Bring Materials Science into the Classroom
As part of its “Living In a Material World” initiative, The ASM International Foundation is awarding 10 grants of $500 each to help K–12 teachers bring the “real world” of materials into their classrooms. To apply, submit a two-page proposal describing a curriculum-based hands-on project involving students’ observations, communication, and mathematics and science skills, while enhancing their awareness of the materials around them. Cooperative proposals among several teachers are welcome. ASM International has local chapters across North America, and members are willing to work closely with local teachers to develop and implement lessons on materials science. View an online list of current local ASM professional chapters to find some in your area.
Deadline: May 25, 2007 for proposals
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Improve Student Achievement
The NEA Foundation’s Student Achievement Grants provide funds to improve the academic achievement of students in U.S. public schools and public higher education institutions in any subject area(s). The proposed work should engage students in critical thinking and problem solving that deepen their knowledge of standards-based subject matter. The work should also improve students’ habits of inquiry, self-directed learning and critical reflection. Proposals for work resulting in low-income and minority student success with honors, advanced placement or other challenging curricula are particularly encouraged. The amount of the award is $5,000.
Deadline: June 1, 2007
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Participate in High-Quality Professional Development
The NEA Foundation’s Learning & Leadership Grants support K–12 public school teachers, public education support professionals and/or faculty and staff in public institutions of higher education for one of 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. The grant amount is $2,000 for individuals and $5,000 for groups engaged in collegial study.
Deadline: June 1, 2007
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Improve Access to Education for Students with Disabilities
Youth grants from the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation (MEAF) focus on improving disabled children’s and teens’ access to education, recreation and training. Schools and districts may not apply individually, but may partner with a local nonprofit organization to deliver a program.
Deadline: Concept papers due June 1, annually
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Join the growing list of teachers enjoying the eBookDestination Rewards Program. On the first day of each month, a digital coupon (representing 5 percent of your total purchases in the previous month) will be added to your shopping cart. You’ll then be notified via email of the presence (and amount) of this coupon.

There’s no application to complete, no points to collect, no cards to carry, no codes to enter and (most important) no fees to pay. Quite simply, you are repaid for your loyalty with a 5 percent credit toward future purchases. It’s as easy as that!

Browse the eBookstore now! You’ll receive an automatic discount on some 3,000 ebook titles, many of which are bundled with downloadable audio MP3 files, from major educational publishers. Plus, there’s always a selection of the most popular titles on sale!

Produce a Winning Video
The HIGH FIVE CHALLENGE TV Game Show recognizes and rewards youth who are doing a good job, both in and away from school. Encouraging teamwork among students, the challenge is exciting, entertaining and educational. Students simply create their own videos, taking on the roles of producers, directors and actors. They then send their videos to the nonprofit High Five Foundation and later check to see whether the videos are posted on the High Five site and on the organization’s YouTube site. The High-Five Challenge has given more than 8,000 teens their “First 15 Minutes of Fame,” along with more than $500,000 in prizes and scholarships.
Deadline: Ongoing
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Illustrate a Book on the Environment
Environmental Concern’s third annual national Write-On! Wetlands Challenge! invites elementary students to illustrate the book Wetlands A to Z by Sofia Calicchio. The winning artwork will be incorporated within the text written by the middle school winner of an earlier writing competition. Winning artists will receive two copies of the book, one for themselves and one for their school.
Deadline: May 18, 2007
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Document “Smart” Teaching and Learning
SMART Technologies has launched its second annual World Teachers’ Day video contest. Teachers across the globe are invited to submit videos that demonstrate how SMART Board™ interactive whiteboards are improving student learning outcomes. Seventy-five winners, selected from five global regions, will win iPod shuffles. The top regional winners will each receive a SMART Board™ interactive whiteboard, and the overall winner will receive the grand prize, an all-inclusive trip to London, England, for BETT 2008, a leading education technology tradeshow.
Deadline: June 21, 2007
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Observe Urban Birds
The projects on the Urban Bird Studies Web site help scientists at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to learn more about birds in cities. The scientists use data collected by citizen scientists across North America and in many other countries to answer scientific questions about urban birds. Students can participate in two types of projects to help the Cornell scientists: they can (1) watch what birds do in their neighborhoods, or they can (2) walk, count and identify birds in different areas of their city. Find a variety of projects on the Urban Bird Studies site. You can also access a free online bird guide and glossary and view the Citizens Helping Scientists video.
Click Here for Free Resources

Plus: Join the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in an exciting and free nationwide event called Celebrate Urban Birds on May 10–13, 2007.

Explore the History of School Integration
Part history, part current events and part imagination, Toni Morrison’s Remember: The Journey to School Integration introduces a period of recent American history to upper elementary and middle school students. An accompanying online guide provides ideas for exploring the period through discussion, research, “trial experiences,” examination of primary source material, and written and oral projects. The photographs and spare text invite readers to put themselves into this era of change and understand how it felt. Click below to view a moving four-part video of images from the book and hear Ms. Morrison discussing her inspiration for creating the book. Also available are lesson plans for teachers.
Click Here to Access Guide and Video

Experience the Saga of a Natural Disaster
Spike Lee’s documentary, When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, is the centerpiece of a new, free curriculum package that will be available in fall 2007 for high school, college and community educators. Lee’s documentary, which debuted on HBO in August 2006, chronicles the experiences of people from diverse backgrounds and socioeconomic conditions who endured the harrowing ordeal of living in New Orleans during and after the levees were breached. Through eyewitness accounts and expert commentary, the four-part documentary tells the saga of this natural disaster and the failure at all levels of government to respond adequately to the tragedy. The documentary will be accompanied by a multidisciplinary curriculum guide, Teaching The Levees: A Curriculum for Democratic Dialogue and Civic Engagement to Accompany the HBO Documentary Film Event, developed by the faculty at Teachers College, Columbia University. Available free to educators, thanks to a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, the curriculum package, which includes a complete version of the documentary in a two-disk DVD set and a complementary curriculum guide, can be requested at the site linked below while supplies last.
Click Here to Request Free Curriculum Package

Address Teen Drug Addiction
Educators and teens can confront the real-world impact of drugs with the TV Junkie: Faces of Addiction. Scope Seven and Deep Ellum Pictures teamed to create an educationally enhanced® DVD version of the documentary TV Junkie. This classroom-compliant version of the documentary seamlessly integrates standards-aligned educational content into the filmed narrative, thereby providing educators with tools for addressing addiction in a powerful and engaging way.
Click Here to Order DVD

Bring the 2008 Campaign into the Classroom
As the 2008 presidential race builds, C-SPAN Classroom will feature weekly video clips from the campaign trail, free of charge for educators who register online. Educators who join C-SPAN Classroom may also receive a free DVD, which includes 17 short clips of C-SPAN’s primary source, public affairs programming (while supplies last).
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Get free unlimited online access to all the print content in The Big Deal Book for Educators of Struggling Students, Middle School Through High School, The Big Deal Book for Teachers of English Language Learners and The Big Deal Book of Technology for K–12 Educators. Explore the many opportunities to fund your special programs, access timely reports and articles, locate free and inexpensive resources and identify engaging interactive Web sites.

Assess School Safety
After every school shooting, the Center for Mental Health in Schools at UCLA is asked about how schools should assess students who may be a threat. Here’s a response drawn from the center’s Practitioner’s Listserv.
Click Here to Download Threat Assessment Information

Cope with the Aftermath of Violence at Virginia Tech
The American Academy of Pediatrics also has assembled a collection of resources to help parents, teachers, students, schools and pediatricians cope with the aftermath of the violence at Virginia Tech University. Additional resources are provided on violence prevention, school safety and promotion of mental health.
Click Here for Resources

Celebrate National Teacher Appreciation Day
On May 8, 2007, thousands of communities will take time out to honor their local educators and acknowledge the contributions they make to children’s lives. “Great Teachers Make Great Public Schools” draws attention to the crucial role teachers play in making sure every child receives a quality public education and conveys the hard work they do each day to make public schools great for every child.
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Plus: Behind every famous face lies an unsung hero, a teacher who has provided the inspiration and motivation for success in life. The National Education Association (NEA) has collected a list of teachers who have inspired celebrities, athletes and elected officials to become who they are today.
Click Here to Read Comments of Celebrities

Turn to the Web to Connect with Students
The Google Teacher Academy is a free professional development experience designed to help K–12 educators get the most from innovative technologies. Each academy is an intensive, one-day event where participants get hands-on experience with Google’s free products and other technologies, learn about innovative instructional strategies, receive resources to share with colleagues and immerse themselves in an innovative corporate environment. Fifty innovative educators are selected to attend each academy based on the merits of their online application. Potential applicants include classroom teachers, curriculum specialists, technology specialists, librarians, administrators, professional trainers and other education professionals who actively serve K–12 teachers and students. Upon completion, academy participants become Google Certified Teachers who share what they learn with other K–12 educators in their local region.
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Learn and Share with Your Colleagues—Online
The Carnegie Foundation’s Gallery of Teaching & Learning delivers professional development the YouTube way—online, with video and audio clips straight from colleagues’ classrooms. As a repository for scholarly research, multimedia case studies and interactive tools, this free site covers how and what to teach to 21st century students.
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Plus: The free KEEP Toolkit is open-source software for making quick SnapShots, representations of nearly anything to share with students or collaborators online.
Click Here for Free Software

Learn Best Practices from the Experts
Education Topics are free multimedia lessons, from the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), on topics of interest to all levels of educators. Among the topics are “Brain and Learning,” “Building Academic Vocabulary,” “Differentiating Instruction,” “Inclusion” and more. Each lesson includes a definition, short articles on the topic, audio and video files of experts and practitioners and a listing of resources that educators can use to continue their professional development.
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Protect Children Online
If your students are like most teens, they feel right at home in cyberspace. They already know how to have fun online, but do they know how to play it safe and protect themselves from online dangers? At Web Wise Kids, they can take the “Know It All?” challenge and find out how they score. They can also read through Internet safety tips and fill out an Internet Safety Plan.
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Campaign for Education in 2008
Eli Broad and Bill Gates have together contributed more than $2 billion to improving schools. Now they have joined forces to try and ensure education is a key topic of discussion during the 2008 presidential campaign. Their Strong American Schools education campaign will include television and radio advertising in battleground states and a push for more consistent curriculum standards, longer and more school days and improved teacher quality.
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Take the Weather Challenge
The Weather Channel presents a set of realistic weather conditions in this interactive educational resource. Middle school students will learn how to make important safety decisions during severe weather events when they become virtual youth interns in the SafeSide® Severe Weather Challenge. The learning activity lets students take control as they manage the WeatherREADY Severe Weather Command Center and field questions from virtual families around the country. The multimedia, Flash-based activity uses actual forecasts from on-air meteorologists and footage from real storms. A storm tracker also provides clues via video.
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