This professional development course will make it easy to stock your resource library without any fancy tech to save you time and money, like never before.
It's time to plan and teach with confidence, save money and stop wasting time!
Removing the teacher from the center of the classroom environment and building a culture of community learning is key to a classroom where students take hold of their education and dive deeply into learning. Creating a culturally conscious learning environment where all students have a place aids in combating this disengagement from social studies or science.
Equipping students with the prior knowledge and vocabulary they need to succeed doesn’t have to be boring! Capture heads and hearts with a new vocabulary vision for front-loading content rich words. Pique student interest from the start and give them the language they need to comprehend, and they will be equipped to dive deep into the content of your unit.
One of the main paradigms of our educational philosophy is that students need to be taught how to think and not what to think. Primary sources are a great jumping off point for putting that tenet into practice. By nature, primary sources invite students to inquiry. Because these sources have not been interpreted for them, they take the active role of the interpreters.
Regardless of where you currently fall on the spectrum of attitudes towards writing, I want you to consider this question: How would your students’ lives be changed if they consistently practiced writing? Overcoming the stamina hurdle will be much easier if you pair it with this mindset: Give students authentic writing tasks.
I know it can feel frightening to give up the physical “control” of a classroom. Part of embracing the paradigm of student centered learning is taking this risk. Teachers who embrace this “guide on the side” mentality shift the focus from themselves as the imparters of knowledge and instead place the responsibility on the students as discoverers.
This module is focused on articulating the hallmarks of scientific and historical thinking and why they matter to us all. Students need training in order to learn how to conduct research in an unbiased manner without imposing their preconceived ideas on the results.
Content areas such as science and social studies are excellent candidates for reading instruction because of the abundance of informational texts. Through identifying literacy skills, explaining how to embed them in your content, and discussing effective differentiation, this module will equip you to not only help students understand your content but also transfer reading strategies into reading skills.
The power of games to increase motivation in a classroom is what makes them such an incredible tool for teachers. Gamification in the classroom can feel daunting to implement games that are both rigorous, encouraging learning, and fun. However daunting it may appear, incorporating elements of game theory (called gamification) has been proven to greatly affect students’ engagement and motivation.
When you join, you’ll also get all of this
(worth over $1,800!):
The templates were built with social studies and science teachers grades 5-10 in mind, though ELA and other grade levels could certainly use them. Ideally, they are for teachers looking to save money all while refreshing and boosting their lesson planning with creativity already built in.
Inside the course you’ll get access to pre-made escape rooms, scavenger hunts, mystery words, cryptograms, and ALL kinds of other FUN stuff. Planning an escape room has never been easier! You do not need to decide what type of puzzles or the layout of the tasks. I’ve done all the research, graphic designing and “heavy work” for you.
I’m going out on a limb here and taking a wild guess that when you need to spruce up a lesson, you head to TpT and spend a few bucks. You download the lesson you just bought, determine it’s not quite what you needed, try to make some modifications but realize it is not editable, so you decide to use the sub-par lesson as is. Let’s say that lesson was on the US Constitution. Now, when the day is over, you pack the lesson into a file folder and store away to use next year. A whole year goes by before you can use it again. When you use the templates found inside the course, you can differentiate to meet the need of your students because they are editable. Now, let’s say you modify an escape room activity. When the day is over, you realize that student participation was the highest you had seen in a while. You decide you want to do an escape room again in 2 weeks when you introduce the Bill of Rights. You simply head back to the escape room template, add your content, change the 4-digit code and VOILA! You get to use the SAME template again, one that created a buzz of energy in the classroom. And this time, once it modified to use with the Bill of Rights, you didn’t spend ANY extra money. (Or waste time searching for the perfect lesson online)
Nope, sorry! These templates and lessons cannot be found anywhere else.
The course is self-paced so you can work from the comfort of your own couch in comfy leggings if you want. Think of all the time you are ALREADY spending on TpT, Pinterest, Google, YouTube and Tik Tok looking for ideas. With the same time used to search for, learn how to use, modify and find a lesson online, you can work through a template.
Of course! I understand the difficulty for teachers to pay for everything all at once so there are TWO payment plan options allow you to pay for the course over three months or six months.
It sure will but your future self and bank account will thank you. You’ll need to devote a little time for each template, the structure and framework is already there for you. You can use the templates over and over again. Think of all of the money you’ll save!
These templates are NOT one and done. Some sellers offer a template that cannot, for example, change the 4-digit code for an escape room. With every template in this course, you can change the 4-digit codes, change the mystery words, change readings, images and questions. Again, these templates can be modified and used over and over in years to come – just add content. Should you make a purchase on TpT, you use the file once and then store it away to use 365 days later. Using the templates inside the course, you can modify and use them again next week, next month or next quarter across multiple units and subjects.
I am sorry but the templates are for personal use only. Commercial use is not allowed.
You get LIFETIME access to the entire course, templates, best practice guides and video tutorials! You’ll even get access to any future updates once you enroll.
The course was created for busy teachers just like you! Anyone looking to take a load off their plate knowing they always have access to highly engaging templates for their lesson planning can enroll.
No, each teacher will need their own membership license. Discounts are offered for 5+ teacher licenses. Please reach out to Lisa@ThinkTankTeacher.com for more information.
I sure do! Click here to download a letter to admin.
The course includes mostly printable templates but does provide a few Google-compatible templates as well as PowerPoint games.
Upon successful completion of the course, you’ll receive a 5 hour Professional Development certificate. Check with you district to see if they will approve it ahead of time. All PD hours are district and state pending. I cannot guarantee your district or state will accept the certificate.
I’m so glad you asked! I am certified in Secondary Social Studies, ESE and have a reading endorsement. I have written curriculum for CPALMS and the Florida Department of Education. I spent 15 years in the classroom, led district wide PD, and received numerous awards including Teacher of the Year from the Florida House of Representatives. I also received 4 years of PERFECT observation scores and had an article written about my scores in the newspaper. I’ve been creating resources for well over a decade that I implement in my own classroom.
I sure do! Purchase orders from school are accepted year-round, even if the course is currently closed for enrollment. Reach out to Lisa@ThinkTankTeacher.com for more information. You may also click here to get more information about school payments.
Scroll through this page to see which templates are included and which module you can find them in. From escape rooms and scavenger hunts to mystery maze and reading challenges, I’ve got you covered.
This PD is something I truly wish I had when I was teaching. It’s like having a virtual teacher mentor that walks you step by step through the curriculum.
