The Innovation in Teaching Competition: Beyond the Textbook began as part of Georgia’s Race to the Top plan to create and support highly-effective teachers.  The competition has two main goals.  First, to recognize and reward educators from across our state who are using innovative strategies to advance student achievement.  And second, to make videos of the winning teachers, along with their unit plans and supplementary materials, available to all Georgia educators.

On this site, you will find videos, unit plans, and supplementary materials from these winning teachers. These resources represent a variety of grade levels and innovative strategies, from project-based and applied learning to differentiated small group instruction and creative classroom management techniques. All of the resources you will find here are real unit plans created by real teachers, and are designed to help your students learn in new ways – off the grid, past the classroom walls, and beyond the textbook.

Disclaimer: The unit plans and materials on the Innovation in Teaching Competition website are aligned with Georgia’s standards through December 2014. English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics standards have been revised. The revised standards were approved by the State Board of Education on January 15, 2015. The revised ELA and Mathematics standards were renamed from the CCGPS to the Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE).

Special Education 
Jamie McFarland
Fall Trees and Apples
Kindergarten through 2nd Grade
English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies
> View Jamie McFarland's Materials and Video

Kindergarten
Debbie Chrzanowski
Seuss on the Loose: An Integrated Unit
English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science
> View Debbie Chrzanowski's Materials and Video

Debi Goodman
Exploring STEM Through Stuffed Animals
Science, Mathematics and English Language Arts
> View Debi Goodman's Materials and Video

Lindsey Rhodes
How Can We Plan and Write a Nonfiction Piece?
English Language Arts and Science
> View Lindsey Rhodes Materials and Video

First Grade
Amanda Cavin
How Does Weather Impact the Way We Grow Food?
Mathematics and English Language Arts
> View Amanda Cavin's Materials and Video

Tara Dougherty
Collaborative Literacy Stations
English Language Arts, Mathematics and Science
> View Tara Dougherty's Materials and Video

Bynikini Frazier
Bringing Vocabulary to Life: Using our Words to Help Homeless Children
English Language Arts, Mathematics and Social Studies
> View Bynikini Frazier's Materials and Video

Eighth Grade
Lindsay Bowley
Creating a Small Business Plan
English Language Arts
> View Lindsay Bowley's Materials and Video

Michelle Brake
Bullying Can’t Continue Spreading Project
English Language Arts
> View Michele Brake's Materials and Video

Chuck Trader
Solving Linear Equations with a Teeter Totter
Mathematics
> View Chuck Trader's Materials and Video

Ninth to Twelfth Grades
Tabitha Ginther
A Zombie Apocalypse: An Introduction to Rhetoric
English Language Arts
> View Tabitha Ginther's Materials and Video

Jerry Knox
Projectiles, Physics, and Punkin’ Chunkin’
Physics and Mathematics
> View Jerry Knox's Materials and Video

Dr. Mohan Sadhasivan
The Cost of a College Education
Mathematics
> View Dr. Mohan Sadhasivan's Materials and Video

Dr. Brian Swanagan
Hands-On Applications of Modeling Geometry
Mathematics
> View Dr. Brian Swanagan's Materials and Video

GOSA on iTunes U

> View Innovation in Teaching Competition Materials on iTunes U

Feedback?  Comments? Suggestions? Share your thoughts about the Innovation in Teaching Competition videos and unit plans here.

Contact Information for the Innovation in Teaching Competition

Rebecca Ellis
Governor’s Office of Student Achievement
Program Manager, Innovation Fund
Email
(404) 596-3651

The contents of this website – including the videos, unit plans, and supplementary materials – were developed under a grant from the Department of Education. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the US Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.