• Skip to main content

VSTE

Virginia Society for Technology in Education

  • About
    • About VSTE
    • Committees
      • Advocacy
      • Awards
      • Education
      • Elections
      • Equity & Diversity
      • Finance
      • Outreach
    • Get Involved
    • Leadership
    • VSTE Corporate Council
  • Blog
  • Events
    • VSTE Calendar
    • Annual Conference
    • Annual Conference Archives
    • The Leading Ed Forum 2025
    • Power of Coaching 2025
    • Corporate and Conference Sponsorship Opportunities
  • Prof. Services
  • VCC
  • #VSTE25
  • Membership
    • Subscribe/Join
  • Contact
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Search

history

Featured Resources from #GoOpenVA, February 8, 2021

February 8, 2021 by timstahmer

logo for go open vaJean Weller, VSTE Board Member and VDOE Technology Integration Specialist, leads the #GoOpenVA initiative in Virginia. This collaborative initiative enables educators and others throughout Virginia to create, share, and access openly-licensed educational resources (OER, also known as open education resources). OER are free digital materials that can be used or modified to adjust to student needs; they are openly-licensed unhampered by many traditional copyright limitations.

The database is growing. Jean recently created a collection for resources specifically related to professional learning. Technology coaches from across the state have contributed and you can learn more here.

We asked Jean and other VSTE leaders to periodically curate a few of the resources to give a sense of what is available. Start with these but stay for so much more! And be sure to follow Jean on Twitter.

The following resources are recommended by Tim Taylor, the Instructional Technology Supervisor for Shenandoah County Public Schools. They will help your students better understand the issues involved with the founding of the United States.

The Constitutional Convention: What the Founding Fathers Said lesson plan is very appropriate for our current political climate. Students learn how the Founding Fathers debated and resolved their differences during the Constitutional Convention. Learn how they created "a model of cooperative statesmanship and the art of compromise." A lesson we all can learn from!

Emanuel Leutze's Symbolic Scene of Washington Crossing the Delaware is a resource that makes students question and look through a critical lens when viewing historical art.  This iconic artwork is what the majority people envision when thinking of Washington crossing the Delaware.  Did it really look like this?  How does art such as Leutze's work here influence our perception of history?

The Federalist Defense of Diversity and "Extending the Sphere is a lesson plan for secondary students that allows them to analyze Hamilton's and Madison's arguments in favor of an extended republic in specific numbers of the Federalist Papers. (I finally watched Hamilton over the holidays and the relationship between these two founding fathers was very complex.)  This lesson will open the eyes of students to see just how challenging and difficult it is to establish a government that is inclusive and providing liberties for all citizens.

Share this:

  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Tweet

Filed Under: Front Page Middle, GoOpenVA, VSTE Partners Tagged With: #GoOpenVA, constitution, history, resources, social studies

Resources for Teaching African American History

February 5, 2021 by timstahmer

Regardless of the makeup of your school community, teaching students about African American History is an incredibly important part of any history or social studies curriculum. EVERFI has a suite of digital resources for students focused on African American History, as well as opportunities for educators to engage with these topics in meaningful ways.laptop showing website with history resourcesWe recommend students start with 306, which takes students through key events and figures chronologically, starting with the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and concluding with Mae Jemison.
As a continuation, we recommend 306 - Continuing the Story, which looks closely at events in post-Civil Rights era US.

By completing both resources, students will be able to draw connections from past and present events to recognize and empathize with the ongoing challenges Black people continue to face in the United States.

several computers with history site showing on the screens

To access these digital resources, in addition to lesson plans, worksheets and anti-racism toolkits for educators head to EVERFI’s Black History Month Hub.


Written by Teagan Seeley. Teagan is a Senior Schools Manager with EVERFI, where she works with teachers across Virginia as they implement resources designed to teach students critical life skills. Before joining the EVERFI team she was a first-grade teacher in Baltimore City Public Schools.

If you have questions about registering your students, ideas for implementation, or need troublshooting help, email Teagan at tseeley@everfi.com.

Share this:

  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Tweet

Filed Under: Blog, Front Page Middle, VSTE Partners Tagged With: african-american, history, resources, vendor

  • About
  • Blog
  • Events
  • Prof. Services
  • VCC
  • #VSTE25
  • Membership
  • Contact
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Search

Support

Copyright © 2025 Virginia Society for Technology in Education · Log in