Disrupt the Education Space

Join other education and school leaders, including guest speakers Hadi Partovi and Dale Dougherty, for #HackTheClassroom—a live digital event where you can hear from thought leaders, ask questions, and learn about innovative teaching practices that can help you transform your classroom.

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Overcome the Word Gap

Sponsored by the US Health Resources & Service Administration, Bridging the Word Gap Challenge will award a total of $300,000 in prizes to support innovative solutions that can help promote early language development among children from low-income families in the United States. The word gap is the difference between the number of words children from low-income families are exposed to as compared to children from high-income families. Challenge participants should submit their best ideas to help parents and caregivers to talk—and engage in more back-and-forth interactions—with their young children. Submissions should demonstrate that the proposed intervention can be used across diverse backgrounds and easily put into action.

Deadlines: Phase 1: Design, January 29, 2016; Phase 2: Development & Small-Scale Testing, August 11, 2016; Phase 3: Scaling, March 26, 2016

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Explore the Future of Mobility

Toyota Financial Services has announced its fifth year of hosting the worldwide Toyota Dream Car Art Contest in the United States. The contest is designed to inspire creativity in youth and encourage an interest in the automotive industry. US youth, aged 4–15, can submit hand-drawn artworks featuring unique concepts of their “Dream Car.” Applicants are sorted into three age categories (4–7 years, 8–11 years, 12–15 years). Judging is based on three criteria: execution of concept, uniqueness, and artistry. In the spring of 2016, nine US winners will be selected. Once accepted and awarded, their artwork will be submitted, along with entries from more than 80 countries, for consideration in the World Contest. Thirty World Winners, plus their parents or guardians, will receive a trip to Japan to participate in an awards ceremony in August 2016, during which four additional awards will be announced per age category: Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Best Finalist.

Deadline: February 1, 2016, for entries

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Inspire the Next Generation of Innovators

Lockheed Martin is sponsoring the USA Science & Engineering Festival, featuring many STEM-related events, contests, and opportunities for both teachers and students. The free festival will take place on April 16 and 17, 2016, in Washington, DC. The USA Science and Engineering Festival has launched a prize competition for computer science classroom design. ENIAC Classroom Design Prize is open to high school students from across the United States. The competition will run throughout the spring of 2016, and the challenge will result in one winner and two runners up. The goal of the prize is to challenge students to design creative strategies for engaging more women in computer science and STEM careers by altering classroom environments.

Deadline: Spring 2016

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Click Here for More Information About Design Prize

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Supplement Your Stretched Budget

GetEdFunding is a free website sponsored by CDW•G to help educators and institutions find the funds they need in order to supplement their already stretched budgets. GetEdFunding hosts a collection of thousands of grants and other funding opportunities culled from federal, state, regional, and community sources available to public and private, preK–12 educators, schools and districts, higher education institutions, and nonprofit organizations that work with them. GetEdFunding offers customized searches by six criteria, including 43 areas of focus, eight content areas, and any of the 21st century themes and skills that support your curriculum. After registering on the site, you can save the grant opportunities of greatest interest and then return to them at any time. This rich resource of funding opportunities is expanded, updated, and monitored daily.

Click Here to Search for Funding Opportunities

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Maximize Potential of BYOD Initiatives

Educators can collaborate and deliver lesson content to their touch-enabled Windows 10 devices with NetSupport School 12, offering genuine multi-platform support. Instructors can visually interact with, apply e-Safety controls to, and deliver assessments to any student desktop and BYOD technology across Windows, Chrome, iOS, and Android platforms.

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Think Critically About Art

The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles provides free lessons that integrate art into the curriculum. One of these lessons focuses on Understanding Formal Analysis. In the lesson, students explore the elements of art and principles of design used by artists. Students discover how to identify the elements and principles, and evaluate their role in the composition of a work of art. Exploring the elements and principles supports students’ understanding of artist’s choices and equips them with the vocabulary to express their critical thinking about works of art.

Click Here to Visit Website

Plus: For centuries, art has inspired poets, and poetry has inspired artists. On the Getty Museum’s website, teachers will discover a myriad of lessons, ideas, and multimedia that explore creative expression and inquiry at the crossroads of poetry and visual art. These resources will motivate students to pen poems, create visual poetry, and compare and contrast similar themes across visual art and verse.

Click Here to Access Free Creative Expression Resources

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Evaluate EdTech Product Effectiveness

A new online tool can help school–district leaders compare the effectiveness of technology products before purchasing them. The tool, designed by the nonprofit Digital Promise and researchers from Johns Hopkins University, asks questions and provides scores on which products would best meet their needs. Its structure is a relatively simple, multiple-choice format, which asks school officials involved in purchasing decisions to consider 12 questions on the relevance, rigor, and design of product-evaluation studies—whether they’re conducted independently, paid for and overseen by companies themselves, or something in between.

Click Here to Download Free Tool

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Design Game-Winning Strategies

EA SPORTS, the NFL Players Association (NFLPA), and Discovery Education have teamed up for a national educational program that taps into children’s excitement about football and video games to ignite a passion for math and science. EA SPORTS Madden NFL: Football by the Numbers is an initiative to engage students in grades 5–9 with science and math content through an interactive digital learning game. The educational program takes students inside the science and math behind football fundamentals and teaches them how and why certain offensive and defensive plays work. The program consists of interactive scenarios that are broken down into three sections: Explore, Learn, and Game Play. In “Explore,” students are introduced to football-related concepts, positions, and strategies that relate to the game. Students then “Learn” about specific math and science concepts as they relate to various offensive and defensive strategies. Students apply their learning during “Game Play.” The program also includes a virtual field trip to EA SPORT’s Tiburon development studio to meet the team behind the Madden NFL games and a local school community night featuring an NFL player, in addition to other learning tools. The program, which launched in December 2015, is available at no cost to educators, students, and parents worldwide.

Click Here to Access Free Program

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Ensure Success for All Students

On January 18, 2016, from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. (ET), Big Deal Media’s Amazing Resources for Educators community on edWeb.net will host an interactive, collaborative webinar, sponsored by Quill.com, titled “Ensuring Success for All: Strategies for Bringing Out the Best in Students in Poverty, and Students Who Struggle with Language and Learning.” In this webinar, the 2015 National Teacher of the Year will share her experiences in Title I middle and high schools, as well as her work with refugee students, English learners, and students in intervention classes. The webinar will deliver both practical strategies and inspiration to educators and administrators working toward success for all of their students. Participants’ questions will be answered during the live, interactive session, and the webinar will be recorded and archived for members of the Amazing Resources for Educators community to access after the event.

Click Here to Join Amazing Resources for Educators Community

Click Here to Register for Free Webinar

Click Here to Visit Quill Website

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Begin a Winning Grant-Writing Journey

From 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. (ET) on January 25, 2016, the GetEdFunding community on edWeb.net will host Part 1 of a three-part grant-writing webinar miniseries titled “You CAN Win Grants for Your School,” sponsored by CDW•G. In this miniseries, the presenter will review and dissect the eight typical sections of a proposal so participants will come away feeling equipped and confident to begin their own winning grant-writing journey. In Part 1 of the series, the presenter will offer insider tips and techniques for writing the first three sections of a foundation grant proposal: Executive Summary; Description of the School; Need for the Project. This webinar will be helpful for both teachers and administrators. Participants’ questions will be answered during the live, interactive session, and the webinar will be recorded and archived for members of the GetEdFunding community to access after the event.

Click Here to Join GetEdFunding Community

Click Here to Register for Free Webinar

Click Here to Visit GetEdFunding Website

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Stand Up with Students

On February 8, 2016, from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. (ET), the Amazing Resources for Educators community on edWeb.net will host a free webinar titled “School Moves! How to Improve Your Students Health, Behavior, and Achievement Through Movement.” In this webinar, sponsored by Ergotron, the presenter will explore the role of low-level physical activity on the musculoskeletal, psychosocial, cardiovascular, and metabolic health of students, as well as the linkage of these health factors to classroom performance. The presenter will also share available grant-writing resources for adding height-adjustable and mobile student desks into the learning environment to put “enheightenment,” or daily movement, back into the classroom. This presentation is designed for teachers, principals, and administrators. Participants’ questions will be answered during the live, interactive session, and the webinar will be recorded and archived for members of the Amazing Resources for Educators community to access after the event.

Click Here to Join Amazing Resources for Educators Community

Click Here to Register for Free Webinar

Click Here to Visit Ergotron Website

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Participate in a Global Game of Intrigue

Designed for the iPad and iPhone, Ingress is a free immersive Augmented Reality (AR) game produced by Niantic Labs, a division of Google. The story setup is that the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) has discovered a new form of matter called Exotic Matter (XM, for short). XM, which has the power to control human thought, is constantly leaking into our world via various portals. The world is divided into two factions over who should control these XM portals, and it is up to the player to choose a side and help that side achieve victory. The game incorporates real-world locations and landmarks as portals using geo-location-based AR, in combination with an arsenal of tools to hack and take over portals, and a constant stream of social interaction. Cost: Free

Click Here to Visit iTunes App Store

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Visualize the Elements of Literature

Created by Mark Patrick Media, Literary Analysis Guide, a reference tool for iOS devices, was designed by a college English professor with extensive secondary experience, for students of literature, rhetoric, and writing. The elements of literature are arranged around three clickable interface wheels. Students can touch any term on the wheels for a detailed definition, examples from literature, questions to ask, and an example essay paragraph that analyzes that term. Students can also reference an illustrated version of each analysis paragraph, which highlights the topic sentence, textual evidence, and analysis portions of text. With a full glossary of literary terms, students can search for the meaning of more esoteric literary concepts, including a broad selection of figures of speech, poetic forms, dramatic forms, tropes, schemes, techniques, and various forms of literary criticism. Cost: $2.99

Click Here to Visit iTunes App Store

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Free Students’ Imagination and Creativity

With Let’s create! Pottery HD by Infinite Dreams for iOS and Android devices, students can become artists and create one-of-a-kind ceramic pottery items by imagining, designing, and even printing their 3D pots. Students can throw their clay on the wheel, release all their artistic talents, and take benefit of dozens of materials available to create their own designs. After completing their designs, users can convert their virtual pots into real objects by selecting to print them in 3D. The app also includes options to engage in quests, build personal palettes of colors and brushes, and participate in the Let’s create! Pottery Portal, a community of potters. Users can post their created pots on the portal, compete with talented artists, and share creations with friends. Cost: iOS, $9.99; Android, $4.98

Click Here to Visit Website

Click Here to Access Pottery Portal

Click Here to Visit iTunes App Store

Click Here to Visit Google Play Store

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Volunteer with eCYBERMISSION

eCYBERMISSION, a web-based STEM competition for students in grades 6–9, is seeking dedicated individuals—teachers, college students, parents, community leaders, business leaders, and anyone else with a background or interest in STEM—to serve as Virtual Judges and help build students’ interest in and knowledge of STEM, as well as be a part of a rewarding experience. Register as a volunteer before February 29, 2016.

Click Here for More Information 

Click Here to Volunteer

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Connect with Students Worldwide

The second annual Student Technology Conference, a free one-day online event bringing together students, educators, and innovators from around the world, will be held on January 30, 2016, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. (ET). The Student Technology Conference provides an international forum for the presentation, discussion, and sharing of educational technology in schools and other academic settings. This conference, by students in grades 6–12, colleges and universities, and others, is intended to foster a better understanding of how students use technology in education—both in and out of the classroom—and to engage students, teachers, and administrators in a conversation about technology. You can join the conference for just for one session or for every session. If you miss a session, you can watch it later, since all the sessions will be recorded. You can join anywhere you have an Internet connection; the schedule of sessions is published online in each of the time zones in the world. Just find your time zone, find the sessions taking place, and click right into the ones you want to join.

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Give a Lift to At-Risk Youth

The US Department of Defense’s STARBASE program exposes the nation’s at-risk youth to the technological environments and positive civilian and military role models found on Active, Guard, and Reserve military bases and installations. The program provides 25 hours of exemplary hands-on instruction and activities that meet or exceed national standards. DoD STARBASE focuses on elementary students, primarily fifth graders. It serves students who are historically underrepresented in STEM: students who live in inner cities or rural locations, those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged, low in academic performance, or have a disability are in the target group. The program engages students through the inquiry-based curriculum with its “hands-on, mind-on” experiential activities. For example, students study Newton’s Laws and Bernoulli’s principle and explore nanotechnology, navigation, and mapping. They use a computer to design space stations, all-terrain vehicles, and submersibles. Math is embedded throughout the curriculum, and students use metric measurement, estimation, calculation geometry, and data analysis to solve problems. Teamwork is stressed as students work together to explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate concepts. The military volunteers apply abstract principles to real-world situations by leading tours and giving lectures on the use of STEM in different settings and careers. Students may discuss how chemical fires are extinguished, learn how the injured are transported, or explore the cockpit of an F-18 or the interior of a submarine. DoD STARBASE works with school districts to support their standards of learning objectives.

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Explore Earth’s Natural Sounds

A group of professional nature recordists from around the globe have collaborated to develop Nature Soundmap, an enjoyable and interactive way of exploring the natural sounds of our planet. Combining high-quality field recordings with the latest satellite imagery, the project brings together some of nature’s most beautiful, interesting, and inspiring sounds. Students can immerse themselves in a pulsating insect chorus in Borneo’s tropical rainforest, or they can climb the Himalayas and relax to the melodies of birdsong in an alpine meadow. Combined with Google’s Street View images, the sound recordings will provide a complete picture of what it is like to be at ground level in a place. The website was developed by Wild Ambience in Sydney, Australia.

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Connect Students to Local History

The Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership is a nonprofit organization consisting of more then 150 partnering organizations dedicated to preserving the historic, scenic, and educational integrity of the 180-mile stretch of land that runs from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia. The national heritage area crosses four states—Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia. Since The Journey’s inception a decade ago, more than 5,000 students (including middle school, high school, and university students), many from underserved populations, have experienced the power of the resources developed by the organization’s staff. The Journey is eager to help teachers across the country develop, for their locale, vodcasts that can connect students to local history. The vodcasts will be shared online through YouTube, SchoolTube, and The Journey’s website, and they will also become interpretive materials of the partnering National Park Service website. The organization offers guidance for teachers and schools on funding their local history project.

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Plus: Schools from coast to coast are also involved in The Journey Through Hallowed Ground Living Legacy Tree Planting Project. During the American Civil War, approximately 620,000 soldiers died. Every American living at the time of the Civil War felt its impact. As a living commemoration for the individual and combined sacrifices, the Living Legacy Tree Planting Project is planting one tree for each soldier who sacrificed his life. Upon completion, this initiative will create the first 180-mile landscaped allée in the world.

Click Here for Information on Planting a Tree

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Get Active and Save Lives

Sponsored by Target and Disney, UNICEF Kid Power gives students the power to save lives. By getting active with the UNICEF Kid Power Band, students go on missions to learn about new cultures and earn points. Points unlock funding from partners, parents, and fans, and funds are used by UNICEF to deliver lifesaving packets of therapeutic food to severely malnourished children around the world. The more students move, the more points they earn, the more lives they save. By purchasing a UNICEF Kid Power Band—available at Target—and downloading the free companion UNICEF Kid Power app for iOS and Android, families can join the Kid Power team and work together to help end global malnutrition. Schools can join by applying online to participate in the UNICEF Kid Power School Program, consisting of a teacher-led classroom experience that leverages easy-to-use technology and standards-based UNICEF Kid Power Curriculum.

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