Links For Learning:
The following annotated lists of links consists of some of my favorite links, most of which have not been listed elsewhere on this site. There are nine lists, so please scroll to the bottom to see if any subjects are of interest to you. These are links that other teachers have shared and that I feel can be of great benefit to any teacher! Some of them are so cool, in fact, that I visit them repeatedly just for fun.
Technology for Educators Sites
Listed below are links to other sites that trumpet the use of technology in the classroom and provide some great examples:
1. "4Teachers.org works to help you integrate technology into your classroom by offering online tools and resources. This site helps teachers locate and create ready-to-use Web lessons, quizzes, rubrics and classroom calendars. There are also tools for student use. Discover valuable professional development resources addressing issues such as equity, ELL, technology planning, and at-risk or special-needs students." - http://www.4teachers.org/
2. Resouces for tech teachers by the International Society for Technology in Education: http://www.iste.org/
3. Kathy Schrocks guide to using tech for teachers- with videos and links: http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/sci-tech/scicom.html
4. Learn about and create webquests, quizes, and scrapbooks for students at the Filamentality website for teachers at http://webinstituteforteachers.org/2000/curriculum/homeroommodules/onlineTools/fila.htm
5. Pacbell sponsors a database of terms and sites dedicated to teachers. It is not overwhelming and highly educational! http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired
6. No need to spend countless hours creating rubrics, a handy assessment tool, from scratch, let Rubistar do all the work for you - its a cinch!!! It is free but you do need to register to use it. http://rubistar.4teachers.org
7. Online Video tutorials for students of some of the popular in-school tech tools. Thank you ITC guy, davidit!: http://dakinane.wordpress.com/initiatives/
8. Digital Ethnography is the site of Dr. Michael Wesch and his students at Kansas State University, dedicated to the study of digital literacy. Several videos on this site came from this working group. The blog is especially interesting as it reveals all sorts of emerging tech.
http://mediatedcultures.net/ksudigg/
http://www.teach-nology.com/
TeAchnology
Video Libraries for Educators
www.learner.org : If you would like to see how great teaching looks, then visit this video library of lessons being taught and teacher workshops funded by Annenburg media.
TeacherTube is another great resource for educational videos.
Project-Based Learning
Interested in research, videos, blogs, and practical applications for use of technology and project-based learning in education? Learn that the possibilities are endless and extraordinary by visiting www.edutopia.org/. Most of the videos I used for this site were from this increadible resource.
Join a Project-Based Learning online forum at PBL-Online.org. Great site to collaborate in lesson planning - so cool!!!
Teachnet.org is another great site for research, collaboration, and education news.
Civics & Democracy
For information about policies and our government www.whitehouse.org.
Also a new multimedia, nonpartisan site has been created at the previously infamous www.whitehouse.com that will allow students to watch, listen, or PARTICIPATE in multimedia broadcasts of issues on civics, community, and government.
Everyday Democracy - make a difference in your community! http://www.everyday-democracy.org/en/Index.aspx
For information on how to educate students about their responsibilities as participants in a democratic society, PBS Kids is a great resource. http://pbskids.org/democracy/parentseducators/citizenshipcity.html
US Constitution for kids. Explains the history of our democracy in easy to understand language, that increases in complexity for every grade level: http://www.usconstitution.net/constkidsK.html
Teacher & Student Multimedia Resource
A multi-media, news/fact based teaching and learning resource, PBS should be on every teacher's short list of sites. Plus, who doesn't love videos of Matt Damon teaching us about the global effects of habitat loss for wildlife. http://www.pbs.org/teachers/.
For students under the age of 6 PBS also provides a learning site that incorporates lots of music, games, and videos that students can navigate easily and learn while having a blast. Check out the music - so cool! http://pbskids.org/.
Developing World Citizenship
As teachers we are tasked with caring for our students emotional well being and development of citizenship. Teaching Tolerance is a nonprofit site dedicated to helping teachers to develop the leaders of tomorrow by teaching compassion, understanding, and tolerance. It is our responsibility to teach students to learn from the past and respect the future. This site is loaded with free teaching tools and great ideas. http://www.tolerance.org
"iEARN (International Education and Resource Network) is the world's largest non-profit global network that enables teachers and youth to use the Internet and other technologies to collaborate on projects that enhance learning and make a difference in the world." - http://iearn.org
News for Students and Teachers
Grades 1+ Learn about different news topics, read interviews of people with different careers, and play simple flash games at http://www.kidsnewsroom.org/. (This site has some navigation issues.
Grades 2+ Washington Post's KidsPost http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/kidspost
Grades 3+ http://www.nytimes.com/learning/
Grades 5+ Learn the science behind the news at The Why? Files. http://whyfiles.org/
Grades 6+ New York Times Student Edition http://www.nytimes.com/learning/students/index.html
Grades 7-12 Newshour Special Edition for Students and Teachers - Incorporates student perspectives: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/
CNN for students and teachers (A great resource for teachers especially) http://www.cnn.com/studentnews/
eSchool News for Teachers: http://www.eschoolnews.com/
Learning Tools
http://www.brainpop.com/educators/blog/
Published Research Articles for Teachers
An awesome database of the best researched articles and published papers on learning, teaching, and technology. www.newhorizons.org
More Sites:
Ok, now you may not be as interested in outer space as I am (I love these sites), but NASA's sites are indespensible for 3rd grade teachers and teachers of physics, engineering, oh - and science. Well, I guess that's all of us! Learn how it works at http://science.nasa.gov/. Check out current info and great pictures and links for educators at http://www.nasa.gov/ and an independent student learning site (though I've seen better) at: http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forkids/kidsclub/flash/index.html
Middle and high school students researching science information and legitamate news in short articles will relish the "Why? Files", a site that simplifies and organizes the ideas behind new technology, current world news, and the meachnics of... well, everything. http://whyfiles.org/
The online Encyclopedia Britannica boasts a cornucopia of multimedia information at your fingertips! This site is great for student research! It also has excellent educational games, blogs, and daily interactives. http://www.britannica.com/