Join Us for a TCEA Holiday Tradition: Our Tenth Annual Chat With Santa!
It’s pretty tough to get on Santa’s busy schedule nowadays, but the jolly man in red always manages to squeeze us in. (We must be on Santa’s nice list!) Join us Dec. 10 at 2 p.m. for a super special holiday tradition here at TCEA: our tenth annual Chat with Santa live stream!
Tune in to share some holiday magic with your students as Santa Claus himself joins us to answer questions, read a story, and bring the holiday spirit to life! He might even give us all an update on his preparations for the upcoming Christmas holiday and all that life at the North Pole has to offer. Trust us, you won’t want to miss it!
THE SHELL URBAN SCIENCE EDUCATORS DEVELOPMENT AWARD Application Due by December 19
This award provides support to outstanding diverse educators in pursuit of professional development, active participation at the NSTA National Conference on Science Education and committees that transitions into leadership roles and serves to increase the science educator talent pool of minority educators to meet the education work force challenge of the future. The recipients of the Award will be honored during the Shell Reception at the NSTA National Conference. Learn More Here!
Win $50,000 for Your Big Idea to Change the Future of Education
4.0 is launching a podcast! Pitch Playground is a podcast where education innovators and social entrepreneurs pitch bold ideas to reimagine learning, with the chance to win $50,000 to bring their vision to life. Each episode spotlights a brilliant entrepreneur and their idea to reimagine the future of learning.
Want a chance to pitch? Apply by filling out the form.
Amplify student voice through media making and authentic audience
Computer Science Education Week is Dec 9-15
Join us in celebrating Computer Science Education Week 2024 (December 9-15) and help inspire K-12 students to discover the possibilities of computer science (CS).
Knowing that opportunity starts in the classroom, Google would love you to get involved by helping teachers in your network bring CS into their lessons. You can share a range of free classroom activities, PD resources, and teacher stories at Google’s CSEdWeek page.
English Language Programs Opportunities
English Language Programs places highly qualified U.S.-citizen educators in the field of TESOL on projects funded by the U.S. Department of State to assist U.S. Embassies in delivering English language programs and supporting public diplomacy and mutual understanding through cultural exchange. Learn more about the Fellow, Specialist and Virtual Educator Programs here.
The 2025-2026 English Language Fellow application is open. Learn More and Apply!
Teach Digital Citizenship with Dilemmas and Thinking Routines
Young people are constantly navigating digital dilemmas, which don't always have right or wrong answers. How much connection is too much? What does it mean to be a good friend in a social media world? How should they respond to online hate speech? Based on research by Carrie James and Emily Weinstein at Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the middle and high school Digital Citizenship Curriculum includes digital dilemmas and thinking routines. Educators can use these resources to help students develop skills and dispositions to respond to real-world dilemmas in thoughtful, effective, and empathetic ways.
Apple Community Updates
Get ready for the Swift Student Challenge. Applications open in February for three weeks.
Inspire your students to make their learning shine with a bite-size creative activity.
Join Apple Learning Coach to transform teaching and drive innovation through Apple technology.
Apple Learning Coach Virtual Information Session on December 17
Empower Students with Media Literacy Skills!
Blog Post: WHAT is Media Literacy and HOW Can Simple Shifts Center It?
Media Literacy Week is next week, October 21-25! Media literacy is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, create, and act using all forms of communication.
Teach media literacy in your classroom and help your students learn to combat misinformation, empower them to ask questions, think critically, and create media in a variety of formats. This article, written by middle school teacher Mary Kate Longergan, introduces three easy-to-implement shifts you can make to help center media literacy within your classroom.
How Hurricane Helene's Recovery Efforts Were Complicated by Disinformation (6-12)
In the wake of the devastating damage caused in southeastern states by Hurricane Helene, half-truths and conspiracy theories have spread regarding the federal government’s response. Explore the distinction between misinformation and disinformation from PBS NewsHour Classroom with an example from recent news and investigate how we can continue to consume a good “media diet,” particularly during natural disasters and emergencies.
Explore PBS KIDS Self-Paced Learning Paths: Lessons on Media Literacy (PreK-2)
It’s never too early to start building your students’ media literacy skills! With tools from PBS KIDS, explore ways to integrate media-rich lesson plans into your classroom and expand your skill set for engaging children with educational media. From exploring media with Wild Kratts to teaching with informational text, these flexible, self-paced learning topics will help spark curiosity and inspire new ideas — just in time for Media Literacy Week!
Explore More PBS LearningMedia Resources
- Meet the Teen Journalists Fact-Checking TikToks | A Citizen’s Guide to Preserving Democracy (6-12)
- Empower Your Students to Identify Bias in the Free Press (6-12)
- Teacher Media Planning Guide | Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum (K-2)
- Evaluate Sources to Build an Argument | Retro Report (6-12)
- Explore the Be MediaWise Collection (3-12)
- Learn How to Create Podcasts in Your Classroom (3-12)
- Journalism and Media Literacy: McDonald’s Hot Coffee Incident (9-12)
GOODBYE: Last Month for Google Jamboard!
This is a reminder that the Jamboard app will begin winding down on December 31, 2024. After this day, we will begin deleting Jamboard files.
What you need to know
- December 31, 2024
- Last day to migrate Jams to a supported partner application.
- After this day, we will begin the final shutdown process and Jams will be deleted over the next several weeks.
What do you need to do?
- Evaluate alternatives - We recommend that you evaluate our whiteboard app partners, all of whom are integrated with Google Workspace. To learn more, please visit each partner’s website:
- Export or migrate Jam files - Your users can also migrate their Jam files to FigJam, Lucidspark, and Miro, until Jamboard begins winding down on December 31, 2024.
For more information, you can visit our Jamboard app FAQ page.
LEGO® Build the Change Institutes-Cohort 6 & 7 Registration Open
LEGO® Build the Change Institutes
LEGO® Build the Change and Take Action Global are excited to announce open call for registration for the 2024-2025 Institutes.
Accepted educators will have the opportunity to join for a free, month-long educator experience with professional development, resources, and certification.
Free and open to educators who work with students in grades 5-8.
Educator Alexander Consulting Provides FREE Google Training for Your District Through Google's EPSO
You may be wondering what districts are eligible and how to redeem this offer?
To learn more about the offer, check out this one-pager or this site. Still undecided? Review the quantifiable benefits and cost savings enabled by Education Plus here.
Eligibility Requirements:
Customers purchasing Education Plus for the first time
Customers upgrading to Education Plus who did not own Education Plus licenses as of Jan 1, 2024
Transition renewals moving from legacy G Suite Enterprise for Education on a price lock (purchased in 2020) to Education Plus
How it works
Purchase Education Plus licenses for your full domain
500 license minimum
Choose your services by filling out this form
Select PD and/or IT services. Learn more about each here: goo.gle/education-plus-offer
Within 30 days of receiving email approval from Google, connect with Educator Alexander Consulting to schedule your services.
Services do not have to be redeemed within 30 days, just scheduled / on the calendar
EDUCATOR ALEXANDER CONSULTING is an approved provider for these services! Choose us and we can provide your FREE training!
TCEA TECH BLOG GOODIES
A Flippity Spreadsheet Superhero: Revolutionizing Education with Free, Interactive Tools
Ten Writing Prompts for the Holiday Season
27 New Google Slides Templates
Enhance Student Learning with Canva Templates
Visual Literacy Boost with Adobe Express
K-12 Leadership Roadblocks and Detours to Success
Enhance Your Google Docs with Cover Images
Creating Inclusive Classrooms with UDL and Differentiation
Building a Cybersecurity Culture
Educators Can Get Office 365 for FREE
A Couple More Google Updates
To Stay Updated, Watch ALL Here or EDU in 90: The Latest Episode: Google Vids & AI Features - November 2024 Recap
Google Vids: Easy Video Creation for Teaching and Learning
Google Vids, a collaborative video creation app in Workspace that makes it easy for students and educators to create engaging videos, has started rolling out globally for Education Plus and Gemini for Workspace customers.
Expanding Access to the Gemini app for Teen Students
The Gemini app is now available for teen students (ages 13+ or the applicable age in your country). For Education Fundamentals users, the Gemini app is an additional service with added data protection.
For Education Plus and Standard users the Gemini app is a core service covered under your existing Google Workspace for Education agreement and will include the same data protection and technical support as other Workspace services.
New AI-powered Features on Google Arts & Culture
Discover three new features on GA&C: reimagine photos in famous art styles with Art Transfer 2, receive weekly cultural insights with Culture Weekly, and look beyond the frame of famous paintings with Art Zoom Out.
Dr. Desiree Alexander, Educator Alexander Consulting
Dr. Desiree Alexander is an award-winning, multi-degreed educator, speaker, and author who has been in the educational field since 2002. She is the Founder CEO of Educator Alexander Consulting, LLC and the Deputy Director for the Associated Professional Educators of Louisiana. She consults with members of several schools/businesses and presents at conferences globally.
Dr. Alexander is lifetime certified in Louisiana in Secondary English Education, as a Reading Specialist, as a School Librarian, as an Educational Technology Facilitator, as an Educational Technology Leader and in Educational Leadership 1. She is certified in Texas as a Principal, in English Language Arts and Reading for grades 4-8 and grades 8-12, as a Reading Specialist for grades EC-12, and as a School Librarian. She holds multiple technology certifications, including, but not limited to, IC3 certification, Google Certified Trainer, Innovator and Partner, Apple Teacher, and Microsoft Office Specialists.
She holds a Bachelor, a Master + 30, and an Education Specialist Degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Louisiana State University, a Master of Library Science from Texas Woman’s University and a Master of Educational Leadership with a concentration in Educational Technology Leadership from Nicholls State University. She also holds a Doctorate in Education with a concentration in Educational Leadership from Lamar University.
She is the author of Ready to Be an Educational Leader: Your Guide for Passing the SLLA 6990, the 2024 Common Sense Education Ambassador of the Year, a 2024 Common Sense Ambassador of the Year, a 2024 Illinois Digital Educators Alliance Conference (IDEAcon) Thought Leader, 2023 Louisiana Association of Computer Using Educators (LACUE) Conference Featured Speaker, 2022 & 2021 Texas Computer Education Association Conference (TCEA) Featured Thought Leader, 2020 International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Featured Voice, 2020 Future of Education Technology Conference (FETC) Featured Presenter, 2019 Customer Commitment Award Honoree from Better Business Bureau's (BBB) Torch Awards for Ethics, a 2019 Shreveport National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) Mover and Shaker, a 2017 Young Professional Initiative 40 Under 40 Awards Honoree, 2017 Center for Digital Education Top 30 Technologists, Transformers & Trailblazers, 2017 Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) Learning Media Digital Innovator for Louisiana, 2016 Associated Professional Educators of Louisiana Member of the Year, 2015 Librarian of the Year for Louisiana Librarian Association, 2015 Campus Teacher of the Year in the Zachary Community School District and 2014 Leader of the Year for Region 2 Louisiana Association of Computer Using Educators.
Email: educatoralexander@gmail.com or desiree@educatoralexander.com
Website: https://www.educatoralexander.com
Phone: 318-759-7591
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