[Tasl] Info & Resources for President Obama Address to Students on 9/8

[Bruce Hester]

As most all of you know on September 8, 2009, at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time
(ET), President Barack Obama will deliver a national address to the students
of America. Many of you are already talking about it here. So here is some
more info for you about the speech and some activities you can find online
to support you in the classroom to make these 15-20 minutes teachable.

The U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) is encouraging students of all
ages, teachers, and administrators to participate in this historic moment by
watching the President deliver the address, which will be broadcast live on
the White House Web site (http://www.whitehouse.gov/live/
<https://mail.ena.com/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=">http://iste-listserver.ist
e.org/t/278104/214941/1674/0/>
<http://iste-listserver.iste.org/t/278104/214941/1674/0/>  ) and on C-SPAN
at 12:00 p.m. ET. During this special address, the President will speak
directly to the nation¹s children and youth about persisting and succeeding
in school. The President will challenge students to work hard, set
educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning.

To learn more about this event please visit the Department of Education¹s
website, http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/academic/bts.html
<http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/academic/bts.html> .
 
The president is scheduled to speak for 15 to 20 minutes. The USDOE is
providing classroom activities and resources for educators who may choose to
use the President¹s address as a teachable moment. Grade-appropriate
activities can be found at:
* Classroom Activities Pre-K­6
<http://iste-listserver.iste.org/t/278104/214941/1678/0/>
* Classroom Activities 7­12
<http://iste-listserver.iste.org/t/278104/214941/1679/0/>
 
In addition to the national address, the USDOE is launching a video contest
called ³I Am What I Learn.² The contest is designed to further encourage
student engagement by asking students to respond to the President¹s
challenge by creating videos, up to two minutes in length, describing the
steps they will take to improve their education and the role education will
play in fulfilling their dreams. All students age 13 and older can create
and upload their videos to YouTube by October 8. The general public will
then vote on their favorites to determine the top 20 finalists. These 20
videos will be reviewed by a panel of judges including U.S. Secretary of
Education Arne Duncan. The panel will choose three winners, each of whom
will receive a $1,000 cash prize. You can visit www.ed.gov/iamwhatilearn
<https://mail.ena.com/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=">http://iste-listserver.ist
e.org/t/278104/214941/1675/0/>
<http://iste-listserver.iste.org/t/278104/214941/1675/0/>   to learn more
about this challenge.

ENA will be increasing your bandwidth capacity to allow for greater
participation in Tuesday¹s activities. Many Tennessee districts have
expressed interest in various types of student involvement and this
additional capacity will allow schools to fully participate in the rich
media surrounding the President¹s address to students. ENA is supporting our
Tennessee schools by having a similar contest locally. If you participate in
the national ³I Am What I Learn² video contest and also submit your videos
to ENA, your school will be eligible to receive one of five $250 cash
prizes. Winners will be selected through an external panel of judges. Visit
the ENA website at www.ena.com <http://www.ena.com/>  for more details.
Please let us know if you have any questions and we¹ll be joining you, your
students, and President Obama on Tuesday in this back-to-school focus on
learning and achievement!

-- 
Bruce Hester, President
Tennessee Association of School Librarians

1724 Valley Rd.
Clarksville, TN 37043
931-551-8009 home
931-237-2490 cell
hesterb at charter.net

Library Media Information Specialist
Northeast Middle School
3703 Trenton Rd.
Clarksville, TN 37040
931-648-5665 x1111    Fax 931-503-3410
bruce.hester at cmcss.net

You see, I don't believe that libraries should be drab places
where people sit in silence, and that's been the main reason
for our policy of employing wild animals as librarians.
— Monty Python skit