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in title, tags, annotations or urlJournal of the West - 0 views
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Meridian International Center - 0 views
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Meridian is great - they can arrange for someone to come to your classroom about another country. They can talk about the country's history, politics, and especially culture. They even bring lots of visuals and props that students can use. I am having someone from Meridian come to my class to talk about India when I teach about Gandhi. Check it out!
Hampton Grad Map - 0 views
NM Public Access Archives 2 - 0 views
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Downloadable Media @ your library: District of Columbia - 0 views
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Some notable audio/mp3/ipod selections from the DC Public Library that I feel would be great for Social Studies, specifically. The Civil War (Shelby Foote) He is considered a top scholar, along with James Mcphereson. If there are two names you should be familiar with for Civil War scholarship, they are it! My Brother Sam is Dead. You may have read this when studying the American Revolution, a great way to incorporate literature into the study of history. Thomas Jefferson & His Time (Multiple Volumes) TJ, enough said!
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Newest Video Additions
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For the visual learners of your class. Some PBS Home video selections, a very reputable education source.
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Learning a Language:
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This doesn't relate to Social Studies directly but I think it is a pretty cool feature, language tapes can be really expensive, why not utilize a free library membership?
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Audiobooks
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Why fight it? It is well accepted in the education field that students learn in multiple ways. Specifically, students with learning disabilities should also be kept in mind. I know we are studying to be general educators but you will be dealing with IEPs and a working knowledge of special education must not be overlooked.
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I was at the National Book Festival yesterday, it was wonderful, great resources overall. They were really pushing eBooks and audiobook downloads and I think it is an important education trend we need to be aware of. The kids are becoming so tech-oriented, why fight it? We need to use it to our advantage.
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Study Shows New York Charter School Students Score Better - NYTimes.com - 0 views
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The study’s methodology addresses that issue by comparing charter school students with students of traditional schools who applied for charter spots but did not get them.
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I find this to be an effective way to measure the success of charter schools. By comparing students to students who wished to attend charter schools but were not admitted, the study deals with the issue of student and parent motivation.
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Ms. Hoxby did not reach any conclusions about what practices at the schools caused the jump, but she noted that many charter schools had extended school days and school years, many required students to attend classes on Saturdays and most paid teachers based on their performance and responsibility, rather than the traditional teachers’ union salary scales.
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Ms. Hoxby did not reach any conclusions about what practices at the schools caused the jump, but she noted that many charter schools had extended school days and school years, many required students to attend classes on Saturdays and most paid teachers based on their performance and responsibility, rather than the traditional teachers’ union salary scales.
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While I find the practices of charter schools to be exciting (in that the requirements do seem to be making a difference), this still leaves the disturbing issue of the gap between charter schools and traditional schools. While Bloomberg and Klein can praise the charter schools, the reality is that most students are still in traditional schools and are not helped by these improvements. I would like to know if there is a way for these practices to be implemented on a more wide-spread scale.
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Students who entered charter schools performed better on state exams compared to students who wished to attend charter schools but were not admitted based on a lottery.
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Teaching Cops to See | Arts & Culture | Smithsonian Magazine - 0 views
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Suspecting that some of the cops were first-timers to the Met, she tried to ease the pressure. "Remember," she said, "there are no judgments and no wrong answers."
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As we talked about in class, making students feel comfortable to start exploring works of art is a crucial step if teachers are going to use them in their lessons. In much the same vein, Herman had to make sure the policemen felt comfortable in this new environment and did not feel inhibited from sharing their ideas or observations just because it was a new medium.
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Eager Students Fall Prey to Apartheid's Legacy - 1 views
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KHAYELITSHA, South Africa — Seniors here at Kwamfundo high school sang freedom songs and protested outside the staff room last year because their accounting teacher chronically failed to show up for class. With looming national examinations that would determine whether they were bound for a university or joblessness, they demanded a replacement.
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In the black townships of South Africa, many public schools do not meet the students' high expectations of career or college preparation. This article describes how students have worked for justice: protesting (at times violently) and teaching themselves lessons when teachers fail to show for work.
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Here in the Western Cape, only 2 out of 1,000 sixth graders in predominantly black schools passed a mathematics test at grade level in 2005, compared with almost 2 out of 3 children in schools once reserved for whites that are now integrated, but generally in more affluent neighborhoods.
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The author relies on interviews with current teachers, students, and administrators in South Africa. She also cites data and perspectives from the Development Bank of South Africa. In her piece she examines the current situation in a single township, then ties the issue to the entire nation.
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The author works to briefly explain how the schools were intentionally segregated in order to continue the subjugation of blacks and colored people. In the wake of N. Mandela's election, she explores how corruption and unequal distribution of resources has contributed to the education system's condition today.
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The crisis in South Africa is a reminder of the horrible education inequalities between the rich and poor, the white and the black. The student responses to their situation is at times inspirational as well as disheartening. For older students, this article could be used to encourage student involvement in dialogue with decision-makers of the school. Schools need to be responsive to the positive needs of its student body.
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KHAYELITSHA, South Africa — Seniors here at Kwamfundo high school sang freedom songs and protested outside the staff room last year because their accounting teacher chronically failed to show up for class. With looming national examinations that would determine whether they were bound for a university or joblessness, they demanded a replacement.
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Post-apartheid South Africa is at grave risk of producing what one veteran commentator has called another lost generation, entrenching the racial and class divide rather than bridging it. Half the students never make it to 12th grade.
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But South Africa’s schools also have problems for which history cannot be blamed, including teacher absenteeism, researchers say. And then when teachers are in school, they spend too little time on instruction. A survey found that they taught for a little over three hours a day, rather than the five expected
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NYT's Celia Dugger examines the quality of education for South Africa's majority black population. 15 years after the election of Nelson Mandela and the official end to apartheid, the nation's school system remains a bastion of inequality.
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IB Program to Replace APs? | The Sag Harbor Express - 0 views
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The program focuses on a project based, in-depth and multi-cultural curriculum in six main fields: the student’s native language, second language, individuals and societies, experimental sciences, mathematics and computer science, and the arts.
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This is pretty much what happened in my High School. The only AP "classes" that were offered were AB and BC Calculus.
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Nichols added, however, that as the school moves to implement the IB program, Advanced Placement classes would most likely be phased out.
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More and more colleges ARE counting IB classes toward credit. I came into AU with 18.
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Eliminating the AP classes would help defray some of the costs associated with establishing an IB program. Nichols added that the exams associated with IB programs are on par with AP tests and recognized by most universities.
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“In AP courses the students are required to memorize and regurgitate, but in the IB program the students take their knowledge and apply it to new situations. They are asked to problem solve and synthesize information,” continued Nichols
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This is the MOST IMPORTANT DISTINCTION between an AP course of study and an IB course of study. As my IB coordinator used to put it, "AP is a testing system, IB is a learning system" and it's so true. I'm still using the writing and critical thinking skills I learned as a part of the IB program in my daily life.
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“With the IB, you can show depth rather than breadth,”
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Like the other article I posted, this one deals with the IB program, but rather about it's possible implementation in a school district on Long Island (where I'm from.) It highlights all of the benefits of the program, where the other article highlighted the "weak" points of the course of study.
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shared by Laura Wood on 24 Sep 09
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Even Babies Discriminate: A NurtureShock Excerpt. | Newsweek Life | Newsweek.com - 1 views
www.newsweek.com/1
UT Austin racism education children discrimination proactive color-blind experiments research Vittrup White Black
shared by Laura Wood on 24 Sep 09
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Kids as young as 6 months judge others based on skin color. What's a parent to do?
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I find this particularly important after seeing how some race dynamics play out in my practicum. Specifically I find myself asking "Why are all the White kids sitting together in the classroom?" This article might give one reason.
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Prior research had shown that multicultural curricula in schools have far less impact than we intend them to—largely because the implicit message "We're all friends" is too vague for young children to understand that it refers to skin color.
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Highlights the importance of being specific with kids. I'm not sure why our modesty makes us, as teachers, code and shy away from just being real with our students. One of the goals that I have set for myself this semester is to get real with students, just tell them the truth (for example saying, "That's disrespectful. Stop.") instead of playing games (for example feeling flustered and walking away or saying something vague like, "behave").
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They wanted their children to grow up colorblind. But Vittrup's first test of the kids revealed they weren't colorblind at all. Asked how many white people are mean, these children commonly answered, "Almost none." Asked how many blacks are mean, many answered, "Some," or "A lot." Even kids who attended diverse schools answered the questions this way.
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And here's the gold. Kids are not color blind. Adult embarrassment to speak about race does not mean we're not communicating messages to our children about race and prejudice, it just means that we're also communicating that it's something to be embarrassed about and/or hush up. I really recommend reading this article in full. It's fantastic.
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Vittrup was taken aback—these families volunteered knowing full well it was a study of children's racial attitudes. Yet once they were aware that the study required talking openly about race, they started dropping out.
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Parents are so uncomfortable talking about race with their children, they drop out of the study. Why is this conversation So hard to have???
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hardly any of these white parents had ever talked to their children directly about race.
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To quote Zinn "you can't be neutral on a moving train" (i.e. you can't fail to proactively oppose a racist infrastructure/social order without perpetuating that racist infrastructure/social order. i.e. If you don't teach your kids explicitly anti-racist behavior, language and attitudes, you tacitly support and perpetuate a racist system - whether you are racist or not)
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An article that summarizes some incredibly important findings on race and racism. Specifically, if you don't talk about racism with kids, you support the status quo. Even very young kids.
Too Many Innocents Abroad - New York Times - 1 views
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The Future of Reading - 'Reading Workshop' Approach Lets Students Pick the Books - Seri... - 0 views
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This article provides an interesting look at the concept of reading workshops and various degrees of student choice when picking literature books to read compared to more strictly selected books. It provids a solid background explaining some of the educators who have really pushed for the reading workshop technique.
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In New York, an Accord to Allow Parent Groups to Hire School Aides - NYTimes.com - 0 views
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In what seems to be a never-ending debate in NYC about budgets and union jobs, etc., an agreement has been reached that will permit principals to hire school aides with funds that were raised by parent groups. It is a one-year agreement that aims to allow teachers to focus on teaching while aides help support them in a non-teaching capacity.
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shared by Laura Wood on 08 Oct 09
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Center for Civic Education Home - 2 views
civiced.org
school violence civic education civic education citizenship history civitas Constitution citizen podcast government
shared by Laura Wood on 08 Oct 09
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Listen to today's podcast
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Also, you can search previous podcasts to find ones that have to do with your specific lesson. Listening to the Podcasts could be a "Do now" activity or an activity at a station students rotate through.
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Daily civics quiz
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Daily 1 question civics quiz! These questions are not always about post Constitutional US. Some of the questions that I have seen had to do with Enlightenment thinking, the middle ages, ancient Greece, etc.
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Mission Statement From the site: The Center for Civic Education is a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational corporation dedicated to promoting an enlightened and responsible citizenry committed to democratic principles and actively engaged in the practice of democracy in the United States and other countries. . . . The Center specializes in civic/citizenship education, law-related education, and international educational exchange programs for developing democracies. Programs focus on the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights; American political traditions and institutions at the federal, state, and local levels; constitutionalism; civic participation; and the rights and responsibilities of citizens.
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"Resources" contains lesson plans for various grade levels, online resources, links to other organizations, etc.
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So this may be my favorite organization ever. They have an international branch, a branch in DC and a branch in California. They have a daily civics quiz on the the website and a daily 60 second civics podcast . . . I'm in <3.
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I'm just overwhelmed. I want to work at this organization . . . so many incredible incredible programs, teacher trainings, professional developments, etc. Lynn Cohen worked with Civitas in Bosnia.
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Op-Ed Columnist - The Uneducated American - NYTimes.com - 0 views
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Until now, the results of educational neglect have been gradual — a slow-motion erosion of America’s relative position. But things are about to get much worse, as the economic crisis — its effects exacerbated by the penny-wise, pound-foolish behavior that passes for “fiscal responsibility” in Washington — deals a severe blow to education across the board.
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The gradual decline of funding priority for education may not be immediately felt but I think the effects later down the road could be bad. I think we take education very much for granted.
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But these days young Americans are considerably less likely than young people in many other countries to graduate from college. In fact, we have a college graduation rate that’s slightly below the average across all advanced economies.
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I wonder who he is talking about specifically with this statement? European countries? I wonder how much of an impact in that is because many of them have free higher education, or at least highly subsidized. But then again their tax rates are outrageous. The great thing about our system is that we have a lot of choices, so it's hard to compare in many ways too.
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For example, the Chronicle of Higher Education recently reported on the plight of California’s community college students. For generations, talented students from less affluent families have used those colleges as a stepping stone to the state’s public universities. But in the face of the state’s budget crisis those universities have been forced to slam the door on this year’s potential transfer students. One result, almost surely, will be lifetime damage to many students’ prospects — and a large, gratuitous waste of human potential.
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I think this is a very interesting example, it always seems to be a question of equity or choice.
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Beyond that, we need to wake up and realize that one of the keys to our nation’s historic success is now a wasting asset. Education made America great; neglect of education can reverse the process.
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"Not a wasting asset" is so on point. I think it is hard for policy makers to realize that results are not instant. It is a hard balance, to look like you are making gains quickly or willing to wait for systematic change.
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shared by jbdrury on 16 Oct 09
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iLearn Technology » Social Studies - 3 views
ilearntechnology.com/?tag=social-studies
technology education education technology iLearn blog technology websites
shared by jbdrury on 16 Oct 09
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Meet Me at the Corner
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I thought this "Meet Me at the Corner" site was particularly interesting, and with the proper resources it could be cool to involve a class in creating videos to post in connection with DC history. -
Furthermore, this could be connected to neighborhood studies, perhaps done by the students themselves and added to this site
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What it is: Meet Me at the Corner is an inventive site that seeks to take students on virtual field trips through videos created by students. The site started with video podcasts of the history and people of New York City. As the site grows through student submissions, people and events of other towns, cities, and nations will be highlighted.
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I'm not certain this hasn't already been posted; I did a search in our groups and didn't see it. iLearn Technology is an interesting and useful blog, where people post descriptions and links to other tech-savvy web sites and applications that can be a great resource to teachers. Though most of the sites I have looked at would probably be aimed more towards K-6 classrooms, others extend at least into middle school. Much like our diigo, each post is tagged with keywords so that you may search their site by subject or category.
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shared by Laura Wood on 08 Oct 09
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National Constitution Center: Interactive Constitution - 1 views
ratify.constitutioncenter.org/constitution
bill of rights Supreme Court interactive constitution history research Education resources teaching preamble amendments articles online explore
shared by Laura Wood on 08 Oct 09
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Search theInteractive Constitution:
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Discover how the Constitution relates to more than 300 indexed topics from school prayer to civil rights.
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You can search by topic and see how different hot topics relate to the Constitution
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Search the text of the Constitution by Supreme Court decisions.
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Search the text of the Constitution by Supreme Court decisions.
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So this I think is super rad, you can search by Supreme Court cases and see which piece of the Constitution each case centered around
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This Interactive Constitution is based on The Words We Live By:
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Very Important! So this interpretation of the Constitution is taken from the perspective of Linda R. Monk who wrote the oft used text "The Words we Live By" and "Bill of Rights: A Users Guide". For more info about Linda Monk, check out http://lindamonk.com/
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Interactive Constitution:
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At the bottom right of the page is a button where you can pring the constitution in its entirety
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At the top of this home page are various boxes that say "Preamble," "Article I," etc. If you click any of these, what comes up is that section of the Constitution. If you hover over a section of the text, a portion will be highlighted. If you click on that section, that bit of text will be explained below. The interpretation given of what that text means comes from Linda R. Monk's book. There are also sometimes interpretations given by Supreme Court justices or other additional information.
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Interactive Constitution! Broken down into Preamble, Articles, and Amendments, which are each broken down into the original text, and then if you click different pieces of the text it explains what they mean. You can also search the entire constitution for key words, search by topics, or search by court case
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First In the Family - 2 views
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There are videos to watch so that students can know that they are not alone and learn from the experiences of others.
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There are many resources collected on this site, from financial aid and scholarship options to programs that might give students an admissions boost to checklists on what to do before you go.
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A spin off cite of the What Kids Can Do site, this site offers advice for teens through college age students who are the first in their families to go to college. There is also a publication that you can print. There is also a portion of the site for college aged students.
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Again, the Diigo isn't working so . . . There is a "planning checklist" on the site that has printable checklists of things students can do every year starting in 9th grade to prepared themselves for college. Teachers should explain to students that these are not absolutely necessary so that kids don't hyperventilate, but for kids needing to see progress towards a goal, these might be useful
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There is a "hard facts" tab that has some of the facts about parental income, race, and expected income. If students don't think it's important to go to college, some of these facts might shake them up and make them realize how important and how difficult it may be for them to go. This might inspire a school project where students determine how many of their classmates plan to go to college and where they want to go and why or some such thing.
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The "inspiration" tab has great quotes that teachers might consider putting up around the room and great books that teachers might consider assigning to their students.
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Thanks for posting this article, it came at just the right time for me because my students need so much help and now that their counselors were fired, they are screwed. I've been thinking of ways I can help with guiding them through the college acceptance process and this website looks like a great start.
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Summer Books - National Geographic Traveler - 2 views
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Whatever your plans, we have a book for you, selected from our online Ultimate Travel Library of classic and new reads with a great sense of place. Each of these books will illuminate your destination, give you unexpected tips on what to see and do, and keep you turning pages during that long flight or that sunny poolside afternoon.
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So for the first half of my time at McKinley we had a class called Global Perspectives and nobody knew what we were supposed to teach because it was brand new. My teacher thought it was a pain but I thought it was such a cool opportunity to have a lot of teacher freedom. They had a book that taught them about different contemporary issues around the world but it was really negative. So in order to balance out some of that negativity, particularly regarding developing countries, I think it would be cool to choose a cool travel book about some of the places. Especially if you were in a school that had a English/Social Studies department relationship. Some of the books wouldn't be very good to use but out of 50 titles, there were a few that sparked my interest.
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The River at the Center of the World: A Journey Up the Yangtze, and Back in Chinese Time, by Simon Winchester (1996). Historian Winchester seems to know everything, but he's such an engaging raconteur you can hardly begrudge him his smarts. Here he travels the 3,434-mile (5,526-kilometer)Yangtze River, reflecting on the historic importance of the river and the social straits in which the Chinese now find themselves.
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This is one that sparked my interest because it is written by a historian. I think what he did was so cool. He journeyed down the Yangtze river and tied the past and present, which is the only way to truly understand a sense of place and cultures.
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