Cozi is an all encompassing on-line calendar site which emphasizes its ability to make family life easier. Not only can Cozi make family life easier, it can also make integrating school information and activities into a regular schedule a breeze.

Cozi has an exceptionally handy feature that allows any parent to go the account settings tab of their Cozi profile and add a school calendar published through Tandem for Schools to the master family calendar. This feature allows Mom, Dad, and siblings to stay up to date with information on school start and end dates, school vacations and closings as well as parent teacher meetings, half-days, and conferences.

The Cozi calendars can also be utilized in a few different ways to ensure better organization of educational endeavors and activities. Each family member can be assigned a unique color to be displayed within the Cozi system. If the family calendar states soccer practice, then one quick glance at the color dot displayed next to the activity will answer the question, “Who has soccer practice today?” Such information can even be accessed on the go by accessing m.cozi.com with a compatible cell phone or mobile device.

Cozi can also be utilized to make various lists for organizational purposes. By clicking on the Shopping Lists icon, a user can create any type of list including to-do lists. This feature is especially handy in an educational context if a student needs last minute supplies and materials for a school project. From any computer with an internet connect, they can type out a quick list and have it sent to mom or dad as a text message directly from the Cozi web-site. No more missed assignment deadlines!

Cozi is a very user-friendly site with easily accessible features and clearly labeled graphics and help files. Any family can be off and running with their own Cozi family calendar and have that calendar synchronized with a Tandem for Schools calendar in just a few minutes. From this point on, the whole family can be organized and linked together on PCs, cell phones, and other mobile devices.

The Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California boasts a rich variety of educational materials on their website at getty.edu/education. While the resources are mostly targeted towards students and teachers, many of them could also be utilized by parents hoping to broaden their child’s knowledge base.

The Getty’s education page features a few different subheadings of particular interest. One subheading contains information on planning a school visit. Teachers of primary grade and high school classes can opt for either a guided or self-guided tour. The School Trips section explains the day that each type of tour is available and offers educational information on the art on display, as well as information on The Getty museum itself. An additional section of the site offers information for college professors planning a class outing. Professors can choose either a facilitated visit or to tour the museum in conjunction with a class lecture. The site thoroughly explains the processes needed to organize either trip.

Educators will find two sections of getty.edu/education particularly useful. One section offers teachers programs and resources. The website provides insight into professional development opportunities sponsored by the museum, including Saturday classes that help teachers learn how to incorporate more art into their classroom. Even instructors who do not live in the Los Angeles area can find material in this web-site section useful, as past workshops have a lesson page containing links to lessons plans and image banks to utilize in the classroom. The other section teachers will find helpful is devoted entirely to lesson plans. Teachers can either search by subject and grade level or use the museum’s master list of all Getty provided curriculum. The Getty also has a completely kid-friendly site section. Getty.edu/education/for_kids/ contains a game portal as well as a link to the museum’s Whyville page. The Getty games include classic favorites like jigsaw puzzles and match games mixed in with more advanced outings such as “Detail Detective.” The Getty’s Whyville location allows older children the opportunity to interact with other kids and play games to enhance their virtual museum experience. The Getty Museum’s educational website at getty.edu/education contains a variety of activities and materials for students and teachers alike to access. All of the lessons plans and games are extremely useful and informative whether or not a trip to the Getty Museum is in the future.

SmithsonianEducation.org is a valuable web-site that offers resources for educators, families, and students – all in one convenient and easy to navigate web-site. Whether you are a teacher, principal, Mom, Dad, or an eager child, an opportunity to further your knowledge exists at Smithsonian Education.

Teachers can access the educator page and find a unique search menu that allows them to search by keyword to find educational material targeted toward any grade level and school subject. The materials can range from lessons plans to videos.

This set-up makes planning a multimedia presentation on any given subject a snap, and ensures that all students will remain engaged in the learning process. The vast amount of printable documents will also provide excellent supplemental material to enhance both textbook copy and questions.

Another neat feature is the functionality of the Smithsonian Education web-site when planning a trip to the Smithsonian Museum. The site contains numerous features to make your next educational journey a snap. These features include tips on how to enhance a visit at three different times: before a trip, while at the museum, and after leaving. It also spotlights child friendly exhibits occurring at the Smithsonian and provides downloadable activity sheets to provide kids with new learning opportunities anytime.

The children’s section is a great resource for a young person to further their own education. The Idea Labs present on the main student portal feature information about presidents and walking on the moon as well as knowledge tests and facts about the Smithsonian. Additional main topic headings that children can explore include art, science and nature, history and culture, and people and places. Kids can also download and print their own fact sheets, ensuring that learning continues even when they are away from the computer! Anyone interested in improving their own knowledge or enhancing the education of children will find a great variety of resources available at SmithsonianEducation.org.

School calendars contain important events that should be integrated with the family or personal calendar. Calendar tools like Tandem for Schools allow parents to sync the school calendar’s events with a personal web calendar like Outlook, Google Calendar, Cozi, or iCal. This eliminates the need to manually enter events into a personal calendar for parents.

However parents can’t just buy Tandem for Schools if they like the convenience of a comprehensive web-based school calendar. It has to be purchased by the school or district administration. That is why Intand (the makers of Tandem) in partnership with Cozi have developed a site for parents to vote for Tandem if they would like their school to consider Tandem as a calendar management solution. Parents can visit the site to vote and learn more about web-based school calendars at http://www.schoolcal.org.

From the Cozi blog:

If you wish you could magically have school calendar dates appear in your family calendar, you’re not alone! In fact, that’s the top choice of most parents when asked what type of calendar they’d most like to integrate directly into their family calendars. Imagine how much simpler life would be if you could automatically add school vacations, teacher conferences and early dismissal days right into your family planner.

Some schools already make calendars available to do that, but most schools don’t yet. That’s why Cozi is eager to introduce you to School Calendars Now (www.SchoolCal.org). School Calendars Now is working with parents to encourage schools across the U.S. and Canada to publish their annual calendars as Internet calendars (known as iCals) that can easily be added to the calendar programs parents use most, such as Cozi.

In this interesting presentation from the TED Conference, mathematician Arthur Benjamin makes the case that statistics should be at the top of the pyramid of the high school mathematics curriculum. He argues that it is more useful in everyday life and he points out that if American’s understood statistics they may have avoided making poor decisions that led to the financial crisis. What do you think? Are his points valid?

A new charter school in New York may answer the question- what would happen if you paid teachers really well? Would you attract top talent and would that improve school performance?

From The New York Times–

The school, called the Equity Project, is premised on the theory that excellent teachers — and not revolutionary technology, talented principals or small class size — are the critical ingredient for success. Experts hope it could offer a window into some of the most pressing and elusive questions in education: Is a collection of superb teachers enough to make a great school? Are six-figure salaries the way to get them? And just what makes a teacher great?

The talent question may have already been answered. The school had their pick of 600 applicants including a former personal trainer of Kobe Bryant and graduates from top US colleges. The school’s founder, Zeke M. Vanderhoek, interviewed 100 applicants to build a teaching dream team for the school that is set to open in New York’s Washington Heights area.

It will be interesting to see what happens.

See the full New York Times article.