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
