Last school year I wrote two separate Google posts, one on using Google Forms in the classroom and one on using the Flubaroo add-on to create and grade quizzes. This year I’m going to start off by updating both of those posts, because Google has completely updated their forms! Not only can you create and grade quizzes without using an add-on now, but you can also get more advanced reports from your students’ responses.
Continue reading It’s a Google World and I’m Just Teaching In It (Part 3)
Category Archives: best practice
Five great back to school ideas for social studies teachers
(Head over here for the latest back to school post!)
We have two very simple unbendable, unbreakable rules in our house. No Christmas music allowed before Thanksgiving. No talking about school before August.
It’s August. So . . . we’re talking about school.
Spoiler alert.
If you’re not already at school, you’re heading there soon.
And you probably already have some idea of what you and your students will be doing during the first few days of school. But it’s always nice to have a few extra tips and tricks in your bookbag to start off the school year.
So today? Five great ideas that can be adapted for just about any grade level or content. Use what you can. Adapt what you can’t. Add your own ideas in the comments.
What not to do
Before we get to the good stuff, it’s probably a good idea to think about what doesn’t work. Continue reading Five great back to school ideas for social studies teachers
Play Like a Pirate – Fun needs to be a part of what you do
I spent part of the morning chatting with golfing buddy and educational expert Steve Wyckoff. He’s got a way of sucking people into unplanned conversations that end up making everyone smarter. It’s always a good time when it starts with Steve’s signature line:
“So what’s become clear to you?”
This morning wasn’t any different.
We spent perhaps an hour meandering around a matrix that focuses on levels of 
student engagement. The different quadrants of the matrix ask students to think about how challenging a class is and whether they love or hate it. We’re thinking about using this to get usable data from middle and high school students. As in, “pick a quadrant that best describes each of your classes.”
We talked about how we could use this collected data to help design high quality professional learning. We chatted about what does the word challenging mean. How grit and rigor might figure into the matrix. And how an Uber business model might impact how kids complete the matrix.
The scary thing?
I think a lot of kids sit in classes that could easily fit in the Grind quadrant.
Part of the solution? Continue reading Play Like a Pirate – Fun needs to be a part of what you do
The NPS is 100 and giving away free stuff
With the end of the school year arriving, now is the time to plan your summer vacation. The National Park Service can help! The Park Service was established on August 25, 1916 and is celebrating its 100th anniversary by working to get “Every Kid in a Park.”
The program is simple. All fourth grade students and members of their family can get into national park sites for free during the entire year! Students can get their pass and plan their trips at the Every Kid in a Park site.
Visiting national park sites in Kansas is easy and it does not require a pass because there is no fee to get into any of the five national park sites in Kansas. Below is a list of NPS sites in Kansas:
- Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site
Topeka, KS - Fort Larned National Historic Site
Larned, KS - Fort Scott National Historic Site
Fort Scott, KS - Nicodemus National Historic Site
Nicodemus, KS - Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve
Strong City, KS
If you are able to travel beyond the borders of Kansas, just take your park pass to any NPS site to gain free entrance into any national park!
You can go to Every Kid in a Park to discover how to get to some of America’s most treasured places, like Yellowstone in Wyoming or the Grand Canyon in Arizona, or some of the hidden gems of the Park Service, such as Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front in California or the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historic Park in Maryland. Whether you want to experience history, recreation, nature, or solitude, there is a national park for you.
Teachers shouldn’t forget the very cool Teaching with Historic Places that uses properties listed in the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places to enliven history, social studies, geography, civics, and other subjects. TwHP has created a variety of lessons, products, and activities that help teachers bring historic places into the classroom.
So fourth graders, teachers, and parents take advantage of your summer break and visit your national parks through the “Every Kid in a Park” program!
Because no matter who you are, no matter where you live, our parks, our monuments, our lands, our waters — these places are your birthright as Americans.”
Enjoy Your Summer!
Nicholas Murray
Education Specialist
Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site
Don Gifford’s monthly KSDE update and opportunities
Once a month or so, Don Gifford, social studies consultant at the Kansas Department of Education, shoots out an email with all sorts of updates, resources, and learning opportunities. Pick and choose what best fits your needs!
1. Start by heading to this Google Doc with all sorts of professional learning opportunities.
Then be sure to check out these other PD options: Continue reading Don Gifford’s monthly KSDE update and opportunities
