December+2010+-+January+2011


 * __ Virginia Department of Education Update __**

**__ Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) Competitive Grants Update __**

In January 2010, five EETT Competitive Grants were awarded to Radford University, Shenandoah Valley Technology Consortium, WHRO Technology Consortium, Alexandria City Public Schools, and Roanoke City Public Schools.

Click [|here] to view available resources, intended for all school divisions.

**__ Wells Fargo //Hands on Banking// Program __**

Representatives from Wells Fargo are available to give a very informative “Let’s Talk Money” presentation and online demonstration using //Hands on Banking// program//.//

This program is designed to educate students on personal finance and can be accessed for free at [|http://www.handsonbanking.org/en/]. More importantly, it can be an ideal resource in helping educators implement a new graduation requirement which will become effective with ninth-grade students starting in 2011-2012.

Penny McPherson VP Senior Community Development Officer penny.mcpherson@wellsfargo.com (804) 697-7218

Sherita White Relationship Manager Wachovia At Work sherita.white@wachovia.com (804) 697-6880

**__ EverFi __**

To help implement a new graduation requirement, Virginia high schools will be receiving resources related to financial education. Through a three-year partnership, the Genworth Foundation is providing EverFi, a 3D interactive software package, to help fulfill the one-credit course requirement in [|Economics and Personal Finance] that will become effective with the ninth-grade students entering in 2011-2012.

Contact Judith Sams, business and information technology program specialist, at Judith.Sams@doe.virginia.gov or at 804-371-0196 for more information.

**__ Mini-Grants for High School Purchase of NBC Learn Archives on Demand __**

The VDOE has secured funds to provide a one-time grant to each high school that purchases the Economics and Personal Finance Collection for $399 from NBC Learn. The VDOE will reimburse the local school division for $300 when the local division makes the initial Economics and Personal Finance purchase and adds on the $300 package that will include English Language Arts, Mathematics, and __all the other programs__ that are available. The entire package will cost each high school $699 and $300 of that will be reimbursed through the one-time VDOE grant.

NBC News and the VDOE will provide FREE on-site regional workshops for instructional technology resource teachers and instructional specialists to familiarize attendees with the basic fundamentals of NBC Learn and how teachers can personalize their playlists and write meaningful lesson plans that integrate NBC Learn into their classrooms. NBC News will also offer FREE bi-weekly Webinars throughout the 2010-2011 school year that will allow additional training and free support.

Contact Judith Sams, business and information technology program specialist, at Judith.Sams@doe.virginia.gov or at 804-371-0196 for more information.

[|Superintendent’s Memo #291-10]

**From Jean Weller: **

**Local Technology Plans ** If you do need an extension due to Board meeting conflicts, personnel changes, or any other real life crises that arise, please contact Jean and let her know you’d like an extension. You also need to submit the Alignment Document (a PDF that can be completed electronically located here: @http://www.doe.virginia.gov/support/technology/edtech_plan/division_plan_alignment.pdf). Your plan and alignment should be sent to Jean electronically (no hard copies needed).

**Online Teaching Course **

WHRO offers a 60 hour Online Teaching Methodology course starting at various times. See @http://www.whro.com/home/education/cii/professdevelop/fullcourselistings/instructionalstrategies.htm for more details (it’s the last course in the list).

**Internet Safety Resources **

Need to refresh your Internet Safety program? Here’s a great resource you can use with students and parents: @http://www.commonsensemedia.org/privacy. The information focuses on protecting privacy. Common Sense Media is also spearheading a campaign that asks the government to support policy that protects the privacy of minors.

**Thinkfinity **

If you haven’t joined the Thinkfinity Community, you might want to do so: @http://community.thinkfinity.org/index.jspa It’s free, of course. Create an account, then make sure you join the Thinkfinity in Virginia group. I’ve started a blog there to connect Thinkfinity resources with Virginia educational initiatives and SOL. The last two entries were on College and Career Readiness (focusing on the new English SOL) and developing skills kids need to participate in project-based learning.

** Thinkquest Competition **

** The folks at ThinkQuest are going all out to encourage school teams to join in their relaunched competition. Here are a few of the enticements you might find…enticing! **

// ** Application Development Resources Now Availab **le // Free software resources for the Application Development event are now available. For download links and setup instructions, please see the Software Options for the Application Development Event at @http://www.thinkquest.org/pls/html/think.help?id=527792 Free software resources may include: Sun JAVA Development Kit, Glassfish Server, MySQL Server, Eclipse Classic, Netbeans IDE, Greenfoot, BlueJ, Oracle Database 10g Express, Oracle Application Express, and Oracle SQL Developer.

// ** Enroll Your Team Today & Win an Apple® iPad™ ** // Once you enroll yourself as a Coach, don't wait until the last minute to enroll your team! Enrolling early ensures that you will receive important information throughout the competition. As a bonus, you will be entered in the **Coach Sweepstakes** when you enroll your first team. Each month, one lucky coach will receive an Apple® iPad™ 16GB. To review the rules for the Coach Sweepstakes, please visit: @http://www.thinkquest.org/competition/sweepstakes.html

// ** Brainstorm Ideas for Your Entry ** // Your team's entry must solve a problem, and you can choose virtually any problem that interests your students. Here are some ideas for integrating the competition into your existing curricula: **Writing and Literature Teachers: ** Students can create a ThinkQuest project, website, or blog/journal that shares important lessons learned from books. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Social Studies and Civics Teachers: **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt;"> Students can research a local problem and create a public service announcement that benefits the community. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Science Teachers: **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt;"> Students can tackle an environmental problem and create a ThinkQuest project, website, blog, or video that presents their solution. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Art Teachers: **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt;"> Students can unleash their creativity in the form of a photo essay or animation. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Computer Technology Teachers: **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt;"> Students can flex their technical skills by developing websites, videos, games, or applications. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">For more ideas, review our entry examples here: @http://www.thinkquest.org/competition/entry_examples.html

//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Need More Help? // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"> ﻿﻿ Roadmap to Success is an online tutorial that helps students plan and develop their entries. Teams who complete the tutorial and the accompanying survey are eligible for additional points. The Roadmap to Success can be found here: @http://www.thinkquest.org/competition/tutorial/index.html <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Our step-by-step instructions on how to compete for each competition event can be found here: @http://www.thinkquest.org/pls/html/think.help?id=527792