Speak Up News, December 2014

Happy December! We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Can you believe we are already in the last month of Speak Up? In just eight weeks we've already received 280,688 surveys! Thank you for all of your hard work in making sure student, parent, educator, administrator, and community voices are heard. There are only 3 weeks of Speak Up left - share your ideas and opinions with policy makers and the broader education community by taking the survey today. Take the survey, and pass it on! In this newsletter, you will find information regarding... ▪ Happy Giving Tuesday! Help shape the future of education by participating in Speak Up 2014. ▪ Speak Up 2014: This is the last month of Speak Up! Surveys are available for input through December 19th, 2014. ▪ Speak Up America: Our weeklong celebration of Speak Up participants takes place December 8th through December 12th. ▪ 2015 Student Technology Conference: Learn more about this free, virtual conference produced by the students of the Marymount School of New York. ▪ Speak Up Data Luncheon at ISTE: Learn how to use your Speak Up data at this special workshop for school and district leaders.  Happy reading! Feel free to share your thoughts with us on Facebook, Twitter, and our Blog. -The Project Tomorrow team Happy Giving Tuesday! After giving thanks on Thanksgiving, it's time to give back with #GivingTuesday! Today, charities, families, businesses, community centers, and students around the world are coming together for one common purpose: to celebrate generosity and to give. For #GivingTuesday we ask our Speak Up family to donate 15 minutes of your time for the future of education. Although #GivingTuesday is over, you can still make a difference today by expressing your views about education, technology, and 21st century skills through the Speak Up 2014 National Research Project. Click here to take the survey. We want everyone to have a voice in the future of how technology is used in our schools - please share the Speak Up survey with your students, teachers, parents, administrators, community organizers, friends, and anyone who has a passion for improving education: bit.ly/SU14survey Click here to donate to Project Tomorrow Teachers, Librarians and Administrators: Share your ideas about digital learning by completing a Speak Up survey today How do you use technology for learning? Share your perspective in the Speak Up 2014 survey, and help steer the future of education technology. To achieve real and positive change in the field of education technology, it is crucial that you share your ideas and opinions with policy makers and the broader education community. Make a difference today by expressing your views in the Speak Up 2014 National Research Project! Surveys are open for input through December 19th, 2014 at:www.speakup4schools.org/speakup2014. For additional information on the Speak Up surveys, including FAQs, promotional materials and more please visit www.tomorrow.org/speakup. Speak Up America Mark your calendars! Speak Up America 2014 takes place from December 8th to December 12th. Do you plan on participating in Speak Up America? Click here to let us know! In honor of the superb survey period that took place during Speak Up 2013, Project Tomorrow launched the inaugural “Speak Up America” campaign, a weeklong event to celebrate Speak Up participants, past, present and new! Now in its second year, Speak Up America 2014 features... ▪ National Speak Up Day - encourage your community to participate in Speak Up on December 10th! Every survey submitted on this date will be entered into a special drawing for free ISTE conference registration. ▪ Photo and video challenge - check the Speak Up America homepage TODAY at 3PM ET for the release of challenge information and contest rules! ▪ Chances to win free ISTE, CUE, TCEA, NETA and NCCE conference registrations - with chances to win throughout the week ▪ Speak Up 2014 preliminary snapshots - released daily ▪ Data Surprises from the Speak Up 2014 Student Surveys - Twitter chat hosted by Julie Evans on Wednesday, December 10th at 4:30PM ET. Click here to learn more about Speak Up America 2015 Student Technology Conference Project Tomorrow is thrilled to work with Marymount School for the 2015 Student Technology Conference, a student-directed global conversation about technology in education. This free, online event is planned and run by the students of Marymount School from New York City, and will be held virtually on Saturday, January 31st, 2015. The 2015 Student Technology Conference is committed to fostering a better understanding of how students use technology in education, to promote discussion about technology, to assist teachers and administrators in understanding how students use technology both in and out of the classroom, and to strengthening the relationship between students, teachers and administrators about technology in the curriculum. If you are interested in presenting at the conference, then you can submit your proposal here. This year’s strands include Student Technology Clubs, Education Technology Tools, Students and social media, and more. Click here to learn more about the strands. We are excited to be working with this wonderful team of student organizers, and look forward to your participation in January’s event. You can learn more about the 2015 Student Technology Conference on the event’s official website: studenttechnologyconference.com Call for student panelists As part of the 2015 Student Technology Conference, the Marymount School is hosting a student-led presentation where students reflect on the Speak Up data collected at their schools. This is an excellent opportunity to showcase your school and district at the conference and to give your students a spotlight and leadership opportunity. If you are interested, please contact the Speak Up team atspeakup@tomorrow.org so we can coordinate submitting this proposal presentation. Using Speak Up Data to Inform Your Digital Learning Plans – a special workshop for school and district leaders Save the date: Sunday, June 28 from 12PM to 3PM in Philadelphia, PA (in conjunction with ISTE 2015) Plan to attend this special, first-ever workshop for school and district leaders on how to leverage Speak Up data from your education stakeholders to inform and guide your digital learning plans. You have collected the views and aspirations of your students, parents, teachers, community members and staff – now how do you use that data to kickstart a new initiative, change the perceptions of your teachers, gain the support of your school board, parents and community, or develop new funding sources to support your plans? We will cover all of that and more in this special workshop that will feature strategies for using the Speak Up data – and testimonials from school district leaders on their successes. Lunch will be provided also. Interested in learning more – or want to save your seat for this limited enrollment opportunity? Contact Jenny Hostert at jhostert@tomorrow.org. Thank you for your interest and continued support of Speak Up! Be sure to stay updated on all things Speak Up by following us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagramand our Blog. If you have any questions please feel free to contact our Speak Up Operations Manager, Jenny Hostert, at jhostert@tomorrow.org or via phone at 949/609-4660 ext. 17. Many thanks to our sponsors and partners for the support of Speak Up 2014: Blackboard Inc., BrainPOP, K12, DreamBox Learning, Schoolwires, SMART Technologies, Rosetta Stone, American Association of School Administrators, Consortium for School Networking, Digital Learning Day, Digital Promise, edWeb, International Association for K-12 Online Learning, International Society for Technology in Education, National Association of Secondary School Principals, National School Boards Association, Secondary Education Teachers’ Association, and the Southern Regional Education Board.