AAEC - Association of American Editorial Cartoonists

Congress clears way to sue Saudis Teachers: Download the lesson and print it out for use in your classroom. (PDF format) Common Core State Standard RL.CSS.2/4 Grades 6-12: Students determine the meaning of political cartoons through the analysis of their literal, symbolic and figurative meanings of the elements the artist used and their effect. Students are asked to describe the overall effect of the cartoon, and how the artist’s choices combine to create that effect. Finally, students determine the purpose of the cartoon and how it relates to current issues through discussion questions. NOTE: You'll need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to use these files.

Successful School Leaders Today Need to Harness Technology & Social Media School leadership is complex. It’s often an enigma. It is simultaneously invigorating and exhausting. School and system leaders are pulled in hundreds of directions by hundreds of constituents every second of the day. Having the passion, skills, strategies, and with-it-ness to thrive in a position of school leadership requires, in part, taking the opportunity to learn from the experiences of other leaders. I had the opportunity to review William Sterrett’s recent publication, Insights into Action: Successful School Leaders Share What Works, published by ASCD. It was with great interest that I read this new book, curious if and how the author would encourage his readers to become connected learners and leaders — to harness technology and social media tools to enhance communication, collaboration, and learning opportunities for those in the organization and school community. Connected learning & leadership Highlights from the book About the author

Learning Is Messy – Blog | :Roll up your sleeves and get messy “Reading” Sebastien Wiertz Close reading is one of the “strategies du jour”. From the Common Core State Standards in ELA: 1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text. In addition from the Harvard Writing Center: The second step is interpreting your observations. In pretty much all trainings and presentations I deliver about STEM learning, I stress how STEM is language intense. STEM learning is somewhat its own enemy because often the activity or experience involved is so interesting, intriguing or engaging (or all 3) that the students get excited and talk about it excitedly (and often parents voice how excited their child was when they came home) and teachers assume everything (or enough) important was learned. This is a powerful learning opportunity missed. “The second step is interpreting your observations. Learning is messy!

Born to Learn ~ You are Born to Learn The Venus Project A Call for Technology Leadership The responsibilities of the modern school superintendent may already seem boundless, from making the most of shrinking budgets, to working 21st-century skills into the K12 curriculum, to meeting the escalating standards of NCLB testing. But thanks to the initiatives of two national organizations dedicated to improving the use of educational technology in schools, the job description just got longer. Last July, the Washington, D.C.-based Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) released an updated version of "Empowering the 21st Century Superintendent," a blueprint for seizing the technological initiative in areas ranging from better integrating technology into classroom instruction, to creating professional learning communities for teachers, to inventing more complex assessments of student work. CoSN's Master Plan The revised edition also includes a self-assessment for superintendents to evaluate how far their districts have come along the technological curve. Getting the Word Out