Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Skype Education

Skype has caught on to the idea that they are a valuable educational tool.  Now there is Skype Education which is slated to launch in December.  The idea is Skype wants to create a directory for teachers and classrooms to contact each other.  So when Skype Education becomes available it will be a great way for teachers to connect with one another using their directory.

When you visit the site you can provide some information to preregister to add your name to the directory.  I suggest the first place Skype looks is the directories that several educators have taken the initiative to start themselves and add those to the directory.  You can find those directories on a previous Skye Resources blog post that I did.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Weekly Core Subjects Resources

Another week, another great set of resources for the Math, Science, Social Studies, and English.  Hope you find some resources that you can use.

English
The Poetry Foundation is a site to learn about poetry, read poetry, and search for poetry.  You can browse categories for poetry to share with students.  You might also use this site to search for poetry to see if students happened to copy one from the site.  You can also subscribe to a magazine and letter.  If you are interested in poetry, this is the site for you.

Math
Online Math Learning is a site with tons of resources for math curriculum for all grades.  There is also a practice test available for the SAT and ACT.  Resources are categorized by grade level, subject matter, and several other categories.  Many of the resources provides worksheets, games, videos, and other activities.   You can also find explanations and solutions for several functions that you study in high school math classes.

Science
Cassiopeia Project is a site dedicated to "leaving no science teacher behind."  The Cassiopeia Project is effort to find high definition science videos and make them available for free on the Internet.  Without me retyping everything, I suggest you visit the details about the Cassiopeia project that really helps explain the site.  Videos are broken down into subject matter.  Definitely worth sharing with your Science teachers. 

Eyes on the Solar System is another great site for learning about space.  The site offers a "3-D environment full of real NASA mission data.  Explore the cosmos from your computer. Hop on an asteroid. Fly with NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft. See the entire solar system moving in real time. It's up to you. You control space and time."  The site does require a plug-in that will have to be downloaded.  The site is sponsored by NASA.

Social Studies
A Blog About History is just what it says it is.  Sevaan Franks posts interesting and historical facts about history.  Worth following for all those history buffs.

Historvious is a site to learn about historic sites.  Free Technology for Teachers has a great post, so visit Richard Byrne's blog and I will avoid reinventing the wheel. 

HistoryWorld is a site that offers more than 1,000,000 words on world history in linked narratives and over 10,000 events from world history to search for timelines.  You can also find several quizzes that you can complete.

How to Teach with Google Earth is a great resource for those teachers looking to integrate this great software into their curriculum.  Great information for how to use it and how to use it as a research tool.  You will also find links to several resources for how teachers are sharing how they are using Google Earth.

World War II Database is a great site to find resources, activities, lessons, videos, and images from World War II.  Highly recommend as a site to share with students for research or to use to enhance your own lessons.

The Economics of Seinfield is a fun way to teach a subject that many students have trouble understanding.  Mostly for higher education, but several of the episodes could be used in a high school Economics course.  Makes me wonder what other sitcoms I could use to teach other concepts in the classroom.

HistoryTeacher.net is a must see and visit site for any history teacher.  Tons of links, resources, and activities for teaching history.  You will also find a history teacher spotlight, where several history teachers share their experiences.  This is one of those sites that has so much, the best piece of advice is to just visit it. 

Digital Docs in a Box is a site that provides images and documents from history.  The documents are broken up by time period and/or historical event.  You can find images and documents from as far back as the American Revolution till the Civil Rights Movement.  You can also find documents for Presidential Inaugurations, Native Americans, and Transportation.  A great resource for primary documents and images that is being coordinated by William and Mary College of Education, the University of Kentucky College of Education, and the Library of Congress.


Something kind of fun is a site to learn to write right to left like Leonardo Da Vinci.  Send in a Phrase offers you that opportunity.  Something just for fun.


Have you missed my previous Weekly Core Subject Posts?  
Visit Here to see them all.

WorkFlowy

WorkFlowy is a site designed to help you create list and organize your life, work, personal life, etc.  It is very simplistic to use.  It is a free service and since it is web-based you can access it from any computer. You can use keyboard shortcuts to create your list.  I really like WorkFlowy for organizing information, especially for research or notes for a lesson plan.

This site only requires email and password, and does not have to be a genuine email address, so students could use it.  Since you can expand the information, it could be used in class to share information as well.  The site could really use an export to Word or print feature in case you wanted to print it off and provide the list to students.  To get a better understanding of the website, see the videos below.

Here is a video explaining what WorkFlowy is


Here is a video explaining how to use the WorkFlowy

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Standardized Testing - A Student's View

I came across this video the other day on Twitter.  If you are going to watch or share one video about testing I highly recommend this one.  The students speak with such passion, emotion, anger, and frustration.  It is truly how we all should be looking at Standardized Testing.

Watch the video below.  Help it go viral.  In case you are wondering, the video is part of a HBO program called Brave New Voices.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

The 2010 Edublog Awards


Nominations for the 2010 Edublog Awards can now be made.  This is the 7th year that the awards are being conducted.  You can view the 2009 winners here.  Nominations are closed on December 13th, Voting ends December 14th, and the Awards ceremony is December 15th.  You can find instructions for nominating blogs, wiki's, and Tweets by visiting the 2010 Edublog Awards site and following the directions.

I was a newbie to the blogging atmosphere a year ago; in fact, this blog was only a couple weeks old when the 2009 Nominations were announced, so it has been a great learning experience in just one year that enables me to nominate more then I did in 2009. Without further ado and with great pleasure, I present my nominations for the 2010 Edublog Awards:

Best Individual Blog: Lisa Nielson: The Innovative Educator

Best Individual Tweeter: Shelly Terrell

Best New Blog: Greg Kulowiec: The History 2.0 Classroom

Best Resource Sharing Blog: Steven Anderson: Web 2.0 Classroom Blog

Most Influential Blog Post: Kelly Tenkely: iLearn Technlogy Blog: Blogging Alliance I and II

Most Influential Tweet/Series of Tweets/Tweet Discussion: #edchat

Best Teacher Blog: Nicholas Provenzano: The Nerdy Teacher Blog

Best School Administrator Blog: Eric Sheninger: A Principal's Reflections

Best Educational Tech Support Blog: Learn it in 5

Best Librarian/Library Blog: Julie Greller: A Media Specialist Guide to the Internet

Best Educational Wiki: Gina Hartman: Twitter 4 Teachers

Best Educational Use of a Social Network: The Educators PLN

Lifetime Achievement: Sue Waters

Not that I am a huge fan of self promotion, but.....