Need help with your stretched budget?

Are you an educator looking for additional funding? If so, you definitely should investigate the site GetEdFunding.

Sponsored by CDW-G, their mission is to help educators with the funds needed to supplement budgets that are already stretched very thin. The site features thousands of grants and awards that are updated daily. These opportunities are available to both public and private institutions, pre-K and K-12 educators, schools, districts, institutions of higher learning, and also nonprofit organizations that assist these places.

They do require you to register with the site, but once registered, you can do very specialized searches (including 43 areas of focus) to help find relevant grant and award opportunities. They also feature a handy “Deadline Alert” section that highlights which grants and awards will need to be submitted soon.

Click Here to Search for Funding Opportunities.

Remember, CMLE has a grants page too. More info here.

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/zhvcobz licensed under (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Minnetonka Fall Institute

Retrieved online 10/15/13.

The Minnesota Association of Secondary School Principals is co-sponsoring this year’s Minnetonka Institute, Essential Education in a Changing World; Empower educators with specific ways to integrate web 2.0, digital tool, and global portals into each classroom.  Join keynote speaker, Heidi Hayes Jacobs, from Curriculum Designers, Inc., on November 8th, from 8:30- 3:00 pm, at Minnetonka Public Schools.

Conversations will be convened around;

• The process of upgrading classrooms
• Integrating new technologies with testing pressures
• Effectively globalizing curriculum
• 21st century leadership meeting the needs of learners

The Beloved Book Deconstructed

Tired, Dusty and Tattered! Photo by Roger Salz and retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons license.

My mother worked in a library for more 36 years before retiring and then re-entering the workforce to work in yet another library. And, throughout the last ten years, each member of my immediate family, including myself, has worked in a library. So to me the sight and smell of books brings back a host of familial memories. But I never really understood what created the unique scents of a book/book collection. I always suspected it was a concoction consisting of one part ink to two parts paper-lovingly combined with a pinch of dust.  Did you know AbeBooks, a subsidiary of Amazon.com Inc., created a short video answering this very question. Click here to listen to their explanation.

In addition, if you are a hardback collector or book enthusiast, here is list of other quick videos you might finding interesting:

• How to identify a first edition book (link)
• Book collecting Guide (link) -10 videos

Tip: If you participate in student/class orientations for a library, consider using the video about The Parts of a Book to supplement your presentation.

MDE: Innovative Learning Time Conference!

Clockman! Photo by Sean MacEntee Retrieved from Flickr used under Creative Commons license

*Information in this post was submitted by Nancy Walton, State Librarian, Minnesota Department of Education (MDE).

The Minnesota Department of Education and St. Olaf College invite educators, out-of-school time professionals, and all other interested community members to the 2013 It’s About Time! Innovative Learning Time Conference.  This conference will be held 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, June 21, 2013, at St. Olaf College Buntrock Commons.  The conference aims to help communities collaborate to create richer, more effective learning environments both inside the school day and through out-of-school and summer learning opportunities.  Keynote presentations will include:

• Dr. Rose Chu, Interim Dean, School of Urban Education, Metropolitan State University, St. Paul, on more, deeper learning during the school day;
• Bob Seidel, Senior Policy Director of the National Summer Learning Association, on stronger, connected learning during out-of-school time;
• Dr. Eric Jolly, President of the Science Museum of Minnesota, on whatever it takes  to close learning gaps; and
• Father Tim Manatt, S.J., President of Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, Minneapolis, on innovation in college and career partnerships from high school through college graduation.

Breakout sessions and small group discussions will provide participants the opportunity to focus on their particular interests in greater depth.

Registration and payment deadline is Friday, June 14. Cost is $45.  Register online at: http://wp.stolaf.edu/conferences/

Please contact Cindy S. Jackson cindy.s.jackson@state.mn.us with your questions.

 

Summer Learning Resources!

Image by Ahmad Hammound-some rights reserved

Edudemic (May 2013) posted an article on Ten Resources for Learning Over the Summer.  This is a quick, easily read post for all educators looking to enhance a program or instructional design. Below is a list of the general content areas discussed. Click here to read the full article.

1. How Do Teachers Inspire Curiosity in Their Students
2. Teaching and Learning with Videos
3. Creative Classroom Ideas
4. Add Multimedia Components to Presentations
5. PBL (Project Based Learning)
6. Engage, Inspire, and Educate Interactively Online
7. Game Statistics and Game Simulation Applications for PE Teachers
8. Eureka Moments–Fostering & Inspiring Creativity & Innovation
9. No Homework
10. Tools for Creating

Tip: When you are ready to begin planning for the 2013/14 school year, consider introducing at least one new idea into your classroom/media center.