Can you land safely (and on the target)?

Test your pilot skills as you try to land the HIAD ( see this NASA site for the description).  Beginning with basic training and unlock other roles. You will have a chance to customize your cargo carrier to help transport items from the International Space Station.

For the complete post from TeachersFirst, please click here.

Big Huge Labs

This was one of the first sites I every used when I began this position over five years ago.  Big Huge Labs has a variety of templates to make poster, trading cards  (sample here), and more!

For the complete post from Free Technology for Teachers, please click here.

OCR

Got a PDF that you need to edit?  Don’t worry about retyping.  Use Google Docs to help unlock the form and edit away.  It's all done via optical character recognition.

Here is a brief video from Jamie Keet  explaining the process.

Make your own news clipping!

Click here to create your own clipping!

Knock, knock...

Click here to find out!

Come explore animal habitats!  Animal Homes is an easy to use site for younger students.  Just click the habitat to see animals who call this home!

For the complete post from TeachersFirst, please click here.

Need math help?

Looking for help with algebra, calculus, and more? Check out Tarrou’s Chalk Talk for a list of Professor Bob’s videos or you can subscribe to his YouTube channel.  Over 500 videos on a wide variety of math topics from brief (under 3 minutes) to entire lessons (about thirty minutes). I’ve included  one as a sample.

For the complete post from TeachersFirst, please click here.

See what the UN has done for you..

Select your gender, age, and native land and view the impact of the UN.  This might be interesting to have your students view from their perspective as well as the parents and grandparents. Visit What has the UN done for you!

For the complete post from TeachersFirst, please click here.

Show me your math magic!

Are you a math magician?  This math site allows you to select the operation as well as level.  Then let the math problems begin.  This would work well as a center, interactive whiteboard, or for homework practice.
For the complete post from TeachersFirst, please click here.

Annotating a picture!

Here's another way to have your students show what they know!  Have them use a Google drawing and let them annotate with boxes and arrows!  For younger students, you could create a template and how them move the boxes to show their understanding.  On Friday, I tried this with a third grade class (I created a drawing, added the boxes, and then made a copy for them in Google Classroom).  I worked well- the students were able to drag the boxes and label the image.
For more ideas on using Google drawings, please see the blog post here from Paul Gaffney.

New look for BrainPOP Homepage

But don’t worry- none of the awesome BrainPOP content has changed.  The page is a little easier to navigate (and I really like the larger canvas  for Make a Map!)  In addition,  you can log in ( with the username and password ) and now access all the BrainPOP site content on an iPad (yet single sign in will not work on an iPad).   BrainPOP Jr has not changed- to access that on an iPad, you will need the app to view the free movie of the week.  

If you want all the details, here’s the link to a recorded webinar outlining the changes.

For budding artists and writers

Story Maker is a free site from ABCya that allows you to write and draw!  This would be fun for younger students.

For the complete post from TeachersFirst, please click here.

More than math games

While this article  (4 Win-Win Math Games) does teach a few math games for elementary students, it also provides strategies and suggestions for using math games in the classroom.

For the complete post from TeachersFirst, please click here.

The top 25

Starting with the birth of the Earth, this BBC list highlights the 25 Turning Points in Earth’s History.  This would be interesting to  share the events with your students and how them put them in order.

For the complete post from TeachersFirst, please click here.

Learn Engineering

Learn Engineering is a site for 8 to 12 graders that looks to explain the different aspects of engineering. It contains a variety of videos to help students to either explore on their own or as a group.  For the complete post from TeachersFirst, please click here.

Thanksgiving a la Peardeck

Please read this blog post for several interesting ideas using Peardeck to engage your students.  Get them thinking about the real history of Thanksgiving.

For all my friends teaching the American Revolution

Here’s a site that will allow your students to explore the forts of the revolution. Check out the soldiers, kids roles, and the teacher section.  From TeachersFirst.

Returning work in Google Classroom

Confused about who is the owner with a document submitted in classroom? Alice Keeler has a clear blog post that will help you see the changes in ownership.  I will post on  tech resources as well.

Annotate to learn

Here’s a post from the New York Times Learning Network on using annotations to create. Nice idea for your classroom.

Down on the farm

Here’s a Discovery Education field trip to the farm on 12/3- please click here to register!

Stop the writing on the lines

How many times have you created a Google Doc and you want the students in to write on the line?  And then the line keeps moving?  Alice Keeler has an easy solution- replace those lines with boxes!  You don’t need to worry about the moving lines!

Here’s a sample:

Before:

Name ______________________________

After:

Name

Please read her blog post here for the complete details.

Google and Math

Here’s a guest post from (from Jennfer Carey) on Free Technology for Teachers on Math add in for Google.  While I’ve used g(math) the others are new to me.  Please share your feedback.

Graphic Music- See the music

This YouTube channel  (Music Animation Machine Channel) offers a graphic representation of the music.  To me, it was if I was watching the score come to life.  There are advertisements on this site.  I included a rather long piece here- but even if you only watch it for a minute, you will get the idea.

For the complete post from TeachersFirst, please click here.

Be the modern Johnny Appleseed

Help plant trees! (think of this as Free Rice for the forest).  Answer the questions correctly and help plant trees around the world.  Johnny Appl will help students improve their language skills and the environment.  Play by yourself or put it on the whiteboard to play as a team.

For the complete post from TeachersFirst, please click here.

Getting your story started

ReadWriteThink is one of my favorite sites and I love their interactives.  Story Map is an easy way to help students plan their work.  Select the type of map and simply answer the questions.  These maps are not saved- so they must be printed (or in the case where no printing is available, saved as a screen shot). There are lesson plan ideas for all grades.

For the complete post from TeachersFirst, please click here.

So what’s your function?

Or input? Or output?  The Function Machine is geared to younger learners (grades 3-4)  as they begin to explore algebra. The output is similar to tradition flashcards.  But working backwards (the input) or finding the relationship (the function) is slightly more challenging.  This would work well as a station or on a whiteboard.

For the complete post from TeachersFirst, please click here.

Math Flashcards

Online math practice has really improved since my children were young.  That’s a Fact allows you to select the operations (or combinations), the number range, as well as a timer.  You can respond by selecting the number on the screen or using your toolbar.  When you are done, you get a summary of your results and any problems you skipped or were wrong. This would be great as a station in the classroom or a home resource for students who want extra practice.

For the complete post from TeachersFirst, please click here.

November is Native American Heritage Month

If  you are teaching Native Americans,you might want to look at this TeachersFirst resource. Their Native American Resources cover all grades and a diversity of topics.  Check the reviews to find the best fit for your students and classroom.

The new Board Builder!

Discovery Education has introduced new features in Board Builder.  In addition to more background templates (scrapbook and lab report), there are more  background/foreground choices as well as new choices for headlines, media, text boxes, and more!  I like all the speech and thought bubble choices- bet you could make comics! Now your students can be even more creative! Just log in to get started- I would love to work with your class on a Board Builder project.

The new forms

Dawn Marsh has created this slide presentation on the new Google Forms. I will post it here as well on the my Tech Resources site.

The Bard and Storyboardthat

I love Storyboardthat!  Here's their latest email about support for Shakespeare's plays!

William Shakespeare is one of the most well-known and beloved writers in history. From comedies to tragedies, Shakespeare's work has stood the test of time with students of all ages.

Storyboard That has teacher guides for eight of Shakespeare's most popular plays (and one Sonnet!) available for free on our Teacher Resources page. Enjoy!

Don’t be STEAMed!

Here is a free quarterly publication with with all sorts of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) projects and ideas. Check out STEAMed!

For the complete post from TeachersFirst, please click here.

Robots and Math

Looking to practice your basic facts for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division? Robot Facts  (with easy, medium, and hard options) would make a great station or whiteboard activity. Geared for the lower elementary student.

For the complete post from TeachersFirst, please click here.

The first Thanksgiving

Richard Byrne (in Free Technology for Teachers) recently posted about this Scholastic site for Thanksgiving.  I’ve seen it before and it if you teach elementary students, it is worth a visit.  You can get letters emailed to you if you sign up by 11/19.  The First Thanksgiving contains virtual field trips (from the Plimoth Plantation) as well.

Novel-ties

Looking for new (2014-15) titles for your 4-8th-grade readers?  Check out Novel-ties to search by themes! Here’s a screenshot to give you an idea.

For the complete post from TeachersFirst, please click here.

Polar Bear Live! (first one is 11/9)

From Discovery Education:

Every fall, we connect with our friends at Polar Bears International to stream live webcasts from the tundra during the annual polar bear migration in Churchill, MB, Canada, the Polar Bear Capital of the World.  Join us to meet and talk with world-renowned scientists and educators as Arctic winds shake the Tundra Buggies and polar bears prowl outside. All webcasts air LIVE.

POLAR BEARS AND PENGUINS: POLAR OPPOSITES
Monday, November 9
9:30 a.m. Central Time – Register Here

ANSWERING YOUR QUESTIONS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Monday, November 9
12 p.m. Central Time – Register Here

CRACKING THE CURIOUS CASE OF THE GROLAR BEAR WITH TECHNOLOGY
Tuesday, November 10
12 p.m. Central Time – Register Here

Who am I? (from the Civil War)

This is a site I've posted before, but I don’t think it made it to the new site this year.  Who Am I?  is perfect for those studying the Civil War.  Help uncover their true identities by examining the evidence.

For the complete post from TeachersFirst, please click here.

Voicethread and Storybird

This week I saw a blog post from Voicethread.  It talked about creating a Voicethread project using Storybird as the image.  Here is a sample I created- I would love to work with your class on this project. The video with the post walks you through the process.