1 Tip Every Student Needs Before Middle School, According to a Fifth Grade Teacher: www.today.com/parents/family/fifth-grade-teacher-shares-1-tip-guarantees-success-rcna212085
​This is such great advice and given in such a clear way that I wanted to share it here.  It is something most people, no matter their age, would benefit from hearing but it is especially appropriate for students going into middle school.  

2025 Summer Reading Programs: Kids Earn Free Books, Pizza, and More! 
"Get kids into summer reading with summer reading programs that keep them motivated to read while earning prizes along the way. Here’s our list of the best 2025 summer reading programs and challenges for kids."
There are many free reading programs that are sponsored by different companies.  Thei is a list of some of them.  

Summer literacy Challenge! by Reading Rockets
"For most parents, it’s a challenge to keep kids reading and writing all summer. Suddenly 10 weeks of summer can feel like a very long time! We’ve got a summer literacy challenge for you and your child. It’s modest enough to be manageable — pick just one thing a week to kick start your week’s literacy adventures. But it’s also challenging enough to include a wide range of literacy fun for the whole family."
Reading Rockets is one of my favorite educational sites and this list of 10 literacy activities are one of the reasons why.  The activities are adaptable for each member of the family to accomplish, even the adults.  

Hummingbirds of the U.S. and Canada: 95627.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/95627/HummingbirdPoster-2022.pdf
There are 14 species of hummingbirds native to the U.S. and Canada on this free downloadable poster from the Cornell Lab Bird Academy.

Special education teachers offered $20,000 bonuses to move to Oklahoma: oklahomavoice.com/briefs/special-education-teachers-offered-20000-bonuses-to-move-to-oklahoma/
​"Special education teachers working in schools out of state could earn a $20,000 signing bonus if they accept a position in an Oklahoma public school.  A newly certified special education teacher could earn a signing bonus of $120,000 to enter the profession.  
Out-of-state hires could earn a $5,000 retention bonus in their second year teaching in Oklahoma.  Those who are newly certified would receive $25,000 in their second year." 

Digital Citizenship Week: www.commonsense.org/education/digital-citizenship-week
"Each October, Common Sense leads Digital Citizenship Week, an annual campaign to promote a healthy, balanced, and positive approach to media and tech use among young people."  
There are a week's worth of free lessons for elementary, middle school, and high school. 

Ms Rachel - Toddler Learning Videos: www.youtube.com/@msrachel
"Toddler Learning Videos and Baby Learning Videos with a real teacher, Ms Rachel! Ms Rachel uses techniques recommended by speech therapists and early childhood experts to help children learn important milestones and preschool skills! ... Ms Rachel also gets kids moving through fun nursery rhymes & kids songs videos! Her videos for toddlers are informed by research and are full of learning standards that will help preschoolers thrive! Ms Rachel loves teaching letters, numbers, colors, animal sounds and more! She also has learn to talk videos and incorporates sign language! Ms Rachel has a masters in music education from NYU and is almost finished a second masters in early childhood education. Parents and children can watch and learn together."

Summer Learning Tips to Go! Text Messaging Service: www.startwithabook.org/reading-tips-text-messages
​In English or Spanish, three messages per week, features hands-on activities to keep kids reading, creating, exploring, and learning all summer. Sample activities are shown.. 

Bird Cams: www.allaboutbirds.org/cams/
"A virtual window into the natural world of birds" from around the world through live-streaming nest cams. 
By CornellLab: All About Birds 

Free Classes from Google and Adobe That Certify Educators Have Basic AI Literacy: www.techlearning.com/news/free-classes-from-google-and-adobe-that-certify-educators-have-basic-ai-literacy
In Googles 2-hour course, "...participants learn about generative AI, which is a type of AI that creates new content, such as text, images, or other media. You’ll explore how to use generative AI tools to assist your teaching practice by saving time on everyday tasks, personalizing instruction to meet student needs, and enhancing lessons and activities in creative ways. Gemini and ChatGPT are examples of generative AI tools that are used with conversational prompts; in other words, you ask the AI tool for something, and it responds to your request."
In the 30-minute self-paced Adobe Express Lightning Learning course, "...participants learn about the many applications Adobe Express’ new generative AI features have for teaching and learning and explore creative and simple activities that support students throughout any project."