New Jersey Council for the Social Studies (NJCSS)

I found out this week that I am now one of the North Jersey Directors of the New Jersey Council for the Social Studies (NJCSS)!

Follow my NJCSS tweets here: https://twitter.com/NJCSSNetwork

James Paul Gee on Learning with Video Games

“We need to bring activities and problem-solving to the worlds of chemistry and algebra -- make kids want to do things with them, to the see them as tools to surmise new possibilities -- that’s the game. If we brought those to school, they’d like it as much as Portal” - James Gee.

In the video below, James Paul Gee, a "shares insights into why video games are such effective learning tools."

http://youtu.be/JnEN2Sm4IIQ

A Parent's Guide to 21st-Century Learning

What's inside the free PDF? "You’ll find a selection of outstanding online resources and projects, sorted by grade levels, to provide a glimpse of successful school programs."

To download a free copy (there's a short form to fill-out), click the following link:

• A Parent's Guide to 21st-Century Learning | Edutopia

FlipSnack Interactive Magazine Project

Every year my 6th grade social studies students create medieval-themed magazines. For the first time I used FlipSnack to convert student work into online, interactive flipping books. Students used either PowerPoint, Word, or Publisher to layout their magazines. Next they converted the files to a PDF document. Finally, I uploaded them to my FlipSnack account. For more about FlipSnack, click here: http://www.flipsnack.com/

Below are a couple of student examples:

http://snack.to/fznqosy8

http://snack.to/fzkad0wl

Guest Speaker: NJ Assemblyman Anthony Bucco

Today New Jersey State Assemblyman Anthony Bucco spoke to my class, as well as two other social studies classes.  Assemblyman Bucco gave us all a first hand account of the state legislative process.  Here is his official bio: http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/members/bio.asp?Leg=321