Monthly Archives: October 2013

A Healthy Me is Drug Free

Red Ribbon Week, America’s oldest and largest drug prevention campaign, is coming up (Oct. 21-29)! Not only does this campaign teach children K-12 the dangers of drug abuse, but it also honors those who have made sacrifices while fighting against drugs. K-12 Online believes in doing all that we can to help brighten the future of students. What is your school doing this year to celebrate Red Ribbon Week? Here are some ideas that we thought would be fun and beneficial:

 

  • Door decorating contests
  • Plan a Red Ribbon Rally for your school where students can take the pledge to live a drug free life.
  • Organize an educational program for parents
  • Encourage your students to enter one of the contests offered by the Red Ribbon Campaign. These include: Creating the 2014 Campaign theme, and a chance to win an iPad along with $1,000 for your school!
  • For high school age, make it the theme of that week’s football game! Have the athletes incorporate red ribbons with their uniforms and take a moment before the game to honor those joining the cause.

 

For more ideas on how to incorporate Red Ribbon Week into your school visit the Red Ribbon Campaign or http://www.imdrugfree.com/

Connect, Collaborate, Conduce: October is Connected Educator Month

One of the most important factors in student learning is the educator.  That being said, how can you, as an educator, maximize the impact that you make on your students? The answer is to get connected! Thanks to the Internet and constant improvements in technology this is becoming easier and easier for educators to do.

 

In an effort to increase the amount of educators that participate in online social learning and collaboration the Department of Education is supporting its second annual Connected Educator Month (CEM). This can be utilized on an individual level, as well as on school, district, and state levels.

 

One of the best ways to learn is by collaborating with other professionals who share the same passion as you. CEM offers educators an easy way to connect with other educators from around the nation through holding hundreds of events and creating online discussions.  Last year’s CEM hosted over 450 activities, presented more than 2,200 speakers, and delivered over 90,000 hours of professional development to those who participated.  And this year they plan to gain even more momentum.  So get connected and learn more than you ever would on your own!

 

Some of this year’s themes include:

 

  • Integrating Social Learning into Formal PD
  • Connected Leadership
  • Personalized Learning
  • Innovating STEM and Literacy
  • From Connection to Collaboration
  • 21st Century Classroom Management

 

Learn more about CEM: http://connectededucators.org/

 

Get involved: http://connectededucators.org/cem/cem-getting-started/