Post on 04-Jan-2016
Teaching Without Textbooks
Kyle PurpuraSocial StudiesLausanne Collegiate School& Qingdao International School of Shandong
Why? / Goals
• Reduce costs for parents and school systems• Increase students’ level of engagement• Better utilize and integrate technology into the
curriculum and classroom• Reduce the burden of heavy bookbags
How? / Getting Started
Know your content!• State and district standards• McRel – Mid-continent
Research for Education and Learning (http://www.mcrel.org/standards)
• Advanced Placement (http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/about.html) & International Baccalaureate(http://www.ibo.org/)
For Social Studies…• World History For Us All (
http://worldhistoryforusall.sdsu.edu)• Choices Program (
http://www.choices.edu/resources/index.php)
• Flow of History (http://www.flowofhistory.com/units)
• Hyper History (http://www.hyperhistory.com)
• World History Teachers Blog (http://worldhistoryeducatorsblog.blogspot.com)
How? / FirstClass & Weebly
FirstClass Weebly.com
Conferences in FirstClassContent conferences created for each of your classes
Content of each conferences divided
into the units you teach
Conferences in FirstClass Illustrated
Content Uploaded to FirstClass Conferences
• Weekly assignment notifications• Weekly reading/writing assignments (via pdf,
Word, or hyperlink)• Students ‘ class notes• Student work samples• Answer keys to major assessments• Maps, graphs, audio files , & video files• PPT study guides
Pitfalls of FirstClass Conferences
• Students w/o laptops (broken or forgotten)
• Still need access to any digital material you may be using that particular day
• They must either share or you must have hard copies of the material available
• Academic integrity• If you encourage
students to upload their work (I do!), there is a greater temptation for students to “borrow” each others’ work
Weebly For Educators
Embed video files and text files
Full list of specific tasks students
must complete
Separate pages for each unit
and it’s free!
Setting Up & Managing a Weebly Site
Content Uploaded to a Weebly Site
Positives• One unit/module per page• Unit goals listed on each
page• Unit assignments listed on
each page• Blog for questions &
ongoing class discussions• Video, Word, PowerPoint,
Excel files all embedded
Pitfall• No place for students to
share their work or their class notes
Other Great Tools for the Text-less Classroom
Quia.com Google Docs
Conclusions
• Goals of reducing costs, back strain, tech integration, and increased student engagement largely achieved
• Pitfalls noted above can be solved through using a combination of Weebly, FirstClass, Quia, and Google Docs
• Noticed throughout the year that a handful of struggling students needed the security and organization of a textbook – be flexible!