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Education Newswatch November/December

News and Grants for Teaching Professionals

Read for Life
On December 8, 2007, millions of children will join together to participate in Read For 2007: Read For Life, the eighth annual worldwide read-a-thon created by Scholastic. In partnership with Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), the read-a-thon encourages children to stop everything and read for 2,007 seconds (approximately 33-1/2 minutes), to celebrate the joy of reading on this day and throughout the new year. The Read For 2007: Read For Life website, www.scholastic.com/readfor2007, includes podcasts about reading from young celebrities and live online chats with such authors as Cornelia Funke and Robert Munsch. Kids can vote for their favorite books online with the "Kids' Pick For 2007," as well as create their own book review to e-mail to their friends. An interactive world map features all of the participating classrooms and libraries around the world. The website also offers a vast selection of free resources for parents, librarians and teachers, including reading tips, event ideas on how to celebrate Read For 2007, age-appropriate book lists and downloadable bookmarks featuring children's favorite fictional characters.

Youth Taking Action
Youth Policy Action Center is a website that engages young people in democracy to affect policy changes. It represents youth-related issues and reflects varying viewpoints and political perspectives. Found at www.youthpolicyactioncenter.org, the site allows visitors to receive news alerts from the more than 80 participating national, state and local child and youth organizations; contact their local elected officials; access tools to identify media contacts; keep up to date with the latest in research and policy analyses and track legislation. There are state-specific pages, an information clearinghouse, in-depth political tools and interactive features (including a blog, youth videos and social networking).

No Name-Calling Week
January 21-25, 2008, is No Name-Calling Week, an annual week of educational activities aimed at ending name-calling and providing schools with tools and inspiration to launch an ongoing dialogue about ways to eliminate bullying in their communities.The project is targeted at grades five through eight – years when the problem of name-calling is particularly acute – but the concept can be adapted at other grade levels. Educators can also incorporate the No Name-Calling Week curriculum, principles and resources any time throughout the school year.
Free downloadable tools are available at the website, including lesson plans, artwork for stickers and a poster. A complete Resource Kit, which includes an educational video and the book that inspired the creation of No Name-Calling Week, The Misfits by James Howe (Atheneum, 2001), are available for purchase. Visit www.nonamecallingweek.org for more information.

MacWorld Conference in the New Year!
This year's MacWorld Conference will be held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA January 2008. The conference is geared for teachers and administrators with the presentation focus on new tools, technologies, and the training to more effectively integrate the technologies into the classroom.

The keynote speaker is Dr. Monica Beglau, executive director of eMints, a National Center that offers professional development programs created by educators for educators. Some of the conference topics include a Market Symposium (sponsored by CUE), blogging in the classroom, and a special session on the history of the accessible Mac design.

For more information, or to register for this conference, visit www.macworldexpo.com

Grants

Sharpie® Autographs for Education
The Sharpie Autographs for Education National Signature contest is a national education campaign in which students collect signatures of everyday people. Sharpie will contribute $5,000 in school supplies to each of the 150 schools with the most signatures at the end of the year. Downloadable corresponding lesson plans for grades K-8, as well as rules and entry forms, are available on the website listed below.
Deadline January 2008
Eligibility U.S. teachers and students
Contact www.sanfordcorp.com

Toyota TAPESTRY Grants for Science Teachers
In partnership with the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), Toyota is offering grants to K-12 science teachers for innovative projects that enhance science education in the school and/or school district. 50 large grants and at least 20 mini-grants, totaling $550,000, will be awarded. To apply, qualified teachers must write a proposal according to the requirements.
Deadline January 28, 2008
Eligibility U.S. K-12 science teachers
Contact ecommerce2.nsta.org/toyota

Olympus and Tool Factory Classroom Grant
Educators are invited to submit applications for a class project using Olympus digital cameras and Tool Factory's project-building software. Applications will be judged on effective use of digital cameras in the curriculum, effective use of the software resources, degree of student involvement and degree of creativity and fun. Ten schools will be awarded packages that include three Olympus digital cameras, one Tool Factory site license and $500 cash.
Deadline Ongoing
Eligibility K-12 schools
Contact www.toolfactory.com

Updated October 31, 2007

November/December, 2006, Vol.37, No.3