New: November, 2010

Is it really November already? Is Halloween actually over? Did I really eat that much candy? Yes, yes, yes.

Every month we write in our news, "We've been sooooo busy!" This month is no exception. As many of our new and old visitors know, we not only are now on Facebook, but Twitter as well. This is our main Student Handouts Twitter account. Try our free study games Twitter account if you (or your students) are interested in getting a single daily test-prep game.

So what have we been up to? We've been working to improve our teaching jobs pages. In the olden days, we had all of this information (on the 50 states and beyond) on a single page. This was easy for us, but was A LOT of information to scroll through. A few months ago, we created individual pages for each state. At the time, though, we never got beyond giving the basic links on each page. We've since started enriching these individual state web pages with more official links, as well as more detailed information. Hopefully this task will be completed by the end of the year (famous last words).

From user feedback, we have been thrilled to learn that numerous teachers have been using our games and tests with groups of students. Typically, the teacher takes her or his class to the school computer lab where the students locate this web site on the internet. Simultaneously, the students play a game or take a test. We are absolutely delighted that so many teachers are finding our interactive content so fun, easy, and practical to use! There is no joy quite like learning that your hours upon hours of hard work, thrown like seeds into the world, are taking root and nourishing others. Keep using the games and spreading the word! And, as always, if you have a suggest...for the love of cheese...send us an email! We check studenthandouts[AT]gmail.com at least a few times a week.

One visitor asked why we do not offer RSS feeds. Honestly, we first had to search Google to find out what on earth these are. It turns out that RSS feeds are alerts sent to visitors every time we update a web page or upload content. We spent about 1.2 seconds thinking about adding RSS feeds, and the answer was a resounding no. Why? This web site is absolutely enormous, and we are on our laptops constantly tweaking this and that. If we set up RSS feeds for you to receive, you might be driven mad enough to toss your own laptop or personal computer out of the window.

Instead, at least for the near future, we intend to keep you informed about the site like we always have...through this news article, as well as on our blogs, Twitter, and Facebook. If you are looking for something in particular, try the Google search box which is located at the bottom of nearly every page.

This Thanksgiving season, then, we are grateful for our loyal visitors, who keep growing in number. We are grateful for the fact that we have created useful course content that is accessible to all educators, regardless of type or location. We are grateful for whatever success we may be having in reaching our goal of helping to make the field of education a more equal playing field for all students. Thank you. We hope you enjoy your turkey (or tofurkey).