Lincoln’s Lunch

This is one of Kathy Schrock’s Sites of the Day.  It is a great blog about our presidents and what they liked to eat….with lots of great presidential facts thrown in.   Be sure you scroll down to read about the presidential milk cow!  Of course, there are some great primary source images included!  Don’t you love the URL?? Lincoln’s Lunch!

The History Chef
http://lincolnslunch.blogspot.com/

…a great blog with historical recipes and information about presidents that can support a unit of study, or be given as homework so parents and students can cook (and learn!) together.

 

White House Kitchen, 1890, LOC

Grant Roll Out Tips

Given the recent ARRA grants that have been awarded to Georgia schools, the ETCs are busier than ever helping to bring about “digital conversions” in these schools. This means delivering professional development and support not only on how to use technology purchased with the grant but also how to implement it effectively to affect real change in student academic achievement. Several tips have emerged as helpful in bringing about these digital conversions across the grant initiatives, and they are as follows:

• Meeting with teachers before writing the grant application to seek out volunteers who are committed to and positive about the grant goals and outcomes.
• Involving teacher volunteers, building administrators, curriculum and technical support personnel and other relevant persons in the grant application writing process to carry out a thoughtful process and plan for needed infrastructure, timelines, implementation activities, professional development, etc.

  Once the grant is awarded:

• Teachers and students utilizing a learning management system, or LMS, such as Moodle to centralize digital work including assignments, collaborative discussion threads, and access to external web activities
• Teachers utilizing challenge based learning, or a similar approach to learning, to tie academic standards to real world problem solving and authentic tasks
• Teachers teaching mini-lessons and then giving time in class to work on digital storytelling projects or challenges while giving feedback that ties back to the lesson when applicable
• Trusting students more than ever before (with caring for technology, with using it appropriately, and even with their own learning)
• Delegating tasks to teacher and student experts to give everyone ownership in the initiative and to build capacity
• Teachers participating in regular professional development with activities to implement in between sessions
• Teachers helping students use technology in academic, ethical, higher-order-thinking ways

These tips, while just a few of many, have been referenced over and over again in various articles and bodies of research, but we are truly seeing their benefit across grant schools and initiatives. It is exciting to see these ingredients come together to bring about digital conversions in Georgia schools.

Emily Hodge
Instructional Technology Specialist
University of Georgia Educational Technology Center

Collaboration Carousel

5th grade student-designed center “Fishing for the Constitution”

4th grade students learning about the Seminole

4th grade students at the Inuit center

For the past couple of weeks, my media center has been a carousel of learning with 3 collaboratively taught lessons involving rotations to centers around the library.  In 2nd grade, students rotated through six centers about the regions of Georgia and the seven natural wonders of Georgia.  In 5th grade, students rotated through centers on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, which included a student-designed and student-led center called “Fishing for the Constitution”.  In 4th grade, students rotated through three centers on the Native American tribes of the Hopi, Inuit, and Seminole.

In each instance, I used a form of collaboration where I met and emailed with teams of teachers to brainstorm content and goals for the overall picture of the lesson experience.  Then, I planned every center, gathered resources from my library and the public library, typed information for each center leader to follow and/or made a powerpoint for center leaders to use as a teaching aid.

Here’s an example of the 4th grade center instructions:

The center leaders were Sharon Rockholt-media paraprofessional, myself-media specialist, and each classroom teacher in the grade level.  The 5th grade centers also included Joel Frey-technology integration specialist and 5th grade students.  This type of experience is one that I like because it allows students to hear from multiple voices supporting one common goal.  It takes multiple pieces of the standards and builds them into one experience that is broken up into small pieces.  The rotations also give the students variety in styles of teaching and learning and allows them to get up and move frequently.  The 4th grade centers lasted one day per class.  The 5th grade centers involved the whole 5th grade (60 students) rotating among 5 centers during a 75 minute period.  Finally the 2nd grade centers involved 2 classes at a time coming to the media center for a sequence of 3 days.  Each day students went to 2 centers for 15 minutes each.

View the 4th Grade Native American Centers

View the 5th Grade Constitution Day Centers

In the past, I’ve enjoyed collaborating with teachers on similar projects where every educator on the collaborative team was responsible for planning a piece of the experience.  While I find value in this kind of collaboration, it takes time, organization, consensus, and continuity.  The kind of collaboration involved in these 3 center experiences allows for collaboration while putting the organization, planning, and continuity on one person, the media specialist.  I’ll keep exploring ways to work with and support teachers, but at the moment this is the strategy that is working for me and my teams of teachers.

What works for you?

Andy Plemmons

School Librarian

David C. Barrow Elementary

Athens, GA

http://barrowmediacenter.wordpress.com

http://www.clarke.k12.ga.us/webpages/aplemmons

Teacher Leader Endorsement Program: Posted at PSC website – ALERT!!!

The PSC website has posted a proposed rule (http://www.gapsc.com/Rules/Proposed/edprep/20100915/505-3-.073.pdf) that would rescind the existing Teacher Leader Endorsement and replace it with a new rule regarding the Teacher Leader Endorsement Program. While the old rule provided that the endorsement should be offered to those holding level 5 or higher teaching or service certificates, the new rule would offer endorsement programs that prepare teacher leaders who hold certification as teachers, those in the service field of School Counselor, or in the leadership field of Educational Leadership. Do you see anything MISSING here???  The proposed rule, to become effective December 15, 2010, glaringly omits the media specialist service field as an option for the Teacher Leader Endorsement Program. Let’s take a look at the requirements for this leadership endorsement:

1. Candidates who complete the program are teacher leaders who will facilitate the design and implementation of sustained, intensive, and job-embedded professional learning based on identified student and teacher needs. This includes, among other indicators, modeling lifelong learning, being reflective, engaging in professional development, advocating for the profession, staying current and knowledgeable of policy, trends and practices, working with others to build professional learning communities for collaborative work, and designing professional development. (Sounds like a school library media specialist.)
2. Candidates who complete the program are teacher leaders who work with others to promote the development of a school culture that fosters excellence in teaching and learning and focuses on continuous improvement creating a sense of belonging and building a collaborative work environment. Indicators include building a collaborative culture, using a research-based change model for needed change, supporting a collaborative learning community that embraces a shared vision, considering ethical and legal implications of decisions made individually and collectively, and helping the school/district refine its vision based on emerging trends and initiatives. (The LMS focuses on collaboration, ethical decision-making, and trends and issues in schools consistently.)
3. Candidates who complete the program are teacher leaders who demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of curriculum and apply this knowledge to the alignment of curriculum, instruction, and assessment to standards. This includes possessing a knowledge of the discipline and structure of the curriculum, understanding the sequence of grade levels and delivering meaningful professional learning and instructional strategies, engaging teachers in cooperative planning, demonstrating deep understanding of the curriculum and what students should know and understand in each instructional unit based on those standards, and identifying content specific resources for curriculum implementation. (Possessing a strong knowledge of the curriculum enables the LMS to assist with professional learning and selection of appropriate resources.)
4. Candidates who complete the program are teacher leaders who model best practices in pedagogy and serve as a mentor and coach for other educators. Indicators include modeling and articulating exemplary instructional practices based on current research, assisting teachers in developing higher order questions, guiding teachers in in-depth understanding of lesson planning and delivery, integrating technology to support classroom instruction and student learning, guiding teachers in designing and selecting appropriate assessment instruments and strategies, and assisting teachers in identifying resources and providing appropriate support services for specific student needs. (A huge portion of the LMS time is spent supporting lesson plan development and assisting teachers with integration of technology into instruction.)
5. Candidates who complete the program are teacher leaders who access and conduct research, and apply research findings to improve teaching and learning. This includes guiding colleagues to relevant research, conducting and engaging others in action research, following ethical procedures when conducting research, and remaining current on educational research, trends, and innovations. (“Ethical research” and “current trends and issues” are areas of the LMS’s expertise.)
6. Candidates who complete the program are teacher leaders who demonstrate the ability to collaborate with all stakeholders to improve student learning and foster/influence change. Indicators include developing and sustaining trusting, productive, and supportive relationships with all stakeholders, promoting an atmosphere of collaboration through problem solving processes, promoting effective communication and collaboration with diverse groups of people, and identifying and utilizing resources to promote school and community relations. (The LMS is an advocate for the school with all stakeholders, always presenting ideas and resources for strong programs.)

These requirements and indicators ARE things media specialists do, and it is important that we retain the ability to acquire the Teacher Leader endorsement if we are to be recognized as leaders in our schools and school systems. Your comments on this issue can be posted at the PSC website by following the process listed here:

• All interested persons shall be afforded reasonable opportunity to submit data, views, or arguments orally or in writing. Anyone interested in making a written statement may do so by submitting it to the undersigned at Two Peachtree Street, Suite 6000, Atlanta, GA 30303. It is requested that such a statement be delivered on or before October 16, 2010. Opportunity for oral hearing shall be granted if requested by 25 persons who will be directly affected by the proposed rule, by a governmental subdivision, or by an association having not less than 25 members.

We strongly encourage you to take action on this so that we retain the right to receive this endorsement, and maintain our roles as leaders in our schools.

Phyllis R. Snipes
Elizabeth Bennett
University of West Georgia

Finding Primary Sources in GALILEO

One of the best places to find primary sources in GALILEO is Annals of American History, which covers 1493 to the present day. It includes historical accounts, speeches, memoirs, poems, editorials, landmark court decisions, and cultural criticism as well as hundreds of images and video and audio clips of famous speeches. For example, you can find Henry Clay Work’s song, “Marching Through Georgia,” about Sherman’s march from Atlanta to the sea; a description of plantation life in Georgia; the opinion of Chief Justice John Marshall offered in Cherokee Nation v. State of Georgia; Eli Whitney discussing his invention of the cotton gin; and so much more.

Several EBSCO databases include primary sources as well. Kids Search, History Reference Center, and Student Research Center allow students to limit their search to primary sources, or, after they search for their topic, they can select to view Primary Source Documents. For example, in History Reference Center, students can search for Trail of Tears and then use the Source Types section on the left to limit to Primary Source Documents, or they can search for Jackie Robinson in Student Research Center and click the Primary Source Documents icon.

The Civil Rights Digital Library offers newsfilm clips, photos, letters, and more related to the Civil Rights Movement. There are also many educator resources as well as other instructional materials in Freedom on Film to support classes studying this part of history.

For primary sources related to Georgia, the Digital Library of Georgia offers diaries, letters, manuscripts, newspapers, government documents, images, and so many more wonderful treasures. More specifically, there are diaries from Jimmy Carter and a soldier who marched through Georgia with General Sherman; historic newspapers from different parts of Georgia; oral histories from politicians, students, mill workers, and many other different types of people; the Vanishing Georgia collection with wonderful historical photos; and much more to provide firsthand observations of Georgia history.

You can find even more primary sources under Browse by Type in GALILEO High School or under By Type in GALILEO Teen.

As always, if you have questions or comments, please Contact Us.

Courtney McGough
GALILEO Support Services
Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia

*Some article and search links may not work off site. Click the database name first for access.

Express Links  for Databases Mentioned in this Post:
Annals of American History: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zeba
Kids Search: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zbks
History Reference Center: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zbhr
Student Research Center: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zbst
Civil Rights Digital Library: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=crdl
Digital Library of Georgia: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=dlg1
Cornelius C. Platter Civil War Diary, 1864-1865: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zlpd
Georgia Government Publications: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=ggpd
Vanishing Georgia: http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=vang
Find All Your Express Links (what’s this?)