Biography—Hillary Rodham Clinton: Changing the Rules

A&E, January 5, 7 a.m. ET/PT.
Part of an Emmy award-winning series that profiles the lives of political leaders, artists, and other famous figures, this installment chronicles pivotal moments in the remarkable life and career of the controversial former First Lady and current U.S. Senator from New York. Teaching materials are available online.

From the Great War to the Great Depression

Discovery Channel, January 9, 5 a.m. ET/PT.
Explores early 20th century America with a look at the role of the U.S. in WWI; life as a soldier in the trenches; the aftermath of the war and the birth of the Roaring Twenties; the evolution of jazz and the transformation of American music; and the effect of Prohibition on crime and the rise of the American gangster. Can be taped and used in the clasroom for one year. Teaching materials are available online.

Nick News with Linda Ellerbee: What's Wrong With Me?

Nickelodeon, January 13 and 25, 6 a.m. ET/PT.
It isn't easy being different! In this edition of the popular tv news magazine, guest Dr. Phil talks with kids who have neurological disorders about feelings, attitudes, and prejudices associated with being different. Tape and use in your classroom for 10 years.

Egypt: Beyond the Pyramids

History Channel, January 16–19, 6 a.m. ET/PT.
In this four-part documentary, you'll enter the chambers of recently excavated temples and tombs, and uncover secrets that challenge conventional ideas about ancient Egypt. Okay to tape and use in the classroom for two years. Visit The History Channel's website for teaching materials.

Pride and Prejudice

A&E, January 18–20 and 23–25, 7 a.m. ET/PT.
This six-part, Emmy award-winning adaptation of Jane Austen's classic comedy of manners stars Colin Firth as prideful Mr. Darcy and Jennifer Ehle as the irrepressible Elizabeth Bennet. Tape it and use in your classroom for two years. Visit A&E's website for teaching materials.

The War that Made America

PBS, January 18 and 26, 9–11 p.m., ET/PT. Check local listings.
Fought 250 years ago between super-powers France and Great Britain, which allied with the Iroquois, the French and Indian War had high stakes—nothing less than control of North America itself. Find teaching materials online.

Civil War Journal

History Channel, January 26, 7 a.m., ET/PT.
This series looks at individuals and groups who were active in the Civil War. In this segment, follow the exploits of the 54th Massachusetts—the U.S. Army's first African-American regiment. You can tape this episode for two years of classroom use. Visit The History Channel's website for teaching materials.

On TV listings are provided by KIDSNET, a national resource for children's media in Washington, D.C., www.kidsnet.org, and by Cable in the Classroom's Access Learning magazine at www.ciconline.org.

Make It Personal

March 2, NEA's Read Across America Day, is only months away—time enough to make this year's celebration the biggest and best ever. Check out the online tool kit at www.nea.org/readacross. You'll find sample proclamations, press releases, and tips from around the country. As you plan your event, remember that you can make it your very own. Honor local authors, host poetry slams and reading parties for teens, invite local and state legislators to read, or start a book drive to help school libraries hurt by recent natural disasters. Oh, the places you can go!

Waiting for Signs of Life

In this poetic, deeply affecting story of perseverance and strength, a young Afghan girl and an American woman living in Pakistan share in each other's hope and heartache as they search for answers to the fate of their loved ones during the fall of the Taliban. In Under the Persimmon Tree, author Suzanne Fisher Staples contrasts the effects of war with the ability to endure tragedy and find hope in the future. For grades 8+. 270 pp.

Riveting Biographies, Engaging Design

The DK Biography series presents the lives of some of history's best-known figures, highlighting such remarkable personalities as Helen Keller, Anne Frank, Martin Luther King Jr., and others in a thorough yet highly readable format. Each book is rich with photographs, artworks, artifacts, definition boxes, sidebars, timelines, and a fresh point of view based on the latest scholarship. Ages 8+. 128 pp.

The Camera as Conscience

Emmy-Award-winning Martin W. Sandler reflects on the work of 12 groundbreaking photographers who changed the way America sees itself. America Through the Lens: Photographers Who Changed the Nation introduces artists such as Matthew Brady, William Henry Jackson, Jacob Riis, and Dorothea Lange, whose work made a lasting impact on society. Sandler offers thoughtful commentary, but the revealing, often famous photographs speak for themselves. Grades 6–9. 171 pp.

Different Students, Different Strategies

Martha Kaufeldt provides updated information on brain research and applies it to K–12 teaching strategies in Teachers, Change Your Bait! Brain-Compatible Differentiated Instruction. With examples from all grade levels, Kaufeldt demonstrates how to orchestrate powerful learning experiences in response to unique and varying needs. The book includes activities to engage reluctant learners, suggestions for students with special needs, and complex tasks for inspiring those who are more able. 192 pp.

This Pear Deserves Preys

Author Brian P. Cleary and illustrator Brian Gable team up to demystify one of English's trickiest concepts in How Much Can a Bare Bear Bear? What Are Homonyms and Homophones? Through colorful pictures and silly rhymes, this latest installment in the Words are CATegorical series clarifies the differences between words that may sound or look the same but differ in meaning. Most suitable for 7 to 10-year-olds, but fun and instructive for adults too. 32 pp.

A Boy King's Splendid Treasure

A sumptuous companion book to the 2005 four-city tour of the "King Tut" exhibit, Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharoahs features 130 of the most captivating treasures from the collection. The book includes 178 pages of lavish, full-color photographs of artifacts, plus maps, timelines, and tomb plans with commentary by Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence. 288 pp.

Spending Too Much Holiday Cash?

You could eliminate your debts* with the NEA Personal Loan® account, offered by MBNA America. It's easy—once approved, you could consolidate your high-interest debt and save with low rates available to NEA members. The plan includes affordable monthly payments and repayment terms from 24–84 months. No collateral is necessary and there are no costs to apply, so call today!

Call 1-866-266-0211 and mention priority code LKEP-45-924-85 for a decision in as little as 10 minutes. Or visit the NEA Member Benefits website to apply online. TDD users, please call 1-800-833-6262.

*MBNA may prohibit use of an NEA Personal Loan account to pay off or pay down another MBNA account.

What's Missing from Your New Year's Resolutions List?

Make it a top priority to find out why Long-Term Care (LTC) Insurance is not just a concern for the elderly. Nobody knows when a debilitating accident or illness may happen, and it's difficult to comprehend the loss of dignity and control when long-term care choices are limited.

The NEA MemberCare® Long-Term Care Insurance Program wants to help members learn how an LTC policy works, the benefits it provides, and how to determine which type of coverage is right for you. Attend a free, no-pressure seminar in your area conducted by a qualified LTC representative. Visit their website or call 1-800-884-2675.

Master Arts Classes on Screen Now

Invite internationally recognized performing and visual artists into your classroom with Joy2Learn's online "e-Presentations." Through video clips and interactive multimedia materials, including maps, pictures, text, and quiz games, Gregory Hines (pictured), Hector Elizondo, Wynton Marsalis, Alan Gampel, and Elizabeth Murray each introduce their art form, discuss its history and background, provide personal insights, and of course, demonstrate their mastery through performance. Sponsored by the Joy2Learn Foundation, the e-Presentations are accessible free of charge.

Civics, U.S. Government Brought to Life

Engage middle and high school students in learning with C-SPAN Classroom. Harnessing the vast resources of C-SPAN's archives and ongoing programming for teachers, this free Web site uses state and national standards-based video content, lesson plans, and primary source materials to bring civics and U.S. government classes to life. Developed with a team of social studies teachers, the site features hundreds of video clips and related classroom materials organized into six major topic areas: Principles of Government, U.S. Constitution, Legislative Branch, Executive Branch, Judicial Branch, and Political Participation. Sign up at C-SPAN's website.

Voices Magazine Offers Young Journalists a Forum to Speak

Voices (Tomorrow's Leaders—Today's Issues), a free international magazine written solely by 17- to 25-year-old student journalists from around the world, debuts this fall on the Web. Loaded with personal narratives, analyses, and editorials about today's most pressing issues, the magazine provides a forum for young writers to develop their writing, editing, and interviewing skills. From politics to fine arts, contributing journalists explore important—often difficult or volatile—issues and exchange ideas with peers to erase misconceptions and foster global understanding. Readers can move easily through the sophisticated layout, zoom in and out to read text and view pictures, and leaf through the "pages" like a real magazine. Contributions are welcome and actively encouraged.

The Classroom

By Michael James D'Amato

Humor and insight are hallmarks of this witty, inspirational book from an experienced urban middle-school teacher. Example: "Allow students to use notes during the first five minutes of a test." Why? Aside from rewarding them for taking better notes and being more organized, "… it gives you a legitimate answer to the question, ‘Why do we take notes?'" This is only one offering among 180 tips, tricks and classroom activities that will help you motivate your students to take charge of their own learning. 83 pp.

Harley & Homer

By Donna Ciocca

School isn't the easiest place when you're a 12 year-old who'd rather be anywhere than seated in a desk. The author, a middle school teacher, nails her subject and audience—adolescent boys—with this tale of two friends who go to great lengths to escape boredom and their somewhat difficult lives. From driving Sister Germain crazy to draping religious statues in certain articles of clothing, no prank is too far-fetched for the inventive pair. This comic work of fiction pulls no punches, but its flawed heroes have good hearts. 153 pp.

Whose Hat is That?

By Sandra Opheim

The cat has found a hat, and he'd like nothing better than to take it back! Thus begins cat's odyssey through town to find the owner of the mysterious hat. Along the way, he learns that nurses, bakers, police officers, and firefighters, all wear unique hats. Written in bouncy rhyme by an elementary school teacher, and brightly illustrated in colored pencil, this picture book will appeal to young children and the adults who love to read to them. 26 pp.

Math Facts to the Max: Mastering the Basic Facts with Flash Cards and Songs

By Carl M. Sherrill

Written by a 30-year teaching veteran and author of multiple titles on math, this book offers a fresh, innovative approach to learning basic number facts. Children master material with strategies that promote understanding and quick recall, including flash card practice and singing songs. A cd-rom, flash card masters, and reproducible pages are included.  180 pp.

Is Your Air Fit To Breathe?

Is mold making you or your students sick? Are you concerned about poor ventilation in your school building? The NEA Health Information Network (NEA HIN) recently released How to Resolve IAQ Problems in Your School, a comprehensive fact sheet that outlines steps to take when dealing with indoor air quality or other health and safety issues in schools. Fact sheet highlights include: 

IAQ basics, including common pollutants found inside and outside a school building

Guidance on conducting school walkthroughs (what to look for, questions to ask)

Organizing strategies, such as forming IAQ or Health & Safety Committees and incorporating IAQ-friendly language in contracts or district policy and regulations

Helpful Web sites and resources, including EPA's IAQ Tools for Schools program.

Go to the NEA-HIN website for more information.

NEA HIN will offer sessions on IAQ at the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, and Pacific Regional Leadership Conferences. If you're a conference participant and interested in health and safety issues, don't miss it!

Wish Upon a Web Site

Nearly everyone knows that teachers spend hundreds of dollars annually from their own pockets on classroom supplies and materials. Here's a neat way to share the burden. Classroom Wishlist lets you publish your supply needs so that community members, parents, and grandparents can make specific, tax-deductible donations directly to your class. Similar to a wedding registry, the process is simple to navigate, and 100 percent of donations go directly to solving classroom needs.

Register at the Classroom Wishlist website and build a wishlist of everything from Kleenex to books, pencils, or PCs, using an online catalog of more than 40,000 items. Send home a flyer with students inviting parents and community members to make a donation for specific items, or let your local PTA know, and ask them to organize to help you obtain supplies. Using the collected donations, Classroom Wishlist buys the items and ships them directly to your classroom, via your school principal.

Go Bananas for Environmental Awareness Curriculum

If you've been looking for ways to teach environmental awareness, then check out these free lesson plans and resources that emphasize conservation by examining the social, environmental, and economic impact of the world's most popular fruit—the banana.

The Rainforest Alliance offers kindergarten through eighth- grade teachers free, standards-based environmental curricula. The hands-on, interactive lesson plans trace the journey of bananas from tropical farms in Honduras to our breakfast tables and lunchbags, and, through social studies-, language arts-, math-, and science-related activities, help students make memorable connections among the topics of nutrition, culture, ecosystems, and economics.

Go to the Rainforest Alliance website to access the free K–8 curricula, sign up for the Eco-Educaton Matters e-newsletter, and browse through additional educational resources.

DVD on Stuttering Available to School Libraries

Did you know that James Earl Jones stutters? How about Tiger Woods, Carly Simon, Bruce Willis, or Julia Roberts?

More than 3 million Americans stutter, with males four times more likely to stutter than females. What can you do when you encounter a student with this communication disorder? How do you avoid embarrassing or humiliating situations?

The Stuttering Foundation offers information and advice for parents and teachers in a DVD and 42-page handbook called Stuttering: Straight Talk for Teachers. The DVD features clips of students sharing their experiences with the disorder, as well as tips from experts on what works best in a classroom environment.

The accompanying handbook provides additional resources such as checklists and online sources to help adults address the problem with young children.

Both the DVD and handbook are offered free to school and public libraries (limited to one per library). Individuals may also purchase copies for $10 (VHS $5). To request a copy, school librarians should visit the Stuttering Foundation website or call 1-800-992-9392.

Free Endangered Species Poster from EPA

To lose a single species from an ecosystem affects others that rely on it. Over 1,000 plant and animal species in the United States are currently listed as endangered or threatened, including the black-footed ferret pictured here—the most endangered mammal in the U.S. Call toll free 1-800-490-9198 to order your free color Save Our Species poster, or visit the EPA website. Use EPA Publication Number 735-F-94-014.

Begun in 1926 through the efforts of noted Black scholar and historian Carter G. Woodson, Black History Month was originally celebrated as a weeklong event. In 1976, the observance expanded to the entire month of February. These resources, including links to NEA's Web site, will help you plan your own observances.

Encyclopedia Britannica's Guide to Black History may well be the most comprehensive online resource available for students and teachers. The Web site boasts a vast collection of articles, galleries with hundreds of images, film and audio clips, and multimedia presentations. Classroom activities and teacher guides are included.

The History of Jim Crow, an online exhibit sponsored by New York Life, takes the viewer on a tour of the origin of Jim Crow, and the struggles of a people to survive, resist, and overcome oppression. You'll also find literature, eye-witness accounts, maps, image galleries, and other resources that explore segregation, disenfranchisement, and violence that lay at the heart of the Jim Crow experience. Many teacher-created lesson plans are available.

We Shall Overcome—Historic Places of the Civil Rights Movement focuses on key locations associated with one of the most important chapters in our nation's history. From Alabama to Mississippi, follow a National Register of Historic Places itinerary through 49 locations in 21 states, as well as the Selma-to-Montgomery Historic Trail, to learn about people and places important to the modern civil rights movement.

Mighty Times—The Legacy of Rosa Parks, a free teaching kit for middle and upper grades, uses first person accounts, stirring dramatizations, and narration by young people to bring to life the story of Rosa Parks, the "mother of the civil rights movement." The kit includes an award-winning film with a teaching guide and classroom activities.

On the NEA Web Site
Check out these resources from NEA.org:

• An African-American booklist.
• "Horizons of Opportunity: Celebrating 50 Years of Brown v. Board of Education"
• "American Teachers Association: The Story of the ATA and the NEA

January

January 1—Emancipation Proclamation

In 1863, President Lincoln signed this edict proclaiming that all slaves living within rebelling Confederate states "are, and henceforth shall be, free." Visit the National Archives website.

January 1—Ellis Island Opens

Beginning in 1892, this New York Harbor facility served as the gateway to the United States for more than 20 million people. Search passenger arrival records and add your ancestors to the Ellis Island Wall of Honor.

January 1–3—Japanese New Year

Japan celebrates the 18th year of Emperor Akihito's reign. People decorate their entrances, wear ceremonial attire, visit shrines, and listen to temple bells ring 108 times.

January 5—First Woman Governor Inaugurated

In 1925, Nellie Davis Tayloe Ross was sworn in as governor of Wyoming, becoming the nation's first woman to serve in this capacity.

January 29—Chinese New Year

It's the Year of the Dog. People prepare by cleaning house, buying presents, and decorating doorways with chun lian (special calligraphic scrolls). On New Year's Eve, families gather to feast and watch fireworks at midnight.

February

February 2—Birthday of Pura Belpré

First Latina librarian in the New York Public Library. In her honor, the American Library Association gives a biennial award to Latino writers and illustrators whose work best portrays and affirms Latino culture. Visit www.ala.org for a list of past and present winners.

February 6—African-American Read-in

Join over a million readers in this annual event. Visit The National Council of Teachers of English website for information, suggested reading lists, and a download-able activity packet.

February 15—Susan B. Anthony's Birthday

Born 1820 in Massachusetts, this abolitionist, reformer, labor activist, and social justice pioneer dedicated her life to securing the rights of women.

February 20—Frederick Douglass Day

Abolitionist, lecturer, and writer, Douglass escaped slavery and became an advisor to President Lincoln, as well as the most recognized African-American spokes-person of his time. He died in 1895. Visit the PBS website for more information.

February 28—Mardi Gras

A final chance to feast and frolic before Lent. Fat Tuesday customs include wearing beads, donning elaborate masks and costumes, attending balls and parades, and eating and drinking far into the night

Don't Miss The NEA Foundation's February Grants Review

There's still time to apply for grants from The NEA Foundation before the February 1, 2006, review date.

On behalf of NEA, The NEA Foundation offers NEA Fine Arts Grants to members. Available through local NEA affiliates to elementary (K–6) school art specialists, the grants allow fine arts educators to create and implement programs that pro-mote learning among students at risk of school failure.

Innovation Grants and Learning & Leadership Grants are still available for all subjects, including the arts, literacy, science, and technology. Grant amounts are either $2,000 or $5,000.

Applications are accepted on an ongoing, year-round basis, so it's never too late to apply. Proposals received after February 1 will be consi-dered in the next grant review.

Grants fund activities for 12 months from the award date. All practicing K–12 public school teachers, education support professionals, and higher education faculty and staff at public colleges and universities are encouraged to apply.

Click here for more information, including project descriptions, guidelines, and downloadable applications or call 202-822-7840.

Win an Online Collaborative Learning Award

Global SchoolNet Foundation recognizes teachers, media specialists, technology coordinators, and other school-based educators who plan and implement outstanding online shared learning projects.

One award of $2,500 will be given to a U.S. educator, and another to an educator outside the United States. Seven finalists will receive $250 each. Candidates must be nominated by someone other than themselves—and soon. The January 27, 2006, deadline for new nominations is fast approaching.

Note: this program does not include most online and distance education courses, Web-quests, and simple pen-pal programs. Click here for more information.

Science Teacher Grants

Sponsored by Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. and administered through the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), Toyota Tapestry Grants support middle and high school science teachers who design and implement science programs that emphasize efficient use of natural resources and protection of the environment.

Elementary teachers who teach science at least 50 per-cent of the time or who teach science in a self-contained classroom or as teaching specialists may also apply.

Grants are awarded in three categories: environmental science education, physical science applications, and literacy and science education.

Fifty grants of up to $10,000 each and 20 mini-grants of $2,500 will be awarded. Winners of the $10,000 grants will also be flown to Dallas for the Awards Banquet held at the NSTA National Convention.

The application deadline is January 19, 2006. Click here for information and an application.

We the People bookshelf

School and public libraries can win books that encourage young people to read classics and explore themes in American history, culture, and ideas. Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and American Library Association, this program supplies 15 books that embody the theme of "Becoming American." Titles are preselected for grades K–3, 4–6, 7–8, and 9–12.

One thousand book sets and supplemental materials will be awarded during 2006. The deadline to submit an application is January 17, 2006. Click here for more information.

NEA-Saturn/UAW Partnership Award

This Award recognizes NEA locals and school districts that work together in pursuit of quality education.

The Partnership solicits applications describing exemplary new teacher induction programs that are created and sustained through the joint efforts of the school district and the union, and result in substantially assisting new teachers in their education careers.

Six winners will be recognized during the NEA Board of Directors meeting at the 2006 NEA Representative Assembly (RA) in Orlando, Florida, and in their home districts. They will also be invited to visit Saturn/UAW during American Education Week in November.

Expenses to the RA will be paid for one administrator and one local Association representative from each winning local, however, no monetary grant is associated with this award. The deadline to apply is March 3, 2006. Click here for more information.

Become a Librarian

Thirty-seven universities, libraries, and library organizations across the country are offering graduate scholarships to teachers who want to become certified school library media specialists. Funds will provide scholarships of 50, 75, or 90 percent tuition reductions for teachers completing the M.Ed program online.

The deadline to submit an application is March 15, 2006. Click here for information about the application process.

Student film Contest

Budding filmmakers can compete for $25,000 in prizes with C-SPAN's annual StudentCam contest. The competition invites middle and high school students to identify a current political topic of interest and produce a short video documentary (up to 10 minutes) that creatively explores an issue while integrating C-SPAN programming.

The deadline is February 28, 2006. For complete rules and entry information, visit www.studentcam.org

Closing the Gap

Money isn't everything—but it sure can help.

The problem? Milwaukee's poor and minority students still lag behind their peers, particularly in math and science, and especially at the higher grades. The solution? More professional development for educators and an assortment of new "closing the gap action plans," paid for, in part, by a five-year $2.5 million grant awarded recently by The NEA Foundation. The Foundation has set a goal for a community partnership—led by the Milwaukee Teachers' Education Association (MTEA)—to work together to close the achievement gaps by 2010.

"The projects in the grant are all designed by educators and we think that's the way to do it. It is not a top-down approach, but something from the members at a local level," said Dennis Oulahan, president of MTEA. "We see some real possibilities for improvement now."

Demonstrating its commitment to student achievement, The Foundation provided a similar grant to Chattanooga in 2004. For more information about The NEA Foundation and its grants program, go to www.neafoundation.org.

—Ritu Sharma

Book Focus

Life Lessons

When writer Bob Katz went looking for true tales of inspiration from teachers, he found Elaine Moore, a retired fourth-grade teacher in Eagle River, Alaska, who believes, above all, that a classroom is a community. But, in 1993, when one of her students, eager and spirited Seamus Farrell, fell ill with terminal brain cancer, that notion was put to the test. In Katz's uplifting book, Elaine's Circle (Marlowe & Company), he recounts how, despite her administrator's reluctance, the teacher organized regular lunchtime, peer tutoring visits to the Farrell home so Seamus could keep on learning—and, for a while, keep on living. Through interviews with Moore, as well as Seamus' parents, neighbors, and now college-age classmates, Katz reconstructs an unforgettable year that celebrates kindness and community in the face of life and death. "'What do you think heaven's like?' [Seamus] finally asked, with eagerness and sincerity. 'Do you think there'll be pets in heaven?'"

Be warned: You will cry.

The NEA Foundation

Philip Forgit, a fourth-grade teacher at Rawls Byrd Elementary in Williamsburg, Virginia, received the   NEA Foundation Award at the Foundation's 11th Annual Salute to Excellence in Education Gala in December. At the event, former President Bill Clinton and the NAACP also were honored for their commitment to education.

Hits and Misses

What's your take on NCLB?

Four years after its passage, how has the No Child Left Behind law affected you and your school?

• Boring test prep?
• A fresh focus on reaching at-risk students?
• Fewer art and music classes?
• No more teaching out-of-field?
• Something new and unexpected?

NEA Today would like to hear your stories and experiences demonstrating what does—and doesn't—work about this law. Please send to Alain Jehlen at ajehlen@nea.org

Trade Secrets

The skills you use on the job can help another member with a dilemma on the home front.

Stave Off Sniffles And Sneezes

This month: Health Occupations teacher Wendy Wilson, R.N., of South Boston, Virginia, offers tips on avoiding colds and the flu.

Handwashing. This is your first line of defense in preventing infection. Alcohol-based antibacterial gels are okay, but excessive use actually can make skin more susceptible to germs. Good old soap and water will do the trick.

Cough or sneeze into the bend of your arm. And encourage your students to do the same! For a classroom lesson, I've taped together an 8-foot paper chain and asked the kids to guess why. You can imagine their looks when I tell them germs can travel 8 feet in a cough or sneeze. Now they think about what I said in class, and cover their mouths!

Keep well-hydrated and eat right. I know everyone gets tired of hearing "eat right, and drink plenty of fluids." But a healthy body is your best defense against colds and flu. If you eat junk, expect to feel like junk. If you don't drink enough non-carbonated fluids, your resistance to infection decreases, which opens the door to a cold taking over. But, if you provide your body with the proper nutrition, it can perform as it was designed to.

Got a tip to share?

We're looking for forensics or theater teachers to advise fellow members on how to calm your nerves and speak in public.
If you'd like to be considered, e-mail Cynthia Long with your name and local, a brief description of what you do, and your top three tip.

A Smart Gift

Post-Katrina, Kentucky's student members swing into fund-raising gear to help the neediest schools with technology.

How does a coffee-scented candle bring a whiff of hope to disaster-struck schools along the Gulf Coast? Ask members of the Kentucky Education Association Student Program (KEA-SP), who have turned their fund-raising attention to the gaping technology needs of the newly devastated schools of Alabama and Mississippi.

Kentucky's emerging leaders, KEA-SP President Kayla Davidson and President-Elect Natalie Avant, were so moved by images of hurricane-affected schools that they've organized a campaign to buy interactive Smart Boards and other technology for them. To help, go to www.4schoolsonline.com, enter the school code KEA-SP-HELPS, and shop from the catalog of candles, cookbooks, cards, and other items. Forty percent of the money spent will go to KEA's effort.

As NEA has pledged to raise $1 million, KEA-SP has set its eyes on raising $250,000. "It's an ambitious goal," says  KEA's  student organizer Charles Main. "But that's what the NEA community is about."

Capitol Report

NCLB Relief

As the deadline for teachers to meet the "highly qualified" provision of the so-called No Child Left Behind law (NCLB) approaches, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings has signaled some relief may be available. In a late October letter to state school officials, Spellings said states may be able to extend the deadline for teachers until the end of the 2006–07 school year—one additional year. NEA President Reg Weaver called it a welcome change, considering many of the best prepared states still need more time, but he pointed out that states might not get an answer on the extension until spring, since their request will hinge on January data. With that in mind, he urged the Department to simply extend the deadline for all.

Low Marks for NCLB

The more folks know about NCLB, the less they like it, according to a new PDK-Gallup poll. Of the public school parents who say they're familiar with the law, 27 percent view it favorably and about the same number view it unfavorably. However, of the parents who profess "a great deal" of knowledge about NCLB, just 37 percent like what they see and a whopping 57 percent say it stinks.

Have a great idea?

Send it by mail:
NEA Today
1201 16th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Send it by e-mail:
neatoday@nea.org

A Virtual Family

As the wind blew, the wires still hummed for support professionals.

Has anybody heard from Eddie Middleton? I am worried and wondering if he is OK!

The questions asked on NEA's ESP listserv usually aren't life or death. But in Hurricane Katrina's wake, the e-mail list served as virtual life rafts for some. From Louisiana, NEA-ESP Director Sharon Scott pleaded for supplies. Days later, from Delaware, boxes of soap arrived. From all over, people sent their prayers. "NEA-ESP Family, you are the best!" she wrote.

And Eddie Middleton? After rescuing neighbors from rooftops, he wrote, "Lost almost everything at home....Bottom line is, by the Grace of God, we are all together and safe."

For information on the listserv, go to NEA's ESP Home page.

All Reading, All the Time

It's not (just) elementary, my dear.

Think NEA's Read Across America is just for elementary students? Think it's just March 2? Think again! Now in its eighth year, Read Across America celebrates reading across all grades, all year long.

In Los Angeles, high school students raised the roof last year in the Words of Oneness Poetry Slam. In Jackson, New Jersey, middle school students collectively read as many books as miles between their hometown and Hollywood, California—that's 2,947!—symbolically "reading across America."

At www.nea.org/readacross, you'll find a wealth of resources and book lists for students of all ages, including English-language learners—plus an online tool kit to help you celebrate. While there, don't forget to sign up for the monthly RAA e-newsletter!

Go Figure!

Try to make sense of this: The Norfolk City Public Schools District in Virginia nets one of the nation's top prizes in education—the Broad Prize for Public Education—  for its success in raising the test scores of poor and minority students.

Great news, right?
Well, wait for the kicker. Even as Norfolk wins its well-deserved honor, it fails to meet the adequate yearly progress (AYP) goals, as set by the No Child Left Behind law. The NCLB formula makes it very difficult for large urban districts, like Norfolk, to "make AYP," even if students make substantial gains year after year. That's because the law requires impressive (not just improved) scores from "subgroups" like English-language learners (smaller districts with few such students are allowed to skip the requirement). Other Broad Prize runner-ups, including San Francisco, also got F's from the feds.

"Here we have a district that made gains the whole nation recognized, yet NCLB doesn't see it," says Monte Mercer, president of the Education Association of Norfolk. "Just ludicrous."

—Ritu Sharma

The Envelope, Please!

Which are the ALL-TIME best movies starring teachers? You decide!

It's getting close to movie award season, and as Hollywood rolls out the red carpet for the year's top films, we want your votes for NEA Today's version of the best flicks ever. Join us in saluting the most inspiring—or just plain groan-inspiring—teachers and support professionals to appear on the silver screen. Did you st