Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Weekly Core Subjects Resources

A full week off from work last week due to snow has made it hard to get back into the groove of things.  I have come to the conclusion that snow days are a love-hate kind of thing.

English
1.) 50 Places to Find Free Books Online is another list of sites where students and teachers can find books online.  For schools with a 1 to 1 program in place, these types of sites are a beneficial addition to the curriculum. 

2.) Wordfaire is a "live" writing/blogging/publishing platform.  The site advertises that as you write, it is published to the web.  There is no waiting for the post to appear.  The program is currently in beta, but if you are someone always looking for a new tool to try with your students, this might be worth looking into.

Mathematics
1.) WOW Math is a personal teacher website for a math teacher who teaches Algebra 1 and 2, as well as AP Calculus.  You can find links to his YouTube videos as well on his personal YouTube channel.  He came up with the site name because when people see his resources and videos, they say "Wow!"

 2.) InterMath is a professional development effort designed to support teachers in becoming better mathematics educators. It focuses on building teachers' mathematical content knowledge through mathematical investigations that are supported by technology. InterMath includes a workshop component and materials to support instructors.

Science
1.) The Institute of Physics has a great YouTube channel of videos to share in physics classrooms.  The power of online video is changing the landscape of classroom teaching.

2.) Sun Motions is a Flash based interactive that allows users to see the angle of the sun from months, latitudes, and times of day.  You can play an animation of the motion of the sun as well to help students see how the sun acts through certain time periods.  A great asset to teaching this aspect of Earth Science and Geography.  There are several other data sets you can examine as well as settings that you can change.  This is neat.

3.) Explore Biology is a resource for teachers of high school biology and especially AP Biology.  I highly recommend it for AP teachers.  On the site you will find lecture notes, blogs, handouts, and Activities and Labs. 

4.) Planet Foss is a Science Photo Sharing site.  The iLearn Technology blog has a great write up, so I will point you to that.

5.) 2011 is the International Year of Chemistry and they have a great resource site for Chemistry teachers.  You can find ideas and activities for the classroom as well as other various resources. 

Social Studies
1.) The History Teachers Channel on YouTube takes popular songs and changes the lyrics to teach various content in history.  Interesting use of music, and a great way to show students what they could do for a project.

2.) From Nikon comes THIS DAY which is a website that provides an image from history for the day you visit from various years in history.  Free Technology for Teachers does a write up on this site, so check it out.


Miscellaneous
1.) PsykoPaint is a web based software that allows you to create and paint amazing art from photographs.  An interesting way for journalism and art students to collaborate.

2.) DrawIsland is a free online version of Microsoft Paint.  Easy to use.

3.) Graphic Organizers are getting a lot of buzz and here are 30 or so.