FREE digital textbook for Civics and US History

FREE digital textbook for Civics & US History

Just in time for the start of the school year, the Bill of Right's Institute has the perfect resource that will make lesson-planning a breeze. Their FREE digital textbook, Documents of Freedom, is a tremendous resource for teachers looking for a helping hand in the classroom. The book covers history, civics, and economics, and it contains great lessons, interactive activities, and material relevant to today's America.

You can sign up for Documents of Freedom here.

Anti-Bullying Resources for our Schools

I came across this site over the summer and was immediately impressed the the amount of content available.  Peruse through and look for some great resources to use in the classroom for anti-bullying lessons and activities.

Anti-Bullying Resources for our Schools

As we all know, there was a tragic suicide of a middle school student in a neighboring town last spring. I am sure many teachers, parents, and administrators there are reflecting on what happened and how cyberbullying allegedly played a part. 

During our PD Day, I hope to share some resources that we can use in our classes to promote proper digital citizenship, especially as our students receive phones and online access earlier and earlier each year. The two resources are from Tolerance.Org and CommonSenseMedia.

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STANDARDIZED TESTING

Test Prep Doesn’t Have to Be Overwhelming

Help your students use technology and build their confidence—and teach them to speak the tests’ language.

By Heather Wolpert-Gawron

March 10, 2009 Updated March 15, 2017

Testing is just around the corner. Whether tests are designed by the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SCAC) or the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), schools nationwide are most likely beginning those additional meetings, signing legal documents full of security warnings, and sending out robocalls with such sage wisdom as “Get sleep.”

Test prep generally takes the form of practice questions, daily drills at the start of class, or worse, a halting of curriculum altogether for the sake of administering entire packets of daily test questions. I recently  (continue reading>>)

Why Students Forget -- and what you can do about it

Our brains are wired to forget, but there are research-backed strategies you can use to make your teaching stick.

By Youki Terada

September 20, 2017

Teachers have long known that rote memorization can lead to a superficial grasp of material that is quickly forgotten. But new research in the field of neuroscience is starting to shed light on the ways that brains are wired to forget—highlighting the importance of strategies to retain knowledge and make learning stick.

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This blog by Richad Byrne offers so much technology links, tips, and help for teachers, and it is all for FREE.  Can't get any better than that.
There is a lot to look at here and I encourage everybody to peruse his page.



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FREE Illustrative Mathematics 6–8 Math Curriculum Now Open

FREE Illustrative Mathematics 6–8 Math Curriculum Now Open

One of my favorite websites for math has been Illustrative Mathematics, an incredible resource for K-12 mathematics instruction. That is why I was so excited by the news that they have just released a NEW 6–8 Grade Math curriculum as an Open Educational Resource, which means it is FREE!.

You can

Helping Ease Student Anxiety

Helping Ease Student Anxiety

Here is an interesting article by ASCD titled "Helping Ease Student Anxiety." After all, when we tell anxious students to "calm down," we're assuming they have the skills to do so. These classroom practices can build students' capacity to self-regulate—before they fall into a rabbit hole of worrying thoughts.

One student passed out in the middle of a U.S. history presentation. "I watched her crumble and had to run and catch her," recalls Karen Grace, who teaches at Roosevelt High School in Seattle, Washington. Another student had a "full-on panic attack" during class.

The anxiety in the air these days is so palpable you can almost feel it, Grace says. "I walked more panicked students to the health center this year than in all my previous 15 years of teaching.

"Students are just coming unglued."

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