History

Educationworld.com
Fun resources and links to educational topics and activities.

Science URL'S

Pbskids.org/zoom/games
Virtual games and experiments that students can play around with and apply their learning and knowledge. Really fun way to let kids play around on their own and still apply their learning.

Math URL'S

Cast.org
This site discussion research innovations and development. It goes into great detail about Universal Design for Learning and what it is, how it is used in the classroom, and what it benefits of use are. There are also toolkits and and training guides for UDL.

nlvm.usu.edu
National Library of Virtual Manipulatives
Awesome site! This is a really fun site for doing really visual math and using manipulatives to support the instruction. Really fun!

Illuminations.nctm.org/
Links to lessons, activities, standards. Great activities and hands on learning and application. Very easy to use! Usable with younger students and older kids.

Language Arts URL'S

Techlearning.com
Has great resources and links to other resources, sites, tech forums, videos, webinars and contests. This would be great to use in my future classroom to know better how to integrate and use technology in the classroom.

Constructing Learning

This article helped me to better understand the many uses of technology in the classroom and the great benefits that are accompanying it. The discussion of the use of technology in the classroom in this article is from more of a constructivist theory. They list eight teaching characteristics: Learner centered, Interesting, Real life, Social, Active, Time, Feedback, and Supportive. Each of these categories really makes sense to apply in my mind but one that really stands out to me and I feel would be extremely beneficial is the 'Interesting' category. It's simple, if something isn't interesting of course you won't want to pay attention and learn about it. The article talks about by focusing on the students beliefs and experiences they are better able to apply what they are learning and it becomes more relevant to them which in turn may lead them to mastery. Technology is a great way to grab the interest of students. Adding technology engages the students' interest. There is so much available in technology and so many resources our students can turn to to learn and grow. Technology is a very important strategy that we need to be integrating more into our classrooms so we can help facilitate the meaningfulness of learning.

Empowering Igeneration

This is a great article about how teachers today are able to integrate technology into their classrooms and the great experiences and benefits that have come from it. Reading this material inspired me to try to find as much interactive and innovative technology as I can and apply it as often as I can in my future classroom. Times are changing and things move so much faster than they used to. In order to keep up with the time, technology needs to be strongly implemented in our classrooms and daily life. Adding technology to our lessons prepares our students for the future and creates a better awareness of the world in which they are living.

Great URL'S

cooltoolsforschool.wikispaces.com
The title basically says it all. This site has a long list of great collaborative sites that can be used in and out of the classroom. Along with a link to each site is a small description of what can be accomplished on each site. There are numerous links listed under collaborative tools, transferring files, blogs, wikis and social networks, templates, virtual meetings and chatrooms, collaborative spaces and drawing boards, and multimedia posters and pages. There are SO many resources available on this site!

bubbl.us
Is a great site to use for brainstorming. It makes a chart for you and you can add and fill in each box of the chart. You can change the arrangement and colors and make it fun!

mindmeister.com
This site is for mind mapping. It can be used as a group or on an individual basis. It keeps your thoughts and processes very neat and organized. You may post your created map and view other maps made.

Readings

A Range of Use: Technology in Learning
Technology influences learning in 3 significant ways:
-A Driver for Change: The 21st Century Skills. (Technology and '21st Century Skills' must be better incorporated into the classroom by the teachers)
-A Bridge to High Academic Achievement. (Research shows that by properly incorporating technology in education students have higher academic achievement)
-A Platform for Informed Decision Making and Accountability
The different levels and applications at which technology is used and incorporated goes in line with Bloom's Taxonomy. "Learning by doing" is a great way for kids to learn and relate to. Range of Use taxonomy is used to trace/track student's experience in school.

Evaluating Internet Information
There are 8 areas of criteria to look at when reading an article on the Web to determine its quality and reliability.
-Authorship
-Publishing Body
-Point of View or Bias. Extreme views are not always easy to find.
-Referral to Other Resources
-Verifiability. Does it list references and other credible resources?
-Currency. Important dates: ie: publication, resources found.
-How to distinguish Propaganda, mis/disinformation
-The mechanics of determining Authorship, publishing body and currency on the Internet
If the information sounds "too good to be true, it probably is".

URL'S

ictineducation.org
Provides teachers with high quality articles that are very informative and good food for thought.

learningcenter.nsta.org
E-professional development to help you address the needs of your classroom. You can search by subject, grade level, and state standard. There are also links to other great resources.

Thinkfinity.org
Current educational news, blogs, today in history, community discussions and widgets. There are great interactive tools, webinars, and lesson plans. In the class, at home and professional development on a great range of grades and subjects.

literacy for the 21st century, by Jones-Kavalier, B. and Flannigan, S.

Bringing our education up to par with the technology that is available. Our students are technology savvy and we need to apply their skills to the classroom

Professional Development Resources

These all have great resources and newsletters and e-mails available. There is teacher development, technology support and ideas, core concepts for innovations and reform in learning. News about education, schools.
www.edutopia.org

http://education.smarttech.com/ste/en-US/NEWS+and+research/

www.eschoolnews.com/news/classroom-news/

www.thejournal.com/the/magazine/currentissue/

URLS

Rainforesteducation.com/funNGames/canuseethem.htm
There is a picture of a forest and you can move your mouse over different sections of the forest

Wlcsd.org/spice2010
Electronic handouts

Wallwishers
http://answergarden.ch/view/2936
At this site you may create a wall garden question and your students may respond anonymously and all of their responses will pop up on the wall.

Teaching Style Survey 9/7

The Teaching style survey found on google was interesting. Some of the questions were hard to answer because I am not yet in my own classroom. Many of the questions I would hope to strongly agree with so that I were a very welcoming, informative, supportive, and motivating teacher. I would hope that my future students will understand how much I want them to work hard and become leaders and take charge and responsibility of their educations. There were 5 teaching style categories that I was ranked in after my survey was scored. The categories were: expert, formal authority, personal model, facilitator, and delegate. I ranked moderate on expert and facilitator and high on the other three. I would like to be an expert someday, but I know that facts and data isn't everything. There is much more to being an educator than the facts.

Copyright

The readings and videos about copyright were very insightful and informational. I learned about copyright, fair use, and public domain. I learned that if something was copyrighted before 1923 it is considered to be in public domain and is free to use. If something is under fair use, it may be used but limitedly. Usually the rule of thumb is 10% of a material. You should always check the copyright and ask permission if you are unsure if you may use a material or its content. A piece of work or material does not have to have a copyright label or anything like that to be considered copyrighted. Though best to have a copyright, it is not required. Copyright is an automatic thing that happens anytime something is written down or created in one form or another.

URL'S #2

www.voki.com
Allows you to create personalized speaking avatars and use them on blogs, profiles, and e-mail.

www.sKetch.odopod.com
Anyone can sketch anything here!

www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech005.shtml
printable documents for teachers: worksheets, certificates, templates, and assessments

www.Flicker.com
A place to upload and organize photos

http://projecthelp.wikispaces.com/music+resources
Music resource