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"If you're like me, you can't believe that June is already here. And despite the craziness of assessments, reporting, awards day ceremonies, field trips, and impending good byes to students, my thoughts are already turning to my favourite season of the year. Summer! Bikinis and beaches, airplanes and backpacks, golf clubs and green grass, patios and cool drinks, and professional learning. That's right-professional learning. It's not only students who can experience summer learning loss! The glorious months of July and August are a rare opportunity for relaxation and adventure, but summer holidays also gives educators a chance to engage in self-directed professional learning. With ten months of busy schedules and mandatory professional learning days, pursuing our own educational interests is an indulgence many of us we feel we can't afford. This summer I challenge you to choose a topic you are passionate or curious about and pair some professional learning with your favourite summertime activity. Put a few of these summer learning hacks into action and avoid the summer slide!"

"This week we're highlighting a number of our favourite tools for maker-educators. We regularly receive questions from libraries and schools asking what tools they should buy and how best to use them. In this series of posts, we'll be shining a spotlight on some of our favourite tools and looking at five great examples of how to use them."

"In recent times, though there has been a proliferation of Web 2.0 collaborative tools that have the potential for full class interaction. My favourite at the moment is Padlet. Formerly known as WallWisher, Padlet started out as an online pinboard where unlimited users could post notes on topics being discussed en masse."

As you would most likely be aware, I am a massive fan of QR Codes and there application within the classroom. Since discovering them in 2008 I have gone on to blog extensively about how I have used them in the classroom and ideas for possible future activities, with one of my all time favourite ideas being QR Coded posters. (If you are are still unsure what a QR Code is I suggest watching the video here)

"With smartphone cameras improving all the time, the photographic possibilities offered by your mobile device have never been greater. But it's not just new hardware that can help you create amazing images.  Photo software is getting more and more sophisticated and intelligent, as you can see in our rundown of the best photo apps. But time doesn't stand still, so below we've brought together 10 new apps for 2016 that can help boost your photographic powers. And best of all, they're all completely free. Have we missed out your favourite free photo app of 2016? Then please share it with the community in the comments below."

"This week we've been reading a favourite winter time story! The children love the adventures the Gingerbread Man has as he runs away from the different characters in the story. They are always so sad at the end when he is eaten by the fox!     Today I challenged them to retell the story and help the Gingerbread Man outsmart the bakers, cow, goat, cat and fox by using a coding game. This activity helped the children to strengthen their retell as they recalled the story and sequenced the events of the story, and encouraged them to practise their coding skills, specifically oral language related to directionality and number.   We used a small stuffed Gingerbread Man, photos of the different characters from the text, our coding board (sensory table lid with tape), and directional coding cards. "

For those in Australia the end of the teaching year has arrived or is just around the corner. With holidays approaching now might be the perfect time to find a good book to read and reset your thinking ahead of the start of a new year. Here are my favourite reads from this year. 

"Engaging students with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education is more important today than ever before. There's a large gap in today's job market between the skills demanded by growing fields and the amount of potential workers that possess those skills. All of us at STEM Village aim to empower all youth to take a passion for STEM subjects and to continue building their skills for the future job market. However, we also recognize the growing gap between women and girls who choose to take on a STEM career. Read more about why girls need STEM and why STEM needs girls in this article by Today's Parents. Our team aims to find the best STEM resources available so we can bring them to the Technology, Math, Science, and Discovery sections of our STEM Village app. We celebrated International Women's Day this week and are continuing to celebrate the power of women and girls for Women's History month, by sharing our favourite Women in STEM education resources on social media. Here's a list of our top 10 picks to empower girls in STEM!"

"Besides the multitude of resources we have covering reviews of hundreds of educational apps, from time to time we create lists featuring our favourite picks from the piles. Our purpose is to provide teachers with tested educational iPad apps that they can try out in their instruction. The last thing to ask an overburdened teacher is to spend hours in iTunes apps store searching  for apps to use with students. We do the curation job for you and it is your turn to integrate and make the best of these resources in your teaching. That being said, here is a handy visual we created a few months ago featuring some of the best educational iPad apps to consider in your teaching. We know our selection is subjective and many other wonderful apps are missing but for practical reasons we only included a limited number of 20 apps. More educational apps are to be featured in future collections"

"Fortunately for you, I'm here to help. We'll try and keep a mix of old classics and new favourites, read on and stock up on fantastic free iPad apps!"

"A little bit late… Here's our monthly roundup of our best new iPhone and iPad apps for children, as covered on Apps Playground in June 2012. We've got a mix of familiar brands, favourite developers and out-of-the-blue indie apps, all of which piqued our interest"

"This week, TIME Magazine editor-at-large Harry McCracken interviewed himself as a follow-up to his piece on how he had been using his iPad as his primary computer. During the interview he mentions that he still uses his iPad a lot - so much so that it is still his favourite computer."

"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. "

"Just to wrap up our week of apps for teachers here are some favourites that will make your iPad a little more productive in the classroom. Enjoy"

"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

Favourite part of my Grade 9 ICT class according to my students

"Quite a lot, it appears! Here are my top ten favourite "Einstein on KM" quotes, which I have roughly curated into a journey from information to knowledge, through to learning and simplicity, experimentation, failure, curiosity and imagination…"

116 86 11 inShare 10 Print! 4 Web Tools to Create Presentations without Installing Any Software April 21, 2014 There are a slew of useful web tools that teachers and students can use to create awesome presentations and slideshows without having to install any piece of software. I am sharing with you below my four favourite tools that I have been recommending to teachers and students: