If you have any local school contacts — from teacher to superintendent — will you help me pass the word?

All public schools and school districts in the United States have to assess the technology skills of all of their students by the 8th grade — new federal mandate.

My company, InfoSource Learning, is providing a free, no-strings attached way to do that.  It’s for unlimited students and unlimited schools and there’s not a dime’s cost to the school or district.

We do all of the hosting, provide free student tracking and reporting… the whole shebang!

No catch.  No cost.

Check this out and let others know, please:  SimpleAssessment.com.

Last year we had over a million kids register for SimpleAssessment in over 1200 school districts.

Pass the assessments around anyone?

Popularity: 34% [?]

Are you using Twitter in your dream job quest?

If not, I think you should give ‘er a look-see.

While it took about six months for my marketing team at InfoSource Learning to convince me to start tweeting (yup, that’s what you do when you send out your short 140-character or less messages on Twitter), I’m now starting to “get” the whole thing.

If you haven’t checked it out, Twitter lets you post very short messages to be seen by anyone who’s following you.  More importantly, you can follow other people — specifically people who’re living and working your dream job.  Follow them, watch what they do, learn from them.  And, over time, you might develop a relationship so that you can start communicating with them.

Twitter takes a little time to learn how to use effectively, but I believe it’s a useful tool to have in your Dream Job Quest bag-o-tricks.

Wanna follow me over there?  Find me @mindtrekker.

And, let me know how you use the tool.

Popularity: 25% [?]

Came across a delightful new resource and it’s a doozy and well worth checking out… all about self-learning.  This Self-Made Scholar caught my attention right off because it’s about (a) learning and (b) free!

More importantly, I think it’s relevant to everyone who’s in the process of reinvention and dream jobbing.

Below is an extract from a recent post there that I thought might ring true for a few of you who know you want to change your life, know you need to learn something new, but dread the thought of traditional schooling.  Here goes:

Dispelling Misconceptions

Many former students have a hard time separating learning from the act of sitting at a school desk or doing busywork. If you’re having problems learning on your own, try to clear your mind of these common myths:

Don’t Think: “Students can only learn with a qualified teacher”
Think: “I am the most qualified person to be in charge of my learning.”

Don’t Think: “Education happens in schools.”
Think: “Learning can happen anywhere.”

Don’t Think: “A curriculum is required to learn.”
Think: “I can learn any way I want. Informally or formally.”

Don’t Think: “Math sucks” or “I hate ____”
Think: “A lot of subjects seem lame when studied in isolation of anything meaningful. I may end up hating it after all, but I’ll keep an open mind about these subjects.”

Check ‘er out, good stuff.

Popularity: 33% [?]

Check this out:  Think and Grow Rich (the classic Napoleon Hill book from 70+ years ago that is, in my opinion, the single greatest motivational how-to book of all time) Discussion Forum.

Conducted by the folks over at the Principles for Peace site.

I don’t think I could suggest a better way to start a new year.

Come on over and join the fun, get pumped up, and go forth and do good things!

Popularity: 100% [?]

Here’s an interesting article for every manly-man out there who’s looking for a cool job.

• Brew Master
• Casino Host
• Ice Cream Creator
• Toy Creator
• Video Game Designer
• Comic Book Guru

Popularity: 81% [?]

Work at home or want to?

Of course, just about like everyone else, I’ve got my own set of resource bookmarks, yellow stickies, notes on my bulletin board, listings on my notepad, underlines in article and books . . . on and on.

So, what an incredible pleasure it was to run across an incredible and tested resource listing that’ll let me do away with all of the above, because the Ittybiz site has gathered the best of the best for us work-at-home types right here in one editorialized list at 45 Business Resources:  Things and People that Help You Make Money in Your Underwear.

Really good stuff; check ‘er out . . . a Top 5er.

Popularity: 42% [?]

If you’re reading this, it’s likely that you use the Internet in new and powerful ways. And, I’m also guessing that, because you’re at least fairly Web savvy, whatever your dream job is or turns out to be, it’ll likely include some form of technology, even if it’s in a supporting role.

And, if you don’t have your own blog . . . well, hmm, you should.

Here’s a great resource I recently came across for teachers, but virtually of them apply to anyone who’s blogging, or wants to.

It’s from Teaching Tips and it’s a great resource.

Check ‘er out.

Popularity: 47% [?]

Hello.

A newbie here?  Welcome.

Wanna come back?

Subscribe free, two ways, and stay involved and in touch with Dream Jobs Dialog:

• SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FEED — in the upper-right hand corner of the page . . . lets you add Dream Jobs Dialog to your My Yahoo!, Google, NewsGator, Bloglines, and other popular feeder services pages.
• SUBSCRIBE FREE — right-hand column, underneath the SEARCH box . . . enter your email address and you’ll get new postings as they’re written sent to your email address.

Either way, hope you’ll want to stay around and in touch.

And, in both cases, you can remove yourself anytime you want with a button press or two.  No pressure, no hassle, no sweat.

Thanks for looking at Dream Jobs Dialog.

Popularity: 90% [?]

In the Fall of 2007, the AARP started a contest for retired dream-job seekers.  They invited job seekers 50 and older to share their vision of the perfect job, where they asked contestants to submit brief essays about their dream jobs and to describe how journaling about their pursuit would help others.

The AARP judges read more than 7,000 essays to come up with six winners.   Each winner received a career coaching or business start-up package from RetirementJobs.com.

Check out the contest and follow the journals of the six.

Popularity: 38% [?]

As you probably know, I read and talk about personal and professional development resources quite a bit.  They are, in fact, a big part of my own life and chiefly responsible for my outlook and approach I use to all things business and personal.

Many people who’re around me see me as a can-do, positive spirit, but it comes just partly naturally.  I work at at staying “up” and I credit what I read and listen to for a big part of that.

Perhaps it’s not true for everyone, but I find I have to work at happy, can-do, and positive.  And, every day too.  But, maybe that’s just me.

Anyway . . . as part of my own ongoing personal development, I picked up a copy of the newly revised Success Magazine recently.  I remember subscribing to it years ago, but gave up after a couple of years because it was just a little too rah-rah for me.  Frankly, hadn’t seen it in years.

And, yeah, there’s still the rah-rah aspects in its latest incarnation (hey, whaddaya expect, eh . . . a bunch of downer stuff?), but I find it to be practical and very hands-onish.

Best of all, each issue comes with a combo CD/DVD with hours of audio and video presentations — they’re worth far more than the price of admission, just by themselves. I’ve been listening to the CDs recently on my morning walks.

Good stuff; check ‘er out.

Popularity: 43% [?]