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Ideas and Opportunities!

Innovation Awards
Tell PBS why you are an innovative educator, submit a video clip or photograph showing them how you inspire your students, and you may win a PBS Teachers Innovation Award. March 12 is the deadline. http://www.pbs.org/teachers/innovators/?utm_source=Edutopia&utm_medium=Ad&utm
_campaign=innovation

Grant for Technology and Educational Media Services
The Technology and Media Services for Individuals with Disabilities program is designed to improve results for children with disabilities by promoting the development, demonstration and use of technology; supporting classroom educational media services activities that are of educational value to children with disabilities; and providing support for captioning and video description that are appropriate for classroom settings.  http://www.disability.gov/education/news_%26_events 

Information on Learning Disabilities
The Texas Center for Learning Disabilities offers webinars and articles. http://www.texasldcenter.org

Haiti in Chaos: Lesson Plans and How You Can Help
Around the world, people are asking how they can help Haitians recover from the devastating earthquake that killed thousands -- and stands to kill more as medical care, food, and water are scarce. We have created a page with information that may be helpful to you and your local members. more

TSTA's Parent Involvement Booklet
http://www.tsta.org/teaching/current/Parental-Involve-Bro-web2.pdf

Useful Links:

A Site Where Kids Learn 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.
www.ftc.gov/youarehere


Conflict: An Inevitable Part of Life

What matters is how you handle conflict. Do you resolve conflicts the way you want? Take this simple survey to find out how you normally handle conflict. www.tsta.org/teaching/current/
ConflictManagementInventory.pdf

SunWise with SHADE Poster Contest
Students in grades K-8 can help raise awareness about sun safety and win prizes by entering the 2010 poster contest, a joint effort of the SHADE Foundation of America, WeatherBug Schools and the Environmental Protection Agency to teach children ways to protect their skin and eyes from excessive sun exposure. The deadline is April 7. There are state and national prizes, and one national prize for older entrants: a family trip to Disney World and WeatherBug Tracking Station for the student's school.  http://www.shadefoundation.org/programs/poster-contest.  


American Civic Education Teacher Award Entries Due Feb. 16

NEA cosponsors the American Civic Education Teacher Awards, given annually to three K-12 teachers of civics, government, and related fields who have demonstrated special expertise and enthusiasm in motivating students to learn about the U.S. Congress, the Constitution, and public policy. Winners receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to participate in an educational program that includes meeting members of Congress and other key officials, observing committee hearings in Congress, and visiting sites such as the National Archives and the U.S. Supreme Court.
more

Call for Submissions for National Gallery of Writing
National Board Certified Teachers are encouraged to participate in the National Gallery of Writing.
 more 

Bubble Wrap: The Competition
The fourth annual BubbleWrap® Competition for Young Inventors in grades 5-8 is on. Contestants will demonstrate engineering design, problem-solving, and entrepreneurship with bubble wrap. Awards of up to $10,000 and a trip to New York City. The deadline is March 3. more

About Christopher Awards
The Christopher Awards are annually given to films, television programs and books that “affirm the highest values of the human spirit.” There were five winners in the “Books for Young People” category:

 

Sunrise Over Fallujah by Walter Dean Myers

Shooting the Moon  by Frances O’Roark Dowell

Clementine’s Letter, illustrated by Marla Frazee

That Book Woman by Heather Hanson (ill. David Small)          

Close to You: How Animals Bond by Kimiko Kajikawa

 

These are five books that may be positive additions to your school’s library, if not your classroom library. To learn more about the Christopher Awards, go to www.christophers.org.

Smithsonian Shares Lincoln Portraits with Educators
The Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) and the National Portrait Gallery have partnered to share the scholarship and collections of the exhibition “One Life: The Mask of Lincoln” with thousands of educators across the country through an educational portfolio. Designed for middle-school and high-school students and their history and American studies’ teachers, the portfolios present 10 iconic portraits—each one a 13-by-19-inch mini-poster—incorporating interpretive text. The portraits show the changing face that President Abraham Lincoln (Feb. 12, 1809-April 15, 1865) presented to the world as he began his presidency and led the fight to preserve the union during the Civil War. www.sites.si.edu/lincoln.

Swine Flu
See what it looks like at the K-12 Teaching & Learning Center. Sign up for center membership at http://www.k12tlc.net.

Wake Up!  Living in the Rhythm
Evidence suggests that teenagers are indeed seriously sleep deprived. A recent poll conducted by the National Sleep Foundation found that 60% of children under the age of 18 complained of being tired during the day, according to their parents, and 15-20% said they fell asleep at school during the year.  Over half of students report being most alert after 3:00 in the afternoon.

Sleep affects how students learn.  It also relates to a teacher’s effectiveness.  Here are some ideas to help you with your own sleep patterns:

Circadian Rhythm. The circadian cycle signals your brain to wake and sleep, so stick to your body's circadian rhythm. "It's the natural way to avoid fatigue," explains Harvard Medical School research fellow Patrick Fuller.

Sleep consistently. Periodic sleep marathons will just throw you further out of balance. "[G]o to bed and get up within the same 30-minute time span every day," says Fuller. "If you need an alarm to wake up, you're sleep deprived.”

Follow the clock. Avoid caffeine after mid-afternoon, more than two alcoholic drinks a day, or aerobic exercise an hour before bed, says Fuller.  "It will just confuse your body's natural clock."

A study in the March 1 issue of the journal Sleep shows that a school-based sleep intervention shows promise in addressing adolescent sleep problems.  It has a high retention rate, it is cost-effective, and it has potential for promoting healthy sleep knowledge and practice.  The program did help adolescents normalize their sleep patterns for a few weeks, and it taught them how to make sleep an aid to learning and functioning. 

Related Links:

'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.   www.autismspeaks.org/school

Pennies for the Planet
This program helps young people get involved with conservation. Students and their families learn about conservation projects around the U.S. that need help. Kids learn why conservation matters, and how volunteering and charitable giving can make a difference in protecting the environment.  www.penniesfortheplanet.org

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.  www.SmithsonianEducation.org/Heritage

Hip Hop News Makes Learning Fun
Rappers summarize the weekly news. www.theweekinrap.com

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.  http://www.fulbrightexchanges.org/View/ViewOtherOpps.asp

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. www.janm.org/about/depts/education/ndep.php

Resources and Free Professional Development
Thinkfinity offers "endless possibilities for learning," a comprehensive collection of resources, and free professional development.  www.thinkfinity.org  

College for Texans Website
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. www.CollegeForTexans.com

Presidential Treasure Trove
This is an interactive Presidential Timeline filled with digitized artifacts and historical archives from all of the U.S. presidential libraries. www.presidentialtimeline.org

Free Stuff from the Government
Find teaching and learning resources from federal agencies at http://www.free.ed.gov.

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.  www.curriki.org 
 

 

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. www.tarwars.org

Resources for the Learning Disabled
This website is for 8- to 12-year-olds who struggle with learning. www.SparkTop.org

Beach in a Box: Texas State Aquarium Outreach Programs
Experience the Gulf of Mexico in your classroom; see "Outreach Programs." http://www.aquariumteacher.com/educator/programs.html#outreach

Free 'Best Practices' Guide on Math  
This guide features a compilation of research on the value of mentoring, combined with 15 case histories of programs, each of which includes information on program design and results. Click here for the guide. If you prefer a hard copy, please send an email to ASA@ACTFND.org

Read and Renew Picks for Educators
Take a break from policy tomes or curriculum planners and check out this slew of education-themed books NEA has compiled. You'll find reads for rejuvenating the spirit, refreshing skills, freeing your imagination, and sharing with kids. www.nea.org/neatoday/0605/readandrenew.html

TEACH
Award-winning director Davis Guggenheim 's half-hour documentary follows the challenging and rewarding first year experiences of four public school teachers. www.teachnow.org 

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.  www.gradeconnect.com

Grants for Youth Service to Communities
Grants and awards support and motivate youth, teachers, service-learning coordinators and youth-serving organizations to plan and implement projects for Global Youth Service Day and on-going service throughout the year. http://ysa.org/AwardsGrants/tabid/58/Default.aspx

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." www.vpw.com/partner/shakespeare

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. www.hsf.net

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. http://www.nps.gov/wupa/forteachers/trt.htm.
 

 

 

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