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"In the spirit of thanks we're wrapping our 2nd Annual Smart Lists with 24 sites, foundations, leaders, companies and organizations we appreciate doing great work. During October and November we released about 20 'Best of' lists, not in order, not exhaustive, just people we appreciate doing innovative work."

"Today while browsing @tonyvincent 's blog I noticed a cool tool that he was using to share his favorite IOS apps. Appsfire is a place for you to create a list of your favorite apps as well as find other apps that you may like. Appsfire also allows you to "Follow" a search term for updates in the future. You can also limit your search to free only apps. Another great feature of the site is the ability to share your "Device" on social networks. You can also add your device to your blog."

"This site is to support people as they first get their iPad and to look at the apps that Allanah thinks are pretty cool to use in a primary school classroom. I've also added some of my favourite iPhone apps that I use on my iPhone." Great site by Allanah King

"This site is to support people as they first get their iPad and to look at the apps that Allanah thinks are pretty cool to use in a primary school classroom. I've also added some of my favourite iPhone apps that I use on my iPhone. "

Great site with tons of links to sites teachers and students can use across the currioculum for a multitude of tasks.

Rubrics can be an incredibly useful tool for your classroom. Aside from being one of those cool words that sounds a little weirder every time you say it, using a rubric can help your students understand the assignments in your classroom, and will make your grading process clearer, faster, and more objective and consistent. Online rubric makers can make rubric creation pretty simple, so we've collected a few sites that offers online rubric makers (some of them are free) that can help you out in your classroom. There are many sites out there that also offer shared rubrics from other users that you can use as well - quite a helpful tool if you're either in a pinch, or at a loss for where to start.

"At last week's iPad site visit, a student on the panel was describing her favorite iLesson: "It was in science. It is an interactive periodic table (app). We were learning about the elements. You click on an element and it gives you the history, who made it, how you use it, what it is used for. Another cool feature is you can make them. You can keep on adding neutrons, electrons, and protons as much as you like and every time you click on the plus or minus, it tells you what element you just made. The results were really amazing. We had more interest in the periodic table than we ever had before mainly because it was fun, it was interesting, we actually got to play around with it and see what we could make with it instead of just giving us a piece of paper and telling us 'research these'.""

"When teaching with digital natives in a digital world, one question facing many educators revolves around integrating technology to help facilitate learning: How do you work technology into the pedagogy, instead of just using something cool? That task can be especially daunting in language arts literacy classrooms where reading and writing skill development is the crux of daily lessons. However, as 1:1 technology initiatives roll out, integrating technology into the classroom is our reality. With hundreds of sites, apps, Chrome extensions, and platforms available, choosing the right ones can seem overwhelming. As an eighth-grade language arts teacher, I've experienced this myself. Following are four tools that can help provide immediate formative assessment data as well as top-of-the-rotation feedback to help students develop personal learning goals."

"The site is a very simple affair, consisting of rows of cards with helpful tips, which range from setting up Gmail on your mobile phone to grabbing your customized birthday Doodle. See also: Get Lost in These 19 Fascinating Maps You can sort the tips by topic or by category such as "On the go," "At home" or "At the office" by clicking on the menu button in the upper left corner. "

COol site that gives you the definition of a word when you highlight it. Works For English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Polish and Swedish vocabulary.

"Laura Wright was been kind enough to publish her issuu e-book on the iPads in the Classroom PLN. Have a look at the PLN site for discussion and iPad resources. Check out her publication on using iPads in the Elementary Classroom on the links below. This is a cool publication. Make sure you check out here other issuu publications. "

"One of my very favorite uses of technology in education is when it used by students to create things. There are so many ways to be creative with technology - writing, creating art work, composing music, creating web sites, developing presentations, and so on. One of the most intense and potentially rewarding creative undertaking students can tackle is coding - developing their own programs! The resources available to help interested individuals learn how to code have never been better or more plentiful. Schools and teachers have embraced this as an opportunity, setting students up to learn coding (and some highly motivated students take it on themselves)."

"If you're looking for an awesome online report option for biographies or nonfiction texts, you'll love Hstry.co. Hstry is a site where students can create cool looking, interactive timelines with text, images, videos, and embedded quizzes.  These are really good looking timelines! If you don't believe me, check out this sample on World War I, or this one about the History of Immigration in theUnited States. And your students can create timelines that look just as good."

"Ever seen a cool font in a magazine ad, poster or on the web and wondered what font it is? Well, now you don't have to ponder all that any longer because there's a web tool that can identify mystery fonts. What the what? Well, almost. It's actually called WhatTheFont, a really swell site that assists users with discovering the names of unknown typefaces. So, the next time you catch a glimpse of some must-have text, then simply snag a screenshot of it, upload it to the WhatTheFont interface and wait for the result. Yep, it's that simple-and that nifty."

"You've heard of it before. You're probably curious about what it is. But chances are, you're still on the edge about the whole thing. We're talking about the dark web-the mysterious part of the internet that isn't for everyone. At least, that's what you've probably heard. There are many rumors about what it is and why people go on the dark web. However, it's worth learning a thing or two about it. Who knows, maybe you'll even find some of your new favorite sites there. Stick around and we'll share some of the cool websites we've discovered in the hidden corners of the dark web."

"YouTube is the premier destination for music videos today, which also makes it one of the most popular music streaming services. If you use YouTube to listen to music, the experience can be a whole lot better with the right extensions or web apps. We've previously talked about some of the best YouTube music players, but things have changed a bit since then. Browser extensions now give you lyrics with each video, while some apps and extensions will save bandwidth by playing only the audio without video. The bottom line is that anyone who uses YouTube for music needs to check out these cool tools."

"Last year, I went to Nigeria with Mark Zuckerberg. One of the first stops on the trip was a program that taught kids how to code. When Zuckerberg entered the room, many of the young students had a hard time pulling themselves away from their projects, even to gawk at one of the world's richest men. Facebook's founder instead came to them. "What are you making?" he'd ask. And they would proudly say, "A game!" or whatever it was, and begin showing him how it works. Zuckerberg would stop them. "Show me the code!" he'd say, because, well, he's Zuckerberg, and any occasion is ripe for an ad hoc programming review. And that's when the kid would click on a menu that toggled from the game to the LEGO-like building blocks of a Scratch program. This happened several times, with kids ranging from ages 8 to 15. In every instance, the maker of a cool project could clearly show this famous visitor how he or she had methodically implemented a plan. Zuckerberg was clearly impressed. As we headed up the stairs to leave the building, Zuckerberg called out to me, "Scratch! Have you heard of this?" Oh, yes I had. Though it was not yet released to the world when Zuckerberg left Harvard to launch his quirky little startup, Scratch (developed just a couple of T stops away) is quickly becoming the world's most popular computer language for kids taking their first bite of programming. Last year, over 120 million people came to its site, and many of them built and shared projects, at a rate of a million a month. "It's the gateway drug for Silicon Valley engineering," says Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures, a Scratch supporter."