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"Try Engineering is a site that hosts lesson plans and games designed to get students interested in engineering. The lesson plans, more than 100 of them, are arranged according age and engineering topic. The lesson plans can be downloaded as PDFs. The games section of Try Engineering features 36 online games. Some of the games were developed specifically for Try Engineering while others are hosted on other educational sites like those of NASA and PBS. Like the lesson plans, the games collection cover a variety of topics including solar energy, space science, and bio-engineering. The games section of Try Engineering also includes links to a dozen iPad apps that students can use to learn about engineering and programming."

"Here are thirty free writing ideas that connect to the holidays or to winter. I want to mention ahead of time that teachers need to be careful with the Establishment Clause. Some of these mention specific holidays and I think it's critical that teachers respect the diversity of beliefs found among students. They are meant to be ideas and not prompts; meaning they are optional visual writing ideas that kids can choose if they want to use them. "

"In May of last year, Ken Robinson-he of "Is School Killing Creativity"/TED Talk legend status-gave a brief talk on the idea of contrast, specifically the difference between who we are and how we teach. His general message was that we, as human beings, are wired for certain tendencies. Three of those most immediate to education, Robinson explains, are our diversity, curiosity, and creativity, calling children "natural learners." He contrasted these hallmarks of being human with the tone in which public education in the United States currently operates-a tone that promotes conformity, compliance, and standardization."

"Salut! Hi everyone! If you teach French, you know how tough it can be to find resources for your classroom. Of course, I'm talking about QUALITY resources. That's why a group of great teacher-authors has decided to put together a FREE French eBook of tips and links to freebies for the back-to-school season or should I say "pour la rentrée"? Laudalina from Profs et Soeurs is the mastermind of this amazing initiative and Ms. Joanne has been so generous to host the eBook. What about me? I was honored to organize it! But before we get to the eBook, I would also like to share 5 FREE websites you can use for extra activities when teaching French. They are presented in no specific order and I'm not affiliated with any of them. I just really think they're very useful."

"When we 'research' things now, we generally aren't referring to spending time in a library - or even referring to spending time online accessing specific library or school research databases. The word 'research' largely refers to the act of typing words into your internet search bar and seeing what the Wise Old Web tells you. There is so much information out there, and while a web search isn't necessarily a bad thing (and we'd encourage you to head back to the 'ol library to see what resources they have to offer you), there are definitely some things you can to do get the best search results possible out of a simple web search."

"Our PYP evaluation went really well and it was gratifying to hear the evaluators' positive observations of our school. They talked about our dynamic learning spaces, the energy of our teachers and learners and the respect that is evident between staff and students. They were impressed by how articulate our students are and the openness of our teachers. It was clear to them that the entire school community has a deep understanding of the PYP philosophy and that we have a strong culture of learning. Almost all their recommendations are things on which we are either working already or have identified for action through the self study. There's only one thing I found jarring in their feedback and it relates to my beliefs about inquiry learning. They noted that neither students nor teachers seem able to identify what particular inquiry cycles we follow. They said the children to whom they spoke didn't seem to be aware of the specific 'stages' of inquiry and that most teachers couldn't articulate how an inquiry cycle directs our planning. To be honest, I'm glad."

"Hopscotch is a free app created specifically for the iPad that introduces students to programming using a visual touch interface and drag-n-drop code blocks. With bright colors, friendly characters and a library of different functions and programming statements, Hopscotch is an excellent way to introduce the logical concepts of programming to learners."

"Need more convincing that Minecraft can be a powerful tool for learning? Check out this fun video from PBS Idea Channel's Mike Rugnetta, who specifically (and very quickly) lists a number of ways the video game can and has been used to learn everything from physics to history."

"Welcome to the ORC Stella website. The core of this collection is a library of more than 600 non-routine mathematics problems known as Stella's Stunners to be launched set by set over the coming months. The problems range from simple visual problems, requiring no specific mathematical background, to problems that use the content of Pre-Algebra, Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II and Trigonometry, up through Pre-Calculus. The Stella problems are not typical textbook exercises. They are considered "non-routine" problems because the methods of attacking them are not immediately obvious. Because these problems can supplement and enliven traditional mathematics courses in a variety of ways, we have included materials to assist in using Stella problems in your teaching: "

"I am aware that the computer science aspects of the new computing curriculum creates extra work for some teachers as they need to learn many unfamiliar concepts. I know this can be challenging and time consuming, but I think we are very fortunate because there is a vast range of free programming environments /apps available for teachers to use for teaching computer science elements to children. What we need to remember is that the program itself doesn't just make children develop computational thinking, the context we use, the pedagogical approach we employ shapes the learning experience of our students. On the next page I have shared a simple activity which can be used as a main task or as an assessment task at the end of a coding session. The aim is to support children to design solutions for a specific purpose by selecting and using correct blocks in a sequence. These activities can encourage them to think in logical steps which is the main foundation of problem solving skills and at the same time provide opportunities for peer or whole class discussions."

"Let me tell you a quick, cautionary tale about using images online and copyright. Last year, I received an email from one of our blog managers communicating that a popular stock photography vendor was claiming one of the images in an ebook I created had been wrongfully used.  Embarrassed, I quickly investigated. When I identified the offending image, I specifically remember ensuring I had properly sourced (and had the right permissions to use) it. As it turned out, another internet user had purchased the image from the stock photography service and uploaded it to a photo-sharing website under a Creative Commons license. So while on the surface it looked safe for the taking, it was in fact falsely promoted as a royalty-free image. Scary story, right? That's when it hit me: What if marketers didn't have to shell out more money for photos, obsess about copyright laws, and fret over permissions? What if we could help solve this issue for them by offering a repository of stock photos that anyone could use completely for free? So that's exactly what we did. We hired a photographer and took a ton of photos to give away for free -- no royalties, fees, or attribution required. (Although we'd never say no to an inbound link or two. ;-) )"

"In the world of presentations, there is one key ingredient that will radically change them - specifically, how you engage your audience and how they perceive you. And, it's a solution you have been hearing for quite some time now, but I want to take it one step further. Tell a story."

"ome widely held ideas about the way children learn can lead educators and parents to adopt faulty teaching principles Jan 1, 2015 Credit: Kiyoshi Takahase segundo MYTH HUMANS USE ONLY 10 PERCENT OF THEIR BRAIN FACT The 10 percent myth (sometimes elevated to 20) is mere urban legend, one perpetrated by the plot of the 2011 movie Limitless, which pivoted around a wonder drug that endowed the protagonist with prodigious memory and analytical powers. In the classroom, teachers may entreat students to try harder, but doing so will not light up "unused" neural circuits; academic achievement does not improve by simply turning up a neural volume switch. MYTH "LEFT BRAIN" and "RIGHT BRAIN" PEOPLE DIFFER FACT The contention that we have a rational left brain and an intuitive, artistic right side is fable: humans use both hemispheres of the brain for all cognitive functions. The left brain/right brain notion originated from the realization that many (though not all) people process language more in the left hemisphere and spatial abilities and emotional expression more in the right. Psychologists have used the idea to explain distinctions between different personality types. In education, programs emerged that advocated less reliance on rational "left brain" activities. Brain-imaging studies show no evidence of the right hemisphere as a locus of creativity. And the brain recruits both left and right sides for both reading and math. MYTH YOU MUST SPEAK ONE LANGUAGE BEFORE LEARNING ANOTHER FACT Children who learn English at the same time as they learn French do not confuse one language with the other and so develop more slowly. This idea of interfering languages suggests that different areas of the brain compete for resources. In reality, young children who learn two languages, even at the same time, gain better generalized knowledge of language structure as a whole. MYTH BRAINS OF MALES AND FEMALES DIFFER IN WAYS THAT DICTATE LEARNING ABILITIES FACT Diffe

"We've done tips in the past for teaching with tablets. This one is similar, so there is some overlap, but this has more to do with apps specifically. Below are 25 tips for teaching with apps. Let us know in the comments what we missed."

"Here is a great and comprehensive directory of free image sources compiled by The Edublogger. This collection is specifically created to help teachers, educators and students have instant access to a wide variety of web resources where they can search for and access free images.The sources featured in this directory are organized according to these 4 criteria:"

"Primary source documents, especially photographs, are powerful tools for grabbing the attention of students.  Sometimes it's challenging to find the right picture to connect to a historical fiction literature circle or to support a Social Studies lesson.  I'm a big fan of Google Image searches but another option is to check out the LIFE photo archive hosted by Google.  You can search over a hundred years worth of photographs by typing in a keyword or choosing a specific event or time period.  This is a terrific resource for teachers who work with students of any age!"

"Currently, there seems to be a gap between what our schools and universities teach and the lifelong learning skills students must learn to master on their own. And yet, the need for students to master lifelong skills has never been greater. Corporate leaders confirm their importance for promotion and advancement, while economists contend these skills hold the key to countering projected job losses due to automation. With all the buzz around the Common Core, MOOCs, and blended learning, it's time to prioritize skills that prepare students to learn for life. With schools like Summit Public Schools and Lindsay Unified making efforts to experiment with new approaches to learning, there's an opportunity to focus on a new set of skills. I believe these skills can be broken into three categories: Reflection, Research, and Resolving. Grounded in educator Malcolm Knowles' definition of learning, these 3Rs take students beyond the centuries-old, subject-specific 3Rs of reading, (w)riting, and (a)rithmetic. Armed with them, learners can thrive in a world where learning never ends."

"I sometimes learn more about my own practice in the classroom from the questions I am asked than I do from my own reflection. There is something about the lenses through which others see our work that helps us to see ourselves more clearly.  That was the case earlier this month at the Building Learning Communities Conference in Boston. At the end of the first day of a two-day session I was leading on Building Learning Communities in elementary classrooms, I asked the participants what they specifically wanted to talk about on the second day. One of the attendees asked me to address the way I introduce the idea of digital citizenship in my classroom. What a great question! Unfortunately, I didn't have a great answer. I did though, have the evening to think about my response."

"In my last post I shared how presentation platforms/communities contribute to my professional learning, sharing, and growth. Search the Scoop.it community Also in my arsenal are tools that, in the old days, we would have called current awareness services. These curation tools allow you to follow others who share your interests and to push newsfeeds to your inbox after setting up a variety of search/interest parameters. Some push automatically; some allow you to hand-pick and annotate specific items from those feeds. Most also allow you to curate discoveries made on the fly through the use of a handy browser bookmarklet to facilitate clipping, scooping, pinning, bookmarking, etc. when you are not actually on the platform. These curated newspaper/magazine communities allow members to follow other members to facilitate discovery.  Again, it's all about the network.  Your discoveries will be as powerful and the people and organizations you chose to search and follow."

"Apple announced a new version of iWork designed specifically for the iPad tablet device the company unveiled on Wednesday. The iWork for iPad application suite broadens the potential target audience for the iPad, turning what might have been cast as consumer device into one that business users could embrace."