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The Shamrock Lesson
Sometimes, you need to be silly. Sometimes it is okay to do a short, silly lesson that doesn’t have anything to do with the subject. It’s okay. Have some fun. This particular lesson is about cultural awareness and emphasizes the importance of knowing about other cultures by looking at a recent marketing failure. This will […]
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Integrating History and Government
Short and sweet but no less accurate. Why is American democracy an amazing thing? A history full of psychos, sociopaths, and morons who exercised absolute power is the answer. When a country was fortunate to get a good leader, things were good. Government ran well, the people prospered, and there was peace. Absolute power does […]
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Article Reactions, Volume 2
MindShift published an article on August 7 called, How a School Ditched Awards and Assemblies to Refocus on Kids and Learning. The article focused on school’s attempts at removing all awards and focusing on what each student does well rather than creating a competitive environment. My first thought was that the article was a bit […]
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Time as a Commodity
For many teachers around the country, today is the first student day of school. A new school year, a new opportunity for teachers to shine. The school district that we live in begins on Thursday while today is the teachers first day back. Most schools in Pennsylvania only have three days to prepare for a […]
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History and Geometry: The Odd Couple
I began a many part series last week defining Integrated Social Studies. In no uncertain terms every social studies subject needs to be taught together in order to have the biggest learning impact but that doesn’t mean you can’t integrate other subjects. Geometry might not seem to be a natural fit for social studies, specifically […]
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Music in the Classroom: Working Around the Myth
Listening to classical music, specifically Mozart, does NOT make you smarter. I’m not sure where the myth came from but I had always heard of other benefits of listening to classical music many of which are beneficial for students. Lower blood pressure. All the problems associated with high pressure are devastating so why not aim […]
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What is Integrated Social Studies?
In graduate school, we discussed social studies as a field of study. Our professor drew an umbrella on the whiteboard. My professor then wrote the other social studies subjects under each spine of the umbrella. The discussion that ensued was enlightening and I was surprised at how many people in my class looked at each […]
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Teaching with Monopoly
Learn how to Teach with Monopoly in your history or economics class.
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Inflating Grades
How many grades do you need? Does the amount of points make a difference? The easiest, simplest answer to the first question is, “Whatever your administration says.” I was told students need ample opportunities to earn good grades and this message is probably repeated in most American schools. Although, I have to admit, that I […]
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Summer Breaks
I just read an article in the New York Times about a drug-addicted lawyer who died of an overdose. It went on to state one in three lawyers suffers with alcohol abuse. 28% report depression and 19% report anxiety. One in six doctors suffers with alcohol abuse. It is believed somewhere between 10 – 15% […]
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Article Reactions, Volume 1
PBS has a great education series, MindShift that pops up on my Facebook. The articles always interest me, make me think, and probably most importantly, question what they have presented. I can’t address every question because this will suddenly take on book form so I will address my top four reactions. The article that I […]
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Word Walls
I love word walls. Word walls are definitely not just for elementary schools and as the popularity of word walls grow so do the subjects and grade level willing to utilize them. And why not? Word walls are an incredibly effective way to introduce your students to important vocabulary and create interesting lesson plans that […]
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First blog post
This is the excerpt for your very first post.
Integrated Social Studies
Because one subject isn't enough
Integrated Social Studies 