eNews

How Do You Incorporate Technology in Your Classroom?
Last month, we launched TeachTCI and LearnTCI for our elementary and high school programs, and we couldn’t be more excited about our foray into the tech world. We’re eager to hear how you plan to integrate these new technologies into your classroom. What are your best practices? How do you use technology to enhance your instruction yet stay true to your teaching ideals? We encourage you to share your ideas with your fellow teachers, and to join in the conversations taking place in these discussion groups.

Elementary School High School

Vocabulary Development—We’re Listening
You’ve told us loud and clear that you would like us to incorporate more vocabulary development in our middle school programs. We heard you and we’re incorporating your feedback as we revise our middle school programs. In the meantime, join the conversation on our middle school discussion group to get ideas from your peers about how to develop vocabulary with your students.

TCI Blog: Interactive Technology That Inspires
In the latest TCI Blog, Bert Bower, TCI’s CEO and founder, remarks that many educational publishers are moving their materials online, but that TCI is going one step further and using technology to make social studies classrooms more engaging. “Think of it as technology for classroom interaction, not technology for mind-numbing alienation.” Bert asks, “Is this something you’d like to hear more about and be involved in?” Join in the discussion.

TCI Accessibility Enhancements with Rich Text Format and Spanish
TCI wants all students to succeed. To help make this success possible, we provide Student Editions in Rich Text Format for conversion to audio, Braille, and large print, as well as Spanish translations. We are excited to announce that our Spanish translations now include the revised Social Studies Alive! programs.To request Rich Text Format files or Spanish translations, please download our Permissions and Accessibility Request Form. For other accessibility and permissions questions, please email us at permissions@teachtci.com.

Join the Club
We think the National History Club and TCI users are a perfect match. The National History Club “inspires students and teachers to start history club chapters at high schools, middle schools, and within other student and community programs. Members of local history club chapters participate in local and national programs, and create their own projects and activities.”

If you’d like to learn more about their organization and the type of support they give school history clubs, visit their website at www.nationalhistoryclub.org.

Teaching American History Grants Awarded
The U.S. Department of Education recently announced the winners of the 2009 Teaching American History Grant. 123 districts in 38 states were awarded a total of $116 million to implement three-year programs designed to improve teachers’ understanding and appreciation of American history.

This federal grant is a tremendous resource for districts interested in providing professional development for social studies teachers. TCI Academy, TCI’s professional development division, offers three-hour sessions that focus on specific eras of American history and are a perfect fit for the Teaching American History Grant. For more information on TCI Academy’s offerings, visit www.tciacademy.com and check out the onsite training list of courses. We can also help you craft an outstanding grant proposal. Just email us at info@tciacademy.com and we’ll help get you started.