507PhoenixTech

This website has blogs on trends in technology, new technology resources, research, and ideas related to education.

MindShift is a very upto date assessment of how technology is gaining stronger foothold in schools! The BYOD and MathDesk article two articles that cover the use of current hardware devices and more implementation of game playing as a learning device! Well worth the time to read!

A non-profit organization, Teaching Channel launched publicly in June 2011. In addition to exemplary website content, this organization produces a weekly one-hour program featuring Tch videos, Teaching Channel Presents, which airs on PBS stations in nearly 75 million homes across the United States. Being veted by PBS for educational content to put on the air gives this site more credibility use in the classroom! This website offers a full library of educational videos that are student-centered and lesson plan ready! There is little information on the organization philosophy when you first enter this site and a balance of teacher's commentary on instructional methods and menu of available video topics! This can be a great resource in lesson planning with the integration of instructional video that have reliable content and provide the student-centered materials that engages student in the lesson.

A writing generator for grades K-6, this resource is very teacher- and student-friendly. An animated guide on the home page for teachers was very simple to understand.

Scholastic Story Starters help students generate ideas, allow creativity, identify story elements, accommodate writing levels and allow students to illustrate their work. It can be used for whole class instruction and individual writing projects.

"Math is about so much more than just numbers-so, IXL is too! We approach each math concept from all angles, offering visual representations, word problems, interactive activities, and more. With an abundance of math problems for every learning style, students can't help but build lasting skills and confidence." This website lists state standards in Math for all 50 states and connects online drills and games to each. Preschool concepts through Algebra are presented. As a member, you can track student progress by class or individuals but students can play as a visitor as well. Pop-up screen lets you know what each game looks like before you click to play. In addition to its applications in the classroom, this looks like a great resource for parents to inform themselves of state standards and to help them check their child's progress.

The state Standards list includes a description of current shift towards Common Core. Teachers need only to pick a grade level and an objective to see a sample questions that addresses that standard at the appropriate level. The sample drill shows that activities are timed. How is that reflected in the stats for a students' session?

If you opt for the subscription rather than the free Shared games, teachers are able to see student scores on activities and compare them to the results of other students. I think this would work best in a lab setting to get good information from all students but kids could have passwords and do drills at home as well. Teachers could still get the information.

This website allows students to choose a subject area and then collect information in a variety of formats. Students can get a dictionary definition, use a thesaurus, look at a map in an atlas, find more information in an encyclopedia or view a timeline related to the topic. I think this would be a great general reference site for student or teachers. Wonderful for the interactive white board.

Enter words into this site and watch them come to life. Site was developed by Jonathan Feinberg and is non-commercial.

Article by Jaclyn Norton that is explains the power of visual information with a strong visual element. The link is incorrect, but I can't seem to edit the link itself. Here is the actual link: http://gettingsmart.com/blog/2012/09/infographic-growing-up-with-technology/

A site offering educator approved videos in the subject areas of language arts, math, writing, fine arts, science, social studies, and languages. Videos are divided by age level and could be used in the classroom as an introduction to a topic, a review of information or to present a topic in an alternate form.

"Explore the science of music with us, through these online exhibits, movies, and questions. Along the way, you can compose, mix, dance, drum, experiment, and above all…listen." This site allows students to learn about the science behind music and experiment with different sounds and instruments. Artists from around the world contribute to the videos and sound files giving historical background to musical instruments and styles of music.

This site is very informative and would be a great resource for any general classroom teacher in making connections between music and science.

This website povides video Math course online for K -12 and College students . MathVids was launched on March 14, 2008 as a joint project of Scott and Ryan Anderson! It has since grown to 1550 Math video lessons taught by 40 teachers! According to the founders, through "the accessibility of online math videos, we hope to provide students around the world with an equal opportunity to access high quality math lessons and improve mathematical literacy in the 21st century." Seeking only the highest quality of math video, this website screens content very closely. Often allowing several teachers to teach lessons on the same subject for reaching students that may reach the conclusion through separate intelligence! This website is organized like a textbook, so math students can be browsed through easily in addition to using fully-functional search utility that will help students find exactly what you need. I found this site very user friendly and could see myself examining some of this material for lesson planning ideas!

Visual learning strategies such as graphic organizers, concept mapping, mind mapping, diagrams, outlines and more are being used in classrooms. These strategies help students or all ages better manage learning objectives and achieve academic success. As students are required to evaluate and interpret information from a variety of sources, incorporate new knowledge with what they already have learned, and improve writing skills and think critically, visual learning tools help students meet those demands. Together with the brain's capacity for images, visual learning strategies help students better understand and retain information. This Website offers a variety of resources for better understanding the use of visual learning methodologies and tools to incorporate into your classroom.

This is an online translation from one language to another, or machine translation, and can be helpful to students and teachers. This is useful for teachers teaching ELLs and FLs, teachers can look up important words in the student' native languages or translate some simple instructions on a project. It is helpful for students as this site function like bilingual dictionaries and help them find the meaning of a word both in context.

The Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE). The GLOBE Program is an authentic online project involving students in scientific inquiry-based learning. GLOBE is an environmental science project that has students investigate the weather, land cover, soil, and hydrology, and record their observations at the GLOBE site. In effect, they become collaborators in a real scientific investigation.

Visual Thesaurus is an interactive dictionary and thesaurus that shows connections between words.Students can use it for writing and teachers can use it for lessons (e.g., 6+1 Write Traits Word Choice). This tool explores vocabulary, creates a visual word map,creates and shares word lists,has audio pronunciation, shows relationships between words, and uses visual symbols and allows the manipulation of words.It also provides spelling help, finds synonyms and antonyms, identifies parts of speech, and can analyze vocabulary from any text into lists of useful words and their context. Features include 5 languages, a spelling bee, an online magazine and tech support. The Educators link provides resources, activities, lesson ideas, and professional development.

The Digital Citizenship and Creative Content program is a free, turnkey instructional program. The goal is to create an awareness of the rights connected with creative content.

This appeals to me because it is a fun video website that make video technology the central topic for the improvement of classroom education. The Infinite Thinking Machine (ITM) is a high-energy Internet TV show, first launched in 2006, directly targeted at K-12 educators, parents and students with the simple goal is to inspire creativity and innovation in education. Currently in its second season in the current format, it provides an upbeat and engaging commentary that appeals to older student and educator, alike. New episodes are released every two weeks during the school year. Each show features a classroom teacher as its host, many engaging educators as "Field Trip" correspondents and amazing innovators as guests. Innovative approaches to education are showcased, and the teachers, administrators and students behind them are celebrated. Special segments address deeper topics head-on, often challenging conventional educational thinking. Currently in its second season, the ITM depends on a mix of funding from its producing organization, education partners and corporate sponsors. Produced by Computer-Using Educators (CUE), a nonprofit educational association focused on advancing student achievement through technology. I found the several segments that I watched informative and interesting professional produced programing!

This site teaches younger students about the mechanics of Cinquain, Haiku, Free Verse and Limericks. Students can choose from several phrases to complete poems of each style. Poetry Engine would be a great introduction to a basic poetry unit and is interactive whiteboard ready.

The title says it all!