Blogging about Blogging- Cart Before the Horse?

I read a great post on the langwitches.org blog today. The author makes the case that in order for teachers to effectively use blogs in the classroom, they need to start READING blogs first. Only then, can they get a sense of what makes a good blog stand out. She offers several interesting Ed Tech blogs, broken down by topic to get you started too.

Once your ready to jump in to your own blog adventure, be sure to check out her other posts, such as "We are Blogging... Now What?"

The Whiteboard Blog

I just came across a cool blog that features LOTS of great tips for using Interactive Whiteboards (IWB) in the classroom. The Whiteboard Blog's October 4, 2011 post, Five Funky Flickr Tools for Teachers, allowed me to create the cool graphic in this post.

Bloom's Taxonomy in Technology

Tech specialist, Lichelle Leonard posted a nice interactive compilation of web tools and their placement in Bloom's taxonomy:

http://www.res.rcs.k12.tn.us/teachers/leonardl/blooms_pyramid.html

Student Created Textbook

The Students' History is a super example of how technology can be used to get kids involved in class. These students are definitely not the "sit and get" type. They're creating their own online history textbook!

Bye-Bye To My TI?

I love my TI graphing calculator. But what if you need a powerful graphing calculator and don't want to spend a lot of money? The free, online, Desmos graphing calculator is a lot nicer than any other online tool of its type I've ever seen.

It instantly draws the equations as you update them, expressions can be color-coded, and you can share any graph online, or export it.

PBS LearningMedia - It's More Than Just Sesame Street!

PBS LearningMedia offers thousands of free high-quality public media resources specifically for PreK-16 educators.Sign up today and get access to downloads, content, professional development and more!

I Before E... What About Me?

No one can dispute the fact that the web has provided an unparalleled explosion of writing. But, much of it isn't worth the digital bits it's written on. In order to foster better writing skills and a love of good literature, we need to teach our kids the difference between treasure and trash.

Indiana teacher, Carla Beard has created the Web English Teacher website as a resource for teachers of all levels. She describes the site: "At Web English Teacher educators can take advantage of online technology to share ideas and to benefit from the work of others. Beginning teachers can find guidance; experienced teachers can find inspiration. Think of it as the faculty library and faculty workroom on a global scale.
Because the most important part of teaching isn't the technology."