I hope you’re all enjoying your summer vacation. Maybe you’ve got some plans for the Independence Day weekend. Then again, with gas prices shooting into the stratosphere, maybe you don’t.

In these days of pricey petrol, you’ve got to get a little creative to save money on gas. That’s why you should head over to SmartPlanet and read their post, Top 10 eco driving tips to beat fuel rises. These tips include common sense (car pooling), hypermiling (get into second and fourth gear quickly), and some tips that are actually more convenient than conventional wisdom (at high speeds, crank the A/C and keep those windows rolled up to reduce drag).

The list is packed with useful advice and charming Britishisms like motorway, lift, and complaints about how “unleaded’s now 112.6 pence per litre,” whatever that means. So don’t let high fuel prices keep you cooped up this holiday. Read this advice and hit the road! -BILL FERRIS

Top 10 eco driving tips to beat fuel rises via SmartPlanet

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35 Scholarships Anyone Can Get - CollegeDegree.com has put this list of scholarships together that just about anyone is eligible for. The list includes scholarships in various amounts, as well as essay writing contests and some unorthodox contests like the Duct Tape Stuck at Prom Scholarship.

50 Things from Ben Jones - Ben Jones blogs for the M.I. T. admissions department. This letter, addressed to the incoming freshman, is a quick and dirty “here are the things I wish I’d known” list, with such advice as: All nighters are highly overrated. You said it, Ben.

101 Tips to Help You Make Money Doing What You Love - If you love teaching, don’t ever stop. But if your students have no idea what to do with their lives, then point them towards continuing to do the things they love. These tips from InspiredMoneyMaker.com should do the trick.

No Takebacks! Five Playground Rules to Live By - When the kids are at recess, you might do yourself some good by paying attention to what they’re yelling at one another. As it turns out, those tried and true rules like: No cutting and No do-overs might be more applicable to your adult life than you thought. From Dumb Little Man. - JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

(photo by: HeavyWeightGeek on Flickr)

50 Things Everyone Should Know How To Do - Do you know how to build a fire? How about CPR, do you know it? Or give directions? All of these things are essential life skills that you should know if you don’t already. This list from Marc and Angel covers everything from swimming to changing a tire in order for you to be more self-reliant.

6 Things Money Cannot Help You Achieve - Even Bill Gates and Steve Jobs still have to deal with the same time that you and I do, even if they could buy and sell you and me in a heartbeat. Surely there are other things than the ones presented on this list by Dumb Little Man, but these 6 make good sense. Money can’t buy you self-esteem, unfortunately, nor will it buy happiness.

52 Character Building Thoughts for Children - These might not be great tips for your older students, but the elementary crowd could really benefit from them. Leah Davies, M. Ed. brings us these great quotes on KellyBear.com. There are some real gems here, like this: When I am sad, I help myself feel better by thinking of things that are good in my life.

9 Ways to Save At The Movies - I know this isn’t completely related to teaching, but since school is out for most of us, we might have some more free time on our hands. Unfortunately, free time allows you to spend more money. If you plan to see any of the awesome, or not awesome movies this summer, here are some ways you can save from The Consumerist. My favorite on the list: Be careful with the concessions. -JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

(photo by Jo Jakeman on Flickr)

12 Superfoods You Need to be Eating - If there’s anyone who loves to eat, it’s me. Unfortunately, I don’t always pay too much attention to what I am putting in my body. Lucky for me, and everyone else out there who trying to get beach ready, StartCooking.com offers this list of some of the foods you might already be eating, and some that you should start. Thankfully on the list: peanut butter. Nom.

60 Selected Best Famous Quotes - “You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.”—Wayne Gretzky. For this and other gems of wisdom, point your browser over to Litemind to discover some highly thought provoking quotes just in time for dinner party season. Or, I guess you can dole some out in your classroom to help you students realize how well-read you are. I’m thinking this is where I’ll go when I need something to open my first novel.

100 Must-Read Books: The Essential Man’s Library - I never thought I would include a blog called The Art of Manliness on a education blog, but here I am. This list isn’t exclusively for men, of course, but it does offer some great reads for those of us who don’t fancy Little Women. Maybe this list can inspire some of your guy students to want to read this summer. Not surprisingly included on the list, A Catcher in the Rye.

15 Ways to Teach Kids About Money - Most of us are pinching pennies right now, but that doesn’t mean our youngsters know what the words “recession,” “inflation,” or “insufficient funds” mean. Right now might be the best time to teach them though, according to this list from Family Education:

Help children learn the differences between needs, wants, and wishes. This will prepare them for making good spending decisions in the future.

Those are words we can probably all benefit from. - JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

How to Save Money on Gas - 29 Tips – I now own a car for the first time in ages. In fact, the last time I had to fill up a tank it barely cost me a nickel. And back then there were only 14 cars, period. Okay, so that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but gas is seriously expensive right now. Here’s a great list from OpenTravelInfo.com, where they explore some easy and great ways to cut down on the amount of nickels you pour down your tank.

18 Five-Minute Decluttering Tips to Start Conquering Your Mess – Let me guess, you “know where everything is,” right? Even so, it doesn’t make your work any easier. Who wants to come home from a cluttered desk to a cluttered desk? Zen Habits presents these 18 tips on where to begin.

8 Ways to be Ruthless With Your Time – Who knew that actually planning your day would save you time? Not me, I guess. Thanks to Lifehack, now I know that scheduling things before I do them can help me save some minutes. Read more about it and seven other tips here.

29 Healthiest Foods on the Planet – If Superman was a real dude, I imagine his menu might look a little something like this. This list via BellyBites.com boasts such delicious and nutritious foods such as Apricots, Bok Choy and Crab. (Not a suggested combination of ingredients, however.) –JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

Photo credit: incurable_hippie on flickr.

11 Odd but Simple Ways to Improve Your Health
There’s nothing like a good nasal rinse. Or how about a fast to detoxify your body? These offbeat health tips can keep your body running smoothly. After all the stress you put it through every day in class, you at least owe yourself a skin brushing.

1001 Books You Have to Read Before You Die
Need a good book to read? Check out this exhaustive (and exhausting) list of great books. You’ll find everything from Oscar Wilde to Douglas Adams, plus lots, lots, lots more. If you want to read all 1001 of these before you croak, you’d best get started soon.

George Orwell: 6 Questions/6 Rules
The author of 1984 and Animal Farm presents these rules for writers to live by. My favorite: “Never use a long word where a short one will do.” What a stupdendous idea!

16 Things I Wish They Had Taught Me in School

A lot of life skills don’t fall within the scope of science, math or English class. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to squeeze in some valuable real-world lessons into your teaching, though. The Positivity Blog presents this list of lessons the author had to learn the hard way. By imparting concepts like the 80/20 Rule (we get 80% of the value we receive from only 20% of the things we do) and the value of making mistakes to your students, you can help them be productive members of society.

How to Ace Your Job Interview: 88 Surefire Tips and Tricks
Your students are about to head out into the world, and that means they’re going to need to get a job soon. Make sure you pass along these tips from the Online Education Database about how to secure employment. The list addresses everything from cover letters to grooming. A lot of it seems like common knowledge, but you know people don’t make lists like these unless there were a bunch of clueless applicants out there. These tactics will give your students an advantage over the competition, and they might even come in handy for your own future job search.

Photo credit: lagiuspo on flickr.

Have you filed your taxes yet? Are you putting them off because you’re afraid of what you might owe? It turns out that, as a teacher, you may have a few more deductions you can take advantage of.

Bankrate.com offers up A tax-deduction apple for teachers: you can deduct up to $250 that you used to buy supplies for your class in 2007. Best of all, you don’t even have to itemize them (you do have to itemize if you want to claim more than $250, though, so don’t throw out those receipts yet). The deduction applies not only to teachers, but also counselors, principals and aides employed at a state-approved school, either public or private.

Though reading about doing one’s taxes is, ahem, riveting, the folks at Bankrate can explain the particulars better than I. The important thing to remember is that you might get back a few of the dollars you spent on construction paper and googley eyes for your bulletin board. -BILL FERRIS

A tax-deduction apple for teachers

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Photo credit: Shira Golding on flickr

Online tools have greatly increased social and political awareness. Friends can now readily share news, petitions, photographs, meeting information, corporate investment information, and much more with one another.

Scyrve enables those interested in conservation to check out companies’ environmental consciousness via a searchable interface for company profiles that are broken into two areas, Environment and Community. Each area then explains an organization’s environmental ideals in its industry. Each area includes the most important positive and negative aspects of their policies and records. Environmental questions include the extent to which that company recycles, and whether office supplies from are sustainable sources. Community questions such as if employees receive a living wage and health insurance help determine ratings.

A particularly nice feature of Scryve is their downloadable tool lets you know the environmental ratings of companies in real time, displayed discreetly on your desktop. So next time you’re thinking of buying that oil tanker online, check out Shell Oil’s environmental track record, see if they’re worth your support.

Scryve lets you put your green behind companies that take green initiatives seriously! -DAVID BARGER

Scyrve

Educators (that’s you!) can get 25% off books, music, movies, and whatever else you can find at Borders until April 8. If you’re a current or retired teacher, bring a proof of your educator status to your nearest Borders and save some cash. By the way, your purchases can be for classroom or personal use, so you won’t have to scheme ways to use your new LOST Season 3 DVDs for a lesson plan.

Also, on Friday, April 4, there will be receptions replete with food and prizes. If you’ve got any books you’ve been wanting to buy, now’s the time to do it. -BILL FERRIS

Borders Educator Savings

Borders teachers’ week starts today via the News & Observer

Right now, your high school seniors are probably stressing out about the difference between the cost of college and the amount of scholarship money they received. If you’re a guidance counselor or a teacher who doesn’t want your students to have to decide between buying books or food, show them these financial aid options, courtesy of studenthacks.org. They’ll find information about Pell Grants, Stafford Loans, plus lesser-known options like Plus Loans, as well as Social Security for students unlucky enough to have a deceased parent.

This list is a good resource for students scrambling to fund their education. Juniors can also use it as a primer for all the financial aid rigmarole they’ll have to go through next year. By exploring financial aid options, your students will have the money they need for school, and the peace of mind of not worrying how they’ll pay for their next meal. -BILL FERRIS

How to Find More Cash for School – 9 Financial Aid Options via studenthacks.org

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I’ve been waiting my whole life for this: USA Today says it’s now cool to be a cheapskate.

Simplicity is apparently the new black. Folks are cutting back on simple luxuries like dining out, and are getting rid of stuff they no longer use via Goodwill, Freecycle or Zwaggle.

What does this mean for teachers? You’re already familiar with pinching pennies and making do with what you have. Hey, on the new less-is-more coolness scale, you’re Miles Davis. But as trend-setters it’s always a good idea to try and push the envelope. That could mean anything from clearing out obsolete test from your files to organizing your storage closet to using fewer pens by keeping better track of the ones you have.

This philosophy can apply to life outside the classroom, too. Everybody has creature comforts they say they can’t do without. Some folks go to Starbucks every day for a mocha frappa something. For others it’s clothes. Me, I required four cans of Coke Zero every day (yeah, I’m a junkie). But do we really need that stuff? I’ve switched to buying whatever soda is on sale, or chugging 2-liter bottles of generic stuff like a 17-year-old. I’m sure some brave souls have abandoned Starbucks for whatever’s brewing in the teachers lounge.

There are many ways we can cut out excesses in our lives, whether through adjusting our spending habits to eliminating unnecessary junk. Striving for simplicity can lead to fatter wallets and a calmer lifestyle–not to mention that it now makes you the coolest kids on the block. -BILL FERRIS

What’s your reaction to the article? What do you do to simplify your life? Let us know in the comments!

USA Today: Simple living ‘trendy’ via Unclutterer

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If you want kids to learn to manage their money, perhaps you should give them a little financial incentive. That’s what the National Foundation for Credit Counseling is doing. They’re sponsoring a poster contest based on the theme, “Financial Responsibility Begins with Me.” The winner gets a $500 U.S. savings bond, plus a free trip to Washington, D.C.

The contest has three divisions - elementary, middle and high schools - so your third graders won’t be up against a senior graphic designer. It’s good fun, plus a great excuse to integrate lessons on economics, finances and budgeting.

The deadline is in early March, so they’d best get started. And if one of your students wins, just remember where you heard about the contest. -BILL FERRIS

Be Money Wise National Poster Contest

Financial responsibility? What is that, exactly? via From Fay to Z

Welcome to your romantic and eerily educentric Valentine’s Day date. But will it end in love, tears, or possibly food poisoning from an undercooked Valentine’s dinner? These kind educators were gracious enough to share their Valentine’s Day experiences:

Dinner and a Movie: Benjamin Baxter at On the Tenure Track invites you to a live recreation of Saving Private Ryan in his own classroom.

Dining by Candlelight: Larry Ferlazzo at In Practice and Eric at Teachers Call say teachers should include more modern means of illuminating young minds.

Set the Mood with Music: Alvaro at SharpBrains says musical training stimulates the brain. Meanwhile, Creating Lifelong Learners tells you how to make the most of your iPod in class.

Send a Valentine’s Card: Ms. Cornelius says principals who care, trust and lead by example are sooo her type.

Like Romeo and Juliet, Minus the Suicide: The Bard Blog knows there’s no better way to woo someone than with poetry. Learn how to read Shakespearean verse like a true Romeo.

Even More Poetry: Eduwonkette has the same idea. Send your Valentine a funny poem.

On a Budget: American Consumer News has tips on how to get great books for cheap. Speaking of books, Money Blue Book talks about a few things you didn’t know your library could do.

On a Budget, Part II: Uncle Joe’s Leadership Blog tells parents and students how to get a free college education. And Thursday Bram at Wise Bread tells students where to shop when they have to start buying their own textbooks.

Propagating the Species: GrrlScientist at Living the Scientific Life has the skinny on a guide to teaching evolutionary theory.

Lovers’ Quarrel: Mr. Walker, The English Teacher, prompts a heated discussion on tracking.

Kiss and Make Up: Resolve conflicts with colleagues by employing these strategies, courtesy of Pat at Successful Teaching.

Share a Few Laughs: Scenes from The Battleground pokes fun at the idea of blaming the victim in education.

Spend Some Time with Your Kids: TutorFi’s Colleen Palat asks, “Does My Child Need a Tutor?“If so, not to worry. The kid can still excel in school.

Find a Special Someone where you Least Expect It: Joanne Jacobs dishes on Principal Shimon Waronker, a Hasidic Jew, ignoring potential culture shock to turn around a prominently black and Hispanic school.

Watch the Sunrise: Circle Time “Lead From The Start” discusses teaching with both sides of the brain to usher in a new tomorrow in student learning.

Remembering the Way We Were: The Tempered Radical’s Bill Ferriter asked beginning teachers to remind older colleagues they’re still learning how to do this job.

Stand by Your Man (or Woman): Nancy Flanagan, a Teacher in a Strange Land, sticks up for teachers in the face of claims that the professions isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Get Some Alone Time: Dana at Principled Discovery doesn’t like the idea of the federal government butting in and bossing around local schools.

Remembering it’s the Thought that Counts: Like many parents reared on New Math, NYC Educator struggles to help his daughter at math. But he’s a dear for trying.

Fending off Suitors: Ms_Teacher isn’t interested in ETS’ insultingly low wages.

Dumped: To MasterPapers.com and CustomEssays.co.uk - We both knew this was coming. Selling essays to students is just wrong, wrong, wrong. And your advice on essay writing is pure fluff. I don’t think we should see each other anymore.

Photo Credit: Candy hearts at cryptogram.com.

Beyond Wikipedia: 20 References You Can’t Do Without - Wikipedia is always a great place to get started on researching a subject, but you can never fully rely on just the information found there. Daily Revolver presents this list of general and subject specific sites and resources to aid you and your students in research.

6 Great Money Saving Tips for Students on a Budget - We all love money, despite its evil nature. Unfortunately for many young adults, the stereotype of being a “starving student” might be all too real. TextLister.com brings us this quick list of tips to cut down on spending superfluously - something we all could probably benefit from.

25 Articles Every Student Should Read - If you are into “hacking” (and I don’t mean enjoying your winter cough) you will probably know most of these ideas already, but check out this list anyway. The article, via StudyHacks, helps those of us who might be looking to tap into that unused part of our brain that helps us, um, think better or something.

Top 10 Web Tools for College Students - OK, so maybe these are directed at college students, but most of the tools here can be used by students of any age. My favorite is Cramster - surprisingly, a homework help forum, not a crocodile/hamster hybrid. Oh well. Thanks Campus Squeeze.

50 Ways To Boost Your Brain Power - So, many of the tips on this list are great, but others are just common sense. Out of the 50, there are quite a few that will help you and your gray matter - choose wisely and avoid the contradictions though. “Drink Red Wine” or “Cut Alcohol Consumption” - you decide. From 4Mind4Life.com. - JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

Photo credit: JCKham on flickr

As your students start to get college acceptance letters, they’re probably trying to figure out how they’re going to pay for the next four years of school. If your students are stressing about an expensive education, have them check out Campus Grotto’s advice on how to avoid a lifetime of crushing education debt.

The article focuses on the various types of student loans, and what to watch out for. Campus Grotto advises using federal loans before turning to privatized lenders. Federal loans have more borrower protection, and are easier to get for families who don’t have perfect credit.

No matter how they pay for it, your kids’ college education will cost them a big chunk of money. Make sure they read up on the subject so they can make informed decisions. -BILL FERRIS

Student Debt in America via Campus Grotto