Distance Learning

Connect with a Virtual Volunteer

November 1, 2012

Digital Wish, the nonprofit technology-integration organization, now offers Virtual Volunteers, a new service on its website that allows teachers to post classroom projects and ask for a virtual volunteer who can serve via video conference; it also allows volunteers to sign up, describe their various capabilities and volunteer to help with a class project. Throughout the school year, the organization will recruit for volunteers in corporations, entrepreneur networks and scientific associations to encourage members to help educators with their class projects. Digital Wish emails profiles of newly posted expert volunteers to teachers who are members, and volunteers will receive email newsletters…

Earth Revealed

January 4, 2011

This series shows the physical processes and human activities that shape our planet. From earthquakes and volcanoes to the creation of sea-floor crusts and shifting river courses, Earth Revealed offers stunning visuals that explain plate tectonics and other geologic concepts and principles. Follow geologists in the field as they explore the primal forces of the Earth. This series can also be used as a resource for teacher professional development. Produced by Intelecom. 1992. A video instructional series on geology for college and high school classrooms and adult learners; 26 half-hour video programs and coordinated books. Web: http://learner.org/resources/series78.html This information is provided…

Developing Writers

January 4, 2011

Developing Writers: A Workshop for High School Teachers presents practical and philosophical advice for teaching writing, while examining issues every teacher faces—such as high-stakes assessments and dealing with differently abled students. Eight video programs feature teachers in diverse classrooms around the country who are helping their students grow as skilled and effective writers. Participants will observe how the teachers and their students work together to create writing communities. Professional writers will share their processes as they move from initial concepts to publication, and comments from researchers, theorists, students, and teachers add context. A workshop guide and Web site provide activities…

Destinos: An Introduction to Spanish

January 4, 2011

Destinos teaches speaking, listening, and comprehension skills in Spanish. This telenovela, or Spanish soap opera, immerses students in everyday situations with native speakers and introduces the cultures, accents, and dialects of Mexico, Spain, Argentina, and Puerto Rico. Understanding of Spanish and appreciation of many Hispanic cultures increase as students become absorbed in the mysterious and entertaining story. Closed captioning in Spanish can be used as a teaching and literacy resource. The series is also appropriate for teacher professional development. Produced by WGBH Boston. 1992. A video instructional series in Spanish for college and high school classrooms and adult learners; 52 half-hour…

Critical Issues in School Reform

January 4, 2011

See how schools and communities are turning talk about school reform into action by adapting, implementing, or even inventing tools to make real improvements in student achievement. This workshop takes you to eight places around the country where teachers, parents, administrators, civic leaders, and others are collaborating on new practices in public engagement and professional development. Produced by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform. 1999. A video workshop for K-12 teachers, administrators, and parents; 8 video programs (from 30 to 45 minutes in length), workshop guide, and Web site. Web: http://learner.org/resources/series109.html This information is provided as a courtesy for BISD…

Connecting with the Arts 2

January 4, 2011

Connecting With the Arts: A Workshop for Middle Grades Teachers is a video workshop for middle school teachers of the arts and other subjects. The workshop includes eight hour-long video programs and a companion workshop guide and Web site. The workshop shows middle school teachers why and how to integrate the arts (dance, music, theatre, and visual art) with other subjects (language arts, social studies, science, and math). Extensive classroom examples present teachers working together to create rich integrated learning experiences for their students. A roundtable panel of arts educators discusses each of the classroom examples and shares their own…

Connecting with the Arts 1

January 4, 2011

Connecting With the Arts: A Teaching Practices Library, 6–8 includes 12 half-hour programs that feature a variety of meaningful arts integration approaches taking place in middle school classrooms around the country. The programs provide windows into classrooms around the country where teachers have already incorporated arts integration strategies into their work. Programs feature extensive classroom sequences and teachers telling their own stories. In each program, arts specialists and subject-area teachers will find ideas and projects they can take back to their own classrooms, as well as insights into planning and implementing an integrated curriculum. Produced by Lavine Production Group, Inc.…

Connect With English

January 4, 2011

Through the story of Rebecca, an aspiring singer on a journey across America, Connect With English touches on life’s important issues: leaving home, parenting, education, work, love, success, and loss. All of the characters use meaningful, natural language that students can put to work immediately in their own lives. Each episode features dialogue that is slightly slowed down and subtly simplified. Key lines are repeated, idioms paraphrased, and important events retold. There are constant visual clues to meaning, such as written signs, notes, and documents. Facial expressions, gestures, and body language also reveal meaning for students. Closed captioning can be used…

Case Studies in Science Education

January 4, 2011

These case studies take science education reform to a personal level, where individuals struggle to make changes that matter. Follow Donna, Mike, Audrey, and other science teachers as they work to improve one aspect of their teaching. Each case follows a single teacher over the course of a year and is divided into three modules: the teacher’s background and the problem he or she chooses to address, the chosen approach and implementation, and the outcome with assessment by the teacher and his or her advisor. Produced by the Smithsonian Institution Astrophysical Observatory in association with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.…

Bridging World History

January 4, 2011

Bridging World History is a multimedia course for secondary school and college teachers that looks at global patterns through time, seeing history as an integrated whole. Topics are studied in a general chronological order, but each is examined through a thematic lens, showing how people and societies experience both integration and differences. The course consists of 26 units (half-hour video, interactive Web activities, and print materials) that can be explored at either introductory levels or as more advanced study. The course videos feature interviews with leading world history textbook authors and nationally known historians. The Web site includes an archive…