Teacher blogs to keep an eye on

Be sure to check out what is going on in the classrooms of Teresa Bradshaw and Rebecca Huelskamp by visiting their blogs.  Teresa Bradshaw's blog can be found at bradshawssocialstudiescentral.blogspot.com and Rebecca Huelskamp's blog can be found at mrshuelskamplanguagearts.blogspot.com.

You will see posts of their blogs on the Kingman High School website, the Kingman Elementary website, and the USD 331 Facebook page from time to time.

Massachusetts Students Compare Egyptian and French Revolution

On Friday February 18th, I was driving from our school in Norwich and I was listening to a  Hear and Now segment on KMUW Wichita Public Radio.  The segment was titled "As Protests Spread In Middle East, History Comes Alive For US Students."  The segment was a great example of how to use current events and adapting instruction to engage students in the classroom.

The ninth grade class in Plymouth, Mass. researched the history of Egypt and events that led up to the recent revolution and compared it to the process that led up to the French Revolution.  The lesson gave history a modern context that the class was able to relate to.  I would highly recommend visiting the site by clicking the segment title above and listening to the 7 minute podcast.

21st Century Marketing in USD 331 Communities

The Internet and social media continue to redefine how organizations, businesses, and the community promote themselves.  How can you work to improve the visibility of your organization on the Internet?  Can you promote your business with social media?  Is it possible to attract businesses and families to our community using these tools?

USD 331 staff and students are discovering the answers to these questions by attending the Marketing Using 21st Century Tools course at ESSDACK.  During this five session course we are learning how to market ourselves and our community by using Social Media, Blogs, and Search Engine Optimization (SEO).  Our goal is to apply this knowledge and use the resources within our schools to promote and improve our schools and community.

We have taken some of the first steps in marketing our school by creating a Facebook and Twitter presence as well as redesigning our school websites to provide updated content.  Please take a look at these resources.  Be sure to "Like" us on Facebook and "Follow" us if you are a Twitter user.