December 2013

Education Matters

What's New

Current Events
Is your social studies/ economics class following the Affordable Healthcare Act?  Wondering what's going on nationally and locally in the discussion?  If so, keep up with the news, including local impact, with GPB's News page featuring healthcare news.

Your GPB
Your GPB
is a digital magazine written and created by GPB Staff.  It's full of insider information, incredible local music, recipes, and personalities.  Check it out for free by downloading it from the iTunes app store and learn something new about our great state.

On Air

A Grand Mercer Christmas christmas.jpg 

Taped in Macon, Georgia's historic Grand Opera House, this program features students and faculty from Mercer's Townsend School of Music and its internationally renowned Robert McDuffie Center for Strings. It includes classical Christmas selections and showcases exclusive new arrangements by noted Boston Pops arranger Randol Bass and Grammy Award-winner Matt Catingub. The 45-voice Mercer Singers, conducted by Dr. Stanley Roberts, and the McDuffie Center for Strings Ensemble are complemented with selections performed by Macon native, Grammy nominee and program host Robert McDuffie, as well as the McDuffie Center's Director, former Oregon Symphony Concertmaster Amy Schwartz Moretti.  December 17 at 8PM, December 20th at 7PM, December 24th at 7PM.  

 

Georgia High School Football State Championships  

Stay with GPB Sports all weekend to find out which teams are the best in this year's State Football Championship matchups.  The winner of GPB's Stop the Drop contest will be announced on Saturday, so tune in to find out live! (more details in "Save the Dates" below.)  Friday, December 13th beginning at 2:30PM and Saturday, December 14th beginning at 11:30AM. 

Learn
PBS Learning Media

 

How are You Using PBS Learning Media?

Inquiring minds and other Georgia educators would like to know how you are using PBS Learning Media. Are you using it to introduce new lessons, review concepts or to add to special lessons? Share your stories with us by February 7 at [email protected] and your story could be featured in a series of blogs on Passion for Learning on how teachers are using PBS Learning Media*. Need some inspiration? Check out this story from one Illinois teacher.


New PBS Teacherline Classes start December 4  

(But you can enroll as late as December 6th!)  

It's back!  RDLA152: An Intro. to Underlying Principles & Research for Effective Literacy Instruction (Gr K-8)  This Common Core aligned course is one of TeacherLine's most popular and highly-regarded courses! 

Also check out these courses beginning January 22:

  • INST120 Digital Lesson Planning for Differing Learning Styles (K-12)

  • INST320 Connecting Family, Community and Schools (K-12)

  • RDLA157 Teaching Phonemic Awareness and Phonics (PreK-3)

  • RDLA340 Teaching Reading in the Content Areas (3-12)

  • MATH165 Enabling Students with Special Needs to Succeed in Math Class (4-8)

  • MATH430 Seeing Math: Proportional Reasoning (6-12)

  • STEM412 NASA Resources for Teaching Global Climate Change in Middle School (5-8)

  • SCIE520  Teaching High School Biology (9-12)

  • SCIE572  The Habitable Planet: A Systems Approach to Environmental Science (9-12)

  • TECH340 Evaluating and Organizing Internet Resources and Content  (K-12)

  • TECH575 Leveraging Smart and Social Digital Media in the Classroom (K-12)

  • and so much MORE! 
*Use the promo code "GATLSE" when you register to get Georgia credit.*

Self-paced courses are available all year.  To see a list of upcoming, scheduled classes that begin in January, check out this list online now. 

Teacher Tip

reading-dreads-boy.jpg
The Holidays Are Coming!

It's crunch time.  Teachers everywhere are feeling the rush to meet this semester's standards requirements in the next 2-3 weeks before a long Winter Break.  Because an educator's job is never really done, many of us will be writing lesson plans, taking online professional development courses, and previewing books, experiments, and locations for the upcoming semester.

If that's not stressful enough, there's the ever looming dread that your students will lose ground over the holidays.  Here's a reading list that we think will be as fun for teachers as it is for students.  Challenge students to keep up with the books they read in a healthy competition in which the winner gets their own copy of a book (possibly one from the list) or a mini collection of the books you'll be reading in the upcoming semester.  Make it interesting by including yourself in the competition. 

Save the Dates!

stop the drop

GPB's Stop the Drop Video Contest
The time to enter the contest has passed, but it's now time for voting
!  The Top 10 Finalists are posted online. Share them with your students for great conversation
starters and writing prompts. Vote by logging in to YouTube (using your Google/ Gmail account) and "liking" your favorite! The last day for voting is December 8th.  The winner will be announced during the GHSA Championships on December 14th

   

Discovery Education Live Virtual Field Trip with the Weather Channel 

Explore the science behind severe weather and learn how to stay safe and prepared.

Discovery Education and The Weather Channel invite you to attend a virtual event LIVE from The Weather Channel on December 11th at 1pm ET.

 

Siemen's Summer of Learning Application  Calendar

Looking for FREE STEM professional development opportunities this summer? Apply today for the 2014 Siemens Summer of Learning programs, including the Siemens STEM Institute and Siemens Teachers as Researchers (STARs). Many Georgia teachers have gained acceptance to the program and have collaborated with top scientists and peers. Applications are due February 4, 2014.

 

Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge 

 The nation's premier K-12 sustainability competition where students create solutions to environmental problems and compete for over $300,000 in prizes.  Register today to get started. The deadline is March 4, 2014.

Win the Ultimate Cool School Sweepstakes!

Enter daily to win. Two schools will win an interactive Discovery Education assembly for your entire school - yours could be one of them! The deadline is February 27, 2014.

Products and Features
 
app image

Have you downloaded the GPB Sports app? Football finals are in full swing, and that means it's more important than ever to stay in the know with your school and your rivals!  Track high school games on your mobile device with this FREE app!   




We've reformatted the 8th Grade Georgia History textbook for a digital platform.  The first version available is in the Kindle Store for download on your Kindle device or in the Kindle App.

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We sincerely appreciate the work of every teacher in our state for your diligence encouraging and enriching the lives of our students.  We'll be here answering your questions and finding more classroom content for you and your students throughout the holiday season.  If you need more content in a particular area, let us know!  We're always happy to hear from our educators at [email protected].  

We wish you a very happy holiday.

 

Sincerely,

 

New Media and Education Team
Georgia Public Broadcasting