National Baseball Hall of Fame Teacher Resources

From SLJ Extra Helping:

Besides being a great tourist spot, the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, has created a great Web site with an entire section for teachers, librarians, and homeschooling parents. Click on "Experience" to access 16 online units on topics such as women in baseball, mathematics, special abilities, cultural diversity, and civil rights. Each unit comes complete with objectives, lesson scripts, and enrichment and assessment activities, and even includes relevant national learning standards. Show them to a teacher this summer so they can plan on using them with their students in the fall—or use them yourself as summer mini-programs for the kids in your library. At the bottom of the "Education" page, you'll find a link to the "Hall of Famers" section, where kids can find out all about the "greats of the game." (While there, be sure to try out the online trivia quizzes and download a photo of your favorite player as computer desktop wallpaper.) You can't strike out by visiting the HOF online!—Gail Junion-Metz

Examining U.S Teachers’ Expectations

Conducted each year since 1984, the MetLife Survey of the American Teacher explores teachers’ opinions and brings them to the attention of the American public and policymakers. The most recent survey examines what teachers, principals and deans of schools of education each consider most critical to prepare teachers to meet classroom demands, as well as the expectations and experiences of prospective and former teachers. Read the report’s nine major findings. Click here to download the free report.

(from WEMTA Big Deal Book eNewsletter, 5/15/07)

Comparing U.S. and International Math and Science Proficiency

The report Linking NAEP Achievement Levels to TIMSS, released by the American Institutes for Research (AIR), links the eighth-grade scores on the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) with the eighth-grade NAEP scores in math and science, enabling comparisons of U.S. student performance with international student performance. To read the report, click here.

(from WEMTA Big Deal Book eNewsletter, 5/15/07)

Teach Children About Books

e-Learning for Kids and ProtonMedia have made available a new free online Language Arts course for children entitled “About Printed Books.” The course, which features colorful illustrations, novel animations and interactive activities, teaches four- to five-year-olds what a printed book is, how to use one and how it’s constructed. Click here for the free online-course.

(from WEMTA Big Deal Book eNewsletter, 5/15/07)

Help for AP Exams

With exam times looming, Course-Notes.org offers students a free and comprehensive collection of AP course outlines, study guides and more to help them prepare for exams. The site also offers a popular AP student community, where students can get help with homework or discuss various course concepts with other students and site administrators. Registration (free) is required for some sections of the site. Check it out.

(from WEMTA Big Deal Book eNewsletter, 5/15/07)

Learn Best Practices from the Experts

Education Topics are free multimedia lessons, from the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), on topics of interest to all levels of educators. Among the topics are “Brain and Learning,” “Building Academic Vocabulary,” “Differentiating Instruction,” “Inclusion” and more. Each lesson includes a definition, short articles on the topic, audio and video files of experts and practitioners and a listing of resources that educators can use to continue their professional development. To learn more, check this out.

(from WEMTA Big Deal Book eNewsletter, 5/1/07)

Learn From and Share With Your Colleagues -- Online!

The Carnegie Foundation’s Gallery of Teaching & Learning delivers professional development the YouTube way—online, with video and audio clips straight from colleagues’ classrooms. As a repository for scholarly research, multimedia case studies and interactive tools, this free site covers how and what to teach to 21st century students. Find out more here.

(from WEMTA Big Deal Book eNewsletter, 5/1/07)

Bringing the 2008 Election to the Classroom

As the 2008 presidential race builds, C-SPAN Classroom will feature weekly video clips from the campaign trail, free of charge for educators who register online. Educators who join C-SPAN Classroom may also receive a free DVD, which includes 17 short clips of C-SPAN’s primary source, public affairs programming (while supplies last). To register and visit the site, click here.

(from WEMTA Big Deal Book eNewsletter, 5/1/07)

Teach the History of School Integration

Part history, part current events and part imagination, Toni Morrison’s Remember: The Journey to School Integration introduces a period of recent American history to upper elementary and middle school students. An accompanying online guide provides ideas for exploring the period through discussion, research, “trial experiences,” examination of primary source material, and written and oral projects. The photographs and spare text invite readers to put themselves into this era of change and understand how it felt. Click below to view a moving four-part video of images from the book and hear Ms. Morrison discussing her inspiration for creating the book. Also available are lesson plans for teachers. Click here to access the guide and video.

(from WEMTA Big Deal Book eNewsletter, 5/1/07)

Celebrate National Teacher Appreciation Day

On May 8, 2007, thousands of communities will take time out to honor their local educators and acknowledge the contributions they make to children’s lives. “Great Teachers Make Great Public Schools” draws attention to the crucial role teachers play in making sure every child receives a quality public education and conveys the hard work they do each day to make public schools great for every child. For more information, check out this website, which also includes a list of teachers who have inspired celebrities, athletes and elected officials to become who they are today.

(from WEMTA's Big Deal Book eNewsletter, 5/1/07)