What's the Word on the Street Webinar Today!

A Masterpiece... Diary of Anne Frank

A twitter party just ended for those in the Eastern Time Zone but for those of us on Pacific Time the journey is just beginning. Explore the incredible resources available for educators. Webinar details from earlier in the week give resources and insights into the production. Hear what producers of the show and experts from the U.S. Holocaust Museum have to share.

The directions PBS takes projects now abounds! Explore this video diary project you can have your students participate in! Find out more about Anne Frank as a writer.

Created for middle school and high school students, the guide features strategies that support classroom viewing and discussion, tips on using the diary as a springboard to explore intolerance and racism and new ways to encourage students' own self-expression.  

Consider forming a book club if you are not teaching the book this time of year. The teachers' guide is designed for middle and high school students but the book club discussion questions offer incredible opportunity for parents and pre-teens/teenagers to have discussion and focus on key points in the book, and the broadcast.

400 Years of the Telescope!

FRIDAY, April 9 at 10 pm on Eight! Watch for more local events happening to celebrate National Astronomy Day in the coming weeks and find interactive resources online from the companion series website.

Bullying... something on everyone's minds

The media is full of tragic tales of bullying taken to extremes these days. It isn't that kids have changed, but rather, the technology has given them access to bullying at any time of day. As a parent, and an educator, I am all too familiar with how damaging bullying can be, but thankfully not to the extremes of recent day. We need to tackle this issue head on and open up dialog with our kids to make sure they do not find themselves on either side of the experience.

WGBH This Emotional Life offers some fantastic insights and resources to help us as adults, parents, and educators learn more and find some words to start these kinds of conversations. I encourage you to explore and learn more.

More importantly, use the Resource Finder on the site to get help.  If you feel your situation is one that is bigger than you are comfortable dealing with alone, take advantage of the 24/7  crisis hotline.  Enter in your zip code and use the keyword "Bullying" - just make sure to include a wide distance in your search.  I was really pleased to see there are pages of resources locally I can turn to for help, if I find I need it. 

As a parent of 4 children, two in middle school and two in elementary school, friendships and drama is part of the landscape.  We talk every morning on their way to the bus about what kind of day they plan to have and what they are looking forward to.  We talk after school and in the evening about what happened during the day and who they enjoyed or played with on the playground.  We ask the older two about lunch and hanging out.  We pay attention to who is talking with them on Facebook.  They want to be a part of an online community and what better way for them to do that, then with our support and guidance.  Our 6 year old daughter piped up last weekend to remind her big brother that "saying something online is like putting up a billboard and is there forever."  I was thrilled she could offer such profound advice.  We talked more about it and all agreed words can be very very hurtful.  It isn't fair any longer to brush them off with the "sticks and stones" phrase we grew up with. 

Most importantly, we must teach our children to be resilient.  People will hurt our feelings, intentionally and unintentionally.  Have conversations about how to handle it.  When do you respond? When do you say nothing?  Share some ways you wish you would have handled a situation differently or openly discuss a situation that happened to you at that age.  Our children need to connect with us as parents and as teachers and be reminded that these situations happen because we are all human.  We don't always do the right thing the first time, but we can eventually make the situation right.  Apologies are hard at any age but something we have to practice and model for our kids.

Take the time to explore This Emotional Life.  It is a wealth of resources on a wide variety of subjects.  It offers insights from famous personalities and average people like you and I.  It houses some wonderful video segments and tools that go deeper in specific topics.  It reminds us of how fragile we are as humans and how important it is to acknowledge our mental health is just as important as our physical health.  This is the time of year we are all tired and stressed over testing and year end grades.  Find support.  Offer support.  And most importantly, keep your eyes open to those kids and colleagues in your life who need extra support as well.

What Inspires You?

“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” — William Arthur Ward

Show us how you inspire your students and you could win a behind-the-scenes trip to the Premier Annual PBS Event! America’s teachers innovate every day.ARIZONA’s teachers innovate and INSPIRE every day.

From math and science to music and the arts, your inventive thinking continuously fuels, inspires and engages young minds. Whether you teach your students physics with rocket launchers, social studies by re-enacting historical events, or literature by inviting kids to create digital stories, you are innovating and making a difference – and we want to recognize and thank YOU! PBS and local public television stations invite you to enter the PBS Teachers Innovation Awards!

What is in YOUR application for PBS Innovative Teacher of the Year? YOU are doing good things for YOUR STUDENTS right HERE in YOUR CLASSROOM! Share your innovation, Share your inspiration! Be RECOGNIZED for all the great things you do! Don't hesitate! Click here RIGHT... NOW!

Need some MORE inspiration? Look to PBS programming... look to other examples in the community... see who else is getting recognized and THEN wait no more... and THROW YOUR HAT INTO THE RING!


Be MORE Inspired * Empowered... and most importantly... Celebrate!

Are you making plans to attend? Get inspired by what is happening in our own community: Eight, Arizona PBS, Be More Awards Celebration! Locally there are all sorts of organizations and community members who go out of their way to offer service above and beyond.

Find out about the administrators who are so inspiring they have been hand selected by The Rodel Charitable Foundation of Arizona! Learn more about the Arizona Teacher of the Year, Jill Weiss, and all the Arizona Ambassadors of the Year... click here! Find out more about grants and awards here locally from the Arizona Technology in Education Association. They can inspire and award also!

See... no matter your role in education.. YOU have something to offer. Show us! Be a part of what is happening that is GOOD in Arizona education! Let PBS have a chance to recognize YOU!

In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement

Watch this event LIVE here at 2 pm Arizona Time, 4 pm EST or watch live at WhiteHouse.gov/live!