"Virtual Reality (VR) is one of the newer technologies moving into the classroom. Google Cardboard and Google Expeditions are the two most popular, but here are some more great VR apps for education: (these are links to the Google Play store, but they all have iOS versions also)"

"Last week I shared National Geographic's excellent multimedia timeline of the Pacific Theater of WWII. National Geographic offers a similar timeline of the European Theater. While the title of the timeline is World War II in Europe, it does include include events that happened in Africa and some events in the United States. The timeline World War II in Europe includes pictures, text, video, and maps of events beginning with Hitler's first violation of the Treaty of Versailles through the end of the war in Europe."

"Music Crab is simple and free iPad designed to help students learn to read music. The app features a little crab that students move by playing virtual piano keys in the app. To move the crab students have to play the correct notes. If they play too many incorrect notes in a row, the game is over and they have to start again."

"Looking for a way to make learning about money fun? A family board game might be the perfect solution. Money games for kids will help them learn about money management while having a great time. Here are some ideas of games for kids about money. Most of these are best for children ages 8 and up, as they take up to several hours to play and involve complex and abstract ideas."

"Mitch Resnick, one of the creators of Scratch, on why he thinks coding should be taught in all schools-it's not the reason you'd expect."

"Let's just put it out there. December is exhausting for teachers. The days are shorter. The weather grows colder and (at least here in Oregon) wetter. Students are anxious - whether it's a buzzing excitement for vacation or a sense of dread that some kids feel in homes that are unsafe during the holidays. And teachers are tired. They're tired of redirecting behaviors and tired of the mid-year pressure of the test and simply tired of the sheer energy it takes to be a teacher. It's no wonder that so many teachers begin playing holiday movies around this time of year. They want to create a sense of fun and escape and enjoyment, and a motion picture promises exactly that. Maybe that's okay. Maybe that's a part of creating a culture of joy. So, please don't read this post as a slam on teachers showing movies before the break. If this is a part of a positive classroom culture, keep doing it. This isn't meant to be a guilt trip or a rant or a "you're doing this wrong" post. This is meant to be a yes/and post offering other options."

"We love fun and easy STEM activities! In this challenge, we will test the strength of paper by piling books on top of differently shaped paper columns.    Are you up for the challenge? Let's test the strength of paper!   "

"Podcast Search Engine that actually works"

"This year's Computer Science Education Week is upon us and, as many teachers know, it brings the opportunity to show students that they, too, can code. Through fostering a global movement during this week, using the Hour of Code and an enormous social-media campaign, technology giants including Microsoft are offering educational tools, such as Minecraft: Education Edition, to develop student interest in coding. This year, Microsoft has updated its Minecraft: Education Edition tutorial, providing greater opportunities to students for learning to code and more educational tools to educators when introducing this subject."

"If there is one piece of advice that is drilled into you as a new parent, it is to limit screen time. Bringing home our first baby, I may have not known how to effectively swaddle or change a diaper, but I did know, "back is best" and "no screen time for children under two." Yet, screens are something we as parents are constantly interacting with. In those early days of parenting, our parents laughed as we announced that we would not expose our children to screens. Yet screens are such a piece of our world. How could I expect a child not to find interest in the screens and technology that we interact with routinely? Does this abstinence approach to teaching new parents and those who work with our youngest learners do more harm than good? Does coding and computational thinking have a place in early childhood education? Yes, it certainly does. "

"Learning to code without a computer may seem illogical, but it makes perfect sense.  Unplugging the computer and teaching coding through more familiar mediums such as hands-on activities, can make the subject less intimidating and more interactive. In the grand scheme of things, the basic principles of coding teach metacognition, problem-solving, and abstract thinking.  These are valuable skills to have even if a career in computer programming isn't in the immediate future.  We've compiled a list of our favorite hands-on coding activities from our Pinterest Board, Coding Unplugged, so you can have fun coding in a variety of ways!"

"Nothing matters more for economics and human living standards than innovation. It's innovation that has allowed us to cure diseases and extend life spans. It's innovation that has drastically increased the pace of transportation and communication, and ultimately it's innovation that has let most people do high-wage work rather than subsistence agriculture. What the researchers found is fascinating. They discovered that both an actual ability to invent things and early life exposure to a culture of innovation and opportunity are crucial to driving inventions. Ability itself is, of course, unevenly distributed. But in the United States, so is opportunity - with huge numbers of highly skilled children from unfavorable backgrounds seemingly locked out of pathways to careers as inventors."

"Your next computational thinking adventure awaits when you and your kids are in the supermarket, about to go through the checkout line. Play the Fastest Line at the Supermarket game!"

"This week (December 4-10), tens of millions of students across the globe will participate in the 2017 Hour of Code Challenge. This global movement, which is now in its fifth year, is an opportunity to introduce students to the ever-growing world of computer science. Whether at school or at home, anyone can participate. No experience is needed! Check out these 7 activities to get your students started:"

"Explore these engaging lessons from Learning.com and see how you can seamlessly integrate Computational Thinking into standard curriculum."

"App Inventor is a free, cloud-based service that you access using a web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari). With these beginner-friendly tutorials, you will learn the basics of programming apps for Android devices. You will need:      * A Mac or Windows computer (see system requirements)      * A free Google account (Gmail or school email tied to Google      * An Android mobile device (phone or tablet). If you don't have a mobile device, you can still use App        Inventor with the on-screen Emulator To see your app on your phone as you build:      * Follow the instructions to connect your phone to App Inventor on your computer      * If you hit any snags, we're here to help! Teachers: Get support and tips for preparing for App Inventor hour of code with your students."

"Last night I had an opportunity to present a free, evening webinar for the Oklahoma State Department of Education's Educational Technology Division, as part of a series they hosted to prepare teachers for Computer Science Education Week. The title of my presentation was, "Developing Computational Thinking with Scratch Coding." The webinar recording is 1 hour and 11 minutes long, and my presentation slides are also available via Google Slides. All these presentation resources are available on my presentation handouts website using the shortened URL wfryer.me/scratch."

"This December will again host the Hour of Code, a one-hour introduction to programming designed to demystify the subject and show that anyone can be a maker, a creator, and an innovator. Last year, almost 300,000 students (age 4-104) participated from over 180 countries and wrote almost 20 billion lines of code. The 200,000+ teachers involved came away believing that, of all their education tools, coding was the best at teaching children to think. It's easy to see why when you look at fundamental programming concepts:"