Wimba offers FREE online seminars :)

Dear Educators,

Are you a 21st Century Educator?

Do you have the skills of a 21st Century educator? Are you familiar with the
technologies that are already enhancing teaching and learning in today's
classrooms?

Stay current with Wimba's Distinguished Lecture Series. Both Upcoming and
Recorded events are available at:

http://wimba.com/company/events/dls/

Wimba is offering these FREE online seminars exclusively to education
professionals like you.

Please feel free to forward this invitation to your friends and colleagues.

Open Light March 7 Conference Registration Reminder

~*Open Light Conference*~

http://openlight.pbwiki.com

Please spread the word about the Open Light Emerging Technologies Conference to be held March 7, 2009 in T or C by sharing the attached flyer or sharing the link

http://openlight.pbwiki.com/3rd-Open-Light-Conference-March-7

Unlike previous conferences, registrants will need to select the sessions they would like to attend in advance. This will be necessary for our planning.

**Those who were already registered should have received an email confirmation from me asking them to select sessions.

Please contact me for more information! Thanks again for your involvement and support of Open Light!!

~Holly

ISTE's New Communication Hub Connects the World of Ed Tech

ISTE is proud to launch ISTE Connects at http://www.isteconnects.org which is your one-stop communications hub featuring the latest NECC 2009 information and conversations.

The hub links to our conference and community networks including Ning, Facebook, and Second Life.  

Be sure to download the ISTE Connects widget to receive the latest news and information from NECC, ISTE, and the Ed Tech community.
 

Join ISTE and NMSTE in February!

Join ISTE and NMSTE today! ( http://www.nmste.org/)

Hurry up and join, February is Member Appreciation Month and there are raffles and book offers GALORE!

Nationally Acclaimed Online Curriculum Resources Now FREE to Virtual Schools

SAS® Curriculum Pathways® is now available at no cost [FREE!] to every educator in America, including virtual school programs. That announcement was recently made by SAS®, a North Carolina based software company. The product is already being used by thousands of teachers in more than 30 states.

SAS Curriculum Pathways provides content in the core disciplines: English, mathematics, social studies, science and Spanish. Aligned with state and national standards, the product provides more than 200 InterActivities and 855 ready-to-use lessons that enable technology-rich instruction and engage higher-order thinking skills. The product is primarily for use in grades 8 to 12, though middle school content is in development.

Designed for a wide range of classroom environments, technology capabilities and learning styles, SAS Curriculum Pathways can be used flexibly—in online courses, a one-computer classroom, in small groups or in 1:1 computing initiatives where every student and teacher has a computer.

SAS Curriculum Pathways won the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) 2008 CODiE Award for Best K-12 Instructional Solution. The product is also used in community colleges, virtual schools and home settings.

Online educators can integrate resources that help to differentiate instruction and develop critical-thinking skills. Integrating rigorous content with innovative instructional design, the product prepares students for college-level learning, promotes 21st-century skills and helps meet achievement and accountability criteria.

For a success story on how one acclaimed virtual school has used SAS® Curriculum Pathways®, please visit: http://www.sas.com/success/floridavirtual.html

For information on setting up your free school and teacher accounts, visit www.sascurriculumpathways.com or contact Lee Ellen Harmer at LeeEllen [dot] Harmer [at] sas [dot]  com.

Free Teacher Resource to help students comprehend racial challenges in the USA

From szq --

With MLK Day and Inauguration Day on the horizon, this resource sounds like it will be pertinent. =;->

A lesson plan to help students understand that beliefs and behaviors have roots.  Only by knowing our roots can we change the present.  Most people agree that individual acts of racism and discrimination are wrong but often grow defensive when issues of systemic or institutional racism arise.  No one wants to see him or herself as a racist, and we all fear being blamed for the unequal conditions in our country. Instead of facing the issues, we too often resort to defensiveness when faced with the “other” who has been oppressed: whites when facing African-Americans; men when facing women; the rich facing the poor.  Instead of facing our national and personal histories, we often find excuses for the way things are.  We’ve all heard the justifications: “I’m not a racist, but . . . ”
  
 “Slavery happened a long time ago.”
  
 “My grandparents were immigrants; they pulled themselves up by their own bootstraps.  These people just want to complain?” This lesson plan helps students understand how history influences our present, whether that’s the state of race relations today or their own attitudes towards another group of people. There are three brief activities in this lesson plan that teachers can use separately to introduce the topic or together to reinforce the message that we must know our history if we seek NOT to repeat it.  Go to www.racebridgesforschools.com <http://www.racebridgesforschools.com/lists/lt.php?id=eU9WXwxUWl5eSlIEA04GAgBcBwBW>  to download a free copy of What’s Racism Got to do with Me?   How Our History and Context Shape Us and Others. Help your students understand race, class, and gender in context.  Use this lesson to supplement a lesson that requires that students understand the importance of our past and our context.   One of these activities will make your history and English students more receptive to your lessons!    

Check out our other lesson plans that are ideal for use around the Birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (January 19)  and African American Heritage Month (February) . . . "We All Have A Race" and "From Flint Michigan to Your Front Door : Tracing the Roots of Racism" (with audio downloads).           

Go to www.racebridgesforschools.com

http://www.racebridgesforschools.com/lists/lt.php?id=eU9WXwxUWl5eSlIEA04GAgBcBwBW  

to download your complimentary copy of this and other lesson plans and resources for schools.

       

 

    


--
This mailing is intended for teachers, educators, storytellers, lovers of story or anyone interested in social justice issues.  

If you have received this message in error please accept our apologies.  You may easily unsubscribe from any future mailings by clicking on the following link: this link <http://www.racebridgesforschools.com/lists/lt.php?id=eU9WXwxUWl5fSlIEA04GAgBcBwBW>

 



<http://www.phplist.com>


------ End of Forwarded Message


------ End of Forwarded Message

2009 Presidential Inauguration Lesson Plans

From Bonnie Bracey Sutton :)

You can turn television watching into a real set of learning lessons using the event and these lesson plans to structure the day.

http://www.pic2009.org/page/content/lessonplans

Lots of links, interactive blog, and much much more.

2009 Presidential Inauguration Lesson Plans

Jointly Produced by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Education Association (NEA)


On Jan. 20, 2009, Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States. Teachers across the country can bring this historic event to life in their classrooms using a wide array of free resources and technologies. The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Education Association (NEA) have jointly developed a series of general instructional activities to give teachers lesson ideas to help their students understand the historic significance of this presidential inauguration.
 Use these instructional activities to teach students about the history of the inauguration and the connections between Obama and previous U.S. presidents (Learning History); to prepare students to witness the Obama inauguration (Making History); and to follow the events during President Obama’s term (Living History). Teachers should use their professional judgment to adapt these materials to the particular needs (grade, reading level, etc.) of their classrooms and to best determine how much time should be spent on the activities. The materials have been designed to allow teachers to adapt them to fit into a single class period or to extend over several class periods.

LEARNING HISTORY Two Presidents from Illinois (click to download) <http://www.pic2009.org/lessonplan1>
Students will compare and contrast the background and inaugurations of President Lincoln and President Obama. They will develop knowledge of some of the characteristics of the two presidents and their inaugurations. (Grades 6-12, with adaptations for grades K-5) History of the Inaugural Address (click to download) <http://www.pic2009.org/lessonplan2>

Students will examine the text of various presidents’ inaugural addresses to understand how the context of events influenced the way they addressed the American people on Inauguration Day. (Grades 6-12, with adaptations for grades K-5)

MAKING HISTORY Inaugural Address of Barack Obama (click to download) <http://www.pic2009.org/lessonplan3>
Students will discuss quotes from Barack Obama’s inaugural address, and identify the challenges facing their families and other Americans today that he highlighted in his speech. They will then identify “calls to action” in his inaugural address, and compare and contrast those priorities with those raised in his past speeches. (Grades 6-12, with adaptations for grades K-5) 2009 Inaugural Events (click to download) <http://www.pic2009.org/lessonplan4>

Students will learn about the various activities and events scheduled in the days leading up to and during the inauguration of Barack Obama. (Grades 6-12, with adaptations for grades K-5)

LIVING HISTORY Beyond the Inauguration (click to download) <http://www.pic2009.org/lessonplan5>
Use these activities to extend learning beyond the presidential inauguration.

An Interview with Lincoln (Grades 6-12)
The First 100 Days (Grades 6-12)

RECOMMENDED READING Reading List (click to download) <http://www.pic2009.org/readinglist>

Use these resources to start or supplement your school or classroom library. Titles are provided for early elementary, late elementary, middle school and high school students.

I would add some art, poetry ( cinquains and diamantes)    science.. using weather as a constant,
and some databases to research the weather as well. Can they make videos.. they can also blog on this site.
Bonnie Bracey Sutton