Archives: February, 2008

It’s nearly spring, and that means a number of conferences are just around the corner! We have several exciting presentations planned, and we’d love to see you at the NCaect 2008 conference in Concord or the North Carolina Middle School Association conference in Greensboro.

We’ll be giving the following presentations at the NCaect Conference in Concord (March 13-14):

• “Connecting Curriculum, Culture, and Technology through Culturally Responsive Teaching” with Bobby Hobgood and Lesley Richardson
• “The North Carolina History Digital Textbook Project” with David Walbert and Emily Jack
• “Using Digital Libraries to Support Curricula: A case study of the collaboration between DigtialForsyth and LEARN NC” with Melissa Thibault and Erik Mitchell
• “How to Boost Students’ Information Literacy” with Bill Ferris

Join us for these presentations at the North Carolina Middle School Association conference in Greensboro, March 17-18:

• “Turbocharge Your Teaching with Free Technology” with Bill Ferris
• “Top Ten Sites for Your Classroom: Tips and tricks for finding the Internet content you need with LEARN NC” with Dan Kelo and Melissa Thibault
• “The North Carolina History Digital Textbook Project” with David Walbert and Emily Jack

We hope to see you there! (And stay tuned for other upcoming conference presentations.)

It’s nearly spring, and that means a number of conferences are just around the corner! We have several exciting presentations planned, and we’d love to see you at the NCaect 2008 conference in Concord or the North Carolina Middle School Association conference in Greensboro.

We’ll be giving the following presentations at the NCaect Conference in Concord (March 13-14):

• “Connecting Curriculum, Culture, and Technology through Culturally Responsive Teaching” with Bobby Hobgood and Lesley Richardson
• “The North Carolina History Digital Textbook Project” with David Walbert and Emily Jack
• “Using Digital Libraries to Support Curricula: A case study of the collaboration between DigtialForsyth and LEARN NC” with Melissa Thibault and Erik Mitchell
• “How to Boost Students’ Information Literacy” with Bill Ferris

Join us for these presentations at the North Carolina Middle School Association conference in Greensboro, March 17-18:

• “Turbocharge Your Teaching with Free Technology” with Bill Ferris
• “Top Ten Sites for Your Classroom: Tips and tricks for finding the Internet content you need with LEARN NC” with Dan Kelo and Melissa Thibault
• “The North Carolina History Digital Textbook Project” with David Walbert and Emily Jack

We hope to see you there! (And stay tuned for other upcoming conference presentations.)

The North Carolina Humanities Council is a nonprofit foundation and affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. One of its major programs is the 25-year-old Teachers Institute — an interdisciplinary, content-rich, intellectually challenging, and free professional development program for North Carolina public school educators K–12.

Any currently teaching K–12 public school educator with 3 or more years of experience is eligible to apply to participate in one or more Teachers Institute programs. This includes media specialists, curriculum facilitators, reading coordinators, guidance counselors, computer/ technology specialists, school social workers, etc., as well as classroom teachers.

The Teachers Institute pays for participants’ food, lodging, and all reading materials. Certificates for CEU credit, teacher stipends, and optional graduate credit are also offered.

In 2008, NCHC offers 4 weekend seminars and one week-long summer seminar.

• March 7-8: NC Indians: “Keeping the Circle” (in Greensboro) — Space is still available! Contact Lynn Wright-Kernodle at 336-334-4769 or lynnwk@nchumanities.org for more information.
• June 27-28: A Merry Life and a Short One: Myth, History, and the Golden Age of Pirates (in Greensboro – includes a performance of “Bloody Blackbeard” at Triad Stage)
• July 13-19: Somerset Place: Slavery and Its Legacy (at Somerset Place on the Albemarle Sound)
  September 26-27: Contemporary Tar Heel Writers (in Greensboro)
• October 24-25: Reading Textiles: Narrative and Art (in Charlotte)

For more information or to apply, visit the Humanities Council website.

Take an active role in the largest educators’ network in North Carolina! Now you can help shape LEARN NC for years to come, and take home valuable teaching strategies. On April 15, LEARN NC will travel to Boone to host its first LEARN NC User Group meeting.

If you’re a devoted LEARN NC user, or an educator with a passion for integrating the best that the Web has to offer, join us to share ideas on how you use LEARN NC or promote others’ use of LEARN NC in their classrooms, media centers, or other educational settings. Participants in the User Group will have a chance to connect with like-minded educators in a collegial atmosphere, share and learn best practices for teaching with the Web, suggest possible new directions for LEARN NC, and preview new and upcoming LEARN NC resources.

When: April 15, 2008, 10 AM — 2 PM
Where: Broyhill Inn & Appalachian Conference Center
775 Bodenheimer Drive
Boone, North Carolina 28607

Registration is required for this event, and space is limited to 25 applicants. Lunch will be provided, and LEARN NC will pay the cost of a substitute teacher for all selected participants. Preference will be given to applicants from the Western part of North Carolina.

To apply, please click here.

Now you can earn a LEARN NC Certificate in Online Instruction through the Carolina Online Teacher program (COLT). In five core courses and two electives, totaling a minimum of 17 CEUs, you’ll master the component skills of online teaching: effective collaboration and facilitation, creating learning communities, navigating the virtual classroom, and developing student-centered instruction.

Take the courses in this program of study at your convenience and build the knowledge to create a dynamic learning community, one where learners separated by a few feet or many miles can collaborate and share ideas. With the possibilities for using web-based content and multimedia, online courses can be exciting and inspiring for teachers and students alike.

For more information and descriptions of COLT courses, click here.

Now you can download a printable catalog (PDF) of every LEARN NC online professional development course. You’ll find detailed course descriptions, CEU values, costs, instructors and course start dates.

The National Endowment for the Humanities is sponsoring Picturing America, an initiative to “bring iconic American art into public and private schools, libraries, and communities.” Participants will receive 40 high-quality reproductions of masterpieces created by a wide range of American artists — from early American Indians and colonial American artists to 20th-century architects, painters, and photographers. These include works from John Singleton Copley, Gilbert Stuart, Thomas Hart Benson, Dorothea Lange, N.C. Wyeth, John James Audubon, Mary Cassatt, Norman Rockwell, Winslow Homer, Frank Lloyd Wright, and many others. Teaching resources, which include essays and teaching activities for each of the forty images in the series, can be found on the website.

Schools and libraries may apply to be a part of this program by applying online between January 7 to April 15, 2008.

The National Park Service has compiled Our Shared History: African American Heritage, a collection of links to excellent black history resources. Most of the content is provided by the Park Service itself, and includes new information about the Underground Railroad, digital exhibits about Frederick Douglass and the Tuskegee Airmen, transcriptions of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,’s speeches, and guides to historic places of the civil rights movement — including a great page about the 1960 Greensboro lunch counter sit-ins. The site is well-organized and easy to use, and offers teachers several ways to integrate the material into the classroom: The “Tools for Learning” page includes links to relevant lesson plans, and the “Publications” page provides a trustworthy place for high school students to begin research.