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As winter winds down, we're moving into a spring full of upgrades, news, and of course, Moby!

Thanks to everyone who visited us at our recent slew of March conferences. Moby made a surprise appearance at CUE in Palm Springs, and you can check out his exclusive interview here.

Moby's next stop On the Road: NSTA in Boston, MA, March 27-30! If you're headed to the national conference on science education, be sure to attend our hands-on conference workshop (RSVP details to come) and special in-booth presentations - all led by educators. There'll be great giveaways, and, of course, a photo-op with our star, Moby!

Interested in spreading the word about BrainPOP by sharing your experiences? Want to join the BrainPOP team On the Road? Let us know!

Our team here is always working around the clock to improve your BrainPOP viewing experience, and we're proud to share some recent upgrades with you.

As you may have noticed, BrainPOP's subject pages have a new look! They now include a larger main "screen," and allow you to scroll through the movie at your own pace. When you choose a particular category - Science or Social Studies, for instance - you'll no longer see the individual icons for all related movies. Instead, we've grouped the related movies into units that correspond to the ones you're teaching - Matter & Chemistry, for example, or World History. But don't fret - you can still see the complete list of movie icons within a given category by clicking on the clearly marked "See All" button that appears on the left side of your screen.

We'd love to hear your feedback on the updates we've made. If you've got comments, e-mail us here. (Note that comments or questions about anything else should still be submitted via our contact form.)

BrainPOP invites you to visit our special minisite dedicated to Women's History. Join Tim and Moby for an exploration of influential women, the barriers they faced, and the struggles they endured. Access to these timely movies is FREE for the month of March.

♦ March 22: On World Water Day, find out about our most precious natural resource, H20!

♦ March 25: Major League Baseball season starts today! Grab a hot dog and learn about the sport in our Baseball movie.

♦ March 31: Civil rights leader Cesar Chavez was born on this day. Find out about his life and contributions in our movie about him.

♦ Explore cubes, rectangular prisms, cylinders, and other three-dimensional shapes with our new movie on Solid Shapes. Invite pairs to take the easy and hard quizzes together.
♦ What are the phases of The Moon? Annie and Moby explore Earth's closest neighbor in this movie. Be sure to use the corresponding Lesson Ideas to reinforce key concepts.

♦ BrainPOP Jr. celebrates Women's History Month too! Watch the movie on Harriet Tubman, and learn about the life of this remarkable leader. ♦ How do Simple Machines make work easier? Learn about pulleys, ramps, levers, and more in this new movie.

from Nantucket Elementary School in Massachusetts. As the Instructional Technology Specialist, Janie coordinates what she teaches with all of the other classroom teachers; it's a consuming task, since there are over 30 teachers responsible for more than 650 students. To help, Janie uses e-mail to find out what topics teachers are working with in the classroom, and then plans out relevant computer lab activities using BrainPOP movies.

Know an educator who's doing great things with BrainPOP and making a difference for kids? We'd love to hear and share your suggestions!

teacher from Glencairn Elementary in East Lansing, Michigan, who uses BrainPOP as a regular supplement to his "science diet." After teacher-led lectures or lab activities, he uses BrainPOP to reinforce material; with the help of Tim and Moby, students get a second wind and rehearse important concepts again and again. After the movie, Rob turns the quiz questions into a game show. First, the class is divided into two random teams. One by one, he draws names from each team and invites kids to answer the quiz. This friendly competition raises the stakes and ensures that everyone is tuned in!

Flipcharts Standing By. If you're a Promethean whiteboard user, be sure to check out the Resource section on Promethean Planet. You'll find a selection of recently added flipcharts by educators who incorporate BrainPOP content, on topics including winter weather, the ocean food web, nouns, and more.

Button Up! Anne Spletzer, a teacher at Read-Pattillo Elementary School in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, shared a great idea with us. When she returned from FETC, her students went crazy for the "I Heart Moby" buttons she'd brought back. Anne decided to host a classroom drawing for the coveted items, then sent us a photo of the winning girls sporting their prizes. Anne writes, "Since our school lives and dies by BrainPOP, the buttons caused a huge buzz...the girls are so proud and are the envy of the entire school!" Check out the photo on the newsletter's sidebar.

Present at the Inaugural Innovative Learning Conference. CUE and FETC are co-producing this exciting new event, scheduled to take place from October 14-16 in San Jose, California. From now until April 1, they're accepting proposals for teacher presentations that spotlight successful classroom policies, creative teaching and learning solutions, research, and policies and products that show current or future promise for the educational environment. If you are interested in presenting on BrainPOP, its impact, and the other resources you use, contact us!

Call for Entries: 2008 Sylvia Charp Award for District Innovation in Technology. The Charp Award is presented annually by T.H.E. Journal and ISTE to recognize the best district-wide technology program in the country. Share the unique or inventive technology programs your district has implemented and you could win this year's award. The winning district will be honored at NECC 2008 in San Antonio, Texas; receive $2,000 for travel and registration expenses; and be recognized in both T.H.E. Journal and Learning and Leading with Technology. For more information or to submit your district for this distinguished award, go to: www.thejournal.com/charpaward. Want to incorporate and showcase your work with BrainPOP? We're here to help; just email us.

Interested in talking to us about BrainPOP launch events? Want to work with us to get your school in the news? Contact our Director of Communications, Traci Kampel.