thinktanK12 Blog

Download xGerms Counting for iPhone and iPad FREE For a Limited Time Only!

Scott Holm — Thu, 31 May 2012 02:35:01 +0000

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Our mobile app development team is running a generous sale on the xGerms Counting game for iOS. Normally a paid app, xGerms Counting is now FREE for the next few days only.

Congratulations to the K12 Distinguished Leadership in Education Award Winner

shoaglund — Tue, 29 May 2012 17:34:21 +0000

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Earlier this month, we held our K¹² Distinguished Leadership in Education Awards Ceremony to honor and celebrate the finalists and national winner of the K¹²Distinguished Leadership Award in honor of Lori Funk.

Lori was the founding Academic Administrator for Georgia Cyber Academy and oversaw all curriculum and instruction at GCA. She had a real passion for helping students and teachers achieve their potential. Thanks to her leadership and contributions, the school has grown to be one of the largest and most successful online schools in the country.

Sadly, a sudden and rare illness claimed Lori's life on August 27, 2010.

Her passing touched many throughout the K¹² community. As a way to honor and celebrate her many contributions, the K¹²Distinguished Leadership Award in honor of Lori Funk was created.

K12 Mobile Applications

shoaglund — Fri, 25 May 2012 15:31:54 +0000

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Memorial Day weekend is here! For some, it means heading out on a long road trip! If you are looking for ideas to keep the kids busy, why not check out our mobile apps?

We offer Read Aloud Classic stories, counting games, and Math samplers to name a few. We are hard at work creating more mobile apps, so please take the time to rate our current apps and share any ideas!

K¹² Mobile Applications

A Neurologist’s Advice for Dealing with Burnout

Ashley MacQuarrie — Thu, 24 May 2012 14:43:51 +0000

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Edutopia recently published a post from a neurologist with tips for dealing with feeling burnt out. While these tips were written with the traditional classroom teacher in mind, I think they would be equally helpful for anyone who is working to educate young people – homeschoolers and Learning Coaches are just as susceptible to feeling burnt out, especially as we approach the end of the school year.

Dr. Judy Willis uses a video game model of setting small achievable goals to effectively rewire the burnt out brain, from feeling defeated to “ignited.” Dr. Willis goes into great detail about the neurochemical reactions that occur in your brain, and how you can control them and actually rewire your brain through your actions. It’s a fascinating post, and I’d encourage you to read the whole thing – but for those in a hurry, here is my abridged version of her advice and explanations.

Operation Lemonade 2012 -- Sign Up Today!

shoaglund — Tue, 22 May 2012 17:06:22 +0000

Read more about Operation Lemonade 2012 -- Sign Up Today!

5 years ago, a small group of us participated in a youth leadership camp created to help connect online education students and help them learn about and develop leadership and teamwork skills. During that camp, we met Liz and Jay Scott and learned the story of their amazing daugther, Alex. Diagnosed with cancer before turning one, Alex showed signs of her drive, determination and tenacity early. While going through treatment at the age of four, she told her parents that "when I get out of the hospital I want to have a lemonade stand." She said she wanted to give the money to doctors to allow them to "help other kids, like they helped me." True to her word, she held her first lemonade stand later that year with the help of her older brother and raised an amazing $2,000 for "her hospital."

While bravely battling her own cancer, Alex and her family held yearly lemonade stands in her front yard to benefit childhood cancer research and to help other kids battling cancer.

Sadly. in August of 2004, Alex passed away at the age of 8, having played a huge part in raising more than $1 million to help find a cure for the disease that took her life. Alex's family created Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation to continue to inspire and help in the fight against childhood cancer.

We were so touched and inspired by her story that we began our own K¹² Operation Lemonade, held each June. Operation Lemonde is a wonderful opportunity for families around the world to do their part in helping the fight against childhood cancer. By joining Operation Lemonade and hosting a lemonade stand in June, you’ll can help raise funds to help fight childhood cancer and honor the memory of Alex Scott and other young children who have battled cancer.

The Benefits of Summer Learning

shoaglund — Mon, 21 May 2012 16:58:37 +0000

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Did you know that according to the National Summer Learning Association "two-thirds of the ninth grade achievement gap can be explained by unequal access to summer learning opportunities during the elementary school years?"

Ensuring that our children are engaged and continue to learn during their summer break is more than just a good idea, it's vital to their future educational success. Research has shown a quantifiable loss of learning if students are not regularly engaged and learning over the summer.

Summer school can be an option for students looking to catch up or get ahead on their studies or learn something new, like a foreign language.

A recent report by Bristol University found that attending summer school can help students get into top universities.

Suggestions For Getting Your Sons and Daughters Reading

kkinney — Thu, 17 May 2012 16:55:43 +0000

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“If you can’t play sports or video games or hang out with your friends or watch TV, I guess it’s okay.” A preteen boy, asked what he thinks about reading.

We all know kids spend more and more time in front of the television, video game console, computer, or smart phone instead of picking up a book. Several recent articles, blog posts, and research findings indicate that boys are reading less and less and it’s showing in lower and lower test scores. For almost 20 years now, boys have been underperforming girls on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (The Nation’s Report Card).

Rather than a few more scary statistics or some dismal data, how some suggestions for getting your sons (and daughters!) up and reading this summer?

May is National Military Appreciation Month

Brittany Collins — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:56:01 +0000

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We recognize May as National Military Appreciation Month, time to extend heartfelt thanks, strengthen our patriotism, increase awareness and whole heartedly support our troops and vets, including the many who have died in pursuit of freedom and peace.

Military Appreciation Month includes Loyalty Day (1st), Military Spouse Appreciation Day (11th), VE Day (8th), Armed Forces Day (19th), and Memorial Day (30th).

Through deployments, frequent moves and new cultural experiences, there is no doubt that military families face many challenges. These challenges can be looked at as opportunities though, and a lot of value can be found in the richness and diversity it brings to our perspectives, particularly military children.

Video: How Online Education Can Help With Student Literacy

shoaglund — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:28:06 +0000

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Matt Arkin, head of schools at Georgia Cyber Academy, sat down with the Good Day show on WFXL Fox 31 News in Albany, to explain how online learning works, how it can be an excellent alternative to traditional brick and mortar schools and highlights how the K¹²curriculum supports and enhances student literacy.

Preparing Kids for the Future: More Resources for Encouraging Kids to Make Things!

Ashley MacQuarrie — Mon, 14 May 2012 15:03:01 +0000

Read more about Preparing Kids for the Future: More Resources for Encouraging Kids to Make Things!

Not long ago, I wrote a post, at the request of a reader, about encouraging kids to craft, create and “actually make things.” A few weeks later, the “maker movement” went viral when Caine’s Arcade, a short film about an enterprising nine year old’s cardboard creations, hit the web. The film introduces us to young Caine Monroy who, armed with cardboard boxes and lots of packing tape, built an elaborate arcade in his father’s auto parts shop. The film has since gotten a lot of attention, from media outlets, as well as educators who are promoting the idea that informal learning, creating, and making things with their own hands is just as important as the formal education kids get in schools.

The creativity and real-world skills children gain from this sort of unstructured productive play is invaluable, and may serve them well in their future careers; jobs which almost certainly will require technical skills, as well as workers who are inventive, adaptable, and creative.