GRANT ALERT: NEA Foundation Learning & Leadership Grant

Overview:The vision of the NEA Foundation is a great public education for every student.

Purpose: Grants support public school teachers, public education support professionals, and/or faculty and staff in public institutions of higher education for one of the following two purposes:

• Grants to individuals fund participation in high-quality professional development experiences, such as summer institutes or action research.

• Grants to groups fund collegial study, including study groups, action research, lesson study, or mentoring experiences for faculty or staff new to an assignment.

All professional development must improve practice, curriculum, and student achievement. Grant funds may be used for fees, travel expenses, books, or other materials that enable applicants to learn subject matter, instructional approaches, and skills. Recipients are expected to exercise professional leadership and turnkey their new learning with their colleagues.

Amount: The grant amount is $2,000 for individuals and $5,000 for groups engaged in collegial study.

For more information, click here.

"Designing Kids" Contest

The PBS kids' show "Design Squad" is inviting students to transform items from their recycling bins into the "next big thing" -and win a $10,000 cash prize in the process. The competition, which is open to students from K-12, launches at www.bkfk.com on April 1 and runs through June 30. Participants will try to take everyday discarded or recycled materials and re-engineer them into functional products. The grand prize-winner will receive a $10,000 cash prize provided by the Intel Foundation as well as the opportunity to build a prototype of the winning design.

NEA Teacher Toolkit: Another FREE Web-Based Tool for your Use!

Are you:

• tired of getting bogged down by teacher paperwork?
• frustrated by having student data recorded in more than one place?
• looking for some easy, convenient way to record and retrieve your data when you need it?

The NEA Teacher ToolKit is just the help you need to get you organized!

The NEA Teacher Toolkit is a suite of free web-based classroom tools designed by NEA members for teachers including attendance and behavior intervention logs, streamlined IEP development tools, easy access to you the state curriculum standards – all available anytime and anywhere you have access to the Internet! The NEA Teacher ToolKit can help you manage attendance, grades, lesson plans and tests as well as facilitate tracking student performance – for free!

Investigate it for yourself: https://www.neateachertoolkit.com/

ISTE National Educational Computing Conference 2008

Mark your calendars, budget, and plan now for the 29th annual National Educational Computing Conference. School's out so join more than 18,000 teachers, technology coordinators, library media specialists, teacher educators, administrators, policy makers, industry representatives, and students from all over the world who'll gather June 29–July 2 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center on the San Antonio River Walk.

NECC is the place for hands-on, interactive learning about how technology and the latest Web 2.0 innovations can transform teaching and learning in your school. NECC also offers the kind of excitement that only comes from meeting face-to-face and networking with educators who share your passion. For more information, visit: http://center.uoregon.edu/ISTE/NECC2008/

FYI: LeapFrog Releases Tag School Reading System

LeapFrog School has announced the release of the Tag School Reading System, a handheld-based connected reading solution to help students develop early literacy skills and become fluent readers.

The Tag School Reading System was created for students in grades PreK-3and it includes the Tag School Reader, a pocket-sized, stylus-shaped handheld device that responds when touched to specially printed Tag story books. The resulting interactivity brings books to life and provides a more enriching reading experience. Students can hear characters talk, explore new story elements, respond to questions, receive supportive feedback, and participate in engaging skill-building activities that help develop confidence and foster a love of reading, according to the announcement.

For more information, visit www.tagschoolreader.com.

FYI: ISTE Publishes NETS*S: Language Arts Units for Grades 9-12

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) released "NETS*S: English Language Arts Units for Grades 9-12", which presents 12 language arts units that integrate technology into standards-based lessons. The material is suitable for both technology beginners and the technologically proficient. It includes topics such as fan fiction and creative writing, teaching Shakespeare with film and images, using blogs and social bookmarking with independent reading projects, podcasting for a variety of purposes, and creating and sharing digital video safely and meaningfully. Links to the table of contents and chapter excerpts can be found at www.iste.org.

Digital Resources for K-12 Engineering Education

The TeachEngineering digital library provides teacher-tested, standards-based engineering content for K-12 teachers to use in science and math classrooms. Engineering lessons connect real-world experiences with curricular content already taught in K-12 classrooms. Mapped to educational content standards, TeachEngineering's comprehensive curricula are hands-on, free, and relevant to children's daily lives.

Introducing engineering into the K-12 classroom connects science and math concepts to the everyday engineering that surrounds us. This teacher resource, TeachEngineering.org, helps teachers enhance learning, excite students and stimulate interest in science and math through the use of hands-on engineering.

You don't need knowledge of engineering to use these curricula!

Bloom’s Taxonomy and the Digital World

Bloom’s Taxonomy, developed in the 1950’s, expresses thinking and learning through a set of concepts that begin with lower order thinking skills and build to higher order thinking skills which includes knowledge at the lowest, then progressing through comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation.

In education, quality teachers seek to bring their students to the higher order thinking skills level of the taxonomy whenever possible. Students typically acquire knowledge and comprehend information. They are rarely able to apply that knowledge.

As education heads into the digital world, many teachers struggle with where to place many of the new technology tasks within this long-standing hierarchal guide to teaching and learning. Constructed over the last 15 years, Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy, turns the words that describe the six levels of thinking skills into different phrases. In the revised taxonomy, verbs are used rather than nouns to express the concept. To learn more about Bloom's Revised Digital Taxonomy, click here.

Educational Gaming: PowerUp and Save the World!

Teachers, do you dream of a learning resource that will grab your students’ attention and engage them as thoroughly as the video games they play at home and on their mobile phones? Are you looking for a classroom resource that will motivate your students to apply science and math concepts to real world problems? Would you like to spark your students interest in pursuing a career in Science or Engineering?

PowerUp is a free downloadable educational video game in which children save the planet from ecological ruin while learning about engineering and science. It is brought to you through a collaboration between IBM, TryScience, and the NY Hall of Science and is complete with teacher lesson plans and a facilitation guide. Learn more, click here.

GRANT ALERT: Captain Planet Foundation Grants

The Captain Planet Foundation has grants ranging from $250-$2,500 for hands-on student projects that promote an understanding of the environment.

In order to be considered for funding, proposals must:

• Promote understanding of environmental issues
• Focus on hands-on involvement
• Involve children and young adults 6-18 (elementary through high school)
• Promote interaction and cooperation within the group
• Help young people develop planning and problem solving skills
• Include adult supervision
• Commit to follow-up communication with the Foundation (specific requirements are explained once the grant has been awarded)

Deadline: June 30, 2008, For more information, click here.

Classroom Potential for "Second Life" Virtual World

Thousands of educators call Second Life their home. Learn more about the virtual world and how it might be beneficial to education at:

• The Second Life Grid Education and Non-Profit Program
• The Second Life educators blog
• Archives of the Best Practices in Education conference
• Schome Project
• Open University's Schome project report on Teen Second Life

Show Them the WOW in Your Classroom, Enter the Extraordinary Moments Video Contest

SMART Technologies is teaming up with TeacherTube to offer the Extraordinary Moments Video Contest. They're looking for 30-second commercials that best answer this question: How do SMART products help you create extraordinary moments in your classroom?

Creativity counts. So does technological wizardry. But most of all they'd like to see how you and your students use technology to create a fun, interactive learning environment.

Win a SMART Board and a trip to your own premiere

As the winner of SMART's video contest, you'll be flown to San Antonio, Texas, to attend the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC), and you'll also be their special guest at a red-carpet premiere of your commercial.

(NECC is the largest educational technology show in North America and takes place from June 29 to July 2, 2008. You'll see the latest SMART products and will get a new SMART Board™ interactive whiteboard to take home with you.)

The video contest starts April 21, 2008, and runs until May 31, 2008. To learn more, click here.

FREE Planning Guide for Classroom Author Visits

Scholastic offers a comprehensive planning guide for author visits, with everything from author contacts organized by geographic regions to checklists for coordinators. It's all free and available for download on the web here.

Digital Resources for Financial Literacy

Middle school students can learn how to properly manage their finances by vising the personal finance section at Junior Achievement's student center. Tools include financial calculators and worksheets, games and a youth forum. Many of the resources are free online for students who visit http://studentcenter.ja.org/.

(Junior Achievement recently received a $100,000 grant from Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs to beef up programs and outreach when it comes to teaching financial literacy to young adults.)

GRANT ALERT: Title IID Grant for Districts 9 & 7

The Bronx Office of Instructional Technology is pleased to announce the commencement of the Enhancing Education through Technology Grant: Transforming Leadership in 21st Century Schools: Inclusive, Innovative, and Interdisciplinary (I3), for selected SINI, SURR, and Corrective Action schools in Districts 9 and 7. This I3 Grant is designed to improve ELA outcomes for English Language Learners by implementing a comprehensive professional development model geared towards the assistant principal, school-based instructional technology specialist, and a lead content area specialist. In support of this goal, participants will receive professional development from Fordham University, the National Staff Development Council, and the Office of Instructional Technology. Schools will also receive instructional materials and devices, (including one Dell Latitude D430 Laptop, two MacBook Laptops, two iPod Touch devices, and one LCD projector) which will better enable them to enhance their current instructional practices.

Interested Assistant Principals, Instructional Technology, and Content Area Specialists from applying schools should all complete the online application by clicking on this application link.
Please do not miss out on this wonderful and rare opportunity. APPLY NOW!!!

Free Podcasts for Science

The American Chemical Society (ACS) has launched Bytesize Science, an educational and entertaining podcast for young listeners. Bytesize Science translates cutting-edge scientific discoveries from ACS's peer-reviewed journals into stories for young listeners about science, health, medicine, energy, food and other topics.

New installments are posted every Monday and are available free of charge. Don't have an iPod? Listen to episodes with your Web browser. Go to http://feeds.feedburner.com/bytesizescience.

PEOPLE POLL:

The Bronx OIT would like your opinions on the following: How does instructional technology assist in providing differentiated experiences for students?

GRANT ALERT: Technology Grants for Youth Development

The Technology Grants for Youth Development will be awarded to visionary nonprofit organizations, which focus on youth development, for technology projects or solutions that advance their organization's core mission. Grants will be awarded in a range between $10,000 and $15,000.

To qualify for a Technology Grant for Youth Development, a nonprofit organization must meet the following criteria:

• be a youth development organization or have strong youth development programs
• have a measurable outcome and clear measure of success for the project being submitted
• be recognized as a charitable nonprofit organization in the country/countries in which they operate

All grant applications are due May 2, 2008 by 5:00 p.m. PST. Grantees will be announced July 11, 2008.

Please submit any questions to grants@salesforcefoundation.org. Apply here.