TeachersFirst Summer Sparklers

TeachersFirst: http://www.teachersfirst.com/content/spectopics/summersparklers.cfm This collection of editors' choices from TeachersFirst will spark summer excitement for parents and kids alike.

Reframing Google's Search Options: The Poster, by Joyce Kasman Valenza

This is a great article about some cool, little known Google search tools that could really help out in your classroom. (And anywhere else...)

Join the Microsoft Partners In Learning Network & Get FREE STUFF!

Join the Microsoft Partners In Learning Network today!

http://us.partnersinlearningnetwork.com/Pages/default.aspx

The Partners in Learning Network is a free online resource that lets you connect and collaborate with like-minded colleagues from across the globe or around the corner.

• Create or Join Communities and Discussions
• Find Lesson Plans and Activities
• Access Free Tools and Learning Programs For Your Classroom

Don't want to join? That's ok, I'll cheat and give you a couple of the links...

http://www.worldwidetelescope.org/Home.aspx - "The WorldWide Telescope (WWT) is a Web 2.0 visualization software environment that enables your computer to function as a virtual telescope—bringing together imagery from the best ground and space-based telescopes in the world for a seamless exploration of the universe."

http://photosynth.net/default.aspx - "Photosynth takes your photos, mashes them together and recreates a 3D scene out of them that anyone can view and move around in.Different than static photos and video, Photosynth allows you to explore details of places, objects, and events unlike any other media. You can’t stop video, move around and zoom in to check out the smallest details, but with Photosynth you can. And you can’t look at a photo gallery and immediately see the spatial relation between the photos, but with Photosynth you can."

Student Cell Phones in Classrooms? - SOUNDS Good To Me!

It may be time to reconsider the ban on cell phones in the classroom. Check out some of these great resources and think of the possibilities...

www.polleverywhere.com free version doesn't allow tracking or approving :(

 

Google SMS http://www.google.com/mobile/products/sms.html#p=default

text 466453 for Google "answers"

 

http://www.cellphonesinlearning.com/ great site

 

http://voicethread.com sharing, commenting on (verbally) other's documents

 

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ make your own online talk radio show....
http://www.ipadio.com/ - make your own phone blog (phlog).

 

http://celtx.com/ storyboarding!

 

flickr, picassa, etc....

 

Have students associate cell phone w/teacher's twitter account...

-7PM, everyone gets, "Remember quiz over bla bla tomorrow...."

-field trip to the zoo, teacher tweets, "Time to get back to the bus!"

Now you can write and direct your own movie!

Check out http://www.xtranormal.com/index . It is a cool site that lets your students write a script and direct a movie. Really, you've got to check it out. Come on, what are you waiting for...
Lots of educational potential here! Reenact historical events. Make a commercial for your new product. The characters remind me of the Lego rock band people, or those Playmobil figures with the bowl-cut, plastic hairdos.

****UPDATE**** ***Caution*** Some of the user created videos can be a bit racy. And, some of the included props/characters are of the adult nature... Rats!

But, if you'd like other options, check out this nice blog post: http://eduhowto.wordpress.com/2010/02/08/fun-and-creative-ways-for-students-to-make-online-video-projects/.

Microsoft Education Labs

Who says Microsoft is only in it for the money? Well, ok, they are. But they also do a lot of neat research projects.
This site has a few cool prototypes for educators. I'm sure some of you would like the Math Worksheet Generator:

http://www.educationlabs.com/Projects/MathWorksheetGenerator/Pages/default.aspx#

Enter a math problem and the program analyzes it. Then it creates a worksheet with similar problems. Neat!

K-12 Learning Links

http://www.internet4classrooms.com/k12links.htm - Internet4Classrooms has a great clearinghouse of links for K-12 education. I like the mouse skills games in the Pre-K section! ;-)
http://www.mouseprogram.com/ - Here's a site dedicated strictly to mousing skills. There's even a link to a cheesy <ha!> windows program - Larry's Master the Mouse.
http://www.thinkfinity.org - Verizon has their own learning portal that is pretty good too. Check out their comic strip creator.
http://www.kidinfo.com/young_children/young_children.html
http://www.suelebeau.com/primary.htm
http://www.gamequarium.com/learntousemouse.html - Online activities to practice mouse skills.
http://www.teachersfirst.com/index.cfm - How do you integrate "Web 2.0" into your classroom? Start with these ideas.
http://www.timetoast.com - Create online, interactive time lines.
http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil/ - AT&T's Knowledge Network site "Filamentality", is a fill-in-the-blank tool that guides you through picking a topic, searching the Internet, gathering good Internet links, and turning them into online learning activities.
http://www.multiplication.com/interactive_games.htm - Lots of interactive math games.
http://tweentribune.com/join - "TweenTribune is an online newspaper that is written exclusively for "tweens", 8-14 years old. The goal is to get kids hooked on reading and seeking out news on a daily basis. To promote this behavior, TweenTribune updates daily with stories that are kid-friendly from reliable sources (such as AP and CNN). Two other appealing features are the ability to comment on articles and post your own stories.
http://www.thatquiz.org/ - nice site with lots of pre-made quizzes on various topics.

Pre-Algebra Sites:
http://www.math.com/homeworkhelp/Algebra.html
http://www.coolmath.com/algebra/08-lines/index.html
http://www.purplemath.com/modules/index.htm
http://www.purplemath.com/modules/strtlneq.htm
http://www.mathvids.com/subtopic/show/124-graphing-lines
http://www.glencoe.com/sec/math/prealg/prealg05/extra_examples/index.php4/