What is TEN?
The Teaching Excellence Network (TEN) is a free professional community for teachers created by the Golden Apple Foundation. Learn more here.
Who can join TEN?
TEN is open to all current, former, and prospective pre-K - 12 classroom teachers. We are open to teachers from public, private and parochial schools, regardless of how long they've been teaching or what subjects they teach. We have a special focus on Illinois, but teachers from other states and countries are welcome to join.
We warmly invite non-teachers to join our community, but only teachers will be able to post in the discussions.
Is TEN free?
Yes! At some point in the future, there may be special subscription-only features, but the communities will always be free and open to all teachers.
How do I join TEN?
Registering is easy! Just fill out the registration form. Once you submit it, you'll receive an email confirming your application; follow the directions in the email and you're done!
What can I do on TEN?
• Participate in ongoing professional conversations in our community, or start new conversations.
• Share and discuss great teaching resources such as books, websites, conferences, and grants.
• Follow education news, opinions, events, and trends with our blog.
Members are encouraged to comment on the blog and participate in the community as much or as little as they like; to become a member, register here.
Note: non-teachers will have a limited membership that will allow them to read, but not participate, in community conversations.
Why Register?
Only registered members can comment on blog posts and participate in the community by posting or responding to discussion threads. Registered members will also have access to special offers, discounts and resources.
How do I update my member profile?
You can change your profile and any other preferences at any time; just click on Your Account at the top-right corner of the page, under Sign In or Sign Up. Make whatever changes you like, then click Update.
What do I do if I forget my username or password?
If you forget your username or password, click here and enter your email address. Your username and password will be sent you.
Can I see who else is a member?
Yes, but only if you're a member and you're logged in. The link to the list will appear in the top right once you're logged in. The list is invisible to unregistered guests.
What's a blog?
Generally speaking, a weblog or blog is a website that consists of a series of entries arranged in reverse chronological order, often updated frequently with new information about particular topics. The information can be written by the site owner, gleaned from other Web sites or other sources, or contributed by users. A full history of blogs is available here.
The TEN blog focuses on education news and views in Illinois and nationally, as well as news about Golden Apple and TEN projects, events and opportunities. It is primarily written by TEN director Sarah Lieberman Weisz. Have an idea for a TEN blog post, or want to guest-write a post? Contact Sarah at weisz@goldenapple.org
What is the Community, and how is it different from the blog?
TEN's Community section is a place for members to participate in thoughtful conversations on topics ranging from classroom practice to educational activism to the essence of what it means to be a teacher. In addition, community members can recommend and review the very best in education resources, including books, websites, conferences, and grant opportunities.
Community operates as an open forum — any member may post a topic, and any member may comment on that topic. This differs from the Blog, where members can leave comments but not post.
Where should I go for help with the Community section?
There is a forum within the Community section dedicated to answering questions about how to use its features; please post a question there and we'll do our best to help you.
What's an RSS feed?
RSS stands for "really simple syndication." It's a file format that allows you to monitor when a site has been updated using a "feed reader" or aggregator (Wikipedia has a list here.) The reader checks the user's subscribed feeds regularly for new content, downloading any updates that it finds.
If you have a feed reader, you can subscribe to our RSS feeds by entering the feed's link into the reader or by clicking the RSS icons on the site, which look like this:
Wondering how you can use RSS? Want some help getting started? Try this great PDF guide to RSS for educators.
I'm looking for something. How do I find it?
Use the Advanced Search to find what you're looking for. If you know that what you're looking for appeared in a Community discussion, you can alternately use the search feature for that section alone; it's available at the top of the page in Community.
The text is small -- how do I make it bigger?
The text is too big -- how do I make it smaller?
If you have a Mac, press Command + to make the text bigger and Command - to make it smaller.
If you have a PC, press Control + to make the text bigger and Control - to make it smaller.
The website is too big for my screen -- how do I make it fit?
TEN was designed at 940 pixels wide, and is best viewed on a screen set at 1024x768 pixel resolution. If the site is too wide for your browser, it's possible your screen is set at 800x600 pixel resolution or lower. To change your screen resolution on a PC running Windows, go to Display control panel (on a Macintosh, go to the Displays system preference panel) and change the resolution to 1024x768 or the closest equivalent.
Who is in charge of TEN?
TEN is managed by Director Sarah Lieberman Weisz. Sarah is a former Chicago middle school teacher and service-learning program director.
TEN is a project of the Golden Apple Foundation which advances the teaching profession by:
To learn more about Golden Apple, visit our website, www.goldenapple.org
How do I get in touch with TEN?
Contact TEN here, or simply email TEN Director Sarah Lieberman Weisz at weisz@goldenapple.org.
