Tip of the Week

The Scale of the Universe 2 (which is a modern version of the classic video Powers of Ten from the late 1970's) is an amazing website that displays a fantastic interactive visualization of the scale of the universe - that you can control!  The site has a gorgeous interface which you can zoom-in and out on objects measured as small as a "top quark" and out to as large as the "Sloan Great Wall", which is 1.3 billion light-years away!!  Make sure you move the scroll bar across the bottom, so you can explore the all of the sizes of the objects and click on the objects to show important information about each object.  You have to check out this fascinating website as I think it will make it into your "favorites" folder.  Enjoy!

Bonus Tip:  Make sure you discover the cosmos (fascinating pictures of the universe-a-day)

Socrative is a completely free student response system that allows you to instantly gather feedback from students, other teachers, parents, etc. with any internet-connected device (cell phone, tablet, netbook, laptop, etc.).  This is a great "alternative" to the very pricey and "closed" point-click systems from the 1990's.  One of the best advantages of Socrative is that your students do not need to install software, an app, or having to send numerous an expensive text message(s). 

For more ideas on how to use Socrative in the classroom take a look the Socrative "garden of ideas".

My Garbology is an interactive game that helps students learn about sorting garbage, reusing, composting, and recycling.  The coolest part of the game is when you sort the garbage correctly (and even incorrectly) on the screen; the characters explain why the piece of trash belongs where.  My Garbology offer lesson plans and activities to help students (and parents) learn about recycling, reducing waste, and composting.

The National Archives Digital Vault is an awesome resource for any teacher thirsty for Primary Resources.  The Digital Vaults has 3 tools that you can use to create your content using the documents and pictures from the National Archives.  How cool! 

The poster and video creation tools are my favorite by far!  The coolest thing is that creating a video "masterpiece" is easy as it was creating a poster in digital vault.  Finally, using the Pathways tool you can create quizzes that ask students to make connections between two or more pictures and documents. 

To see a sample, check out the sample Pathways challenge here.

Wiki Mind Map is a web resource that explores Wikipedia visually.  Wiki Mind Map is an essential tool to use when you're researching on Wikipedia.  When you enter a search term, Wiki Mind Map will generate a list of links to all of the Wiki articles about your search term on a single page.  Wiki Mind Map will also include closely related terms within your "mind map".  In the image below you can see the "web" that Wiki Mind Map generated when I searched for the "American Civil War".  Wiki Mind Map could be especially useful for students who need assistance in choosing alternate terms or just refining information from wiki searches.

TED-Ed is a new site that features all of TED-Ed's K-12 animated videos, complete with lessons and quizzes.  You can also create your own lesson from any YouTube video and distribute the link to your students and monitor progress.  The site generates a "special" link that you can send to your students, which they can access even if YouTube has been blocked.  Additionally you can edit the "build in" lessons to accommodate your specific needs.  The TED-Ed videos range from 3 to 10 minutes long and include multiple choice quizzes, open ended questions, and a "Dig Deeper" section that will keep you and your students fully engaged.  Go take the TED-Ed tour!

3D Toad is a great site that allows you to zoon-in on and rotate images 360 degrees.  The galleries of images can be explored by teachers and students alike.  They have images that will allow you to explore history, geology, chemistry, skeletons, fossils, and more.  Using the site is fairly easy to do.  Once you have any image that you want to explore, click and hold on any image to rotate it and double click to zoom-in.  Furthermore, each image is has captions for more information while exploring.  Check out some the of the examples on how you can use 3D Toad in your classroom!

The Faculty Project is a great website that offers tons of FREE educational materials as well as FREE online courses from top professors.  The Faculty Project will help you (and even your students) use your tablet, computer, and your smartphone device more effectively from the online lectures.  The fields of teaching ranges from history, economics, anthropology, and much more from professors from the University of Southern California, Dartmouth, University of Miami, and more.  Using the site is easy.  Visit The Faculty Project, browse around for available courses, choose one, and click the "enroll" button.  All of the courses are conducted with slides, PDFs, and video lectures.

Google has just launched the Google Search Education tutorial website, which is aimed at both at teachers and at individuals.  The site will help students and educators learn how to "get the most" out of Google for learning and research.  You can also download lesson plans to help improve your students' "search literacy".  They also offer history, biology, and even math "challenged based" lesson plans, which will help you keep your students engaged.  Finally, make sure to check out the "live search trainings" section, which the videos will help guide students through specific search tasks.  Check out all of the free content by visiting the Google Search Education website.

If you're ever looking for a fun way to start class, this "Today In History" website should do the trick.  It has a very quick video every day to highlight a few of the major events that took place on any given day.  It's got just the right mix of education and entertainment.

February is Black History Month, and it's an opportunity to uncover parts of our history that are often overlooked.  EDSITEment has partnered with the National Endowment of the Humanities to put together a great site for teachers to highlight the incredible accomplishments of African Americans.  It's definitely worth checking out...

There are all kinds of ways to use technology to improve education -- but what is the best way?  According to a survey of educators, it might not be what you think.  It's not one-to-one computing (that's number two), or social networking (number 6), or any number of perfectly good guesses.  Click on the image below to see the full survey results, or click here to read how the survey was conducted. 

As a teacher, there's a huge glossary of teaching jargon and vocabulary that you need to know.   You might not know what "Brain Lateralization" or "Quintilian Progression" mean, but they could very well be the next big buzz words in education (or maybe not).  In any case, here's a great page that will help you stay on top of all of this educational lingo!

Here's a simple statement:  Students love "Foldables"!  The fancy name is kinaesthetic learning, but the kids love them because it's a chance to move around (and play with scissors and paper).  And they work!  "Foldables" are a great way to have students memorize vocabulary and make connections of key concepts.

Joann Wood is a teacher who has been using "foldables" in the classroom.  Below is a short interview (about 5 minutes) where she discusses the origin of the technique, why it works so well, and a few great tips.  It's definitely worth watching.

This is long overdue, but for those of you who haven't stumbled upon it yet, Pete's Powerpoint Station is the number one place to find teacher-created Powerpoint presentations on any subject, grade level, and topic area.  The selection is astounding, and it's worth browsing around as you start a unit!

For those of you who are lucky enough to have iPads in the classroom, we've gathered a collection of some of the best Apps out there, and the list will only grow over time.  Enjoy!

Good teachers need to have a good sense of humor... or else they risk going crazy!   Here are some great Teacher Jokes that might get you through a rough day.  I hope you enjoy!

Are the Common Core Standards on your mind?  Since it is such a hot topic, we conducted an expert interview to learn more.  The subject of the interview is longtime educator Gayle Hinton, who is currently a consultant with ERG (Educational Resource Group).  We start by asking "Why do we need standards?" and she ends by explaining the framework for the Common Core.

If you want to engage your students in the classroom, you might want to try "Notebooking."  This is a twist on standard note-taking that strengthens both sides of the brain.  To learn the basics, watch this 5-minute video with teacher-extraorinaire Joann Wood as she tells you how to get started with a proven Notebooking system.

   At the start of the year, every teacher needs some good "Classroom Icebreakers."  This site has some good ones, and lots of them.  They are a great warm-up to remove the awkwardness of those first few days of school.

Here is a site that features Powerpoint templates of all of your favorite game shows - "Jeopardy" , "Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?" , "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" , and so on.

The templates are amazingly similar to the look and feel of the actual games.  They even have the sound effects!  All you do is fill out the templates with what you want to review, and then press 'F5' to play it (just like on all  Powerpoints).  It's a perfect way to keep your students excited as the year goes on.

Education Oasis is a site you should bookmark.   There is a page full of "Tips and Ideas" (which I like because they are all teacher submitted and short and to the point), there are Graphic Organizers, and a great Calendar Page that tells you key events that happened on each day of the month.  And lots more, so please go there and browse around when you have a moment.

The Museum of Humor Teacher site specializes in using humor in the classroom, yet still staying aligned with the standards.  There's a wide variety of lesson plans, printables, and great tips.  It's definitely worth checking out!   

A teacher has created a site and simply named it “Technology Tips for Teachers.”  It focuses on the basics...  for example, it tells you how to create a bar graph in Excel, or how to insert a border around an entire page in Microsoft Word, or how to create your own background in PowerPoint, and so on.

Here's a video called:  "Why the Common Core?"  The first thing to know about the Common Core Standards Initiative is that it is NOT about improving the quality of the standards.  There are more important things to consider, and that's what I talk about in the video.  I hope you enjoy it...

Here's a video that tells 5 Myths about Assessment (they might surprise you).  Here's a quick sneak peak at a few of them.

The 5 Myths:

1)  Assessment is designed to help students

2)  Good teachers are good question writers

3)  Students should know exactly what is being assessed

4)  Good assessment should mirror how students will be tested at the end of the year

5)  Good questions are higher level thinking questions

TED.com is a site where you can see worldwide experts speaking about the things they know best (the motto of the site is "Ideas Worth Spreading").  For example, Bill Gates might give a lecture on the future of computers (this morning I watched a video from 2001 where legendary coach John Wooden shared his definition of true success).  The videos are between 10 and 20 minutes, and the speakers use that time to get their point across in the best way they can.

There is a website that focuses on Teacher Appreciation, and it has a great section with quotations about teachers and teaching.  I hope it will lift your spirits, especially as you make your push towards the end of the school year.

If you are in need of something a little more on the "light" side, this site also has an area with teacher jokes.

I was looking through my "tips" folder (i.e. sites that teachers have told me they can't live without), and I saw a lot of sites with lesson plans, projects, etc.  These are always great, but I was in one of those moods where all of that was just a little too "heavy" at the moment.

Instead, I found a site where teachers just share their great ideas.  Everything is short and simple.  And for me, one quick idea always gets my head rolling with dozens of others.

The site is appropriately called www.ilovethatteachingidea.com

I hope you enjoy it!  As always, please let me know if you have any questions, comments, or other sites that would be worth sharing.

 I sent out this site about a year ago, but I still get a very common request: “Do you know where I can get passages for Cold Reading?”

     Well, there's something that can help.  It’s a website called the Gutenberg Project, and it’s the world’s largest collection of digital books and texts.  I did a little research, and the Gutenberg Project has actually been “digitizing” public domain materials since the 1970s (with the first document being the Declaration of Independence), and there are over 30,000 to choose from now.  And, yes, it is all FREE! 

     Here’s a link for the most recent top 100 downloaded items on the website:  http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/scores/top

     You’ll probably notice some familiar names like “Alice in Wonderland,” “Sherlock Holmes,” or“Huckleberry Finn,” and you can print out these entire books for free.  You’ll see you have the option of downloading them in a bunch of different formats (i.e. PDF, HTML, TXT, and so on), but you can also just click on “Read Online” under the title, and it will let you see the whole book (and copy and paste) right on your computer screen.

     While you have the option of downloading entire books, I actually think that a website like this works best for finding short, cold-reading passages for your students.  You have more than enough to choose from, and you can copy and paste small sections from great authors (which will provide great dialogue, figurative language, foreshadowing, and other tools that are important for reading comprehension).  Also, please don’t think this website is just for ELA.  There are materials for all subject areas, and the site has “searching” features.

     I hope you enjoy it!  Hopefully, this will come in handy for review, and you can bookmark it for future planning.  As always, please let me know if you know of anything else out there worth sharing!

I want to share a site that I first sent out three years ago, but it's still running strong--and I still have teachers telling me it's their favorite.

The site is called "Freeology.com" (I like anything with the word "free" in it).  As the name suggests, it is a collection of free stuff for teachers.

What really impressed me about the site is its wide selections.  For example, there is a page that has dozens of graphic organizers, and one page is labeled  "Teacher Forms"  with lots of pre-made items like sign-in sheets for borrowing items, hall passes, weekly calendars, birthday logs, etc.  There are also games, worksheets, printables, etc.

Here is a link:  http://freeology.com/

I hope you enjoy it!  As always, please let me know if you have any ideas or resources that would be worth sharing!

Some of you might already be familiar with "Edutopia."  This website was started back in the 1990s by The George Lucas Foundation (that's right -- the same George Lucas who is behind the Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies).  The site has all kinds of features, with the most impressive probably being its collection of videos for teachers and students.

I'm also a big fan of the "forum" portion of the website.  This is where teachers and experts submit short articles with titles like, "Five ideas for using pop culture to inspire elementary students." Hopefully, reading through a few of these might spark a few ideas.  Here's the link: http://www.edutopia.org/big-list-teacher-development

Are you ready to enter the "Blogosphere"?  Then Blogger (powered by Google) is a great place to start.   A "blog" is an online journal that keeps an ongoing record of events, ideas, or anything you have to offer.  If you're new to the game, then learn about all of your Blogging Basics right here.

This Comic Strip Creator is a lot of fun! You create a title, choose the number of panels, and it gives you a blank canvas on which you add the pre-made props.  You can also add captions and speech bubbles. A great way to incorporate this in the classroom is setting up a situation with people and props and giving the printed, pre-made comic strip to your students to fill out as a fun creative writing activity!

Here's something every teacher needs to read:  100 Tricks for Organizing Your Classroom   

There's a little bit of "Information Overload," but ePrintableCalendars is a quick and easy place for printing basic templates needed in every day life.  Some of the “popular categories” include Calendars, Charts, Coupons, Games, and Planners.   For example, take a look at the cooking conversion chart I printed out below.

Can’t think of a buzz word but feel like it’s on the tip of your tongue?  Well, the Educational Jargon Generator might be able to help (or, at the very least, make you sound impressive).   You can use the "Generate Jargon" button to get a random bit of scholarly wisdom.  Or you can use the long list of verbs, adjective, and nouns as inspiration while writing a report, grant, or general paperwork, you can browse this list for inspiration!

"The Differentiator" (I know, it's a great name) is a site is focused on "higher level thinking", an important topic when evaluating activities, lesson plans, assessments, or resources.  What the "Differentiator" does is help you create the type of activity that will narrow in on the exact level of thinking you want, and it will also help you differentiate your instruction and resources.

When you look at it, you'll see that it's just one of those things that is a "good idea."
   
What I've done is created a few screenshots to show you how to use the "Differentiator" (trust me, it's VERY simple).  Here is a link to the screenshots, which will also take you to the site:  http://www.toolboxforteachers.com/page.aspx?pageid=Differentiator

FunBrain (http://funbrain.com) is a website branch of Poptropica, which is published by Family Education Network.  Some of the games available are just for fun, but there are also some great educational games and puzzles as well.  Some games require a login, but Click around under the “Classic FunBrain” category for free games in math and reading.  Did I mention that there are also free, interactive Mad Libs? 

FreeWorksheets.com offers activity worksheets, puzzles, and games for lower to middle elementary students with a wide range of topics.  After clicking around for a while, I found puzzles on Abraham Lincoln, pattern continuation worksheets, and handwriting templates, just to name a few. There is also the option of downloading thematic units or signing up for the free weekly emails.

I like LearningPage.com because it’s hard to find free stuff on “free” websites, so I get excited when I find helpful websites that are not only easy to use but are actually “free.”

Learning Page is one of many websites under the Learning A-Z umbrella.  This one caters to K-3 with free handwriting worksheets, cutouts, printables, and games for all core subjects.

I also found free online books and stories at these Learning A-Z websites: www.readinga-z.com and www.raz-kids.com. 

Certificate Street is a great website for certificate and award templates.  Students love recognition for their efforts, and certificates are an easy way to boost morale.  Some of the templates I came across include Student of the Week, Outstanding Leadership, Awesome Artist, and Good Writer Certificate.  It’s not just limited to school either -- there are also templates for sports, business, special occasions, and newsletters!

Be sure to check out Certificate Street’s sister website Poster Street (www.poster-street.com)

"Create a Graph" is a link from the National Center of Education Statistics website.  If you need to create any kind of graph or chart, this is place to go!  It gives you detailed options on the type of graph, the style of data, colors, fonts, and then, voila, you get a great, free visual!