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5/21/2012
Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers™
The unofficial beginning of summer has arrived, and the swimming pools are open. Some schools are out, and many more end soon. If you are reading this Update within a week of its release, you are a dedicated teacher indeed! Enjoy your long weekend and take a deep breath. You deserve it.
OK2Ask®: Your full "menu" is ready!
Descriptions for all July and August OK2Ask sessions are now posted. Join us for offerings on Tuesdays and Thursdays: snack sessions for many terrific topics. Read and/or download the full summer OK2Ask® schedule and mark your calendar now! OK2Ask free, online teacher professional development is accessible from any computer, and we provide professional development certificates. Registration opens about a month before each summer session.
Speak up now, please
Please tell us what you think of TeachersFirst before our annual survey runs out. Just a few minutes of your time seems a fair trade for this free service, right? We need your ratings and comments about the impact of TeachersFirst on our TeachersFirst User Survey. The survey closes around the beginning of June.
Dreams come true
Win a free technology package worth over $300,000 for your school/district in Lifetime’s Dream School Challenge. TeachersFirst’s non-profit parent company, The Source for Learning, is a sponsor of this contest from Lifetime’s The Balancing Act. Learn more here. The prize package includes an OK2Ask® session just for YOUR school.
Summer, D-Day, and more
June is almost here. As you turn your students loose for summer, be sure to share the Summer Sparklers to help prevent summer slide and keep minds busy. If you teach through June, you will find resources for D-Day and more on the Classroom Planning Calendar. If you teach throughout the summer, don’t miss TeachersFirst's Resources for the Olympics.
Who should win a trip to ISTE?
The ISTE12 Thinking Teachers Contest is in the voting phase. YOU help decide which teacher entrants will receive ISTE conference registration and $500 towards their ISTE travel expenses. Read the entries and vote here.
What IS “the Edge?”
TeachersFirst Edge resources are free, online tools you and your students can use to create products and projects: presentations, flashcards, comics, animations, podcasts, timelines, even talking animals! The small E icon on the reviews tells you that we have included special tips for using the tool safely and within school policies. Edge details appear at the end of the review with rollover tips and links to further management tips for that specific feature. Browse Edge tools by category by clicking in the left sidebar. Trust TeachersFirst to review the latest tools of the web and to discover ones that few even know about.
Three days of... ?
What is your favorite part of a three-day weekend?
Click your response in the weekly poll on the TeachersFirst home page.
Around the World Once a Week (#xw1w)
XW1W for the week of May 27: Who do you spend the extra time with on long weekends?
Across the World Once a Week (XW1W) uses microblogging or blogging tools to share responses about everyday life from any corner of the world. The XW1W FAQ page explains it all. Make today’s instant communications an instant learning experience.
Featured Sites
This week in our Featured Sites, find sites that range from different to dynamic:
- Two multicultural booklists
- A powerful Twitter tool—even if you don’t have a Twitter account
- Genetics from a different angle
- Games for autistic/ASD kids
- An animated gif maker
- Intelligent flashcards
- Your own logos
- Booktalks!
And more! Don’t miss our many additional recent additions from the link at the bottom of the Featured sites page.
May your week bring memorable moments before June comes “bustin’ out all over.”
Your “teacher to go,”
Candace Hackett Shively
Director of K-12 Initiatives