May Satellite Schedules

Click to view the schedule for GPB Education's Satellite Network -- Channels 410, 420 and 430.

• Channel 410
  
• Channel 420
  
• Channel 430
  

Program Deletion List

Georgia Stories Now Available on DVD!

That’s right – we’ve upgraded our award-winning series on the history of Georgia into sleek, easy-to-use DVDs! A favorite among educators throughout the state, Georgia Stories is correlated to Georgia Performance Standards and takes viewers on a journey through Georgia’s past with dramatic recreations of events, archival film and photographs, current documentary footage, and interviews with Georgia residents, historians and authors.

Order your copy today! Download the order form and fax it to 404-685-2556, or call 404-685-2550 (Atlanta area) / 1-888-501-8960, ext. 2550 (Toll free).

Looking to Earn PLUs this Summer . . . While Strengthening Your Theater Skills?

Look no further! The Alliance Theatre is offering two courses for Summer PLU credit:

PUPPETRY IN THE CLASSROOM

June 16-20, 2008

3 PLU Credits * 30 contact hours

9:30am -3:30pm * Woodruff Arts Center * $250.00

• Puppetry is an excellent art form for meeting performance learning standards while creating joyous and meaningful lessons.

• Learn how to integrate puppetry with language arts, social studies and science. During the week-long workshop, participants will learn how to make a variety of puppets and create units and lessons for them.

• Each teacher will also build a classroom character puppet of their own design, and puppets will be built for a culminating performance.

• Students remember lessons that they are fully involved in, and the hands-on ideas learned during this week will strengthen and deepen existing classroom lessons.

• All supplies are provided.
  
  
  

STORYTELLING, IN & OUT OF THE CLASSROOM

July 21-25, 2008

3 PLU Credits * 30 contact hours

9:30 am- 3:30 pm * Woodruff Arts Center * $250.00

• Interactive class, with study and performance of folktales & myths, fairy tales, literary stories, and personal narrative.

• Explore the history and significance of story in the development of human culture and experiment with ways of telling the stories that have come down through the oral tradition, as well as modern stories that reflect current society.

• No prior storytelling experience required.
  
  

Register and learn more at www.alliancetheatre.org

The Future of Teaching in Georgia Forum

The National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, MetLife Foundation and Georgia Public Broadcasting invite you to participate in a stimulating discussion about the future of teaching in Georgia. The forum discussion will focus on ways to strengthen teaching quality in ways that directly impact and address the student dropout rate.

Please join us on May 9, 2008 for a moderated two-panel discussion featuring: Andrew Broy, Assoc. Superintendent, GA Department of Education; Ann Cramer, Director North America, IBM Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs; Dr. Beverly Hall, Superintendent, Atlanta Public Schools; Carolyn Hall, Principal, Kimberly Elementary School; Jennifer Rippner (invited), Executive Director, The Governor's Office of Student Achievement; Dr. Steve Smith, Superintendent, Lowndes County Schools.

WHAT: “The Future of Teaching in Georgia”

WHEN: May 9, 20008

Continental Breakfast at 8:30 a.m.

Forum begins promptly at 9:00 a.m.

WHERE: Georgia Public Broadcasting

260 14th Street NW

Atlanta, GA 30318

RSVP: April 26; astanley@nctaf.org or 202-429-2570

TeacherLine Wins Awards!

PBS TeacherLine Wins Two Prestigious Awards

PBS TeacherLine is the winner of:

	the prestigious 2007 CODiE Award for "Best Online Instruction Solution" presented by the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA); view the press release
	the 2007 21st Century Best Practice Distance Learning Awards by the USDLA; view the press release

New Science Courses

PBS TeacherLine is now offering a special collection of science courses designed to give teachers what they need to inspire as well as educate students. The courses, available in Physical, Life and Earth Sciences and at the elementary, middle school and high school levels, are Teachers' Domain Professional Development courses produced by WGBH Educational Foundation and developed by educators and advisors specializing in science teaching and curriculum.

Teachers' Domain Professional Development courses support K-12 science teachers in their quest to engage students with media-rich resources incorporating practical real world applications, using their free collections of nearly 1,000 resources developed from high-quality, critically-acclaimed and trusted information sources such as the award-winning PBS science programs NOVA, ZOOM, and A Science Odyssey.

Courses are available in two formats to best meet specific science learning needs:

• 45-hour Courses, 10-weeks
  Provide a comprehensive understanding of a subject and of the inquiry method, leading to a systemic change in approach to curriculum design and teaching strategies. The 45-hour courses are equivalent to 3 graduate-level credits.
  
  
• 30-hour Courses, 6-weeks
  Offer a quick immersion into teaching a particular topic. The courses are derived from the 45-hour courses but adapted to stand on their own with a special final assignment. Courses focus on science content in the context of teaching strategies and inquiry. The 30-hour courses are equivalent to 2 graduate-level credits.

All course content corresponds to the National Science Education Standards and the McREL Compendium of K-12 Standards. Elementary and middle school courses focus on three elements – content knowledge, inquiry methodology, and using technology in the classroom. High school courses assume a basic knowledge of subject matter, and emphasize inquiry methodology and the use of technology in lessons.

• Life Science Courses
  • Teaching Elementary Life Science - 45-hours
  • Science and the Living World - 30-hours
  • Plants and Animals 30-hours
  • Heredity and Adaptation - 30-hours
  • Ecosystems and Human Impact - 30-hours
  • Teaching Middle School Life Science - 45-hours
  • Structure and Function - 30-hours
  • Regulation and Behavior - 30-hours
  • Reproduction and Genetics - 30-hours
  • Natural Selection and Applied Genetics - 30-hours
  • Teaching High School Biology - 45-hours
  • Inquiry in Science Education - 30-hours
  • Teaching About Genetics - 30-hours
  • Teaching About Evolution - 30-hours
  • Designing Effective Lessons - 30-hours

• Physical Science Courses
  • Teaching Elementary Physical Science - 45-hours
  • Motion and Forces in Your World - 30-hours
  • Understanding Motion and Force - 30-hours
  • Understanding Properties and Structures 30-hours
  • Teaching Middle School Physical Science 45-hours
  • Understanding Energy Transfer - 30-hours
  • Understanding Waves - 30-hours
  • Understanding Heat Transfer - 30-hours
  • Understanding Solubility and Density - 30-hours
  • Teaching High School Physical Science - 45-hours
  • Inquiry in Physical Science Education - 30-hours
  • Assessing Understanding - 30-hours
  • Building Understanding - 30-hours
  • Teaching Effective Lessons - 30-hours
    
    
• Earth and Space Science Courses
  • Teaching Earth and Space Science - 45-hours
  • Introduction to the Earth System - 30-hours
  • Structure of the Earth System - 30-hours
  • Earth in Time and Space - 30-hours
  • Weather and Climate - 30-hours
    

Georgia Improves on National Writing Test

Georgia's 8th graders are scoring at the national average in writing, according to the 2007 National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP) results. Released last week, the results showed that 88 percent of Georgia 8th graders scored at or above basic proficiency levels, one point higher than the nation. This was a six-point jump for Georgia since 2002, the last time the NAEP writing test was given.

The NAEP is given to a representative sample of students in every state. Scores are on a scale of 0 to 300 and are broken into four categories -- below basic, basic, proficient and advanced. Georgia students in grade 8 took the NAEP writing exam last year. The students who were tested had been taught using the state's new Reading/English Language Arts curriculum for two years.

"These NAEP results offer further proof that our new curriculum is making a big difference," said State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox. "There is no doubt in my mind that the rigor and focus of our new standards is having a positive impact in the classroom."

Superintendent Cox said Georgia has a strong commitment to building students' writing skills. For instance, Georgia is one of few states that tests students in writing at every level of education -- elementary (grades 3 & 5), middle (grade 8) and high school (grade 11).

For more information about NAEP results, CLICK HERE.

How well do you know economics? Challenge yourself!

High school students throughout the state challenged their knowledge in economics on Saturday, March 22 at Georgia Public Broadcasting in the Georgia Championships of the National Economics Challenge. The competition highlights the strong economic education program in Georgia and winners move on to compete in the regional competition and winners of the regional competition move on to the national finals in New York City.

The competition has four rounds – three rounds of rigorous written questions and a final Quiz Bowl round – and is divided into two divisions – the Adam Smith Division is students currently taking an Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, honors, college level, or two-semester class, and the David Ricardo Division for students enrolled in all other general economics or one-semester economics classes.

Winners of this year’s Georgia Championships include Starr’s Mill High School in the David Ricardo Division and Davidson Fine Arts Magnet in the Adam Smith Division. Congratulations!

View the Georgia Economics Challenge 2008 Quiz Bowl.

For more information about the National Economics Challenge, please click here.

New Irasshai textbooks and workbooks will soon be available!

Georgia Public Broadcasting is pleased to offer you the same high quality distance learning program you have enjoyed for the past 12 years in a fresher looking, exciting package! Available this spring, the student textbooks and workbooks will consist of two volumes each and can be purchased online from Amazon.com or BookSurge.com. The textbooks come in both hardcover and paperback and will contain mainly the explanatory sections of the lessons with interactive activities. Volume 1 covers JPN I, Lessons 1-73, while Volume 2 covers two preliminary lessons and JPN II Lessons 1-63. The workbooks are consumables (available in paperback only) that contain assignments, reading and writing practices, and particle practices. All textbook and workbook lesson numbers correspond to the video lesson numbers.