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Posted by Alex on
Monday,
August 8, 2011 at 5:30pm
On August 2-3, 2011, educators, students, parents, and social media mavens gathered together for the first annual #140edu Conference: Exploring the State of Education NOW. Panelists discussed a variety of hot topics related to integrating technology and social media into school curriculum, how to improve online safety for kids, and resources for continued learning. Here are some of the highlights from the conference:
Book Blog Buzz
Reading blogs are a hit at Verona Schools in New Jersey. Students are creating excitement for reading by posting reviews of current ‘buzz books’ they enjoy including titles like The Hunger Games, Stargirl, and The Misfits. Patrick Higgins, Supervisor of Humanities for the Verona Schools shared the story of how students and teachers created the HBWReads blog to help eliminate word poverty.
Edcamp: Teacher Tech Professional Development
Want to learn how iPads are used in elementary classrooms? Or have you ever wanted to integrate smart phones into high school lesson plans (since students have them anyway)? Edcamp hosts professional development for teachers, as well as access to wiki materials and twitter chats for ongoing learning and feedback.
KidzVuz
Tweens share KidzVuz video reviews of books, games, toys etc. they enjoy. A fun, safe kid-approved website founded by Social Media Strategist and proud parent Rebecca Levey.
Storytelling Motivates Middle School Girls to Learn Computer Programming
Lynn Langit, Co-Founder of Teaching Kids Programming, shares her passion for teaching 1000+ students in 18 months via online curriculum. Lynn’s students had such fun programming they were even willing to give up their lunch break to code additional projects! Sounds like a bright future ahead for hacking education.
Teacherpreneurs
Our thanks to Mike Karnjanaprakorn, CEO of Skillshare, for highlighting teacher activists and education entrepreneurs who create positive change for classrooms.
PYPM: Philly Youth Poetry Movement
Executive Director Gregory Corbin shares the power of poetry with his students to promote self expression and creative learning. Talented young writers, performers, and advocates emerge from the PYPM movement which has helped spark social change and bring learning to life across all subjects.
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Posted by Jonathan on
Tuesday,
February 23, 2010 at 12:57pm
Three years ago, Ariba and DonorsChoose.org embarked on a unique partnership to use spend management technology to help DonorsChoose.org expand nationally and serve millions of students from low-income families. Now, over 60 men from Ariba are using their upper lips to help even more kids.
DonorsChoose.org uses Ariba’s software to manage the procurement of the materials teachers request, from sourcing and ordering through invoicing and payment. But last February, Ariba took the partnership to a new level, when some staff bravely sprouted sweet mustaches for four weeks to raise cash for schools. Going stache-to-stache with titans of industry, these growers made Ariba the top fundraising company of 2009.
This February, Ariba growers aim to beat their performance and are now over halfway through their facial hair marathon for kids. To show your support, visit Ariba’s hair-raising Giving Page today. Besides helping kids, you’ll get to see the fuzzy faces of folks at the company behind the procurement process that helps bring classroom projects to life.
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Posted by Dan on
Friday,
February 12, 2010 at 1:45pm
Yesterday we launched the most generous match offer ever seen on DonorsChoose.org. And thanks to the incredible support of the Pershing Square Foundation and citizen philanthropists across the country, our first ever Presidents’ Day sale has SOLD OUT!
Don’t worry, if you missed this sale opportunity, you can still help by donating to classroom projects for under $100.
Starting Thursday morning, the Pershing Square Foundation funded American history and civics projects down to $98 – on the condition that citizen philanthropists (you!) took the projects across the finish line. And you did it! Over 600 citizen philanthropists funded the remainder of more than 675 projects, directing over $315,000 to classrooms in need in one day.
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Posted by Candice on
Tuesday,
October 20, 2009 at 1:28pm
We are thrilled that HP is sponsoring the DonorsChoose.org Social Media Challenge and helping dedicated bloggers and twitterers improve classroom experiences.
To kick off the Challenge, HP supported every single Giving Page with a $50 donation to a classroom project. This contribution really jump-started the contest and inspired other donors to join in the fun.
Next week, we will distribute the remaining $200,000 of HP’s contribution to all Social Media Challenge Giving Pages. But this time, the participant’s share will be calculated based on the percentage he or she raises by Sunday, October 25, 2009.
Tens of thousands of dollars for classroom resources are up for grabs, so if you are participating in the Challenge this year, keep those blog posts, tweets and status updates coming! Or support your favorite blogger or twitterer here!
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Posted by Katie on
Monday,
September 21, 2009 at 4:17pm
The philanthropic throwdown of 2009 starts in just 10 days… You can visit the Social Media Challenge to see how the competition is heating up!
As you start to think about engaging your readers and followers to help low-income students this fall, make sure that you set out to have an awesome time doing it. Here are some tips from previous challenges:
1. Embrace social media by blogging, tweeting and Facebooking about your Giving Page. We’ve got some cool tools you can use this year from your DonorsChoose.org donor account. Once you’re logged in, and you’ve clicked on your Giving Page, you can follow the links to post your Giving Page on Facebook.
2. Offer to do something wacky if your readers reach a certain level of donations. Check out last year’s blog post for inspiration, like how Finslippy offered to reenact Pat Benetar’s “Love is a Battlefield.” Which happened, by the way!
3. Say something feisty about the other bloggers in your Giving Group or about the singular awesomeness of your readers. A sense of competition, and of team pride, really helps to inspire donations.
4. Use the widget for your Giving Page. This widget will not only serve as a constant call-to-action for your readers, but as a public salute to the individual readers who have made donations through your giving page.
Stay tuned for more updates as the Social Media Challenge nears….
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Posted by Katie on
Wednesday,
May 6, 2009 at 5:25am
The Huffington Post debuted an exclusive video today from Stephen Colbert, announcing that he is celebrating his May 13th birthday with DonorsChoose.org. In lieu of gifts, Colbert is asking his fans to donate to a classroom project at DonorsChoose.org at www.donorschoose.org/colbertbirthday.
Check out the blog post (which includes a funny birthday story from DonorsChoose.org founder Charles Best), to see Colbert’s video.
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Posted by Katie on
Tuesday,
March 17, 2009 at 11:25am
Friends of DonorsChoose.org,
Several weeks ago, I learned about a new philanthropic movement called flashmob4charity.org. A flash mob is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place (in this case, the web), perform an unusual action for a brief time (in this case, supporting social causes), then quickly disperse. Flashmob4charity.org is a one-year project formed to help U.S. charities struggling to meet increased demand.
Membership at flashmob4charity.org costs just $10. The objective is to get 1 million members. Once the flash mob reaches 100,000 members, flashmob4charity will begin making grants to charities in need. The focus is on organizations supporting hunger, homelessness, education, medical care, job training and placement, and general human services. DonorsChoose.org will be the recipient of a portion of the education funding, which we are really excited about!
You can check it out at flashmob4charity.org (see their blog post about their support for DonorsChoose.org), and also follow them on Facebook, My Space, and Twitter.
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Posted by Melanie on
Monday,
March 16, 2009 at 5:18pm
Last Friday, a tomato descended upon our Nation’s capital, taking photos with lacrosse players, bravely navigating the National Mall carousel, and getting snaps from well-dressed grannies on Constitution Avenue. Who was this vegetative wonder? None other than the Commander in Chief of the Tomato Nation herself, Sarah “Fruit not a Vegetable” Bunting!
Sarah first offered to don her lycopene-rich garb on the streets of the Nation’s capital if her readers would give to support classroom projects at DonorsChoose.org during our 2009 Blogger Challenge. Her efforts resulted in $111,352 being given to high-need classrooms across the country in less than 5 weeks! Thanks to the Tomato Nation and to their fearless leader, over 3,500 students have received the materials needed to grow in the classroom this school year!
Check out more photos of the Tomato tromping around Washington, DC, here.
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Posted by Keecia on
Monday,
February 9, 2009 at 4:30pm
How did you celebrate your last birthday? Maxine Clark, Founder and CEO of Build-A-Bear Workshop is celebrating her 60th birthday this March by making a difference in the lives of students.
In lieu of gifts from her friends and colleagues, Maxine is raising $60,000 for her 60th birthday to help public school students in Greater St. Louis and Miami-Dade.
Check out Maxine’s Birthday Page to read about her decision to do this exciting challenge and to personally donate to a project for her big 6-0! Making a difference in the life of a child is a wonderful gift.
Please also read Maxine’s personal blog to find out why birthdays are her favorite holiday!
Maxine’s birthday is on March 6th, so there’s still plenty of time to make a donation!
