson) narrowly missing
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    • jbdrury
       
      Not to detract from MCPS, but I have often wondered if the fact that the designer of the index happens to live in the Bethesda is at all a coincidence?
  • Most years, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) has more schools in the top 100 of both lists than any other school system in the country
  • rankings validate that the school system is “seeing the benefits of providing the academic support that allows our students to aim high and achieve at the highest levels.
  • But do the rankings really mean much?
  • I feel obliged to question the validity of the methods used to rank high schools.
    • jbdrury
       
      This is the basic explanation for how Newsweek ranks its schools; interesting to note that it is based almost solely on a sort of "preparation for college" mindset
  • for ignoring graduation rates and achievement gaps among socioeconomic and ethnic segments.
    • jbdrury
       
      The author speaks directly with the designer of Newsweek's index
  • Mathews’ goal is to improve students’ academic preparation, especially in lower-and middle-income neighborhood schools. His solution is to expose more students to challenging course work, and he unapologetically describes his purpose as “advocacy as well as evaluation.
  • He says the Challenge Index’s key attributes make it the singular best measure of a school’s quality: It can be easily understood; it points directly to implementing positive change through rigorous course offerings; and it can be applied meaningfully to all schools—unlike quality evaluations based on traditional measures such as test scores, which, he says, are inherently biased toward schools in wealthier, upper-middle-class neighborhoods.
    • jbdrury
       
      As a side note; this is my former social studies teacher and the person I credit most with making me want to become a teacher
  • Walter Johnson Principal Christopher Garran
  • Critics
  • have attacked the Challenge Index for not effectively capturing what it purports to measure (school quality), in part because it doesn’t gauge student achievement, only the number of rigorous course exams taken.
  • Newsweek ranks schools based on the Challenge Index, which was developed by Washington Post education reporter (and Bethesda resident) Jay Mathews. A school’s Challenge Index score is the number of Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB) and Cambridge tests taken by all students in a school year divided by the number of graduating seniors. (AP courses are well-known; IB and Cambridge also consist of rigorous courses for which students can receive college credit. Like AP, their standardized exams are graded by outside examiners.)
    • jbdrury
       
      U.S. News also uses its own "college prep" index, but includes standardized test results, and takes socio-economic and racial differences into account
  • U.S. News’ approach
  • far more computationally complex
  • a school must do significantly better on standardized state English and math tests than statistically expected given its economic makeup; be in the top half of its state (approximately) in the performance of its minority students
  • “College Readiness” formula combines two components: the percentage of 12th-graders who had taken an AP or IB exam during or before their senior year; and the percentage who passed at least one exam—equivalent to an AP test score of 3 and an IB score of 4.
    • jbdrury
       
      He also directly quotes the manager of the U.S. News' index
  • U.S. News project, cites three ways its methodology is superior: “We measure success [tests passed]—not just quantity of tests taken. We factor in how well schools do in serving economically disadvantaged students and minorities. And we recognize schools within their respective state.”
  • The U.S. News rankings have been attacked by education experts for intermixing highly selective “elite” schools, such as Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Va.—currently their top-ranked school in the U.S.—with schools having open admissions
  • Unlike U.S. News, Mathews eliminates some academically elite schools, setting the cutoff at the level of the highest average SAT/ACT scores of any “normal enrollment” school in the country.
  • “It would be deceptive for us to put them [schools above this threshold] on this list [because] the Challenge Index has been designed to honor schools that have done the best job in persuading average students to take college-level courses and tests. It does not work for schools that have no, or almost no, average students.”
  • As of 2009, schools with AP exam pass rates lower than 10 percent (schools that would have made the list in previous years) have also been eliminated from the main Newsweek ranking. Most of these schools, which are typically located in low-income neighborhoods, have recently introduced their students to academically challenging courses as a form of “shock therapy.”
    • jbdrury
       
      A summary of the author's thoughts; pro's and con's of both methods
  • Just as the Challenge Index is too limited in its concept of best schools, the U.S. News procedures try to cover too much. The crux of the problem is combining three essentially different criteria (college readiness, overcoming economic disadvantage and minimizing ethnic group disparities) into one ranking. Schools that excel in one aren’t necessarily those that excel in the other(s). Some schools that do the greatest job of preparing their minority students might not have total-school achievement scores that are among the best. Other schools characterized by superlative overall college readiness might score only slightly above average relative to their economic profile. In trying to incorporate “economic disadvantage” and the reduction of ethnic group (minority) achievement gaps together with schoolwide high achievement, the U.S. News ranking risks confounding different educational objectives. Depth and breadth of performance, and exceeding expectations, should be reported separately, rather than conjoined. Separate rankings would be easier to understand, more informative and less disputable—although perhaps less likely to help sell magazines.
  • Several principals, including Whitman’s Goodwin, noted how nonacademic programs that help students succeed and are a huge part of some students’ lives (arts, music, sports, civic activities, etc.) are not examined.
  • comparing large and small schools can be misleading
  • eferring to the many qualitative features that go into making a great school, Doran says, “The rankings are measuring the brain of the school—not the heart of the school.”
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    Having grown up in Bethesda, I am well aware of the preoccupation with the ranking of U.S. schools. This article shares some insight into how two of the more popular (or circulated) ranking systems come up with their results.
jbdrury

NHEC | Understanding and Interpreting Political Cartoons in the History Classroom - 7 views

    • jbdrury
       
      The particular value of this proposed lesson plan is that it is designed to set your students up with the skills and strategies to be able to critically interpret political cartoons throughout the school year.
    • jbdrury
       
      This is the hyperlink to download the "Cartoon Analysis Checklist"; its proposed use is outlined in the lesson plan.
  • A lesson that introduces a framework for understanding and interpreting political cartoons that can be used throughout your entire history course.
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  • A Cartoon Analysis Checklist, developed by Jonathan Burack, is presented here as a tool for helping students become skilled at reading the unique language employed by political cartoons in order to use them effectively as historical sources
  • 1. Symbol and Metaphor 2. Visual Distortion 3. Irony in Words and Images 4. Stereotype and Caricature 5. An Argument Not a Slogan 6. The Uses and Misuses of Political Cartoons>
    • jbdrury
       
      This is a breakdown of how the lesson plan should be organized and proceed.
  • Students need to understand that political cartoons are expressions of opinion.
    • jbdrury
       
      Much like other sorts of primary source documents - the caveat that "political cartoons are expressions of opinion" is an important thing for students to keep in mind.
  • They are evidence only of a point of view
  • The Library of Congress also has a fine collection of political cartoons by cartoonist Herb Block.
    • jbdrury
       
      This is a short bio summary of the author of this lesson plan; he would appear to place great emphasis on the value of primary source analysis.
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    Because political cartoons are somewhat of special category of primary source images, I thought it would behoove us to find a particular strategy for analyzing and interpreting them - much along the same lines as the SOAPS method but one specifically designed for political cartoons. This lesson plan, and its "Cartoon Analysis Checklist" is a start.
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    Thanks for this add, I can use this for my lesson plan on Chinese immigration.
Laura Wood

EDSITEment - The Best of the Humanities on the Web - 2 views

    • Laura Wood
       
      Has great lesson plans by category and subcategory. Most of the time when I've google searched lesson plans and found them helpful, they've come from this site!
  • Advanced Placement US History Lessons
    • Laura Wood
       
      For Lindsay! :-)
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    Great lesson plans! "EDSITEment is a partnership among the National Endowment for the Humanities, Verizon Foundation, and the National Trust for the Humanities. EDSITEment offers a treasure trove for teachers, students, and parents searching for high-quality material on the Internet in the subject areas of literature and language arts, foreign languages, art and culture, and history and social studies. All websites linked to EDSITEment have been reviewed for content, design, and educational impact in the classroom. They cover a wide range of humanities subjects, from American history to literature, world history and culture, language, art, and archaeology, and have been judged by humanities specialists to be of high intellectual quality. EDSITEment is not intended to represent a complete curriculum in the humanities, nor does it prescribe any specific course of study."
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    The AP section was very helpful. Thanks for keeping me in mind. :)
Kenneth O'Regan

History Matters: The U.S. Survey Course on the Web - 2 views

    • Laura Wood
       
      "contains 1,000 primary documents in text, image, and audio that emphasize the experiences of "ordinary" Americans throughout U.S. history. All of the documents have been screened by historians and are accompanied by annotations that address their larger historical significance and context. Browse a list of documents sorted by time period, beginning with the earliest. Or visit the Advanced Search to quickly locate documents by topic, time period, keyword, or type of document."
    • Laura Wood
       
      "helps students and teachers make effective use of primary sources. "Making Sense of Documents" provide detailed strategies for analyzing online primary materials (including film, music, numbers, photographs, advertisements, oral history, and letters and diaries) with interactive exercises and a guide to traditional and online sources. "Scholars in Action" segments show how scholars puzzle out the meaning of different kinds of primary sources (from cartoons to house inventories), allowing you to try to make sense of a document yourself and then providing audio clips in which leading scholars interpret the document and discuss strategies for overall analysis."
    • Laura Wood
       
      "is our annotated guide to more than 850 useful websites for teaching U.S. history and social studies. We have carefully selected and screened each site for quality and provide a 1-paragraph annotation that summarizes its content, its strengths and weaknesses, and its utility for teachers. Information is provided on the type of resource (text, images, audio, and video) available. Browse sites by topic and time period or look through a list of some of our favorite sites. Or visit the Advanced Search to quickly locate WWW.History sites by topic, time period, keyword, kind of primary source, or type of resource. We also include extended scholarly web reviews as a regular feature of History Matters. In collaboration with the Journal of American History (JAH) we review approximately 25 websites per year. The reviews are co-published by the JAH and History Matters and appear in both venues. The archive page offers all featured web reviews."
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    • Laura Wood
       
      "Between 1997 and 2003, History Matters presented historical puzzles and quizzes. We are no longer adding new puzzles, but we include here an archive of 20 past puzzles that can be used in classrooms to inspire creative thinking and challenge assumptions."
  • more on this site)
    • Laura Wood
       
      This link has fantastic descriptions of what you can find in each of the sections of the site. I've posted some of the more exciting ones below but this site has a ton of useful history information . . .
  • Designed for high school and college teachers and students,
    • Kenneth O'Regan
       
      I dont know how to undo or ignore the sticky notes of the previous user of this site...Ill post my own and I guess they will all just get mixed up.
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    From the website: History Matters is "a project of the American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning of the City University of New York and the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Visible Knowledge Project. . . . Designed for high school and college teachers and students of U.S. history survey courses, this site serves as a gateway to web resources and offers unique teaching materials, first-person primary documents, and guides to analyzing historical evidence. We emphasize materials that focus on the lives of ordinary Americans and actively involve students in analyzing and interpreting evidence."
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    Well, it looks like a student in this group shared this in the past, but what a great website! I'll put up some more sticky notes. This website features a large number of primary source material of different media and is strong in its content. Beyond that, this site features information about the methods historians use (interesting to high school students, applicable to college students), a database of reviewed websites, lesson plans, syllabi, and teaching tips. A pretty comprehensive resource.
Jonathon Gordon

The Civil War | PBS - 2 views

  • The Civil War is now available on DVD. Visit Shop PBS for more information.Support outstanding programs like The Civil War</em
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    This site provides accurate information on the American Civil War. Using sources from the award winning Ken Burns documentary "The Civil War" which provide any social studies teacher with accurate information yo use in designing lesson plans. 
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    How might teachers use this site?
James Leslie

Texas board revises history books | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Texa... - 0 views

  • Meeting with several writing teams for social studies in all grade levels, the board asked for several revisions in the first drafts laying out the new standards for history, government and other social studies courses in Texas schools.
  • Meeting with several writing teams for social studies in all grade levels, the board asked for several revisions in the first drafts laying out the new standards for history, government and other social studies courses in Texas schools.
  • Meeting with several writing teams for social studies in all grade levels, the board asked for several revisions in the first drafts laying out the new standards for history, government and other social studies courses in Texas schools.
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  • Meeting with several writing teams for social studies in all grade levels, the board asked for several revisions in the first drafts laying out the new standards for history, government and other social studies courses in Texas schools.
  • Meeting with several writing teams for social studies in all grade levels, the board asked for several revisions in the first drafts laying out the new standards for history, government and other social studies courses in Texas schools.
  • Meeting with several writing teams for social studies in all grade levels, the board asked for several revisions in the first drafts laying out the new standards for history, government and other social studies courses in Texas schools.
  • When some board members questioned why former Secretary of State and four-star Gen. Colin Powell was being dropped from the standards for elementary grades, they were told that former President Ronald Reagan was being substituted for Powell. That ended the questions.
  • When some board members questioned why former Secretary of State and four-star Gen. Colin Powell was being dropped from the standards for elementary grades, they were told that former President Ronald Reagan was being substituted for Powell. That ended the questions.
  • When some board members questioned why former Secretary of State and four-star Gen. Colin Powell was being dropped from the standards for elementary grades, they were told that former President Ronald Reagan was being substituted for Powell. That ended the questions.
  • When some board members questioned why former Secretary of State and four-star Gen. Colin Powell was being dropped from the standards for elementary grades, they were told that former President Ronald Reagan was being substituted for Powell. That ended the questions.
  • Another board member, citing her own experiences in elementary school, called on one writing team to include the Liberty Bell as a historical artifact that should be studied by students.
  • Two of those experts, evangelical minister Peter Marshall of Massachusetts and Wallbuilders president David Barton of Aledo, were asked about their earlier recommendations to drop labor leader César Chávez and former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first black member of the court, from the standards.
  • Marci Deal, social studies coordinator in the Hurst-Euless-Bedford school district, quickly cooled off one controversy that erupted when the writing team for sixth grade initially recommended that Christmas be dropped from a list of holidays of the major religions in a world cultures and geography course.
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    This article examines how the State of Texas went about designing new standards for history government and social studies. Also, there are comments that people have made for and against the new standards.
Laura Wood

FBI Youth - Home - 0 views

    • Laura Wood
       
      So clearly the coolest link on this webpage is the "History" link. This will link you to the history of the FBI which is interesting in and of itself BUT also contains some links to primary documents. For example there is a link in 1966 called "six civil rights activists murdered" that takes you to the FBI file of the murder investigation. It might be really neat to have students look at this file and look at other accounts of this incident to understand how police/FBI officers interact with communities and crime. There's another neat account under June 1933 of the Kansas City Massacre!
    • Laura Wood
       
      The "FBI Investigates" tab is a little like the spy museum. It takes you through two cases, what happened and how investigators solved the crime. For any CSI - philes this might be some great info.
    • Laura Wood
       
      "FBI Adventures" is a little not as cool as I'd hoped. While they do give brief snapshots of country profiles, students don't get to actually investigate anything on their own. What they Could do is begin to see how even crime is globalized and how countries now have to work together to protect citizens - an interesting angle on globalization/global studies.
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    • Laura Wood
       
      The "SA Challenge" is tragically lame. It's basically a cyber scavenger hunt to find the answers to questions about the website. Then you self check. If you find all the answers you get to be the director of the FBI - at least that's what the website says. Lame.
    • Laura Wood
       
      Again, "Games" are tragically low tech and pretty lame. Word hunt, etc.
    • Laura Wood
       
      "A day in the life" would be good for any students who were thinking about becoming FBI agents. Always good to give students career choices.
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    FBI's youth website. Probably designed to entice kids to want to be in, support and trust the FBI. Some very cool stuff (no lesson plans). Check out the super rad "History" link!
Laura Wood

United Nations Cyberschoolbus - 0 views

    • Laura Wood
       
      Curricula with information for teachers and lesson plan ideas. For example the "Peace Education" section has 5 units which each contain suggested activities for class, suggested reading, links to more resources, and projects and activities. I like that there are both background readings for teachers AND activities and lesson plans for classrooms.
    • Laura Wood
       
      The Community page has lots of projects that youth around the world have completed - art, video, writing, etc. This may be inspiring for students or may help to give faces to kids in other countries and places.
    • Laura Wood
       
      Sweet! Games! Definitely play any of these before you pass them on to your students, the Flag Tag game would be great for Global Studies and the Water Quiz might be an interesting introduction to a lesson on world problems. The "Against All Odds" game is SO intense, why does everyone put it up? Anyway lots of games . . .
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    • Laura Wood
       
      Each of these boxes contains information on different global conflicts and issues. You could have your students explore this website and pick an issue to learn more about. Students could, for example, use the "web quest" in the box below to learn about child soldiers and then give a presentation for the class about the various issues affecting child soldiers and their opinion of what should be done to help these youth and their communities. Each student could select a different global challenge . . .
    • Laura Wood
       
      The "Resources" page is the UN trying to be kid friendly. They have "student" versions of various treaties (and things) and UN Publications for download or order. If you were studying a specific international treaty or event the student versions contained here might be helpful (or you could go to the primary documents). I think it'd be better to have your students CREATE student versions of these documents than to use these, but there are some videos and some links that are helpful. The global map is outdated and slow. There are better maps elsewhere.
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    "The United Nations Cyberschoolbus was created in 1996 as the online education component of the Global Teaching and Learning Project, whose mission is to promote education about international issues and the United Nations. The Global Teaching and Learning Project produces high quality teaching materials and activities designed for educational use (at primary, intermediate and secondary school levels) and for training teachers. The vision of this Project is to provide exceptional educational resources (both online and in print) to students growing up in a world undergoing increased globalization." \n\n "Within the Cyberschoolbus site there are a number of activities and projects that teach students about global issues in an interactive, engaging and fun way."
Debbie Moore

Census in Schools - 0 views

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    This site is sponsored by the U.S. Government, Census Bureau. It is speicfically designed as an educational resource for students, teachers and schools. The Census Bureau will provide lesson plans, maps, worksheets and other educational material free of charge to any teacher.
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    I observed my cooperating teacher using this site (Census in Schools) for a 6th grade geography class. The students responded positively and were actively engaged in the lesson. The students were able to work with their own individual maps while exploring and answering essential questions. The site also has information and materials appropriate for all other grades. I think that this site could also be used for U.S. History since the first census orginiated for the purpose of creating a representative government.
Debbie Moore

Peace Corps | Coverdell World Wise Schools | Educators - 0 views

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    The Coverdell World Wise Schools is a program designed by the Peace Corps to help connect students in the United States to developing countries. A classroom can be matched with a Peace Corp volunteer who is actually in country via the internet. Students can dialogue with the volunteer through this connection where they can learn about the culture. World Wise also has offers many other classroom benefits such as an archive of lesson plans.
Debbie Moore

The New York Times Learning Network - 1 views

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    "The Learning Center" is a website developed and sponsored by The New York Times. The site has links for teacher, students and parents and is designed for grades 3-12 . The link for teachers has many tools for classroom use such as lesson plans, conversation starters, daily news quiz, workd of the day, and discussion topics.
Debbie Moore

The National Portrait Gallery/Education/Teacher Programs - 1 views

  •  
    The National Portrait Gallery is one of the Smithsonian Museums in the DC area. The great thing about NPG is that it has resources available online for teachers. There are a variety of school programs and teacher programs but the best offerings are the online exhibitions. It is like having the gallery right there in your classroom. Some of those exhibits include George Washington: A national Treasure, Presidents in Waiting, and A Brush with History. The online exhibits are usable in the classroom directly from a computer or lap top. For example, the George Washington online exhibit begins with a famous portrait accompanied by an audio explanation of the portrait and the symbolic and historical items found within the portrait. Using the portrait as a starting point provides students with a visual association of that person and the historical events surrounding that person. There is also a link to biographical information about Washington and his role in our country's history. The Teacher's Guide associated with the George Washington exhibit includes lesson plans, activities and other teaching ideas; all printable and useable in class. NPG also offers two publications both of which are available on line. "The Patriot Papers," designed for students, features various historical events in an interesting and engaging fashion. For example, there is a "Special Edition on Slavery" featuring information on slavery and the key players involved. One of the articles in this publication is "A Chat with Harried: 1869" and also includes her portrait. The second publication, NPG in your Classroom, provides information to teachers on how to integrate NPG into classroom lessons. There are many more valuable tools on this site such as a "Reading Portraiture Guide for Educators." Check out the site….it is awesome!!!
Debbie Moore

Concepts to Classroom: Course Menu - 4 views

  •  
    Concept to Classroom is a website sponsored by the Educational Broadcasting Corporation. It is an interactive site desinged for educatotors and provides online workshops featuring a variety of teaching strategies such as cooperative learning, inquiry based learing and teaching to multiple intelligences. Other categories include workshops on constructivism, assessment, curriculum design, and using the internet in the classroom. Clicking on any of these categories, directs one to information about that topic. For example, the inquiry based learning filter will provide a description of the teaching method, benefits for using the method, criticisms of the method, and finally lesson plans using that particular method. In the multiple intelligences section, there is a series of five lesson plans on world religions I may adapt for a 7th grade class. Check it out…it is a great resource for ideas and lesson plans.
creative outdoors

Superb Creative Outdoor Ideas - 1 views

I have always wanted to build a patio to enjoy a lazy afternoon whilst looking out to my garden or where I can enjoy a cup of coffee during weekends as well as an area to receive and entertain gues...

started by creative outdoors on 31 Oct 12 no follow-up yet
atitzel

American Civil War Augmented Reality Project - 6 views

  •  
    A fascinating project designed by history teachers to use Augmented Reality to make the past come alive. Help spread the word to make this a reality.
Laura Wood

Upfront - 0 views

    • Laura Wood
       
      The teacher that I'm observing for my thesis research (let's call her Teacher 2) gets tons of these every month and distributes them to all of her students. They use some of the articles, cartoons and pictures for their class but I've also heard other teachers say that the kids just read them in their down time. SWEET!
    • Laura Wood
       
      Oops, sorry, they're biweekly. That means twice month, right?
    • Laura Wood
       
      Each issue contains a cover story, International story, National Story, Technology story, Environment story, History portion, Columns and Cartoons (and more!). The content is designed for teens. They also newly have an Ethics column, where teens can exercise critical thinking, opinion forming and values exploration.
    • Laura Wood
       
      OKAY! So "Times Past" has historical events framed in a modern context. Each issue a different historic event is featured. If you were collecting these things, pretty soon you'd have a whole curricular arsenal of articles written for teens, framed in a contemporary lens, about history. It might be interesting to contrast these against newspaper articles from say the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
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    • Laura Wood
       
      "Teacher Tools" - sorry my friends. While you can read all the Upfront articles online, you can't access the "Teacher Tools" unless you buy a subscription. Who knows what "Teacher Tools" could mean. Could be curricula . . . or games! . . . or account management tools.
    • Laura Wood
       
      Lastly, there appear to be more cool pages at the top here, including: "Computer Lab Favorites," "Word Wizard Dictionary," "Write and Publish," "Reading Responses," and "Research Projects" All of these sound promising and worth exploring. Yay for current events and technology!
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    SO RAD! A New York Times publication for teens. SWEET! From the website: "The New York Times Upfront is published by Scholastic in partnership with The New York Times."
Sarah Franquemont

Teaching Constitution Day - 0 views

    • Sarah Franquemont
       
      This site provides excellent lesson plans on the Constitution, but its limited focus makes it American History specific.
    • Sarah Franquemont
       
      Some lessons include "lesson audio" and "teacher audio" links.  Clicking these links provides audio instructions to help the teacher prepare for the lesson.
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    This website provides lesson plans for every grade level on the content and significance of the U.S. Constitution. Lesson plans are designed for civic education and are meant to be implemented on Constitution Day (September 17th). This site is a resource for American History teachers teaching the Constitution.
Jonathon Gordon

Watergate and the Constitution - 2 views

  • a memo to the Watergate Special Prosecutor Leon Jaworski, was written by Jaworski's staff as he was considering whether or not to indict Nixon.
    • Jonathon Gordon
       
      The lesson plan gets its direct information from a document that was used in the Nixon hearings
  • This lesson would likely work best after an introductory lesson on Watergate.
    • Jonathon Gordon
       
      Important that the writer of this lesson suggests that students will need prior knowledge on Watergate
  • The lesson is centered around a primary document from the Watergate scandal, and requires students to read the Constitution.
    • Jonathon Gordon
       
      The lesson uses primary source documents which help students learn to read with a historical eye. 
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  • Historical background is detailed and accurate. The document is from The National Archives.
    • Jonathon Gordon
       
      All historical documents come from the National Archive making them historically accurate 
  • Yes The lesson is clearly presented and is easily adapted to emphasize either History or Civic standards.
    • Jonathon Gordon
       
      This website is very useful for social studies teachers, especially those teaching history, because it helps teachers design valuable lesson plans with accurate information. 
  • One of the suggested activities asks students to identify the specific role each branch of government played in the Watergate affair. Another activity asks students to apply specific sections of the Constitution and determine the role particular constitutional powers and rights played in the Watergate affair.
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    This site provides history teachers with information for helping with their classes. This part of the site includes lesson plans with this one specifically on "Watergate and the Constitution." 
Lindsay Andreas

National Governors Association - 0 views

  • increase student participation in rigorous college preparatory courses, better align expectations between high school and postsecondary education, hold these systems accountable, and ensure students graduate from high school ready for college or the workplace in the global economy.
    • Lindsay Andreas
       
      An important part of our mission as secondary educators is to prepare students for either post-secondary work and the workplace.
  • While states invest significant resources in education programs, governors also recognize and appreciate the federal government’s contribution to provide additional resources or assistance for those most in need.
    • Lindsay Andreas
       
      It is important to remember the break-down in financing, and therefore, where real power lies. If we want policy change, we need to know the most effective avenues for lobbying. We may think Obama sets the education policy agenda but the reality is, governors have a lot of power and persuasion in the field. For example, it always amazes me how different public higher education systems are, and this is because certain states have made it a priority to fund higher education greatly.
  • In this new economy and era of education reform, now is the time to reform postsecondary education by increasing relevance and rigor, accountability, and linkages with kindergarten-12th grade&nbsp;(K-12) education and the workplace, and by expanding financial aid to students of all ages.
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  • Provide capacity-building incentives to states to increase teacher supply and retention, as well as education research.
    • Lindsay Andreas
       
      On the national level, you only seem to hear about accountability but it is refreshing to see that the NGA takes a lot more into account. I really feel like they are better in touch with the realities of education policy.
  • Authorize states to provide diverse learning options and assessment options, including the option for growth models, determined at the state level.
    • Lindsay Andreas
       
      Again, they are concerned with other models of assessment for accountability. I think it is safe to say no one disagrees that there should be accountability but the approach varies greatly and I am more aligned with NGA approaches.
  • Congress should refrain from establishing any federal mandates to ensure maximum state and local flexibility to create aligned systems.
  • A one-size-fits all approach to high school learning is outdated and does not support the diverse needs of students. Governors encourage Congress to support state and local policies and programs that expand the availability of learning opportunities for students of all ages including, but not limited to, virtual school options, service learning, internships, apprenticeships, programs addressing out-of-school-youth, alternative learning programs, and the availability of financial aid.
    • Lindsay Andreas
       
      Thank you! School choices and meeting diverse needs. I really like their recommendations, they want to leave room for discretion.
  • Maximum flexibility in designing state accountability systems, including testing and other indicators of achievement, is critical to preserve the unique balance involving federal funding, local control of education, and state responsibility for system-wide reform. Maximum flexibility in state testing will help improve how students are assessed for academic proficiency and postsecondary readiness. Flexibility should include the option for states to utilize growth measures to assess student performance.
  • Teachers and school leaders must receive the professional support and training needed to provide students with the skills necessary to compete in a global society, particularly in science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM), literacy, and international and language studies.
    • Lindsay Andreas
       
      I think the support issue is very relevant because of my experience at McKinley. They are in the process of introducing AP and a STEM program but the teachers are confused about how it should work, I think if they were given more support and guidance, things would run much more smoothly.
  • High schools must compete with other more highly compensated professions for teachers and school leaders, especially in the areas of mathematics and science. Congress should continue to support and expand state-administered pilot projects on performance pay, especially in critical shortage areas or hard-to-staff schools.
    • Lindsay Andreas
       
      There are a lot of bright young people that don't think about getting into the education profession because it doesn't pay enough and doesn't get enough respect. I really do believe we must make the profession more attractive in order to get the best pool of professionals.
  • Federal policies should encourage—not discourage—promising state efforts in dual enrollment programs that permit students to obtain high quality college-level credits or provide the opportunity to earn an industry-recognized credential while still in secondary school.
  • Congress also should support state efforts that encourage more students to enroll in Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) coursework and pay for student AP testing.
    • Lindsay Andreas
       
      I don't necessarily know if I believe in these programs, I'm undecided. I did AP in H.S. and I don't know if I get the point exactly, however, if you are going to do these programs, make sure it is clear the goal of having such programs.
  • The use of a high school graduation rate in any accountability framework must serve as an incentive to promote state and local innovation to better engage and educate every student, and count all students who graduate from high school. Congress and the Administration should work closely with governors to ensure the proper use and application of the NGA Voluntary High School Graduation Rate.
    • Lindsay Andreas
       
      I think this is so on point, sometimes we do all this testing and numbers/stats but don't even know why we are using them. If we use them to better innovate, that seems like a good thing to me.
  • Governors believe that career and technical education programs and career and technical education teacher certification requirements should reflect the need to better integrate career and academic curriculum and integrate career professionals into the career and technical education teaching corps.
    • Lindsay Andreas
       
      Amen! I believe in a balance between theory and practice, you need both! Let's invest in prep, it's not the most popular thing because it takes time to see the results but I think it is important and worth the wait.
  •  
    This is the National Governors Association, education policy website, specifically, I have selected the policy position on High School Reform, as it is most pertinent to us, the end goes into higher education but that is for another time. The NGA is one of the best education policy sites. As we know, the states are the primary forces in setting education agendas and it is important to see what bi-partisan work they are doing. Governors are usually very influential in education politics.
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