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I found this article about individual teachers selling their lesson plans online to be very interesting. Over the past few years, many teachers have started selling their lesson plans online rather than just sharing them on free websites. One teacher has earned $36,000 in a year selling lesson plans. This trend has caused some school districts to question the idea of who owns material developed for public school classrooms and whether or not school districts should share some of the profits. Others worry that selling the lesson plans harms the idea of free swapping and sharing. But, some teachers argue that it validates their efforts and shows that people recognize their hard work and expertise. Whether using free or bought lessons from online, I did find the teachers who argued that they enjoy comparing their lessons and getting ideas to be very compelling.

The Mercatus Center at George Mason University is the world's premier university source for market-oriented ideas-bridging the gap between academic ideas and real-world problems. A university-based research center, the Mercatus Center advances knowledge about how markets work to improve people's lives by training graduate students, conducting research, and applying economics to offer solutions to society's most pressing problems. Our mission is to generate knowledge and understanding of the institutions that affect the freedom to prosper, and to find sustainable solutions that overcome the barriers preventing individuals from living free, prosperous, and peaceful lives. Founded in 1980, the Mercatus Center is located on George Mason University's Arlington campus.

I think I got this a while ago from the Diigo History Teacher's website but I really like the idea of it, so i"m posting it on our Diigo page too. Basically, this teacher created a history/technology club. The students build technology that is from historical periods and also work on artifacts. It's like bringing Ancient Rome to your classroom or colonial Williamsburg. I think people can use it for ideas/inspiration. You wouldn't have to have an after-school club, you could pick a project that works well within a particular unit.

Some of the projects are really intense but I kind of want to make the walnut ink.

So I got this link from a friend of mine and I had no idea what he was sending me. It didn't make any sense until he told me that the artist is an Italian singer who sang this song in an American accent and so the song is basically what English sounds like to people who don't speak it. And then I had a light bulb moment-- what a FANTASTIC way to illustrate cross cultural differences. Show this video and ask the students to comment on it and then tell them that this is what songs sound like to people who don't speak the same language as us. That's just ONE possibility...there are so many more!

I have no idea either! Which I guess is what it sounds like to Italian people when they listen to like Britney Spears or something like that. I think it would be a cool thing to use to teach about cross cultural communications or something like that.

So, it's not for the dance moves...

A Global Peace Studies Online Curriculum created by AU alum and adjunct Daryn Cambridge. Contains links to documents, lesson plan ideas, activities and resources. A great beginner's guide to peace education

A Global Peace Studies Online Curriculum created by AU alum and adjunct Daryn Cambridge. Contains links to documents, lesson plan ideas, activities and resources. A great beginner's guide to peace education AND offers links to news articles and a Peace Educators discussion site!

Worldology.com was conceived with the objective of making history and geopolitics (the relationship and dynamic between geography and politics) more easily digestible and understandable. As one who has long been interested in this topic, I have been intrigued by the possibility of more imaginative ways to bring this field of understanding to life. This led to the idea of graphical and interactive maps to enable myself and others to more acutely visualize the evolution of nations and cultures. As the creator of Worldology.com, I have found that maps have been very useful in simplifying and deepening my understanding of historical events, along with long-standing and on-going dynamics between various nations. However, most published content about important events throughout history are not accompanied by an event-specific map. With this in mind, I envisioned an application that provided an event-specific map for key developments throughout history, along with an expanded geographical view, in order to comprehend the region-wide context. For interactivity, mouseovers were imbedded so the visitor could access more detailed information of key events, along with added graphics for further illumination. Then, you can toggle back and forth between time frames, to gain a feel of the evolution of the geopolitical landscape over time. For example, in the Europe History Interactive Map, you can click back and forth through major time periods, gaining an overview of how tribes, kingdoms, empires and nation-states fluctuated throughout time. During the Middle Ages for instance, you can simultaneously see how the Frankish Empire (Western/Central Europe), Byzantine Empire (Greece) and Rus Principalities (Russia) evolved concurrently with one another. Then, you can mouseover the information buttons to learn more. You can even switch to the "Show Borders" view in order to see modern European borders overlayed upon long-ago political entities. I hope to eventually cover the entire

PBS Teachers Thematic Teaching Activity Ideas

This is a great lesson for a middle school geography class that would get students thinking about peoples' motivations for migrating from one place to another. The lesson plan includes objectives and standards as well as the lesson procedure. There are also ideas for extension activities.

This lesson plan from the New York Times web site utilizes the newspaper to teach high school students about First Amendment rights and the daily impact of those rights on their lives.

This lesson plan from the New York Times web site has students locate, summarize and reflect on articles in the newspaper related to First Amendment rights as well as articles illustrating the lack of such rights in other countries.

"Upcoming Professional Development Opportunities Teaching History Through Art Date: Saturday, October 16, 2010 Time: 10:00a.m.-1:00p.m. Cost: $10 (more information) Learn how to use artworks as primary sources to teach American history and critical thinking. This workshop brings together the highlights of the collection used in American Art's history tours, including Young America, Lure of the West, and A House Divided. Come and get activity ideas to use in preparation for a tour or as stand-alone classroom lessons. This workshop will be offered again on February 12, 2011 and is available, by request, for groups of fifteen or more teachers. E-mail AmericanArtEducation@si.edu for more information."

I can't make this event, but it could be really interesting!

Online debate forum and social network community built around ideas, discussion and democracy

Lists of best sellers, publisher book-sale data, and online booksellers can tell you which books are purchased most often, but they do not know, like we do, which books students actually open and read, cover to cover. It is never a bad idea to know what kids are reading in order to connect in the classroom.

The Discovery Education website provides some really great resources for students and teachers. It can provide a nice jumping off point for one's own lessons and activities.

I love all the lesson plans. You're totally right that the plans may need some tweaking, but it's a great place to get ideas.

This is an interesting site that shares reasons why social studies is important and how a person can effectively teach it. It also has a link to the role of values that should be expressed in social studies.

This is sort of a basic review of how and why we as teachers might use film in the classroom. This is my first post on this issue; I am searching for some more in-depth sites that might have models for lesson plans. Many sites have lesson plans based around a specific film; a site that provides lesson plan templates that are applicable across a wide variety of films would be more applicable/useful. However, the comments made here by Paris provide a good base from which to start thinking about the idea.

Articles on what kids in the US have done politically, with pictures! Collected by a journalist and an educator.

This is the organization run by the author of "Fires in the High School Bathroom." As the only permanent staff are journalists and web designers (and the staff is tiny!). I believe they just collect and make available student stories (as well as apparently offering grants!) rather than actually participating or spearheading any projects themselves. They do publish works every so often - I believe collections of the things students have done.

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!!!

This link is a part of a school district website in the state of New York. I found it while searching for information on Socratic seminars. It is really great because it provides all the information one needs to learn about teaching the dialogue method. Informational filters include an overview, elements of a Socratic seminar, frequently asked questions by teachers and students, dialogue and behavior guidelines for using this dialogue method and suggestions for the types of readings or materials that work best with this method. If you like the idea of using the Socratic method in your classroom, you will want to visit this site.