Janet D. Stemwedel (whose nom de blog is Dr. Free-Ride) is an associate professor of philosophy at San Jose State University. Before becoming a philosopher, she earned a Ph.D. in physical chemistry. Email her at dr.freeride@gmail.com.
Sure, we still have about a week of July left, but those days are getting shorter and soon the classrooms will be filling up again.
Which means that it's a pretty good time for public school teachers (in the U.S.*) to start thinking about what they'd like to accomplish in those classrooms, and whether submitting a classroom project proposal to DonorsChoose could help them secure the funds to make exciting ideas into real educational experiences.
Before the students are lining up outside the classroom, check out the DonorsChoose blog, which includes:
- Tips for putting together successful proposals from an Oakland, California teacher who has had a total of 37 proposals funded through DonorsChoose.
- A spotlight on three innovative classroom projects, any of which might spark your own pedagogical creativity.
- An announcement for math and science teachers in North Carolina of an initiative by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund to fund $25,000 in inquiry-based science and mathematics projects through DonorsChoose in the coming school year.
If you're a public school teacher, you probably want to bookmark the blog or subscribe to its feed so you can keep up on special funding opportunities and ideas for fundable classroom projects.
And, if you create a project with DonorsChoose, let us know about it! ScienceBlogs bloggers are planning on participating in the next DonorsChoose Blogger Challenge (details posted here as soon as we have them), and we would love to populate our challenges with proposals created by our very own readers.
Enjoy the rest of your summer ... but start thinking about those projects that will make learning come alive.
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*DonorsChoose funds classroom projects in all 50 states in the U.S. If you know of similar organizations providing support to teachers in other countries, please tell us about them in the comments.
Education & Careers
