Improve Math and Science Teaching
The Toshiba America Foundation contributes to the quality of science and mathematics education by investing in projects designed by classroom teachers to improve instruction for students in grades 9–12. The foundation focuses its grant-making on inquiry-based projects designed by individual teachers, and small teams of teachers, for use in their classrooms.

Deadline: Ongoing for grants of $5,000 or less; February 1, 2008 for grants larger than $5,000
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Bring Technology into the Classroom
The GenevaLogic Foundation’s Visionary Grants support teachers who use computers to inspire their students and achieve their teaching goals. Two types of Visionary Grants are available: (1) Classroom Grants—Two classroom teachers will be awarded Vision Class Kits, which contain a single lab pack of Vision classroom management software, Surf-Lock, App-Control and one Vision Teach-Pad, along with one individual ISTE membership for the teacher who submits the winning grant submission. (2) School Grants—Two schools will be awarded Vision School Kits, which contain Vision Classroom Management Software, Surf-Lock, App-Control, Pointer, professional training and three Vision Teach-Pads for one school site, along with three individual ISTE memberships for education stakeholders who submit the winning grant submission. The grants are valued at $10,000.
Deadline: December 28, 2007
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Participate in a Rebate Program
The Troxell Communications Education Scholarship/Grant Rebate Program makes funding available to any qualifying educational institution that purchases products made eligible for rebate by participating vendor partners. Troxell is a leading audiovisual supplier and integrator. Schools/districts must assign an administrator for the program. The administrator must register on the Troxell Communications Web site prior to the purchase of products. Troxell administers the program by displaying an accounting of earned funds, in real time, on each participating customer’s password-protected Web page. There is no limit on the number of rebates an institution can receive. Find more details, FAQs and enrollment information on the company’s Web site.
Deadline: Ongoing
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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!

Find Solutions for Helping English Language Learners
Sign up at The Big Deal Book Web site for hELLo!, a free monthly ELL e-newsletter that includes information about new grants, upcoming contests, the latest educational research and a wealth of information on interactive print and online resources for students, teachers, librarians, principals and others involved in the education of English language learners.
Click Here to Sign Up for Free Newsletter

Continue Your Professional Development
Nova Southeastern University (NSU) awards associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, educational specialist, doctoral and first-professional degrees in a wide range of fields. The institution enjoys an excellent reputation for its programs for families offered through the Mailman Segal Institute for Early Childhood Studies and University School, including innovative parenting, preschool, primary, and secondary education programs. NSU offers several of its degree programs through distance education delivery systems.
Click Here to Learn More About NSU

Slob Out at an Island Paradise
By entering Office Depot’s SLOBs Vacation Sweepstakes, you’ll get a chance to win a 10-day trip to the Maldives Islands for two, plus $2,000 spending money. There are two ways you can enter the sweepstakes: (1) At www.theslobs.com/sweepstakes, submit the required personal information. (2) At www.theslobs.com, upload a real image of a SLOB, or Strange Little Office Being as it’s officially known, to the Gallery, and you’ll automatically be entered into the sweepstakes. You can even create your own virtual SLOB on the sweepstakes’ Create a SLOB page. Then you can challenge other SLOBs or play against the House SLOBs. The more games you play—and win—the more credits you’ll earn to help you build an even better SLOB that you can enter in the sweepstakes.
Deadline: December 31, 2007
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Create a 21st Century Learning Environment
Cable in the Classroom’s Leaders in Learning Awards recognize teachers, administrators and community leaders who are helping to improve and transform education for children in and out of school, creating 21st century learning environments that children need in order to succeed in the world that awaits them. Winners will receive a $3,000 cash prize and an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C. in June 2008.
Deadline: January 16, 2008
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Demonstrate Exemplary Use of Technology in the Classroom
The Astronauts Memorial Foundation’s Alan Shepard Technology in Education Award is open to educators at the K–12 school and district level, who have demonstrated exemplary use of technology either to foster lifelong learners or to make the learning process easier. The winner will receive a commemorative trophy with his or her name engraved and a monetary award of $500. In addition, the award winner’s name will be placed on a plaque honoring past recipients that is housed in the Center for Space Education at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Deadline: January 17, 2008
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Teach About Energy Efficiency
On this site from the U.S. Department of Energy, you’ll find links to more than 350 lesson plans and activities on energy efficiency and renewable energy for kindergarten through grade 12. Each lesson includes a short summary that identifies curriculum integration, time, materials and national standards. The lessons are organized by grade level and topic—biomass, geothermal, fuel cells, ocean energy, solar power, transportation fuels, wind energy, and energy efficiency and conservation.
Click Here for Free Resources

Enrich Students’ Math Learning
NRICH, a math enrichment site, supports teachers and learners of mathematics with thousands of free resources designed to develop subject content knowledge and problem-solving and thinking skills. The resources are organized around a monthly theme; in November the theme was Modeling. The site also highlights a weekly problem or challenge.
Click Here for Free Resources

Plus: Visit Ask NRICH, a Web-board monitored by a team of mathematicians who are ready to answer any mathematical questions you have. You can join in existing discussions or start a new conversation. To post anything, you need to be registered, but registration is free.
Click Here to Access Web-Board

Examine the Challenges of Reporting on Wars
The PBS documentary Reporting America at War explores the role of journalists in covering America’s wars. The Web site offers lesson plans on press censorship, message control, the power of pictures, finding the right words, and works by Ernie Pyle and Edward R. Murrow. The documentary examines the challenges of reporting from the front lines and the role of the correspondent in shaping how wars have been understood and remembered.
Click Here for Free Resources

Shape the Environment of the Future
Featuring an all-new feature set, SimCity Societies allows you to create your own kinds of cities and shape their cultures and environments. Make your cities green or polluted, contemporary or futuristic, rural or urban. Create an artistic society or a police state, an industrial city or a spiritual community—or any society you want!
Click Here for Free Demo

Plus: Check out ElectroCity, a new, free online computer game that lets players manage their own virtual towns and cities and at the same time learn about energy, sustainability and environmental management.
Click Here to Access Free Game

Create Interactive Exercises for the World Wide Web
The Hot Potatoes suite includes six applications, enabling you to create interactive multiple-choice, short-answer, jumbled-sentence, crossword, matching/ordering and fill-in-the-blank exercises for the World Wide Web. Hot Potatoes is not freeware, but it may be used free of charge by those working for publicly funded non-profit-making educational institutions that make their pages available on the Web.
Click Here to Download Free Applications

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.

Examining Urban Students’ Reading and Math Competences
A survey of test scores from students across 11 urban school districts nationwide showed some improvement in math and reading scores since 2005, but most of those scores still lag behind the national average, according to the 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress data.
Click Here to Access Findings

Addressing Plummeting Levels of Reading
To Read or Not to Read: A Question of National Consequence, a new report from the National Endowment for the Arts, paints a dire picture of plummeting levels of reading among young people over the past two decades. It is not just the amount of reading that has dropped. According to the report, reading ability has fallen as well.
Click Here to Access Findings

Implement Research-Based Educational Techniques
Doing What Works, a new U.S. Department of Education Web site, aims to help educators adapt research-based educational techniques to their own schools. Teachers can read about the studies undergirding recommended educational strategies; access video, slides or audio recordings of educators using those practices in schools; or see examples of tools for implementing such strategies in their own schools.
Click Here to Visit Web Site

Introduce Students to Careers Related to Their Interests
From the U.S. Department of Labor, BioWorksU introduces students to life science careers. The virtual university setting uses games, experiments and simulations to show jobs at a range of locations—for example, nurse’s station, ambulance bay, diagnostic lab, pathology lab, radiology department, pharmacy, physical therapy room and dentist’s office. Students can watch videos of professionals describing what they do. They can also play the dental diagnosis game and then try to build a healthy smile.
Click Here to Visit Web Site

Plus: The BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) Career Information is a place where students can find information on job opportunities related to the arts, math, science, physical education and outdoors, reading and social studies. The site also offers resources for teachers, including a link to the Bureau’s Occupational Outlook Handbook.
Click Here to Visit Web Site

Build a Collection of Lesson Materials
On the Connexions Web site, educators can upload bite-sized chunks of learning materials called “modules,” which can be strung together to form whole courses, or “collections.” Anyone can build a collection from any combination of modules—so, for example, a module on Shakespeare’s Hamlet could appear in collections on literature, Elizabethan history or dramatic arts. This building-block approach means that courses can be adapted both for personal use and by teachers who can tailor each collection for a particular curriculum, class or even an individual student. To ensure the quality of its content, the site supports peer-review and endorsement of modules by third parties, and all material is attributed to the author. Once a collection is assembled, a textbook version can be printed on demand.
Click Here to Visit Web Site

Help Parents Encourage Smart Surfing
Qwest Communications has created a Web site to help parents better understand and deal with their children’s online activities. The Incredible Internet site aims to help families make informed decisions about setting limits on children’s access. Psychologist Linda Young is featured in three online videos about online safety and cyberbullying.
Click Here to Visit Web Site
Click Here to View Videos

Test Your Global Knowledge
How much do you know about the world? Can you name the world’s most spoken primary language? the largest consumer of oil? the most heavily fortified border on the planet? the current population of the United States? Test yourself on National Geographic’s Web site.
Click Here to Visit Web Site

Connect to the World
TakingITGlobal.org is an online community that connects youth to find inspiration, access information, get involved and take action in their local and global communities. It’s the world’s most popular online community for young people interested in making a difference, with hundreds of thousands of unique visitors each month. After signing up for a free membership, students have access to a global network of more than 130,000 TakingITGlobal (TIG) members. They also have tools for creating and managing their Projects and Organizations; the ability to submit writing to Panorama, TIG’s online publication; their own Artist’s Page in the Global Gallery; their own TIGblog and much more.
Click Here to Visit Web Site

Edit Google Maps
Google Maps has a new feature for users who want to give the free mapping service a little more precision. Users who are signed into Google Maps with their Google account can now edit where a marker appears on any location, whether it’s a business or residential listing. There’s an official review system that double-checks the edits if they are more than 200 meters away from the original location.
Click Here to Visit Web Site

Plus: Google has created an explanatory video, which you can view on YouTube.
Click Here to Access Video