Bargain Shopping -- and Surfing

Teachers are always looking for quality bargains when it comes to educational resources. This week I came across a few.

Borders Books is in the last day of its annual Educator Appreciation Week. Until October 7, current and retired educators can save 30 percent on purchases for personal or classroom use. Just -- quickly -- bring your shopping list and proof of your educator status to a Borders store.

SUBWAY Restaurant is offering a free Get Fit for the Fun of It kit for educators that includes a poster, parent letter, stickers, and a teacher planner and calendar full of classroom ideas and activities -- in their words, "the tools you need to bring fitness and nutrition information into the classroom." The kit is part of the Subway Random Acts of Fitness for Kids program to fight childhood obesity.

The Best Evidence Encyclopedia is another exceptional new (to me, anyway) resource for educators at all levels. The BEE, a free Web site created by the Johns Hopkins University School of Education's Center for Data-Driven Reform in Education (CDDRE), is intended "to give educators and researchers fair and useful information about the strength of the evidence supporting a variety of programs available for students in grades K-12." Kind of a Snopes for educators, it seems. Having taught such programs as ITA, Words in Color, New Math, Finger Math, Abacus Math and more...in open classrooms, team-teaching classrooms, self-contained classrooms, multi-aged classrooms and more...often for no other reason than that somebody thought it would work (or sell : ), all I can say is Hooray!

YES I Can! Science has opened registration for its Polar Science 2009 Project, the third in a series of projects that provide opportunities for students to collaborate via blog and webcast with other classes from around the world, and learn from biologists Dr. Shane Kanatous and Dr. Thomas Hawke. This year's project will investigate the physiology of the Weddell seal, and its amazing ability to exercise deep under water without the need to take a breath. The project, which will run from October 15 to December 3, 2009, is open to students in grades 6-12 anywhere in the world.

Digital Wish and Flip Video Spotlight Program are offering a special to help educators integrate video into the classroom. For just $150, educators can purchase two Flip Ultra™ camcorders. To access the promotion, educators should register their classrooms at Digital Wish. This deal is a favorite of mine because I own a Flip and it's super easy and lots of fun to use.

This isn't, strictly speaking, a "bargain," but it is a chance to win some money both for yourself and for your favorite school. Consumers aged 7 and older who visit The Idaho Potato Commission site between September 15, 2009, and October 31, 2009, and play the "Idaho® Potato Harvest Game" can enter a sweepstakes for a chance to win $10,000: $5,000 for the winner and $5,000 to be donated to a school selected by the winner. That's sure to come in handy on your next shopping trip : )

Have a great week!