FREE for educators!

If you have always wanted an interactive whiteboard in your classroom here is a way you can try this out for FREE for a year. The beauty of this is that there is a plug-in that allows you to set this up in your moodle page for ubiquitous use by your students! The offer is from Elluminate, an online tool you can use with multiple people, audio and video tools along with the whiteboard. Give it a try, or if you would like a demonstration please watch your email for an invitation to a training.

http://www.elluminate.com/k12/

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This is a Graphic of What I am Saying to Teachers in District

Grant information for K-12 math and science.

This is lifted from THEjournal.com.

2008 TAF K-6 Math and Science Grant Deadline Approaching

by Dave Nagel

The deadline for this year's Toshiba America Foundation's Science and Math Improvement Grant for K-6 is looming. Educators have until Oct. 1 to apply for the grants, which award up to $1,000 to fund science or math projects. The Toshiba America Foundation (TAF) is urging educators to apply, saying the program "is very easy to access for science and math teachers."
The Science and Math Improvement Grant awards schools for "programs and activities that improve teaching and learning in science and mathematics" in K-12 education. K-6 teachers can receive $1,000 mini-grants for math and science projects. Teachers of grades 7 through 12 can receive grants of up to $5,000. The deadline for K-6 grant applications is Oct. 1. Teachers of grades 7 through 12 can apply at any time during the calendar year. Teachers can also apply for grants larger than $5,000. Such applications will be reviewed twice per year: Feb. 1 and Aug. 1.
The Toshiba America Foundation has so far granted some $9 million to educators since its inception, supporting about 1,600 schools in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. More information about the grant program can be found here.



Try your hand at applying for a grant, your idea might be funded.

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What is a techtorial?

"Education World Techtorials are weekly, step-by-step instructions on using some aspect of technology in the regular classroom. Short, practical, and educationally sound, Techtorials provide classroom teachers with simple, straightforward tips they can use today!" Taken right from the Education World website!

Do you feel like you are the only one in your hallway that doesn't know how to:

Skype: Talk to Anyone, Anywhere for Free
PhotoStory3: Projects, Slide Shows, and More
A Beginner's Guide to Wikis
Build a Blog
Creating a Podcast
Record, Edit, and Share Sound Files With Audacity
Social Bookmarking
Understanding RSS Feeds
What is a Podcast?

If so, then hop on over to  Education World website!
There are many, many more techtorials, one to surely interest you.

You will find the answers to the questions in the tutorials and way more!

The techtorials are all PDF files, which you can open in your browser, open another browser and try out the recommended tool while reading along. You could even print out the PDF, get a partner and follow along together. What a great way to network and learn a new tool! Good luck.

Over and out.

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Just the best thing since sliced bread! Now how long ago would that have been new?

If you have been looking for great resources for your students, grades K- 6, check out these sites:

Wikijunior Books-
The aim of this project is to produce age-appropriate non-fiction books for children from birth to age 12. These books are richly illustrated with photographs, diagrams, sketches, and original drawings. Wikijunior books are produced by a worldwide community of writers, teachers, students and young people all working together. Text taken from the site.

Another great resource you will want to check out is the Encyclopedia of Life.

Wikibooks-

The project is a collection of free textbooks and manuals. You can edit any book module right now by clicking on the edit this page link that appears in every Wikibooks module.

The project was opened in response to a request by Wikipedia's Karl Wick for a place to start building open content textbooks such as organic chemistry and physics in order to bring education to humanity and reduce the costs and other limitations to top-quality learning materials. It was started on July 10, 2003 and has been growing steadily since. As a result of the continuous growth, Wikibooks was split into several language-specific subdomains on July 21, 2004. Text taken from the site.

You can see some of the many resources connected to the Wikibooks site. Click here.

BTW, by the way, here is the information about sliced bread from wikipedia.

The phrase "the greatest thing since sliced bread" (and variations thereof) is a commonly used hyperbolic means of praising an invention or development. Sliced bread appears to be something of an arbitrary selection as the benchmark against which later inventions should be judged. It has been said that "the phrase is the ultimate depiction of innovative achievement and American know-how",^[6] although it is commonly used in the United Kingdom as well.

The popular use of the phrase derives from the fact that Wonder Bread, the first mass-marketer of sliced bread as a product, launched a 1930s ad campaign touting the innovation. Text taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sliced_bread

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Dog Days of Summer! (for the Northern Hemisphere that is)

If you are living in the State of Maine, and you are a 4th grade teacher teaming with an art teacher you can apply for a grant from WMTW TV Through a Child's Eye.
This sounds like a fabulous effort by WMTW to empower Maine students to explore and document their world! Do it soon, the deadline is September 15, 2008. Oh, btw, good luck. Let me know how you do!

Here is another digital photography contest from TechLearning.
This is for K-12 for photos that students have taken from Jan. 1, 2008 to October 1, 2008.

The other great grant opportunity is with Best Buy. Best Buy offers a Teach Award. If you work in a school in a 50 mile radius of a Best Buy, you are elegible. The award window is open from July 1, to October 1, 2008.
Here are some further rules:

• Awards will range from $1,000 to $5,000 based on specific school needs.
• $10,000 will be awarded to up to 15 applications supporting 9th grade programs

This grant has been awarded to people in our school district, and to a neighboring school district. You can do this. If you would like more information follow the links. If you would like help filling out the award, just contact me. I'd be happy to help. Good luck!

Best Buy also funds a specific donation program if your idea qualifies. Check out the criteria here.



I'll stop back frequently when I find other opportunities!


Add your bubble

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Great link for Social Studies and 21st Century Literacy

The Parntership for 21st Century Skills has published the 21st Century Skills Map for Social Studies with benchmarks at Grade 4, 8 and 12. This document provides the necessary language and examples for any teacher to make meaningful decisions in a classroom about how to present material encompassing 21st Century Literacy.
Here is an example for 8th grade communication:
Outcome: Research, organize and present information in clear, complete and effective formats.
Example: Research information on the local implications of a global issue of concern. Students organize their information and a possible solution and write a persuasive letter that is to be proof-read, peer edited, and finally sent via e-mail to a local public official.

Just by adding the words global issue and email to an already designed lesson, you have bridged the next century. Just try it. Just because this is a social studies content area, don't dismiss it. I am sure you, the great teacher that you are, can find a way to make this work in your content area.

Summer Professional Work Links

Check out the work that summer allows!

Donna W, Beth C, Charlene K, Michele L

It has been most impressive. There are still two more weeks of classes. Aug. 4, WHS and Aug. 11, @WES all about assistive technology and Universal Design for Learning.

Come Join the Fun!

Highlights for this month!

In an effort to support my classroom teachers I am going to publish a monthly collection of the newest classroom resources.

My first for elementary students is a site created by two retired teachers I met at NECC. I will be interviewing them soon and will like the podcast here. They designed the site as a place for students with reading levels from 2nd to 4th grade to research animals, presidents, geography and they are constantly adding to their site. We purchased a subscription from them for our elementary school. It was less than 100.00 for the whole school for the school year. This is such a bargin. You can get more information by going here http://www.facts4me.com . I hope you enjoy their site as much as I do. Be sure you bookmark their site when you get there.

This is for anyone looking for primary source documents from American History. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History is making primary documents available from all eras available FREE of charge. There are podcasts from historians, lessons plans , and a searchable database of more than 60,000 primary-source documents and transcripts for classroom use and online exhibitions. Also you will want to check out their related site, History Now. If you have never used primary source documents with your students make this year the year you try it out.

This is for anyone looking to engage and motivate their students with lessons and digital resources used by other teachers in your subject or grade level. You can search Nortel Learnit, and Curriki for great ideas and lessons. You can also pay it forward and send in your own lesson ideas for others to use. Check out and register for this site, Nortel Learnit. I love this statement on their lesson plan page, " The 6E's lesson plan format was developed by teachers in consultation with faculty from schools of education in North America and is based on a constructivist model of teaching.

The model we have developed is called the 6ES Model of Instruction (6 E's and an S--Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate, Extend, and Standards)." from the Nortel Learnit , learn about their lessons.
I loved their lesson, Getting Along for early elementary, with a clear social studies theme.
Then this one for grades 7-12 Our troubled world, global issues.
Just by checking out this website your first month of school would be planned!

Come back next month for some more goodies.
Over and out!

How to get free text message for school closings.

Here are some free online resources you can sign up for to hear about schools closings.

WCSH6- this one requires your cell phone to accept text messages, it took me less than 5 mins. to sign up.

WMTW- this one requires an email address to get the alert, it took my less than 5 mins. to sign up.

MaineToday.com-this is the Maine newspapers and you need to sign up to be a member first, then select to be notified about storm closings, this took about 10 min. to sign up.

Latest Links for Teachers!

Here are my site suggestions for this week!

A collection of great teacher/student resources from Eduhound and Time Magazine.



Great resources by the teacher for the teachers.



Register and join Teacher Domain, sponsored by WGBH



There are a wealth of free video resources. This one caught my eye! Metals in Hydrochloric Acid


If you have heard of the 1-1 laptop for third world countries, for the next 12 days there is an opportunity for anyone to purchase one for themselves and donate one to a third world country( this means it is a 200.00 donation) as part of the 399.00 price. You can read more details here. I've ordered mine and can't wait to find out which country will get my donated one.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving break and I will have more ideas after that.

Presentation to the School Committee Nov. 7, 2007

This was my presentation to the school committee Nov. 7, 2007. Click to view.

New Tools for Adding a blog post.

All I do it type my message and edit, then post.
Here is a great website. WOCSD District

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Big news October 15, 2007

You can take part in a FreeOnline workshop this week and next. K12OnlineConference
Take part in the national SpeakUP Netday survey. This gives our district great information about how we are using technology compared to our answers from last year and compared to the USA. It is very helpful in planning.
Click here SpeakupSurvey 2007
Our password is wocsd