Blogs on Funding

Editor's Note: Today, Gaetan has given his pen to guest blogger Judy Jester. Judy has taught eighth grade English in suburban Philadelphia for 23 years; she also co-directs the Pennsylvania Writing and Literature Project at West Chester University.

I'm a skinflint - always have been, always will be. When I'm cold, I put on a sweater. Though I desperately want an iPad, I'll continue to pine for it as it's just too costly. For years I watched "fuzzy vision" rather than pay for cable. And yet I know that in order to make money sometimes, you have to spend a little first. If only Congress knew this too.

This is the third post of a four-part series about planning and running an edcamp unconference. You can read the first post, Introduction to edcamp and Taking Care of the "Big Stuff" first if you missed them.

Amid all the hubbub about this week's new Race to the Top winners -- who got it but didn't deserve it, who didn't get it but should have, why almost all the victorious states are east of the Mississippi -- the big thing I'm wondering is: how will all this change the experience of kids in the classroom?

Connecting your students with scientists and engineers is one way to enage them in science. It also provides students with mentors and positive role models. National Lab Day is a national inititive and classroom "matchmaker" launched last year to help facilitate these connections. A National Lab Day project can serve as a cornerstone to project-based learning in your classroom.