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The Help Desk  
Volume 2, No. 15                     7 March, 2003

[To view this newsletter on line:
http://www.emck.net/eline/03_03_07.htm.]
We want you!We want you...to tell us your instructional needs! Send us a note and let us help you fill the holes in your lesson plans!

Oscar the Grouch - from Sesame StreetHelp your students win an Oscar!

The Grammies are over, and the Oscars are coming - a pair of extravagant outpourings of attention and recognition, aimed at people who already have quite a lot of both. But your students work hard (at least that's the plan!), and they should be rewarded! This edition of The Help Desk is dedicated to contests and achievement awards for middle school students - at least the ones we could find. Competitions and contests are good ways to motivate student achievement, and a good way to gain attention for the work they (and, not incidentally, you) do! Oscar

On-line Lesson Planning Disney Learning PartnershipDisney Learning Partnership

http://disney.go.com/disneylearning/

Here's Disney's educational support arm, including lesson plans and ideas, funding opportunities (Disney's own Creative Classroom grants are aimed at urban schools), and other resources. In addition, Disney sponsors the American Teacher Awards - teachers are nominated by students/administrators/colleagues, and complete for cash awards and the ability to attend Disney's ATA Summer Institute.
Content Area Resources
The Arts and Writing

The Arts and Writing AwardsArts and 
Writing Awards


http://www.scholastic.com./artandwritingawards/

This 80-year veteran of educational contests is sponsored by Scholastic Publications, with support from dozens of foundations and other entities. Regionally run with national awards available, the contest is aimed at grades 7-12. At the national level, there are 16 art categories and 10 writing categories, with additional awards for portfolio submissions. Deadlines vary by category and region.
Mathematics

American Mathematics CompetitionsMAA's American Math Competitions

http://www.unl.edu/amc/

The Web presence is hosted by the University of Nebraska/Lincoln, and these exam-based contests are sponsored by the Mathematical Association of America. The contests cover right up to graduate school, but the American Mathematics Competition 8 is specifically aimed at eight graders.
Science

Christopher Columbus AwardsChristopher Columbus Awards

http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/events/bayernsf/start.htm

Formerly the Bayer-NSF Awards, this National Science Foundation-sponsored contest is offered by the Christopher Columbus Foundation, which sponsors a wide range of contests and initiatives. This one is standards-based and aimed at team-based problem-solving. This award has, unfortunately, wrapped things up for 2002-03, but it was too good to pass up. Plan now to participate next year!
Social Studies CyberFairCyberFair

http://www.globalschoolhouse.org/cf/

A truly international competition, CyberFair encourages teams of students to explore their local community and publish the results on the Web. Coordinated by Global SchoolHouse in support of the White House's "Friendship Through Education" initiative, the contest has a wide range of corporate sponsors. Hurry - deadline for registration is March 21st!
Software Sources Peanut Math SoftwarePeanut Mathematics Software

http://math.exeter.edu/rparris/

Peanut Mathematics Software has been around for quite awhile, and designer Rick Parris, mathematics instructor at Phillips Exeter Academy, has never charged for it. There are nine separate programs with applications from 2-D/3-D graphing to fractal generation. Mr. Parris provides PDF documentation, and the extended Peanut community has contributed helps, tutorials, and lesson ideas, all linked at the site. (Sorry, Mac folks, this is PC/Windows only.)
Professional Resources Turning PointsTurning Points

http://www.turningpts.org/

The Center for Collaborative Education in Boston is the promoter of this middle school reform initiative. The initiative is based on the book Turning Points 2000 by Anthony W. Jackson and Gayle A. Davis. It has eight organizational centers covering fourteen states, and promotes a research-based, collaborative instructional model. Turning Points consultation and professional development services are, of course, not free, but it is included in this edition of The Help Desk because a great deal of the reform initiative's documents, ideas, and publications are available freely from their website under their Publications and Resources section.

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