Ideas, Contests, Freebies
Professional development opportunities
- NEA Academy
- Concept to Classroom
- Teacher to Teacher
- The University of Texas (reading)
- Texas Christian University (biology)
Reach for the Sky: McDonald Observatory to Share Resources
The New York Times Knowledge Network and The Texas Education Agency (TEA), in collaboration with the University of Texas McDonald Observatory, have added astronomy content to the Project Share online teaching community. This will include high quality video, podcasts, scripts and photos of astronomy and space exploration.
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video
NEA gives educators tools to handle autism
NEA's The Puzzle of Autism explains common autistic characteristics and suggests effective classroom strategies for improving the communication, sensory, social and behavioral skills of children with autism spectrum disorder. read more
College for Texans website
Looking for one place to find all there is to know about going to college or technical school in Texas? Admissions, financial aid and free test prep are here. read more
Own Your Own Future
Own Your Own Future is a student outreach campaign to encourage Texas youth to stay in school, graduate and pursue their passion. read more
Response to Intervention: what it is, how it works
TSTA's Teaching & Learning staff has information for you. read more
Play Financial Football, learn money management
Financial Football, a fast-paced, NFL-themed video game, tests your money management skills. It’s part of Visa's free financial literacy program, Practical Money Skills for Life. The website provides useful financial literacy information for ages kindergarten through adult, including free lesson plans and other classroom materials. read more
Innovation in education
For inspiration, check out teachers' entries to the PBS Teachers Innovation Award. read more
Quick links:
Information for students with disabilities
- Disability.gov connects students with disabilities, parents and educators to information.
- The Texas Center for Learning Disabilities offers webinars and articles.
TSTA's parental involvement booklet
Learning to be smart consumers
In this virtual mall, students can play games, design ads and chat with customers and store owners. They’ll learn key consumer concepts, such as how advertising affects them, how consumers benefit when businesses compete, how (and why) to protect information, and how to spot scams. read more
'Autism Speaks' toolkit
NEA is partnering with Autism Speaks to share information about their free online School and Community Toolkit. It's packed with information and ideas to help create a welcoming and accepting community for children with autism. There are resources for the entire school community –teachers, administrators, paraeducators, office staff, bus drivers, nurses, custodians, peers and parents. read more
Pennies for the planet
This program helps young people get involved with conservation. read more
Smithsonian's online cultural heritage tours
The Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies offers a series of free, online cultural heritage tours that invite educators, families and students to explore the Smithsonian’s rich array of heritage-related treasures. read more
Hip Hop news makes learning Fun
Rappers summarize the weekly news. read more
Fulbright teacher exchange programs
The Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad Program provides opportunities for overseas experience. It's open to educators and administrators responsible for curriculum development in humanities, languages and area studies. read more
Diversity-Democracy
The National Diversity Education Program asked "Why and how is diversity the foundational and functional basis for American democracy?" The result is an innovative, accessible approach for teaching diversity. read more
Thinkfinity resources and free professional development
Thinkfinity offers "endless possibilities for learning," a comprehensive collection of resources, and free professional development. read more
College for Texans
One place with all there is to know about going to college or technical school in Texas, including admissions, financial aid, and free test prep. read more
Presidential treasure trove
This is an interactive Presidential Timeline filled with digitized artifacts and historical archives from all of the U.S. presidential libraries. read more
Free from the Government
Find teaching and learning resources from federal agencies. read more
Curriki
Curriki is a nonprofit dedicated to improving education by empowering teachers, students and parents with universal access to free and Open Source Curricula. Curriki is building the first and only Internet site for a complete course of instruction and assessment for K-12. read more
Physicians' tobacco education program
Tar Wars is a tobacco-free education program for fourth- and fifth-grade students that is owned and operated by the American Academy of Family Physicians. read more
TEACH: a documentary
Award-winning director Davis Guggenheim 's half-hour documentary follows the challenging and rewarding first year experiences of four public school teachers. read more
Free online grade book
Grade Connect has created a free online grade book and course management system. Any teacher, school, district or system is welcome to use it. read more
Free Shakespeare materials
The National Endowment for the Arts's free packet of Shakespeare-related educational materials, including an educational video, "Shakespeare in Our Time." read more
Hispanic Scholarship Fund
Since 1975, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund has awarded more than 61,000 scholarships in excess of $115 million to Hispanic students from all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. read more
Want to be a summer park ranger?
The Teacher to Ranger to Teacher Program links National Park units with teachers from low income school districts. Under this program, selected teachers spend the summer working as park rangers, often living in the park. read more
