The Flocabulary Blog

November 24, 2010
Flocabulary Team

"Teach Me How to Study" – YES!!!

For anyone that doesn't know, there's a very popular song that's been out called "Teach Me How To Dougie" by California Swag District. What Mr. Cee and his 8th graders did is "Hip-Hop Classroom" it up, in an incredible way. Here's their description. Enough said: "teAch me how 2 dOugie REMIXED by 8th grAde students @ celerity nascent charter school locAted in tha heart of Los Angeles... concept.. shOt.. directed.. and cut by their technology teacher, Mr. Cee" Challenge your kids to remix a popular and current hip-hop song with lyrics praising academic excellence for a fun, powerful project! Here…

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November 2, 2010
Flocabulary Team

Top 8 Inspiring, Mind-Blowing Video Lectures

Have you gotten as hooked on amazing video lectures as we have? If not, here's a primer. These animated and filmed lectures are guaranteed to open your mind and get you (or your students) thinking about the world in new ways. Enjoy! The Secret Powers of Time Professor Philip Zimbardo sheds light on how our outlook towards time affects our work, health and well-being. Time influences who we are as people, how we view relationships and how we act in the world. And it's all presented in this engaging animation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3oIiH7BLmg&feature=channel Can Math be as Amazing as Magic? You've never…

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October 14, 2010
Flocabulary Team

The Week in Rap – Free Every Friday!

If you didn't know, now you know: by the time you're pouring OJ on Friday morning, there's a brand new, TOTALLY AWESOME, current events rap music video waiting for you at the Week in Rap That's right folks: In 2 minutes, Flocabulary gives you a week's worth of current events, rapped and loaded with relevant, engaging educational power. Subscribe to get the link emailed to you every week. Or just come by the site with on Fridays, and enjoy. You're welcome.

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September 9, 2010
Flocabulary Team

Warm-Up Activities for the First Week of School

Flocabulary is all about good times in the classroom - as long as valuable goals are being advanced, of course! Here are some great activities for the beginning of the school year. 1. Take as Much as You Want! During the first "circle time" activity, have a roll of toilet paper on hand. Explain to the youth that they will need this for the next activity. Tell students that you're going to pass around the roll. Invite each student to take as much as they want. After everyone has had a good laugh over the amount of paper they took,…

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March 24, 2010
blake

How to run your class like a well-oiled machine

We all know the importance of effective teaching. We know effective teachers raise their students' test scores, boost their self-worth, and inspire them to become open-minded students and good people. But what makes an effective teacher? A potent combination of precise classroom management and content-area knowledge. So says a recent article in the New York Times Magazine. The article details the work of Doug Lemov, an educator who set out to study America's best teachers. He distilled his observations into 49 techniques that teachers can use to run effective classrooms. Here are a few, paraphrased. 1. Precise Praise The…

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