Michael Simzak - PLN

Online Personal Learning Network

Identification:

I am currently a Middle School Social Studies Teacher at St. Augustine Catholic School in Washington, DC. As a relatively new teacher, I am looking for new ways to increase the effectiveness of my instruction. I am particularly interested in new instructional methods, resources, and activities that will enhance a digital classroom.

Objectives: teaching and learning in the digital age classroom.
 * To access and aggregate resources related to
 * To increase my knowledge of tools, topic, and  trends utilized in 21 st century classroom in order to improve as an instructor
 * To pass along the information I collect to  others
 * To develop professionally through collaboration
 * To access new techniques and activities for use  in the classroom from a variety of sources in order to increase the effectiveness of my instruction.

Activities:


 * Mystery Skype: I was introduced to this activity last year and found it to be an innovative way  of teaching and practicing critical thinking&#x20; and &#x20; geographical &#x20; skills:  http://psolarz.weebly.com/how-to-set-up-and-run-a-mystery-skype-session.html,

Resources:
 * Constitution Happened Here: I worked on this project while at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia and think that it would be a good Project Base Learning approach  to teaching Local History: http://chh.constitutioncenter.org/


 * iCivics: A web based resource with games and lesson plans  for teaching civics: icivics.org


 * National Constitution Center: A resource with activities and lesson  plans for teaching the Constitution: http://constitutioncenter.org/learn/educational-resources/


 * Smithsonian: Digital collection of Smithsonian artifacts. Great for using primary sources to teach history:  http://collections.si.edu/