This month we are honored to have two new contributors to our rapidly growing collection of valuable learning and teaching resources for all of our members.

Pi Across America is a celebration of one of mathematics most intriguing and storied numbers. We have cataloged the collection of free resources so you and your students can learn more about the ratio between a circle's diameter and circumference, an endless, irrational number that has challenged mathematicians for thousands of years.

"Pi Day" this year falls on the November 9th which is the 314th day of 2008. Be prepared to celebrate by using the Gateway to find learning resources that contain information about pi, including pi facts and pi history, a pi bibliography, suggested pi activities, puzzles, word problems and even an interactive link to the first two million digits of pi. All of this information is complimentary to the public. Pi Across America is sponsored by University of Phoenix.

We have highlighted a few of these new Pi items in the What’s New section of this update.

New Jersey Education Association has graciously provided the Gateway with many information articles to help parents, teachers and students get ready for the return to school. Here are a few tips that you can communicate to parents that make the transition back to school safe, fun, and exciting.

• Plan a route If your child walks or bikes to school, walk the route and emphasize safety.
• Visit the school Try to meet the teacher too!
• Set goals with your child Create frequent rewards for success.
• Make a schedule Set aside time each day for studying, reading and playing.
• Go to bed Sleep patterns change slowly. Get your child back to a regular schedule.
• Shake off the cobwebs Read a book together. Review last year's math skills. Practice neat handwriting.
• Create excitement Shop together for clothes and school supplies to get in the school spirit.
• Remember, your attitude is contagious Get excited about new teachers, friends, and opportunities and your child will too!

Besides these helpful tips NJEA has also provided great articles on bus safety, building self esteem, preparing and participating in parent teacher conferences, homework helpers and printable articles that are helpful in the everyday aspects of teaching and learning.

You will find all these wonderful contributions by using our state of the art search engine along with more than 50,000 other quality learning and teaching resources.

Earlier this summer we executed a complete link check of the entire GEM resource collection. We have updated and fixed broken links and eliminated some older links that are no longer on the web. Your experience will be faster, more productive and will save you hours of time in preparing new lessons. We have added new tutorials on using the Gateway effectively and how to use the information you find in other Web 2.0 applications so now you can use your favorite web tools with Gateway data. Use it to make your teaching day easier, populate your portfolio or calendar, email information to your fellow teaching professionals, post helpful comments or tips directly to the resources you find on the Gateway or recommend resource through online Web 2.0 tools like Digg.

We are always on the lookout for valuable new resources. If you or your state affiliate organization have items like NJEA’s that you would like to be shared with others, just let us know. We will be happy to work with you to promote and provide access to them through our Gateway web site. Contact Bruce Walker, brucew@jesandco.org for information on how to make this happen. We value your suggestions and comments.

What’s New?

NEA has partnered with the GEM Exchange, Gateway to Educational Materials, and JES & Co to support Gateway to 21st Century Skills, a website that combines state-of the art search technologies and a complete database of state academic standards for core subjects. The Gateway is your link to the resources you need to make learning meaningful and fun for your students.

New information about 21st century learning resources is being added every week to the Gateway. Don’t miss out on these great new additions. Here are just a few more recent examples of new items that you can find on the Gateway for you and your students:

Search for the Missing Pi

Students actively investigate measuring circular objects, recording data accurately to derive the formula for the relationship known as pi.

First 200 Million Digits of Pi

Using combinations of digits (such as students' numeric birthdays, street addresses, etc.), students can use the Web site Pi Searcher to search the sequence of numbers among the first 200 million digits of pi to right of the decimal.

It's a Small, Small World

As an introduction to the study of diversity of life, science students will use hands-on inquiry experiments to discover the microscopic world through a microscope. Students will use computers to create a brochure or slideshow presentation to show the three kinds of protists. Students will learn the importance of all life in our biosphere.

Double Your Flavor

As students begin memorizing the multiplication math facts, they will need many ways to visualize and practice the multiplication concepts. In this lesson they will begin practice with arrays, skip counting, and moving manipulatives for the 0,1,2,3,and 4 times tables.

What Burns When a Candle Burns?

In this hands-on lesson, the class is divided into small groups and required to use the scientific method to discover what burns in a candle and why. The steps reinforce this methodical approach to solving what initially appears to be a simple question. In this exercise, students will use the scientific method to discover the purpose of a candle's wick and how radiation allows candle wax to change from solid to liquid to gas, thus allowing the wicking action necessary for combustion to occur.

The Writing Process: Brainstorming

This lesson will be used to introduce the writing process. Students will learn about the first step, brainstorming, through webbing activities. Students will also view other students' work on the Internet. Students will learn how to use Kidspiration software to begin the writing process.

How Do Citizens Make Government Work?

This five-session unit will provide hands-on opportunities for students to explore local, state and national governments. In the process, students will use technology and print media to learn about the leaders of each level of government and explore citizenship as a way to make a difference in their communities and nation.

Ah-Choo!!!

An infectious disease is the breakdown in the structure or function of a living organism. In this lesson, seventh grade science students will discover that diseases can be caused by many different factors. Students will research an infectious disease and create an informative brochure to demonstrate what they have learned.

Quickly learn to search the huge collection of free learning resource. (Click this link to view our video! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYqho-SN-m4) Our brief, seven minute, instructional video is now available on the home page of the Gateway. It’s never been easier to boost your professional skills, add more fun and individualized instruction to your repertoire of competencies. Join our cadre of 21st century educators today.

Make your search for resources from the Gateway or great benefit from your NEA membership easier and faster. Simply visit: http://www.thegateway.org and download the National Education Association Toolbar from the link in the middle of the page. The toolbar is ready for you! It easy and it’s FREE!

Did You Know?

Wednesday and Tuesday, in that order, were the busiest days for the Gateway in the month of July. In fact, the Gateway is such a valuable and powerful tool that over 58% of the visitors added the Gateway to their browser Favorites or Bookmarks! In the last month, over 55% of traffic came from people who have already bookmarked the Gateway to 21st Century Skills. A whopping 30% of visitors came to the Gateway from sites that link directly to the Gateway such as you would find on the NEA learning resource page and the Educational Resource Information Center (ERIC).

Gateway to 21st Century Skills Statistics for July 2008

Lots and lots of educators are finding and utilizing the Gateway as in each month since we became sponsored by the NEA, we have experienced double digit increases over the previous year’s figures. The Gateway Community keeps getting bigger and we keep breaking records! July 2008 set another huge new record for traffic to the Gateway with 40,277 visits, a 144% increase over last June. In the month of July 2008, adjusted measures of traffic showed visitors viewed 114,035 pages and created 1,164,041
hits.

The Gateway to 21st Century Skills receives thousands of visits a month from dedicated educators all over the world. The community is developing into a diverse and interesting group with tremendous talent to share! Come and join us as we pioneer the way to the vision of a 21st century education. Become a member and network with other educators. Use the information from the Gateway learning resources in other Web 2.0 friendly applications, your portfolio, store it on your calendar for easy planning or share it with your student, parents and administrator. The Gateway is here to help you easily meet your needs and make your teaching day easier!

Spread the word, invite a friend and help your fellow educators to participate in this special community that NEA has provided for its members.

If your NEA state affiliate website doesn’t link to the Gateway to 21st Century Skills as a resource on your state website, they are surely missing the 21st Century boat. Tell them you need resources and a link to the Gateway! In terms of a teaching tool, it is one of the greatest benefits that NEA has ever made available to its members.

Are Your Members Using the Gateway?

Welcome Connecticut Retired members! Connecticut Retired Education Association has branded with the Gateway! North Dakota, Oklahoma, Connecticut, Wyoming, Wyoming Student Education Association, Hawaii, Maryland, Colorado, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Washington, North Carolina, New York, New Jersey, Vermont, South Dakota and Tennessee and have all created versions of the Gateway that displays the state affiliate logos.

And now, not only will your affiliate members be greeted with a view of your logo but anyone who declares that they hail from your branded state will also see that affiliate’s logo. This will underscore your local commitment to provide the members of the profession with the tools and resources they need to succeed in driving improvements to student achievement.

We want to hear from you. What would you like to see added to the Gateway? What improvements would you like to see? Send your suggestions, thoughts and observations on how we can make the Gateway to 21st Century Skills a more valuable tool for you, your students and your fellow teachers. Contact Bruce Walker at brucew@jesandco.org.

Who’s Joining the Gateway?

From students and pre-service teachers to experienced educators in all parts of educational enterprise, everyone finds value in the Gateway collection of learning resources. What a tremendously diverse and interesting group of people find their way to the Gateway! The community is growing in size and harnessing the awesome power that comes from a huge set of life skills. To show you what we at the Gateway have noticed we did some research on the diversity of members in the biographies written by new members applying for Gateway membership.

Here are some excerpts from the biographies of recent Gateway applications for membership. Members show their support for the Gateway by joining and it is Free! Membership allows you to make notes and comment about the resources you find on the Gateway. You can share those observations with your peers or make comments that are only for your use. It’s like your own personal Gateway to over 50,000 quality learning resources.

A.B. - Texas
I am going to a first year English, Language arts, Reading, and Social Studies teacher.

K.N. - MT
New science teacher in rural MT teaching grades 7-12

L.W. - VA
I am a Earth and Environmental Educator at the MathScience Innovation Center located in Richmond, VA.

D. G. - CA
I have been in the education field for 22 yrs. but I have been a teacher for the past 9 yrs. I have taught ELD, Spanish and have been given the opportunity to be a library teacher. I am very excited about being in the "Information Literacy" field!

T.F. - CA
I am currently an intern teacher in San Diego, teaching 9th and 12th grade English. I will be awarded my M.ed this upcoming July.

T.D.R. - LA
I am an educator in New Orleans. I am a retired Air Force Reservist, and I have 13 years of Elementary teaching experience. I have taught 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th - 8th grade in all subjects. At the present time I am slotted to teach 7th and 8th grade Science, however, that can change once school begins.

K.C.P. - OR
I am the current president of the Friends of History at Portland State University, and in this position I oversee the creation and presentation of original educational programs at the University. The Friends of History is the non-profit support group for the History Department, and we host or cosponsor several workshops, panel discussions, a symposium, lectures, author discussions and book signings and more throughout the school season. The crown jewel is the FOH's annual Endowed Lecture, which in 2008 celebrated its Silver Anniversary. I have a degree in communications and journalism; and was elected FOH president in recognition of my work including my stint as the first woman chair of the Civil War Round Table at PSU. Currently I am on the executive committee of the Oregon Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, and serve on other non-profit boards as well.

P.B. – NY
I am a graduate student currently attending St. Thomas Aquinas College. I am completing a MST dual degree in General Education and Special Education.

V.G. - KY
I am an instructional Technology Cadre for the Red Clay School District. My role provides me with numerous opportunities to visit K-12 classrooms throughout the district to model strategies and resources for infusing technology for into the curriculum. In addition to the classroom support role I also provide professional development for teachers not only in Red Clay but throughout the state.