Free and Inexpensive Resources

Create Abundance

In the best-selling and highly readable book, Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think, Dr. Peter Diamandis, chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation, cofounder of Singularity University (along with Ray Kurzweil, chief of engineering at Google), and well-known science writer and coauthor Steven Kotler document how progress in artificial intelligence, robotics, infinite computing, ubiquitous broadband networks, digital manufacturing, nanomaterials, synthetic biology and many other exponentially growing technologies—including educational technology—will enable innovators to make greater gains in the next two decades than in the previous two hundred years. To help educators tap into the ideas of the most brilliant minds in these areas, Dr. Diamandis is providing copies of Abundance to teachers and others interested in “abundance thinking” for just the cost of shipping and handling ($6.95). For every copy requested through the link below, Dr. Diamandis and his publisher (Simon & Schuster) will also distribute a free digital copy of Abundance to high-achieving, underprivileged high school students and their teachers. In addition to a free copy of the hardcover book, you’ll receive a series of three free videos that cover the major insights of “exponential and abundance thinkers” and how they leverage technology. You can also download a free chapter of Abundance by clicking on the “About the Book” tab at the top of the web page describing the book.

Click Here to Get Free Abundance Book and Videos

Engage Students in Active Summer Reading

Gobstopper is a free tool for assigning, monitoring and leveraging summer reading in the classroom. As students read, they will see questions and get feedback, and they can stay motivated by earning badges. Teachers can use the tool to assign books, check on students’ progress throughout the summer and even benchmark data on students’ mastery of Common Core Standards before the start of the new school year. The tool can be used on all devices that have a browser and Internet access.
Click Here to Access Free Tool

Challenge Students to Find the Location

GeoSettr helps you create your own GeoGuessr games. When you visit GeoSettr, you will see two screens: the one on the left displays a map with a Pegman; the one on the right, the Street View imagery for the Pegman’s current location. Move the Pegman around, and zoom in if you like, until you find the location that you want students to guess. When you’ve chosen the location, click “set round” to save the location. After you’ve set five rounds (locations), your game is assigned a URL that you can distribute to students. When they play your GeoSettr game, students use the visual clues in the Street View imagery to guess the location. After making a guess, students see the correct location and its distance from their guess.

Click Here to Access Free Tool       

Powered-up Professional Development

Incorporate Cultural Perspectives into Science Learning

Participants in TESOL’s online course “ESL for the Secondary Science Teacher” will explore the role of cultural perspectives in learning science, guiding principles of second language acquisition and methods of instructional alignment of objectives, teaching and assessment of scientific learning. Through guided instruction and active engagement, participants will explore, plan and apply principles from TESOL’s preK–12 English Language Proficiency Standards and current research. Ultimately, participants will design instruction that aligns content and language standards, teaching methods and student assessment in secondary science classrooms. The online course will take place from July 8 through August 4, 2013. The cost for TESOL members is $380; for nonmembers, $505.

Deadline: July 1, 2013 for registration

Click Here for More Information

        

Heighten Your Science Knowledge and Teaching Skills

The New Science Teacher Academy, cofounded by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and Amgen Foundation, is a professional development initiative created to help promote quality science teaching, enhance teacher confidence and classroom excellence, and improve teacher content knowledge. Designed as a career-enhancing program for middle school and high school science teachers in their second through fifth year of teaching, the year-long professional development and mentoring program offers unique support and resources throughout the year, with the intention of heightening teaching skills and content knowledge and easing the often difficult initial years as a novice teacher. The Academy provides each teacher with a year-long, discipline-specific mentor; web-based content development courses and other resources; membership with full benefits in NSTA; attendance at the 2014 National Conference on Science Education, including air travel, lodging, meals and registration fees. Hundreds of teachers will be chosen to participate in the 2013–2014 Academy and take advantage of cost-free, consistent online professional development activities along with face-to-face educational experiences.

Deadline: August 1, 2013, for applications

Click Here for More Information

Learn without Limits

Coursera has added a “teacher professional development” category to its collection of online and videotaped courses, allowing busy educators to participate according to their own schedule. The courses—developed by Coursera in partnership with seven schools of education, plus educational institutions and museums—help K–12 teachers and other individuals worldwide develop understanding of a wide range of education topics, including the Common Core State Standards and blended learning.

Click Here to Access Free Courses

         

On-the-Go Learning

Let Your Fingers Do the Hiking

Fotonauts’ free Fotopedia National Parks app for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch lets users explore all 58 National Parks in the United States—from Acadia to Zion, including Yosemite, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon and Glacier National Park—a journey that would require several years. Users will first discover the diversity of the national parks through a selected set of 1,500 photos; then they can dive into specific parks to find even more photos. The collection includes 3,000 stunning photos by the renowned professional photographer QT Luong, along with photo-stories based on the images of the national parks. In addition, each image is linked to a related Wikipedia entry. The app is available in 10 languages.

Click Here to Access Free App

Plus: Celebrate the beauty of the world with the free Fotopedia Heritage app for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. Created in cooperation with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Fotopedia Heritage provides a virtual passport to the hundreds of sites that constitute the world’s collective cultural and natural human legacy. This app was recently selected as one of the top 50 apps of all time in Apple’s new Hall of Fame. With 30,000 awe-inspiring photos, the app has been called the world’s largest photo book, an inspiring travel guide, an entertaining teaching device and even a bedtime relaxation tool.

Click Here to Access Free App

        

Solve the Mystery in Los Griegos

Mentira is a place-based augmented reality game using the Augmented Reality for Interactive Storytelling (ARIS) platform, developed at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, for use on the iPhone and iPod touch. The game consists of close to 70 pages of dialogue and informative text, almost all in Spanish, about 150 photos or pieces of still visual art and four short movies. The game is a murder mystery consisting of current and Prohibition-era fictional events, all set in the Los Griegos neighborhood in Albuquerque. The basic structure of the game is directed conversations between the player and fictional characters (Non-Player Characters, or NPCs) concerning the murder and its solution. Each conversation is situated at a particular place and time in the game’s narrative, somewhere between reality and fiction. Visit the Implementations section of the game’s website for information on how the game can be used in Spanish classrooms.

Click Here to Visit Website

Click Here to Download Free ARIS Software         

See It in 3-D

AndAR Model Viewer is a free Android app that is capable of displaying 3-D models on Augmented Reality markers. The goal is to help young students better understand the differences between shapes such as cones, cubes and squares, a Common Core math requirement. It helps build students’ spatial reasoning—they can zoom in on these objects and interact with them in the virtual space—and it gives students an understanding of what these objects look like in real life.

Click Here to Access Free App

Introduction

NY State Policy: Education Law 3012-c

In May 2010, New York State passed Education Law 3012-c, mandating significant changes to how educators throughout NY State are evaluated and supported. The law is intended to foster teacher development and create more rigorous, fair and accurate assessments of teacher effectiveness than the current Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory evaluation system.

Key features of 3012-c:

• All classroom teachers are evaluated annually on a 4-point rating scale (Highly Effective, Effective, Developing, Ineffective)
• 60% of a teacher’s evaluation is based on measures of teacher practice. Under 3012-c, at least half of this 60% must be based on classroom observations using a research-based rubric of teacher practice; additional measures of teacher practice may include student surveys, parent surveys, and teacher portfolios.
• 40% of a teacher’s evaluation is based on measures of student learning.
• Teachers receive timely and constructive feedback, including individualized improvement plans for teachers who receive a Developing or Ineffective rating.

Since 2010, the NYCDOE has been engaged in pilot work to learn about and refine NYC’s implementation of this evaluation and development model. Visit Teacher Effectiveness in NYC for more background on these pilot initiatives.

While the focus of this website is teacher effectiveness in New York City, it is important to note that 3012-c also requires districts to establish a new, multiple-measures annual performance review process for principals. Education Law 3012-c will take effect in New York City in September 2013.

For more information about Education Law 3012-c, visit the New York State Education Department (NYSED)’s EngageNY website.

Apple Awarded $30 Million iPad Deal From LA Unified School District

Apple Awarded $30 Million iPad Deal From LA Unified School District
Jun 19th 2013 2:35PM
Apple® today announced it received the Los Angeles School Board of Education's approval to begin a massive roll out of iPad® to its students across the school district starting this fall. The $30 million commitment for iPads is the first phase of a larger roll out for the country's second-largest public school district. NOTE TO EDITORS: For additional information visit Apple's PR website (www.apple.com/pr), or call Apple's Media Helpline at (408) 974-2042.

High school gives all students iPads and somehow it all works out

Jeff Bertrang is the principal of Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop High School, located in south central Minnesota. When the iPad debuted in 2010, his school decided to make the investment and buy one for each student, about 375 iPads in all. Bertrang wanted his students to have the latest technology but beyond that, he didn't want them to have to go to a computer lab to get it.  The tablet purchase was part of a program sponsored by Apple.

Apple providing iPads to Los Angeles school district in $30 million contract 
Apple won a contract this week with the Los Angeles Unified School District to provide iPads to its students, netting Cupertino $30 million across the next two years. The agreement will roll out iPads to students at 47 campuses; the iPads cost $678 apiece (nearly $200 more than a standard entry level iPad) and come loaded with educational software. Bizarrely, with tablets priced at $678 apiece, $30 million only nets LA schools approximately 45,000 iPads, while the school district comprises 640,000 students. We asked Apple to clarify and were told that the contract is for 31,000 iPads (for both students and teachers) which come with "Pearson Common Core System of Courses delivered via a new app." That's in addition to Apple standards like iWork, iLife, and iTunes, as well as "a range of educational third-party apps" included. The first iPads arrive in classrooms this fall, in what is deemed the "first phase" of a larger rollout.

StoryCorps: A Second Chance For A Father And Foster Son

"He has been an excellent father to them," Horace continues. "And I am so grateful that he embraced them the way he did. I'm also grateful for the opportunity that I had to embrace you. So, that's the least that I owe — the least I could do," Horace says.

His foster dad may have made mistakes in his past, Adrian says, "but you're the most influential person in my life," he tells him. "I'm just glad that I met you."

Horace is proud of how well his one-time foster son is doing today. Adrian, now 22, hopes to become a pharmacist. "You know, it makes me look like I'm smart, but you're the one who's smart," Horace laughs. "God, for you to become the man that you are, I am so proud of that."

Adrian Hawkins,  foster father, Horace Atwater Jr.

StoryCorps

Make Amazing Animated Videos! Go!Animate

Go!Animate   Who we are
Use our Video Maker to create videos for free

• Make a viral video.
• Create an animated lesson for your class.
• Make an explainer video for your product, a demo video for your business, or a training video for your staff.

Videos for Schools

• Private, secure environment
• School-safe content
• Content moderation & group management
• All premium features unlocked

GoAnimate was created to minimize this difficulty, hassle and expense. We enable anyone and everyone to create videos quickly and easily, then share them with the world. This is more than sewing images together into a slideshow, or narrating over existing material. You can literally sit down at your computer and produce a professional-looking video from scratch - within minutes - without having to draw or operate a camera.

Make a Video in your School: http://goanimate4schools.com
Google I/O Sandbox Case Study: GoAnimate
GoAnimate Demo
How to Make a Texture Pack and Animate it - 1.5.2 Minecraft Tutorial
Steve Jobs - iPad 2 Simplicity

Our Quick Video Makers offer speed and simplicity. Even a first-timer will be finished in 2 minutes. Our Full Video Makers offer total creative control and the tools to create a richly-textured video, all with drag and drop tools. Our libraries contain tens of thousands of characters, backgrounds and props - with more being added all the time. Our Character Creators allow users to create custom characters, and our import tools allow for the integration of external audio, image, video and flash files.

Was Mary Magdalene an apostle?

In Christianity, there are, to my knowledge, two sets of criteria by which one could be considered an apostle. Because his are the earliest writings in the New Testament, the first definition comes from Paul, who says:

Orthodox Christianity has paid little attention to Hebrew Scripture that seemed to prophesy a Jewish High Priestess and/or a Goddess:

And you, O Magdalah of the flock, hill of daughter Zion, to you it shall come, the former dominion shall come, the sovereignty of daughter Jerusalem.  Micah 4:8

Who was Mary Magdalene? Tradition has labeled her a prostitute, but there is nothing in the Bible to support this view and much to dispute it. The Gospel of Mary of Magdala, a second-century gospel that was discovered in the 19th century and not published until 1955,shows Mary to be the apostle (yes, apostle) to whom Jesus revealed deep theological insights.

• An apostle must be a witness to the risen Christ (1 Corinthians 9:1)
• An apostle must have received a commission from Christ (Romans 1:1

The second set of criteria is much more restrictive, and is given in Acts 1:21,22:

• An apostle must have been part of Jesus’ ministry from the beginning, when he was baptized
• An apostle must have been a witness to the risen Christ during the time before his ascension
• An apostle must be a man

Mary Magdalene qualifies as an apostle by Paul’s criteria, as do other women, such as Junia (Romans 16:7). She most definitely wouldn’t qualify by the second set of criteria, but then again, neither would Paul. He wasn’t with Jesus’ ministry from the beginning, and he wasn’t a witness of the resurrection before Jesus’ ascension. So it seems to me that we have a logical quandry on our hands; I’m not a theologian, but strictly speaking, it appears that we can either include Mary Magdalene or exclude Paul.

Recommended reading:
Mary Magdalene, The First Apostle , by Ann Graham Brock
Mary Magdalene: The Image of a Woman Through The Centuries, by Ingrid Maisch
Annotated Bibliography: Mary Magdalene, Jesus and Courageous Women Resource
Read the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, The Acts of Paul and Thecla, the prison diary of Perpetua, and the poem "Thunder, Perfect Mind." Plus, more commentary from Biblical Scholars on the role of women in early Christianity.

 It was already known from the New Testament gospels that Mary was a Jewish woman who followed Jesus of Nazareth. Apparently of independent means, she accompanied Jesus during his ministry and supported him out of her own resources (Mark 15:40-41; Matthew 27:55-56; Luke 8:1-3; John 19:25).

Although other information about her is more fantastic, she is repeatedly portrayed as a visionary and leader of the early movement.( Mark 16:1-9; Matthew 28:1-10; Luke24:1-10; John 20:1, 11-18; Gospel of Peter ). In the Gospel of John, the risen Jesus gives her special teaching and commissions her as an apostle to the apostles to bring them the good news. She obeys and is thus the first to announce the resurrection and to play the role of an apostle, although the term is not specifically used of her. Later tradition, however, will herald her as "the apostle to the apostles." The strength of this literary tradition makes it possible to suggest that historically Mary was a prophetic visionary and leader within one sector of the early Christian movement after the death of Jesus.  Scholar Karen King Professor of New Testament Studies and the History of Ancient Christianity at Harvard University in the Divinity School.

 In other scriptures, her name is first in the list of witnesses (Mk. 16:1-11; Mt. 28:1; Lk. 24:10; Jn. 20:11-18; 1 Cor. 15:5-8).

Dr Robert Beckford

Beckford is unflinching in his criticism of the Church of England, which he describes as inherently racist. God may be colour-blind, but the church run in his name certainly isn't. "I'm not the first scholar to argue that traditions of white supremacy and superiority are still very much bound up in white Christian expression within Britain," he says. "And as far as I can see, there has been no radical attempt in my lifetime to overturn those traditions."

"It [the black church] needs to be much more socially engaged and it needs to fight more vigorously the battles black people face. You can't have black children failing in school and have no national campaign that's taken to the streets by black churches. I see that as being an act of complicity."

Dr. Robert Beckford. Robert is a leading theologian and educator from Birmingham who described himself as someone who was “raised in the Church”, before going to study theology as an undergraduate in New York, and strongly praises the US university system. He returned to the UK to complete his PhD in Birmingham. .British academic theologian and currently a reader in theology at Canterbury Christ Church University

“The Great African Scandal”, one of his twenty documentaries he has produced, which the hidden costs of rice, chocolate and gold, and why, 50 years after independence, a country so rich in natural resources is one of the poorest in the world.

 He states that his "white, middle-class" religious education teacher "turned me on in a big way to RE and sowed the seeds to think about religion and culture", while his Communist maths tutor introduced him to politics and the work of Malcolm X, who is still a hero.

Beckford was born to Jamaican parents in the English Midlands and was raised in the Pentecostal church

Who Wrote the Bible? (2004)