A happy belated New Years to all of you out there. Welcome to the first edition of TEAP-Online Newsletter of 2004! This newsletter not only contains information about the association, but also some useful links and files offered up by other members from throughout the state. I would like to start off by thanking those who provided materials for this newsletter, keep that info coming. Without further ado......

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Joanne Trombley in the PSEA Voice

I know, I know...the TEAP Conference is no game show, and you can't win a million dollars... but you can share what you do and how you do it with colleagues from our great state as well as states throughout the country (We had visitors from as far away as Texas at the 2003 conference!) The application is now available on the 2004 Conference page. It is the only information on the 2004 Conference page at this point that is posted for the upcoming conference! The 2003 information will remain available as a reference to the types of events that go on until the 2004 details become more concrete sometime in May/June 2004 for those of you need that type of information to get authorization to attend the conference.

Please, consider presenting at this years conference. You may also want to consider presenting at the 2004 Tech Fest, watch the website and future newsletters for information concerning how to get involved in this great forum for Technology Educators!

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Great Sites Online!

Below are links to some other great online resources that may be useful to you in your day to day classroom activities. If you have any suggestions to be added to this area of the newsletter each month, please forward them at your convenience...

• About.com Inventors & Inventions Website - http://inventors.about.com - This is a great website for anyone who wants to know about inventions from A to Z. It also houses a good amount of information on inventors as well.
   
• How Everyday Things Are Made - http://manufacturing.stanford.edu  - Stanford University has put together some online videos that present information a number of products and how they are made as well as information on a number of processes involved in manufacturing.
   
• NASA Facts: Space Spin-offs - http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/facts/HTML/FS-012-HQ.html - I know this was in last months newsletter, but it is one of my favorite links....I thought is warranted a second visit to the Great Sites list... It details a number of Space Spin-off that came from our space program, and it is by no means a complete list...

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Building Homes of Our Own

The National Association of Homebuilders has made a fun and simple home design software, and what's better you can get a free copy (at least a teacher copy). This software can definitely provide a valuable resource to you and your colleagues, especially those involved in physical (construction) technology. Since receiving this information I have checked out the website and read the article concerning the schools who have made use of the software. It appears to be built on roughly the same system that you would find in the popular gaming program "The SIMS", minus the arguing and otherworldly language speaking characters. Definitely worth checking out and the software website offers some great information that can aid in the lesson planning if you choose to use the software with your students.

• How Building Homes Brought Lessons to Life - January 1, 2004 Article from the TechLearning website
  • http://www.techlearning.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=17000194
• Building Homes of Our Own Website - This is the software website where you can read all about the actual software, and register to receive a copy of it for FREE!
  • http://www.homesofourown.org/