Instructify

BY BILL FERRIS

Try your hand at balancing a state budget with the Colorado Backseat Budgeter, an online application from the Bighorn Leadership Development Program at Colorado State University. The Backseat Budgeter lets you decide how much to spend on health care, roads, education, social services and so forth, while raising or lowering tax rates to make up for budget shortfalls. In keeping with these hard economic times, the Backseat Budgeter starts you approximately $800 million in the hole.

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BY BILL FERRIS

For this month’s random roundup, we’ve selected the Library of Congress, our nation’s storehouse of pretty much everything worth knowing. As you’d expect, a lot of great resources for teachers have been derived from the Library. See your tax dollars at work by reading the articles linked after the jump.

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If the closest your students have been to the White House is Google Maps, consider taking a virtual field trip via The White House Museum. You can look at floor plans, read detailed descriptions of the various floors and rooms, discover what goes on in each section of the White House, and learn about the history of the executive mansion. The tour covers everything from 3D models of the Oval Office to the storied history of the White House bowling alley.

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Nostradamus once prophesied: “Three great leaders will become enemies / Earthquakes and disaster falling from the heavens.” Pretty wild stuff, am I right? As resident numerologist and astrology blogger for Instructify, I can agree with Nostradamus on the earthquakes and whatnot — but great leaders becoming enemies? That’s a bit too far-fetched, especially when the Youth Leadership Initiative is there to teach future leaders how to play nice.

The Youth Leadership Initiative is a great resource for your civics classroom. First of all, you’ll gain access to the YLI’s teacher-developed lesson plans when you visit their site. You’ll probably have to do some custom tailoring for your own class, but it’s a nice head start that lets you work on planning. Another distinct feature is the e-Congress program, where students are engaged by simulations in the entire lawmaking process.

YLI also features a pretty robust mock-election simulation tailored right down to your own local legislative district. You guessed it: good ole’ reliable cyber ballots! We missed the boat on last year’s big election, but I’m hoping that there will be mock elections during non-election years. I would enjoy the comic possibilities in imagining my own megalomaniacal simulated candidates, so it would be cool if the creative team at YLI hits me up for some notes.

The Youth Leadership Initiative is a non-partisan unit of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, so you can rest assured that no particular agenda is being promoted. Seriously, not even the far-reaching “let’s all bow before General Zod” lobbyists have their claws in this program (although, if you’re interested, I have a newsletter you might want to read). The other hook is that this is an entirely non-profit program, which allows your class to participate at no cost. With all these positives, you might want to form your own exploratory committee to find out more about the Youth Leadership Initiative. -NICK YINGLING

Youth Leadership Initiative

Related stuff:

The Road to the Capitol

See who’s hating who at World Conflicts Today

3 Challenges to Wiki Use in Instruction
Every teacher’s got a wiki these days. So what do you do with it in class? Integrating a piece of technology doesn’t lend itself to flying by the seat of one’s pants. THE Journal presents 3 Challenges to Wiki Use in Instruction, discussing what factors must be overcome to get the most out of wikis in education.

The World of 100
Imagine if the world were condensed into a village of 100 people. Now imagine if these villagers’ lifestyles were documented in the form of snazzy-looking charts. Toby Ng Design has created The World of 100, an illustration project in which demographic information such as population, literacy and air quality are depicted in striking graphic representations.

Learn 35+ Languages for Free in iTunes
LifeClever presents this list of free language courses available on iTunes. Good for your language students, or for anyone who’d like to converse in another language.

100 Free Online Lectures that Will Make You a Better Teacher
As a dedicated teacher, you’re always looking to improve professionally, right? A good tip at the right time can make a world of difference. This list of online videos will give you knowledge and ideas for getting even better at what you do. These videos deal with instructional suggestions, technology demos, and rules of the road for new teachers. -BILL FERRIS

Photo credit: One Good Bumblebee on Flickr.

It’s time again for our random roundup. This month’s theme: NASA, pioneers of space and subjects of an awful lot of posts.

Do-it-yourself is in, even with podcasting at NASA!
It seems that every time you turn around these days someone’s encouraging you to complete a DIY project.  Why pay for someone else to do it when you can do it yourself?  Apparently, NASA has the same attitude on its website on Do-It-Yourself Podcasts.

Set the controls for the closest planet to the sun: NASA Mission to Mercury
This site includes up-to-the-minute clocks that record the elapsed time of the mission as well as the Orbit Insertion time. Watch the actual August 3, 2004 launch of Messenger from mission control. You can take your class through a tour of images already taken by Messenger as it zooms toward Mercury.

Blast Off with the NASA Kids’ Club
NASA Kids’ Club is a great way to learn more about space exploration. It’s got great pictures, games and activities that will pique the interest of space-minded kids. As a no-cost way to learn about the space program, the NASA Kids’ Club is the Right Stuff.

Observe NASA’s Earth Observatory
What if we were able to turn our telescopes around and get a closer look at what is happening right below our feet? The folks at NASA have done just that with their Earth Observatory site. Teachers, head right for the Experiments tab and give your students interactive ways to study global warming and plant biomes around the world. If you love reading blogs (and I know you do!), check out the Expedition to Siberia blog that offers almost daily updates and pictures of this fascinating trip.

Cool satellite image from the inauguration
Check out this great picture from the presidential inauguration. As the GeoEye-1 satellite hurtled through the cosmos,  it took this snapshot to commemorate the historic occasion. That’s a lot of people! Not only that, I now know the roof of the Capitol is tarheel blue.

Observe Mars in 3D
Still have some of those promotional 3D glasses kicking around from after the Superbowl? Fire up one of NASA’s 3D image galleries to take your students on a tour of Mars.

Last year, before the presidential election, we first featured Politifact. I even worked in a Flavor Flav reference. But that was months ago, the election is over and I hate reading anything I wrote that’s more than three weeks old.  To quote so many ex-girlfriends, “I’ve moved on.”

Still, we wouldn’t like to see all that youthful energy your students had for politics die down. Neither would the folks over at PolitiFact — which is why, I’m guessing, they started the Obameter.  After having compiled a list of 500 campaign promises made by President Obama, PolitiFact is keeping track of each promise’s progress.

Readers can sort by a handful of subjects and can sort promises by rating. Not surprisingly, we can see that the overwhelming majority still fall into the No Action category. President Obama has been in office barely a week, so I wouldn’t view that number too pessimistically right now (This is still politics, though, so maintain some degree of pessimism: introduce students to the expression, “the speed of government”).

Before the election, I urged that students double-check their fact-checking. Now, sticking with my theme of hyphenated words that involve the word “check,” I’d encourage students to check-in and check-up on what’s being done by this new administration. Political re-engagement! Its not just for every four years! -NICK YINGLING

The Obameter: Tracking Obama’s Campaign Promises via PolitiFact

Related stuff:

Cut through political spin with PolitiFact

The candidates answer tough questions about science at Sciencedebate 2008

Check out this great picture from yesterday’s inauguration. As the GeoEye-1 satellite hurtled through the cosmos,  it took this snapshot to commemorate the historic occasion. That’s a lot of people!

Not only that, I now know the roof of the Capitol is tarheel blue. -BILL FERRIS

2009 Inaugural Celebration. Washington D.C. National Mall via GeoEye.com

[UPDATE: Here's another great photo, courtesy of Popular Science.]

Some new neighbors moved into the old Bush place on Pennsylvania Avenue today. If you couldn’t make it to the welcome to the neighborhood party, you can still get to know the new residents of the White House at the newly updated WhiteHouse.gov website. It’s a good chance to read up on President Obama, as well as the 43 presidents who preceded him. WhiteHouse.gov has everything your students would want to know about the president and the presidency, from info about the new administration to the function of each branch of government to taking a tour of the White House.

The site has also added a new level of interactivity — you can subscribe to the White House blog’s RSS feed to receive regular updates. In addition, the Obama administration will use the site to keep the public informed about possible legislation. “One significant addition to WhiteHouse.gov reflects a campaign promise from the President: we will publish all non-emergency legislation to the website for five days, and allow the public to review and comment before the President signs it.” This would provide a great chance to include timely, relevant content into your civics lessons.

While poking around, you also might be interested in reading Obama’s education agenda, including his plans for funding No Child Left Behind, as well as teacher recruitment and retention. Does the president adequately address America’s educational needs? How about the needs at your own school? Let us know in the comments! -BILL FERRIS

WhiteHouse.gov

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Find Where the Government Keeps its Secrets

Have you ever watched one of the U.S. Congress sessions on TV? Or gone to Washington, D.C. and sat in on one of the assemblies? Well, if you haven’t, don’t waste your time. It’s quite possibly one of the most boring things in the history of the planet. Thankfully, there are more informative and engaging ways to stay up to date about the federal government and important political issues.

The Communicator is a free, online newsletter designed to boost students’ understanding of the U.S. Congress through engaging lesson plans and projects. By providing educators with news and ideas to enhance civic education, the Communicator seeks to improve citizens’ knowledge about our Congress. Updated monthly, The Communicator is essentially a collection of useful classroom resources, such as lesson plans with links to related websites, links to interactive multimedia projects, and special topics geared directly toward teachers with tips on how to effectively use the information in your classroom.

So if you teach social studies, American history, or civics classes, you can take advantage of The Communicator to keep your lessons up-to-date and relevant, while actually engaging your students in learning about the U.S. House and Senate. -LAUREN FROHNE

The Communicator

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Jon White Studio: Great animation & educational treats

Electoral Insanity at USDemocrazy.net

Access, Analyze, Act: Three cheers for representative democracy!

Photo credit: cliff1066 on Flickr

Jon White is an artist. Not only is he skilled in the ways of character animation, drawing, CSS and HTML, he also knows a thing or two about education. From his bio:

But beyond everything else, what gets my blood pumping are the lightbulb moments. The episodes of clarity, of understanding, and of fun when new ideas and concepts get made real.

White’s site has a bundle of fun videos and interactive segments designed to make learning fun, especially when it comes to understanding our political system. In the first video he presents on the page, White shows how the 1968 Presidential election played out by using caricatures of the candidates to illustrate how topsy-turvy the race actually was. The animation is fun and presents the information in a way that allows users to digest and retain the information.

Not all of White’s creations are entirely educational in the traditional sense of the word, but his creativity and use of time lines and interactive flash elements make for a lot of fun for teachers and students alike. The page is really a chance for White to show off his skills, but honestly, I’m impressed. I wish more web designers would take education more seriously, and Mr. White can serve as a role model. You can also subscribe to Jon’s RSS Feed to find out what he’s up to. -JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

Jon White Studio

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Relive the Carnage of American Conflict…With Food

Condense Centuries of Hostility into Ninety Seconds with Maps of War

Animated explanations abound at Biology in Motion

By now, I assume that many of your students are interested in an upcoming event involving two major political parties and several men named Joe (Biden, Six-Pack, The Plumber). I also gather that this country called America is divided into 50 territories, known as “states.” It would appear that these “states” have something to do with determining the outcome of next week’s big event, which is why USDemocrazy.net is so extraordinarily useful.

Developed by the political cartoonist for The Economist and students at the University of Maryland, USDemocrazy.net provides an informative and entertaining look at state politics. The main page of the site is a humorous map of the United States, displaying amusing, alternate names for each state. For example, Wisconsin is called “Cheesehead,” California is renamed “Dude,” and our great state of North Carolina is referred to as “North Barbecue.” Clicking on a particular state will reveal relevant state facts, such as the percentage of votes cast for or against George W. Bush in the prior two elections, famous and infamous natives, as well as the state’s overall political climate. Each state is also rated on a scale of one to five for political craziness.

Whether shedding more light on the intricacies of the Electoral College or highlighting distinctions among neighbors, USDemocrazy.net is a valuable resource for teachers. And even if you’re not crazy about the American political process, it would be foolish to ignore a site as witty and unique as USDemocrazy.net. –JIMI RADABAUGH

USDemocrazy.net

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Instructify Election Roundup

There’s apparently a presidential election in a couple weeks. If you’re looking for a few election-related resources for your next civics lesson, here’s a roundup of political sites, tools, what-have-you.

Access, Analyze, Act: Three cheers for representative democracy!

Make sense of electoral votes with the 2008 Swing State Map

Keep track of elections with Gallup

The candidates answer tough questions about science at Sciencedebate 2008

Cut through political spin with PolitiFact

Social Networking and Social Studies Collide with iCue

Make Sure Your Students are Ready to Vote This Election

The Road to the Capitol

Understand Your Local Election

For more great election resources, have a look at the 2008 Election Guide from our parent site, LEARN NC. -BILL FERRIS

Every four years, men with funny names and expensive suits begin proposing vague solutions to our country’s problems. In November, citizens are asked to choose one of these men to lead the executive branch of the United States government. You probably refer to this event as a “Presidential Election.” Your students probably refer to it as “Boring.”

Fortunately, PBS has developed an excellent online curriculum guide for this year’s election. The site is called Access, Analyze, Act: A Blueprint for 21st Century Civic Engagement. Naturally, the site is divided into three main sections, each containing a set of lesson plans.

The Access section suggests the use of social media tools such as blogs, mashups, and widgets to stimulate student interest in the election. For those of you who’ve never heard of a mashup or a widget (What about blogs? Hint: you’re reading one right now!), PBS also provides a helpful glossary of terms.

The Analyze section promotes critical thinking by examining the various ways that candidates present information. This section covers topics ranging from Aristotelian persuasion techniques to the expanding role of media in presidential campaigns.

The Act section encourages “civic engagement” on the part of students by allowing them to cultivate and express their own political identities. In the end, students will learn that although they must wait until their 18th birthdays to vote, their voices can still be heard across the internet. –JIMI RADABAUGH

Access, Analyze, Act: A Blueprint for 21st Century Civic Engagement

Related Stuff:

Make sense of electoral votes with the 2008 Swing State Map

Keep track of elections with Gallup

The candidates answer tough questions about science at Sciencedebate 2008

Cut through political spin with PolitiFact

Need help teaching the electoral system? For a visual aid, check out Politico’s 2008 Swing State Map. You can see at a glance which candidate has the lead in each state, and how much of a lead he has. The Swing State Map has up-to-date polling results for all 50 states, and shows how each state’s electoral votes would get divvied up if the election happened today. It also provides information on voting history and candidates’ strategies in several key swing states. It’s a great companion to the data you looked up at Gallup, too. This is one map you should keep checking throughout the election season. -BILL FERRIS

2008 Swing State Map

Related Stuff:

Keep track of elections with Gallup

The candidates answer tough questions about science at Sciencedebate 2008

Cut through political spin with PolitiFact

Make Sure Your Students are Ready to Vote This Election