Speak Up Newsletter December 2013

Speak Up 2013 | There's only two weeks left to participate. Surveys close next Friday, December 20th! Thank you to all the participants that have already taken part in the Speak Up surveys! Since the launch of the survey over 240,000 Students, Educators, Parents and Community Members have shared their ideas about the use of technology in education. Be sure to take the survey today and pass along to your network of friends and family, remember the survey is open to ANYONE interested in sharing their thoughts on critical 21st century education and technology issues. In this e-newsletter, find new ways to get involved with Speak Up this year: Speak Up 2013, Have you submitted your survey? Surveys available for Educators, Students, Parents and Members of the Community Last minute Promotional Ideas There's still plenty of time to get involved in Speak Up, find new ideas here. New to Speak Up, watch our 45 minute introductory webinar! Learn how you too could get a free webinar with CEO Julie Evans next school year! Help us reach 1,500 community member surveys! You don’t have to be an educator or student to take the survey. The voices of your community members are important too! Speak Up Survey Instructions Happy Reading! Feel free to share your thoughts with us on Facebook, Twitter and our Blog. --The Project Tomorrow team Click here to read online. Speak Up 2013, be sure to get your survey in by 12/20! Together, let's work towards leveraging technology to promote enhanced learning in our K-12 schools! Thank you to all our participating schools, districts, followers and to all our partners for your encouragement and support of this year's surveys! Without you Speak Up would not be possible! Surveys Submitted as of December 7, 2013 at 7PM ET: Students: 194,609 Teachers & librarians: 25,668 Parents: 22,251 Administrators: 3,086 Community Members: 841 Top 5 School Districts, based on total participation: Welsaco ISD, TX McAllen ISD, TX Brevard County School District, FL Fairfax County Schools, VA Madison County School District, AL Top 5 states, based on total participation: Texas, 36,287 California, 31,672 Alabama, 24,602 Indiana, 20,118 North Carolina, 16,110 Last minute Promotional Ideas There's still two weeks to get involved! If you just registered your district or are looking for new ways to promote the survey, how about trying one of these ideas: Host a Speak Up Day: Pick a day in December to have your K-12 community complete the Speak Up Surveys! San Marcos Unified School District in California collected 1,500 surveys during their 1st Annual Speak Up Day during the Speak Up 2012 survey period. SMUSD promoted their event via email, website, phone calls & social media! Post a notice to your local community newspaper or blog: Post a message inviting your community to participate in Speak Up to your local newspaper or patch.com! Barrington Schools in RI and San Bruno Park School District in CA posted to their local patch.com, check it out! For sample text, please contact the Speak Up Team at speakup@tomorrow.org or use one of the follow sample texts found on our promotional materials page. Focus on one survey type: Each survey receives their own data set with national comparisons (k-2, 3-5, 6-8,9-12, parent, teacher etc.) a focus on teachers, parents and/or administrators is an easy push and a great way to receive a meaningful dataset. Some recommendations would be to send an email or phone recording to parents or email blast to your teachers. Click here for a variety of sample emails. Highlight the Speak Up survey on your website using one of our Speak Up logos (with a link to the survey). Click here for the code to embed on your website. Make sure to include your survey password! Do your teachers need an activity before the winter break? Or an idea for sub plans? Download one of our Speak Up Lesson Plans, created by our ownMeredith Kohl, who holds a Master of Education in curriculum and instruction and a previous elementary teacher. Lesson Plans for K-2, 3-5 and 6-12 are available for download. * Group survey options are available for K-2 students. Use social media networks such as facebook or twitter to get the word out about Speak Up to your stakeholders. Try retweeting one of our @speakuped tweets or searching #speakupsurveys. For additional promotional material to spread awareness, please visit our promotional material page at: http://www.tomorrow.org/speakup/promo.html. Not part of a school or district- help get the word out with our Partner Promotional Material Tools. If your organization is interested in partnering with Project Tomorrow this year to assist with outreach to your contacts, please contact Jenny Hostert at jhostert@tomorrow.org. For a list of Speak Up partners and sponsors please visit our website. Recorded Webinar: Planning for Speak Up 2013 Interested in participating in this year's Speak Up surveys but want to learn more about it? Now's your chance! Watch our Speak Up Introductory webinar recording hosted by our CEO, Julie Evans. This 45 minute recorded webinar includes background information on Speak Up, benefits of participation, key Speak Up findings from last year’s survey as well as how their school can participate in Speak Up this year. The recorded webinar can be accessed via Blackboard Collaborate here:Speak Up 2013 Planning. As a special incentive for participation this year, all districts with surveys from at least 25% of their student population will receive a free webinar with Julie Evans, CEO of Project Tomorrow using your specific district and state data results in spring or fall 2014. Contact Jenny Hostert on the Project Tomorrow Team for additional information: jhostert@tomorrow.org. Expand the scope of your Speak Up outreach and bring in the voices of your community members You don’t have to be an educator or student to take the survey. The voices of your community members are important too! This year, for the first time, we are providing a special online survey for community members. Local employers, after school providers, school board members, homeowners without children in the local schools or anyone with an interest in promoting better learning in our schools can now provide their views on the role of technology in preparing students for the jobs and careers of the 21st century. This new set of data will provide valuable insights for schools and districts as well as state and federal policymakers on the importance of digital tools and resources for college and career readiness. All community members will access the survey through a school in their local community. Look up a school via zip or state and school name. Surveys will take about 15 minutes to complete. Community members: Take the survey todaywww.speakup4schools.org/speakup2013. Instructions on How to Take the Survey It’s quick and easy to get involved in Speak Up, to take the survey follow these 5 simple steps: Go to this link: www.speakup4schools.org/speakup2013 Click on the appropriate survey button Follow the given instructions to access the survey. Begin by clicking on the drop down button and select your state, then go to the next line and type in your school name (community members select a school within your local community) Students will be required to enter in a survey password "secret word". Educators, parents and community members are not required to enter in a survey password. Complete the survey by December 20th, 2013 Not sure which survey to take? Visit our Tips on Deciding which Survey to Take, to help you select the survey that best meets your needs.http://www.speakup4schools.org/speakup2013/TipsDeciding.aspx Thank you for your interest and continued support in Speak Up! We look forward to your participation in Speak Up 2013! Be sure to stay updated on all things Speak Up by following us on Facebook, Twitter and our Blog. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at jhostert@tomorrow.org or via phone at 949/609-4660 ext. 17. Jenny Hostert Speak Up Operations Manager Project Tomorrow