Dear [member_name_first],

Can you believe we are already closing in on the new year? 2013 has gone so fast! There will be many celebrations during the month of December. If you are an administrator, teacher, or school faculty member, it is important to acknowledge the various holidays that take place throughout this month. Education World offers great lesson plans for informing your students of these multicultural holidays.

Whether your students are participating in holiday-themed writing assignments, doing art projects, or even singing a holiday song, The Teachers' Guide is an excellent outlet for gaining fun ideas for you and your class to utilize.

If you plan on traveling this holiday, check out the Travel Channel website for some great tips on saving money and avoiding the stress of your holiday travels.

Use Arts Integration to
Enhance Common Core

These days, integration in any area, be it STEM or the arts, seems to be the buzzword to curriculum designers everywhere. There are so many resources floating around out there with the claim of integrating content areas. Yet, true integration is often difficult to find. Indeed, integration is a rare yet seemingly "magical" approach that has the capacity to turn learning into meaningful practice.

Which of course, as any teacher will tell you, is anything but magic. Integration requires collaboration, research, intentional alignment and practical application on behalf of the teachers who take on this challenge.

I have really enjoyed taking "Behavior is Language," and have learned many useful skills and strategies that I am excited to implement in my own classroom. I look forward to taking more courses from VESi in the near future.

-Heidi M. (California State University, Dominguez Hills)
Course: Behavior is Language

Web Resources for Teachers

Education Agencies, Organizations, & Associations - Links to government and non-government websites. Includes links to associations, foundations, and resources related to education and teaching.

Need graduate or undergraduate credit and want to take your courses in the comfort of your own home? Find a list of all the courses offered, type of credit offered, and total cost per course.

National Board Scholarship Program
NBTC offers a list of scholarships for teachers who are pursuing National Board Certification.

NEA Foundation
The National Education Association's Foundation for the Improvement of Education offers many grants and awards for educators.

Grant Wrangler
Grant Wrangler makes it simple (and free) for teachers to find grants and awards for arts, history, mathematics, science, technology, and more. Search for grants online and/or sign up for their bi-weekly bulletin to stay informed about the latest k-12 school and teacher grants.

Virtual Education Software, inc. (VESi) can develop online courses and training programs, host these on its secure servers, and provide all technical support for users; additionally, VESi will train faculty or facilitators to effectively use the professionally designed open source Learning Management System (LMS).

National News

Education Nation Education Nation is NBC News' year-round initiative to engage the country in a solutions-focused conversation about the state of education in America.
Education Week Education Week offers a wide selection of news blogs on topics ranging from curriculum and the teaching profession to politics and policy at all levels.
eschoolnews Visit eschoolnews.com to learn about the latest news, information, and resources on how today's teachers are using technology in the classroom to advance learning.

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