5 Reasons You Should Visit the Teacher's Lounge (PBS Teacher's Lounge)

November is Clicks for a Cause Month! Check out how you can help a child in need below. 

When I was a young teacher, my mentor gave me the advice to stay away from the teacher's lounge! My mentor told me that it was a place where negativity thrived and new ideas died.

Ironically, I am here today to tell you to visit the teacher's lounge - The PBS Teacher's Lounge - that is. In the era of social media, it is important for like-minded educators to connect and inspire learning. The PBS Teacher's Lounge is the perfect way to connect, share ideas, learn from peers, find daily inspiration and access tools and resources to enhance your work in the classroom.

Here are 5 reasons why you should use this amazing tool!

#1 - Get Fresh Ideas

I am always looking for new ways to do things. The PBS Teachers Lounge is filled with resources for and created by you. For example, how do you teach in the Age of Trump? How do you engage your community through Instagram? Check out the Fresh Ideas section for more ideas. 

#2 - Get the Latest Buzz

Do you want to know what's going on in education, but feel overwhelmed by social media? The Latest Buzz section provides you with the most popular happenings on social media and PBS Learning Media.  

# 3 - Make Today Relevant

Are you looking for ways to make today relevant? Check out the This Day in History section, which is filled with resources to make connections to your curriculum. 

#4 - Tools to Spark Learning!

How do you spark learning in your classroom? Check out the Spark Learning section. This week contains information about Geography Awareness Week. 

# 5 - Resources Galore! 

PBS Teachers Lounge is filled with resources for your classroom, such as the PBS Teachers' Blog, classroom resources, contests, upcoming training events, and a newsletter. 

NOVEMBER IS CLICKS FOR A CAUSE MONTH! 

Addison Jacobs was born on 1/13/15, one month prematurely with unknown underlying medical issues. At nine months old, she was diagnosed with Shwachman-Diamond syndrome (SDS), a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, bone marrow dysfunction, leukemia predisposition, and skeletal abnormalities. Addison requires a lot of care with all of her complex medical issues. All of her medical necessities trips to Philly for her care and time off work creates an enormous financial strain on her family.  

During the month of November, I need your help to make a difference for Addison and her family! Here is how!

• Visit and share blog posts - I will be personally donating 1 cent to her family’s medical fund for every blog visit for the entire month of November.

• Make a donation - for the price of coffee or lunch, make a donation to Addison’s fund via credit card, debit card, check, or cash.

• Contribute to Addison’s GoFundMe page

• Show your support with a Like - ​  “Like” Addison’s Facebook page and share words of encouragement!

Clicks for a Cause has been helping children in need since 2013! For more information, check out my Clicks for a Cause Page!

7 Reasons Why You Need to Use PBS Election Central

We are less than a month away from the Presidential Election in the United States. Regardless of who you are or are not voting for, there are many great tools to help our students understand the entire process. PBS Election Central is an excellent resource to understand the entire election process, providing engaging resources to foster learning and debate.

Here are seven reasons why you should be using this awesome tool!

1. Election Collection

The Election Collection is a comprehensive set of resources describing why we have elections, how democracy works, and the foundations of the US Government.

2. The Election Process

Have you ever wondered how Presidents get elected or how the election process works?  The Election Process provides a set of PBS Learning Media videos and resources describing the process in user-friendly language and terms.


3. Understand the Presidential Debates

How do Presidential Debates work? Check out the Understanding Presidential Debates section for lesson plans, videos, and other resources to help students understand the importance of debates.

There is even another section that contains a Debate Toolkit, where you can facilitate your own classroom debates.  This is a powerful way for students to learn the power of civil and meaningful student-led discussion.

4. We The Voters Films

PBS partnered with We The Voters to create a series of short-films, handouts, and lesson plans to provide a non-partisan understanding of the election process, debates, democracy and government for students in grades 8 - 12.


5. The Electoral Decoder

The Electoral Decoder will take you inside every single Presidential Election and help you understand the Electoral College and its impact on the Presidency. This is an excellent analysis tool that highlights an often overlooked component of the US Electoral process.

Not sure how the process works? There is a helpful set of resources that explain the process.

6. Interactive Map

The Interactive Map provides you with information about each of the candidates, when and where they are campaigning, information about the event, information about the state they are campaigning in, and interactive resources. Follow each candidate from now until November!

7. Virtual Field Trips 

The Virtual Field Trips section gives your students an opportunity to see important places related to the Presidency like Monticello, Mount Vernon, The US Capitol Building, and the Congressional Record.

Develop Critical Thinking Through PBS Learning Media Daily News Stories

How do we help our students become critical thinkers and make educated decisions? It often begins with how they consume and curate information. Helping our students understand and navigate through the daily news is a very helpful strategy and can be used in any subject area.

PBS Learning Media's Daily News Story tool provides a daily story for students in grades 6 - 12 to analyze and practice their critical thinking skills.


PBS Learning Media: 

Not familiar with PBS Learning Media? 

• PBS LearningMedia is a free tool containing over 100,000 videos, images, interactives, and lesson plans for every grade level and subject area.  Resources are aligned to national and Common Core academic standards.

• PBS LearningMedia provides tools to increase your productivity, such as Lesson Builder, Storyboard and Quiz Maker. 

• Teachers have access to a larger community of educators, who are committed to helping ALL children succeed. 

What is the Daily News Story? 

The Daily News Story is an extremely helpful tool for students in grades 6 - 12 to learn more about current events in politics, arts and culture, economics, world affairs, science, technology, and more.  Each current event is aligned to national and state standards, which makes it extremely easy to implement into the classroom. 

The Daily News Story also provides several important scaffolds and supports for students:

• The information is provided in multiple mediums (video and text)
• Students are provided with supplemental materials, such as critical thinking questions, handouts, and informational text
• Students are provided with materials to further investigate the topic of interest

This tool is designed for students to think critically about current events and learn how to apply what they have learned. 

Conclusion: 

It is important for our students to understand how the world operates, how to interpret current events, and how to think critically about the world around them. PBS Learning Media provides excellent tools and resources to help ensure the success of our students as they advance into adulthood. 

3 Reasons You Should Be Using PBS LearningMedia

What if you had access to thousands of free and engaging digital resources that are aligned to academic standards? What if you had access to tools to make your job easier? What if you had access to tools that provide students with engaging and customized learning experiences? You and your students can with resources from PBS LearningMedia.

Here are three reasons why you should be using PBS LearningMedia:

Access to over 100,000 videos, images, interactives, and lesson plans for every grade level and subject area. Resources are aligned to national and Common Core academic standards.


Tools to make your job easier! PBS LearningMedia provides tools to increase your productivity, such as Lesson Builder, Storyboard and Quiz Maker. Teachers can create customized and self-paced lessons for students to effectively learn content. Students can use the Storyboard to demonstrate their understanding of a concept in their own way. Each resource can help you create customized and effective lessons for all students to learn.


Access to a larger community of educators, who are committed to helping ALL children succeed. It is the perfect place to connect, whether you are looking for a webinar to use digital tools more effectively or want to connect with other educators in your subject area.