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Welcome to Classroom20.com, the social network for those interested in  Web 2.0, Social Media, and Participative Technologies in the classroom. We encourage you to sign up to participate in the great discussions here, to receive event notifications, and to find and connect with colleagues. We have over 66,000 members from 188 countries! Classroom 2.0 is a free, community-supported network. We especially hope that those who are "beginners" will find this a supportive comfortable place to start being part of the digital dialog. Because of spammers, we have to approve all memberships here. While your membership is pending you are still welcome to peruse the site or attend any events!

In the Share a Story-Shape a Future introductory entry today, I indicated this posting would be a list of blogs I hope you will find useful in your efforts to become more familiar with a wide array of multicultural books and customs. The list is not comprehensive, but it is a list I can indeed recommend to you given my familiarity with these blogs. Let's get acquainted!

Last week Google announced another round of service and product closures. The popular image editing tool Picnik was included in the list of services that they're shutting down. I've had a few people ask me for recommendations for alternatives to Picnik, so here's a short list of alternatives to explore.

he National Council of Teachers of English wishes to recognize and foster excellence in children's poetry by encouraging its publication and by exploring ways to acquaint teachers and children with poetry through such means as publications, programs, and displays.

I am web geek, and not just because I own a Foursquare t-shirt that I bought at a discount after my 1000th check in.  The real reason I know I am a web geek is because I LOVE discovering cool web 2.0 tools that can enhance my classroom!  I am about to share with you my not so secret sources for teacher Web 2.0 excitment! ...and that's not all!  Actually, it is, but I think you will enjoy discovering all of the new tools that these web sources will present.  I guarantee that you will find something new that will amaze you as you explore.  So get ready to dive into these web 2.0 treasure troves!

Book set to consider purchasing... eBook and accompanying text. CyberSmarts: Staying Safe Online New!
This exciting five-book series is geared for grades 3-6 and instructs readers in how to deal with important online safety issues. Kids are becoming more technologically literate at an early age, but it is crucial that they understand the dangers and risks of interacting with others online. This series emphasizes engaging in safe online conduct. Each book in the series contains a robust glossary of terms and sidebars that further explore important or high-interest material.

This information applies to 2012. I'm not sure if this will be an annual event. Connected Educator Month is funded by the U.S. Department of Education, and several organizations are sponsoring programs and activities, including AASL and SETDA, the State Educational Technology Directors Association. So what is CEM, anyway? "Online communities and learning networks are helping hundreds of thousands of educators learn, reducing isolation and providing 'just in time' access to knowledge and opportunities for collaboration. However, many educators are not yet participating and others aren't realizing the full benefits. In many cases, schools, districts, and states also are not recognizing and rewarding this essential professional learning. For these reasons, the U.S. Department of Education's Connected Educators initiative has made August 2012 Connected Educator Month. Throughout the month, there will be coordinated opportunities to participate in events and activities in dozens of online locations to develop skills and enhance one's personal learning network." As one ad for the program proclaims, it's "all of August, all for free, all online - shape the future of the profession." Explore activities in the starter kit at your own pace: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/38904447/starter-kit-final.pdf

This is ODE's mega-information page about the Common Core Standards. Explore to find many useful resources.