Suggested to be sent January 9, 2014 to all staff:
Subject: Alert: New Jersey Educator Resource Exchange Launched
<Name of district> Educators,
We would like to invite you to be part of a group of educators who have the opportunity to participate in a new website designed by the New Jersey Department of Education in collaboration with Common Core Learning Engine. The website will provide free standards- aligned resources to New Jersey educators. Dubbed the “New Jersey Educator Resource Exchange,” this website will be made available to all educators in the state, free of charge.
New Jersey Educator Resource Exchange
The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) created new challenges and opportunities for NJ’s educators. The New Jersey Educator Resource Exchange provides over 2,000 resources, aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in both Math and ELA (including literacy in Science, Social Studies and CTE) as well as the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards (NJCCCS). Among others, these resources include lesson plans, videos, and assessment items tagged toeach standard(s) in each grade level.
The Educator Resource Exchange website will allow you to navigate these standards, search for and download instructional resources,create a library of resources for later use, and establish a "resource feed" that will notify you when new resources are added to the site. New Jersey educators will be able to rate each of these resources, allowing for you to quickly scan and find resources that others have found to be high-quality and useful in their classroom. Access to the website is free for all users and requires only a quick registration.
Perhaps more importantly, the site allows New Jersey educators to contribute resources to share best practices with your colleagues. Only educators can contribute, rate and share resources. You will be able to upload your own videos, lesson plans, and other resources tagged to the standards. This will allow the number of materials to grow exponentially throughout the year.
The NJ Educator Resource Exchange will provide a forum in which a dynamic professional learning community can benefit from the collective expertise of fellow educators and engage in a level of collaboration that is unprecedented for NJ educators. Register today and join this state-wide PLC.
Second Communication/Follow-up – Suggested to be sent January 15, 2014 to all staff
Subject: Educator Resource Exchange Toolkit
<Name of district> Educators,
We hope you have had time to visit the New Jersey Educator Resource Exchange and have found resources that are supporting your work in the classroom. If not, please go to and register to begin searching, collecting, contributing, and rating instructional, assessment and professional development resources.
You may also wish to view or show this video that displays the features of the site and provides a quick “how-to” -
If you would like to help grow the resource exchange here are a few suggestions for ways you can help:
1) Tweet about it –
“Visit the NJ Educator Resource Exchange @ NJcore.org it’s full of over 2,100 great resources and it’s free!”
And/or
“Help be a part of a new tool the NJ Educator Resource Exchange @ NJcore.org, register for free and start finding resources for your classroom immediately”
2) Start a conversation on Facebook or other social media outlet about the NJ Exchange:
“I just visited the NJ Educator Resource Exchange @ browsed for resources on the standards map and found materials for my classroom. What do you think of this tool? What is one resource you have used and been successful with?
3)The single biggest way you can support is to contribute your own high-quality instructional, assessment and professional development resources like lesson plans, unit tests, powerpoint slides, etc to the resource pool for your colleagues to use with their students.
Please send your own feedback and the feedback of your colleagues along with any questions you might have to r the contact form on the website:
There are contests coming for individuals who are registered and upload resources, look for those shortly. Good luck and happy resource hunting.
Third Communication/Follow-up – Suggested to be sent January 22, 2014 to all staff
Subject: Win a 2GB Flash Drive! NJ Educator Exchange Contest
<Name of district> Educators,
The NJ Educator Resource Exchange has launched a contest that will help grow the instructional, assessment, and professional development resources available on the site. The first 50 educators who submit 10 or more of their high quality resources will receive a free 2GB flash drive to store resources (or any files you choose)!
Please visit to participate. Happy resource hunting!