Think about your favorite teacher. Now consider your favorite professional athlete. Perhaps Key & Peele said it best:
Every single parent we’ve talked to sees teachers as the All-Stars of American democracy.
The teaching profession is gaining more credibility and respect every day during this pandemic, especially when we all realize that the American economy can’t really reopen without school.
Turning students into scholars and citizens has always been a bonkers task and it’s even more difficult now as we try to replicate the school experience online, with parents.
America’s teachers have never had to improvise like this.
Even…
Social media revolutionized the world.
It’s right up there past the Internet, computers, television, radio, newspapers, the printing press, and the first written words.
But it’s annoying how far away it all still is from solving the biggest problems for high schoolers.
And it’s super annoying that today’s American Teacher also has to teach students (and your mom) how to use it effectively (to get your kid vaccinated).
The New York Times even summarized our collective misfortune:
Venture capital hasn’t produced safer, more democratic spaces to authentically connect as scholars and citizens throughout school.
Not counting Gmail, Slack, and Trello…
A fan of politics?! That’s right, especially when you can draft U.S. states or Congress and learn how the American game really works.
If you teach your state’s history, this is also a good way to engage players in that content while keeping them all learning from current events nationally.
In addition to becoming more aware of the news about states and the legislative process, here are a few fantastic ways we’ve seen All-Star Teachers use FANpolitics to turn students into fans of civic competence:
Study Federalism through $$$ in your states.
If you’ve ever explored the Federalist vs. Anti-Federalist debate within the American Constitution, you’ll understand…
Somewhere throughout the 1800s of U.S. History, there seemed to be a “go west, young man” mindset. Many thought newspaperman Horace Greeley said it, but it’s one of those worldviews that somewhere-close-to-most “winning” Americans must have believed, like “Give me liberty or give me death!” and “If not us, who? If not now, when?”
The truth about these often-quoted lines is that they represent a coherent thesis throughout American history — the “Frontier Thesis,” first advanced by Wisconsinite, Frederick Jackson Turner. #West #World #Space #Internet
But the frontier quest throughout American history also ignored, subjugated, and killed a lot of…
We can’t believe we’re not seeing more cool history nerds put this together…
The 🇺🇸 National Soccer Team will play England on July 2nd — the REAL Independence Day!
This year’s Women’s World Cup team feels like a lot like the ‘99ers (our first real memory of the potential for sports to improve society).
But this game, 20 years later, seems even more significant…
1) It reminds us how American memory often plays.
A record 6 million watched the U.S. Women beat France. But the men’s team still makes 6x that much money at this level…
A Global History of Sports and Diplomacy: The Top 20 Moments When Sports and Politics Collided on the World Stage
You can learn a lot about the world through sports.
Sports impact society, especially as they have the power to unite and divide. In addition to hosting the world’s best athletes, the Olympics also played host to Cold War holdouts, anti-Apartheid boycotts, and symbolic protests projected onto the world stage. No wonder a few Americans used the National Anthem to demonstrate their message during sporting events.
Whether it’s Jackie Robinson crossing the color line in baseball or Billie Jean King…
There are lots of ways to borrow sports award practices and make them your own, in an effort to add a little more fanfare to your non-sports world.
Which ones could you utilize in your classroom to recognize outstanding work and make everyday students feel like extraordinary winners?
Read this to get a few ideas:
Plus, see our shared Activities folder for “culture-builders” to print for your classroom!
Leverage these links to help students see the signal through the news noise.
We’ve organized them into relevant current events themes to help students see the larger context and help you level up your fanschool.org/politics learning.
Have something to add? Email us at team@fanschool.org.
See another recent post on “current events to capitalize on this school year” and connect these headlines to your existing history, geography, civics, and economics content!
Which states make for the best draft picks, now through November?
How will ECONOMICS affect the elections?
It’s been 10 years since the Great Recession, “America First” is everywhere, and the U.S. debt continues to grow…
Will climate change play a role?
Hurricanes hit numerous states, flooding affected more, and citizens are figuring out ways to pay for billion-dollar disaster events…
Is it a historic year for WOMEN candidates?
Women secured top positions around the country, the #metoo movement exploded, and many made major gains for gender parity on the campaign trail…
1992 was supposed to be the “year of the woman”. But history doesn’t repeat itself, it rhymes.
Women still…
We’re here to help students know where to watch and what’s happening.
And our mission is to help teachers make existing content more relevant with current events.
Anyone who plays fanschool.org/geopolitics knows about the U.S. “pivot to Asia” (China is a recommended #1 draft pick), so this post will NOT include that region (even though you should know about China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative and the Trump administration’s new Indo-Pacific economic strategy). …
The 2018 Winter Olympics are in PyeongChang, South Korea this February 9–25. Sign up now for our “Olympic Challenge” game at fanschool.org/olympics and get your predictions submitted by the end of primetime Opening Ceremony on February 9th!
You can play with your friends, family, club, or classroom as we all compete for global competence! Everyone will have 3 weeks before the Opening Ceremony on February 9th to submit predictions.
The following prizes for families and clubs especially are generously provided by NBC’s SportsEngine, which is the best solution for managing your sports organization and finding new youth sports to play:
- …
FANschool
Founded by teachers and technologists, we turn students into FANs of learning with fantasy sports-like games for school content + current events.
