History on Tap

I’ve had a few people ask me about rescheduling the K-2 Stations workshop that was missed last week due to the snow.  We’re working to figure out a date now, and as soon as we have it rescheduled we’ll let you know.

There will be a K-2 stations workshop on Tueday, February 2 at 4:15pm in Conference Room 1 at IRC.  Please RSVP to mary.jones@pps.k12.va.us or mary.west@pps.k12.va.us to confirm your attendance.

There will be a timelines workshop for USII teachers on Tuesday, January 26th at IRC.  The meeting will begin at 3:15pm in the conference room.  Please RSVP to Mary.west@pps.k12.va.us or mary.jones@pps.k12.va.us.

The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia has two summer workshops this year.  The first is for teachers in grades 7-12.  It’s titled “Changing the Constitution:  Politics and Law in American Constitutional Development” and will take place from June 28-July 2.  The second workshop, “America’s Constitution and the World” is for teachers in grades K-12.  It will take place from July 26-30.  Each workshop has a stipend to help cover travel costs.  To apply visit http://www.constitutioncenter.org/ncc_edu_Summer_Workshops.aspx.  Applications are due by March 2, 2010. 

Fulbright will have a study abroad seminar to Japan this summer.  It is a fully funded program, and up to 48 teachers will be selected to participate.  For more information and to apply, visit http://www.iie.org/Website/WPreview.cfm?WID=197.  It’s open to teachers in grades K-12.  The application deadline is January 27, 2010.

Our January lead teacher meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 19th, at 4:15pm in Conference Room 1 at IRC.

On Wednesday, January 20th, there will be a K-2 Economics workshop with Ruth Cookson.  It will take place in the Little Theater at Wilson High School at 4:15pm.  Please RSVP to Mary West at 393-8555 or mary.west@pps.k12.va.us.  Ruth always has great workshops with lots of materials and great ideas.

A workshop for 6th grade teachers will be held Tuesday, January 12, at 4:15pm in Conference Room 1 at IRC.  You will receive the CD with unit plans for the 3rd nine weeks.  Please RSVP to Mrs. Jones at mary.jones@pps.k12.va.us.

I uploaded two powerpoints to my Slideshare account.  (http://www.slideshare.net/sita0519/presentations)  One contains photos of Williamsburg and Jamestown, the other one contains photos of Yorktown.  I took these pictures during the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute a couple of years ago.  I know it’s not timed very appropriately, but you can download the powerpoints and save them for review.  There is a brief descriptor in the notes section of the powerpoint for each photo, telling you what the photo shows. 

Since the files are large, I can’t email these out.  I’m also not going to embed them in the blog, since I don’t want to slow it down.  But you can download them to your desktop or a jump drive.  Hope they’re useful!

I found a great site a couple of months ago for 2nd grade resouces. We unfortunately couldn’t access it for awhile because it began to ask for a login. Susan at Westhaven today let me know that the site is up and running again, and requires no log in. In addition, they are working on adding resources for 1st and 3rd grades. There are some resources for those grades already posted, although both those sections are listed as “in progress.”

This was an excellent site with lessons and activities for all subjects. The address is http://www.jalopespot.com/.  Please bookmark it (and maybe save/print the resources you’d like to use, just in case.)  So please check it out!

Sarah and I would like to welcome everyone back and we hope you got a chance to relax over the break.

We’d also like to thank everyone who participated in our 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways. All the prizes have been distributed. But check back, as we’ll have giveaways occasionally throughout the year. Thanks again to all the participants and we hope you enjoy your prizes!

Today we have a few things to giveaway.  First Portsmouth teacher to comment for each thing gets it!

1.  3rd grade:  Sarah and I will come in and do a “Soapy Architecture” lesson with your students during SOL review.  We’ll bring all materials and set up a date with you a little later.

2.  6th grade:  We have 4 USI timeline bookmarks.  You could keep this handy in your classroom.  You’ll only get one as a reference for your classroom, so 4 sixth grade teachers can win here.

3.  Middle School:  We have a USII  and Civics and Econ timeline  reference bookmarks.  Both of these will go to the same teacher, so first comment wins.

4.  VA Studies:  We have one VA Studies reference bookmark, first 4th grade teacher gets it.

5:  Any grade level:  We have a 50 states timeline with info about each state.  First Portsmouth teacher (regardless of grade level) wins.