netTrekker Blog

Getting By With A Little Help

I mentioned yesterday that I read a variety of blogs, articles and other goodies first thing in the morning. Well at night, I treat myself to a bit of the entertainment news and last night in my alerts were a few pages with updates about David Cook.

I admit, I didn’t watch American Idol faithfully until his season, and season 8 didn’t hold my attention as much because David Cook was not a contestant. I’m a cougar cub for David Cook, what can I say?

Well in last night’s alerts was something about Adam Lambert, a very talented runner up for season 8 – but still not my favorite over David. Adam grabbed my attention last night, and in turn has influenced me to buy my son Adam’s debut CD. Why? Because of this commercial he made for DonorsChoose. DonorsChoose is an awesome program where teachers can write up a project or request resources that they need funding, then regular people like yourself can donate. You can give as little or as much as you can. Adam is passionate about the arts, a great outlet for kids with ADHD (like Adam mentioned in one interview) and even for kids with learning disabilities, so he advocates donating to the arts in schools.

If you are a classroom teacher, and you need to find resources for your classroom, check out DonorsChoose and see if your wish list qualifies. You can include a netTrekker subscription add-on to Weekly Reader or BrainPOP. Weekly Reader Online will help you save trees, while promoting literacy skills and global understanding using this trusted classroom resource. BrainPOP – well “the more you know, the more you know”, and their movies will help you be in the know, along with the quizzes and interactive media. Both premium upgrades lend to more interaction in the classroom, and deeper learning of content.

If you are looking for grants, then check out netTrekker’s Teacher Tools (the feature I mentioned yesterday). Click on Professional Development and then there will be a topic on grants. There are many great sites with grants still available, for as little as $100 to the thousands! The Federal Government to Best Buy to HP to Dollar General offer grants that can benefit reading programs or your greatest dream as a teacher. We even have great links to websites that will help you write the grants you’re searching for.

Thank you Adam for highlighting DonorsChoose. Best of luck to any teacher submitting for a grant. Make sure you also keep an eye on our Funding Update Page by Alan Whisman for federal funding information. (You can subscribe to the page via RSS and make it even easier to keep up with. And while you’re at it, subscribe to the main blog as well!)

Tags: Adam Lambert, American Idol, arts, Best Buy Grant, Brain Cancer, BrainPOP, Cook, David Cook, Dollar General, donations, DonorsChoose, Federal Funding, Give Back, grants, HP, Lambert, netTrekker, supplies, Teacher Tools, weekly reader

EETT Funding Update – Action Needed Today

A couple of important things are happening this week that we should all be aware of as it relates to school funding for instructional technology. As I write this, I am waiting for the much anticipated guidance from the US DOE for ARRA EETT (stimulus) funds to be released. Once the guidance is released to advise schools on how they can spend the money, states will begin releasing those funds to districts and release RFPs for competitive grants. Last week we were told the guidance would be released this week. But there is another event that is going on in Congress. Last week the House Appropriations Committee approved their version of the Education funding bill for the 2010-2011 school year and it looks like it will be voted on by the House of Representatives before the August recess. It appears the Senate will also finish their work and vote on their version before the August recess. Here’s the bad news – unless Congress hears from us, their constituents, EETT funding will be reduced to $100 million (last year it was $270 million). Though things are changing and additional funding sources are beginning to open up, this is one federal funding source that districts can use specifically for instructional technology.

What can you do? Make your voice known today! Go to ETAN (Education Action Network) enter your zip code and send a message to your representatives to oppose cuts to EETT funding. http://capwiz.com/edtech/issues/alert/?alertid=13430876&PROCESS=Take+Action . Please add this to your own personal social networking sites and encourage your colleagues and friends to help get the message out. We need to do this today!

Tags: EETT Funding, Federal Funding

EETT Funding Update

According to key sources in the US Department of Education, ARRA EETT funds are slated to be released to the states by July 15th pending approval of the guidelines by OMB. School districts will begin receiving the $650 million soon after based on the states process for distributing federal funds.

EETT Funding Timeline

According to Hillary Goldman, ISTE Director of Government Affairs, the $650 million ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) for EETT (Enhancing Education Through Technology) funding will be distributed to the states and then to the districts this summer. Earlier information from the USDOE stated the money would not flow to the states until fall of 2009. This is great news as districts will now be able to better prepare for the coming school year.

Tags: EETT Funding, Federal Funding