The entry form and reflection form will be posted online soon, but guidelines, deadlines, rules, and frequently asked questions are now online.

Key Features:

• Thousands of primary historical documents from leading museums and archives across the U.S.
• Over 5,000 American Heritage Magazine essays written by leading historians over the last 60 years
• 300 bundles of essays linked with primary sources, CCSS, and instructional strategies
• Resources grouped by Lexile measures, Historical Era, ELA Themes

In addition, the Heritage Education project is seeking teachers, schools and school districts to participate in a pilot program in Fall 2013. They are looking for ELA and U.S. History teachers who teach high school students. They’ve extended the application deadline until May 31, learn more: heritageeducation.org/more-information.

• Outstanding educators with a passion for using innovative technologies and approaches to improve teaching and learning.
• Creative leaders who understand opportunities and challenges, and have a desire to help empower others in their local community and beyond.
• Ambassadors for change who model high expectations, life-long learning, collaboration, equity, and innovation.

Approximately 50 innovative educators from around the world are selected to attend each GTA based on the merits of their online application. Applicants include classroom teachers, curriculum specialists, technology specialists, librarians, administrators, professional trainers, and other education professionals who actively serve the world’s primary and secondary teachers and students. Learn all the details here.

Come create using these free Google Tools, and open up your classroom for your staff and your students.

Did you know that you could use the basic abilities of Word, PowerPoint, and Excel in an online collaborative environment by logging onto Google- anywhere? Are you interested in creating a variety of online forms for assessment through surveys, quizzes, and questionnaires? Would you like to create classroom drawings or charts to access anytime or anywhere?

Come learn about the six tools in Google Drive from Google Certified Teacher Bill Bass and discover how these online collaborative environments can expand your classroom and save you time. You’ll learn how Google Drive and other Google Apps can support learning 24/7.  PRE-REQUISITE: You must have a Google Account and/or Gmail. Learning & Collaborating with Google Drive is scheduled for Friday, June 14, from 8:30 a.m.  to 3:30 p.m. The cost is $145 for a CSD member; $185 for a non-member. For those interested,  one graduate credit is available after completing additional coursework. Register online.

Web 2.0 for the Common Core​ takes place Monday, June 24 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Cooperating School Districts. The cost is $145 for a CSD member and $185 for a non-member. For additional information, contact Joan Forrest. Register online.

During the course of the 5-day session, each participant will build, create, and publish project examples that they will have students complete back in the classroom. Participants are encouraged to bring materials they would like to redesign into technology rich projects. They will also learn new Web 2.0 tools to use while designing lessons aligned to the Common Core State Standards. All tech camp participants will have access to an online professional development library with 70 titles created by Meg. These 70 items are grouped into the four domains similar to the evaluation frameworks. In addition to walking away with a wealth of resources and ideas, those interested can earn three graduate credits for their participation.

Participants will:
• Design  lessons that align to the Common Core State Standards identified at their grade level.
• Analyze,  select, and organize appropriate on-line resources.
• Synthesize  the various assessment options and apply authentic assessment strategies to technology rich projects.
• Analyze  and reflect on best practice as it applies to literacy and math across the curriculum.
• Become  involved in active, professional research exploring new ways to expand their personal learning network.
• Prepare  students and teachers for the Next Generation Assessments.

Bring your own device! The July sessions are hands-on, fast paced, and relevant to teachers today. Each session is focused on the skills a teacher needs today to actively engage students in a 21^st Century classroom.
To enlist in this boot camp, visit CSD’s registration site.

• Early Childhood Education and Character Education: a perfect match and how to make your school feel like a home. Before a child can flourish academically, character must be established and a trusting relationship with the family must be built. Families, students, staff and community members should feel welcomed, respected and part of the team. The caring community we create starts with the climate and culture of our building.

• Can you integrate Character Education to Pre-Schools? Learn more about social and emotional learning, service learning and class meetings to enhance your caring community.

• A panel session with educators from Lindbergh, Rockwood and Southwest Early Childhood Centers, who will share resources and best practices. You will walk away with practical ideas and strategies about service learning, buddies, data collection, newsletters staff surveys , professional development and more!

In addition, conference attendees will have the chance to visit Rising Star Education‘s booth to see their latest early childhood DVD series, Harry & His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs, plus other great resources.

Registration is now open for the June 17-19 conference at the St. Charles Convention Center; by visiting characterplus.org, you can see different strands and keynote speaker bios.

Photos by D Sharon Pruitt.

Patricia and Fred McKissack during a 2008 webinar

by Martha Bogart

Fred McKissack died last Sunday, and the world just isn’t the same place without him.  Fred was one of those men that you always hear about on the news when they die—he was so nice, so friendly, such a good heart, etc. etc., except—Fred was the genuine article.  I don’t think I have ever met a better human being than Fred.  He and his wife, Pat, helped us here at CSD to create the New Links to New Learning videoconferencing program from scratch.  This was at a time, back in 1998, when if you asked someone to do a videoconference, the response was, “A what?”  But, CSD had received a grant from Southwestern Bell and Ruth Block’s task was to get schools interested and participating in videoconferences with students.  She approached Pat and explained what she wanted to do—provide students with videoconferences from children’s authors—and Pat and Fred were immediately in.  They didn’t know what it was, exactly, but if it helped kids, they were going to do it.

And do it they did!  Those first videoconferences were scary—Would the equipment work? Would the school personnel be able to dial in? What should the programming and content delivery look like? Would the kids like it? Would they learn anything?  But from the very beginning, the author visits were magical.  The camera would zoom in, and there would be Pat and Fred, smiling and talking, and answering questions from children about the books they had written, how they got their ideas, their writing process, how they went about researching for each book, which book was their favorite, and so much more.  How wonderful to be speaking directly to the authors of a book they had just read right from their classrooms, no matter where they were in the world!  And eventually, as we worked together to perfect the process, the students even got to do some original writing and have it critiqued by real authors.

No videoconference would have been complete without their signature sign-on—a map of Missouri with a star on the city of St. Louis. Pat would say that they were from Missour-ee, and Fred would say that they were from Missour-ah.  Then they would explain that people living on the east side of the state used the French pronunciation with an “e” on the end, while people on the west side used the Native American pronunciation with an “ah” on the end.  The kids got a kick out of it, and I never tired of that intro.

So many wonderful programs, it’s hard to pick a favorite.  Like the one where the kids developed a service project after they read Messy Bessey, and they collected toys and clothing they no longer needed to donate to others.  Or, the study of winter holidays around the world students did after reading Messy Bessey’s Holidays. Fred was the main presenter of the research process that he went through when he and Pat wrote Christmas in the Big House, Christmas in the Quarters, a wonderful book that takes place on a plantation during the Christmas before the start of the Civil War.  Then, there was the summer reading program we did with the St. Louis County Library where every student got a signed copy of Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba. Children came to several branches of the library, and we did multipoint videoconferencing with Pat and Fred who were broadcasting from CSD.

Fred was in his element when he talked about the research process.  He emphasized the use of the library and the reference librarians, and he talked about primary sources and all of his and Pat’s trips to various locations around the globe to gather first-hand stories and information that formed the basis for much of their books.  He also loved to talk politics and was up on current affairs and the state of the union.  I remember having long talks with him that were interesting and insightful—with lots of laughter in the mix!  Fred was a real gentleman, and a truly “gentle” man.

What a role model Fred was to young African-American boys!  Here was a brilliant, funny, sweet man who had traveled the world, written books, researched in libraries all over the place, and yet was so approachable and willing to talk to kids and answer their questions no matter what they were.

We will miss you, Fred.  Thank you for all that you did for CSD, for the children of our region, and for embracing new technology and taking risks. God speed, my friend.

Sir Ken Robinson, PhD is an internationally recognized leader in the development of creativity, innovation and human resources in education and in business. The videos of his famous 2006 and 2010 talks to the prestigious TED Conference have been viewed more than 25 million times and seen by an estimated 250 million people in over 150 countries. Did you know that his 2006 talk is the most viewed in TED’s history? In 2011, Robinson was listed as “one of the world’s elite thinkers on creativity and innovation” by Fast Company magazine.

Discovery Education is hosting a special free event Monday May 6, 2013 at 7 pm EDT/6 pm CDT — 8 pm EDT/7 pm CDT.  It’s an opportunity to hear Robinson speak directly to educators on A Future@Now Transformation Talk: Digital Learning and Creativity, and answer their questions; participants will have the chance to submit questions to ask live. No special equipment is needed to view this event online- all participants just need is an Internet connected computer. If you are unable to make it during the designated time, still sign up – those registered for the event will be notified when the archive is available soon after the live event.

The May 6 session is part of The Future@Now Transformation Talks series. Robinson, like the other speakers in the series, will discuss the topics that educators care about, and also the topics that impact students most, all centered around Digital Learning and how we can use it to transform the ways in which teachers teach, and the ways in which students learn.