Parent/Teacher Resources
The vision for The Big Brain Club has always been to help kids overcome intellectual peer pressure -- that is, the pressure they feel from friends and classmates to 'dumb down.' Smart is cool, and we go out of our way to show kids just how true that is.
But talking directly with students isn't always enough. Parents and educators play a huge role in the scholastic achievement of their kids, and perhaps more importantly, they play a huge role in their kids' attitudes about learning. It's not an easy job to help raise and teach young people, and so from the very beginning, The Big Brain Club has made it a point to connect with adults as well as students. We do it by creating content specifically for you, and by sharing relevant news, information and resources that we think you'll find helpful. If you see a way that we can be doing a better job, or if you have a tip that you'd like us to share with our community, please get in touch with us. We're always glad to hear from you!
Here are a few ways that you can take advantage of Big Brain Club resources:
The Big Brain Club Online Community
Articles and Essays
Timely insights on the world of education as it pertains to you. Also featuring guest columns from a variety of industry experts and knowledgable outsiders.
Writing Tips and Exercises
We suppose that you might find these useful for your own work, but they're mostly designed for young writers. Use them them in your classroom or for after-dinner activities with your kids.
Celebrity Profiles
Getting tired of feeling like our reality TV culture is undermining your efforts to promote learning? Fear not. From movie stars to pro athletes, we regularly highlight public superstars who have as much cred in the classroom as they do in the Twitter-verse.
Extra! Extra!
Sometimes we come up with stuff that is interesting and valuable, and yet hard to classify in any of our other categories. So we created this category. Problem solved.
The Big Brain Club in Schools
Since expanding in 2010, The Big Brain Club is now much more than an online community. We are now also a hands-on program provider for middle schools looking to embrace their creative side. By professionally publishing the creative writing of young students, donating high-tech learning tools to classrooms and visiting hundreds of schools each year to talk about the importance of recognizing that smart is cool, The Big Brain Club is leading the charge against 'dumbing down' in school.
You can visit the In-School Program page to learn more about what we do, and you can go here to read about our recent partnership with Colorado's Preston Middle School.
So... is The Big Brain Club on your student's campus yet?
Other Great Resources
Many school districts block popular video-sharing sites like YouTube, but in its place, TeacherTube has become a clearinghouse for age-appropriate content, lesson plans and more.
A great site for classroom resources, at any grade level. Thoughtful content, professional development opportunities, discussion forums and much more. It's basically everything you'd expect from PBS and then some.
The ALA is a driving force in the world of education, and their annual conference is a virtual 'who's who' in the world of writing and publishing.
International Reading Association
They don't call it the 'World's Leading Organization of Literacy Professionals' for nothing, folks.
Ever been to this site? You'll be shocked at the depth and breadth of information available. There's a lot to chew on, and really, shouldn't we all know everything we can about our education system?
