Wow what a great chrome extension. This looks like a great tool for all writers. I especially like the 'collect highlights' tool. Make sure you watch the accompanying video to see how it works.  Read&Write for Google Docs is a cool extension I found on Web App Reviews that can benefit ELLs and struggling readers. The extension provides you with a special toolbar on the top of your Google documents.

Some interesting apps here to support the teaching of Mathematics. I have used Dragonbox+ its awesome for teaching Algebra. Great for high flying grade 6's to year 8's Developers have introduced a greater range of apps across all areas of the Maths curriculum that can be used to enhance the Maths teaching and learning in your classroom. Here's a selection of 20 apps that cover Number and Algebra, Measurement and Geometry, and Statistics and Probability ( these are the Content strands (CS) Australia's Mathematics curriculum has been categorized under ). They also cover the proficiency strands (PS) of Understanding, Fluency, Problem Solving and Reasoning. I'm sure other countries' curricula are similar in many regards and you will be able to make the connections.

In honor of World Autism Awareness Day, some app developers are offering special discounts and in some cases even their apps for free, and iAutism compiled a list of all these apps (about 200!).

Great slideshow demonstrating how Google apps can be used to support teaching and learning with project based learning. 

An explanation of what Diigo is and does. 

Great info graphic highlighting some of the amazing goings on with the Internet. Imagine what will happen when the NBN gets going and wearable technology becomes common place.

Can a decent education turn young criminals around? Tony Wilson goes inside Victoria's toughest youth prison to see a remarkable new school in action. The first minute of the first day at Parkville College began with a teacher, Jess Appeldorff, shaking the hands of eight teenage boys and thanking them for coming to class. The school's other four teachers were there, as was their principal, 40-year-old Brendan Murray. The school was Murray's brainchild and it was an auspicious moment: Victoria's highest security youth justice centre - comprising a cluster of buildings collectively known as The Precinct - was about to undertake a bold educational experiment, and these boys from the college's North Remand had just received what Murray called "the three-quarter-time speech of my life".

Kids don't hate math. Not even fractions. Ask them to divide a bag of candy among themselves and watch them tackle the problem. What they hate is repeat computation, void of context. Add a timer and they really hate it.

A great interactive challenge for grade 5/6 middle group students for exploring some order of operations equations. Headphones and computer required. 

This could be a good whole class launch or independent launch activity for BODMAS/ order of operations

Low to middle independent explore activity

Breaking down BODMAS this could be a good launch whole class share discussion.

Kalinda Primary School 1:1 ipad agreement form

Online animation tool could come in handy for the creative literacy lesson. 

Some great ideas here for getting students to estimate. This person does it daily. These could come in handy for the 5 min warm up. 

One of our most innovative, popular thinkers takes on-in exhilarating style-one of our key questions: Where do good ideas come from? With Where Good Ideas Come From, Steven Johnson pairs the insight of his bestselling Everything Bad Is Good for You and the dazzling erudition of The Ghost Map and The Invention of Air to address an urgent and universal question: What sparks the flash of brilliance? How does groundbreaking innovation happen? Answering in his infectious, culturally omnivorous style, using his fluency in fields from neurobiology to popular culture, Johnson provides the complete, exciting, and encouraging story of how we generate the ideas that push our careers, our lives, our society, and our culture forward. Beginning with Charles Darwin's first encounter with the teeming ecosystem of the coral reef and drawing connections to the intellectual hyperproductivity of modern megacities and to the instant success of YouTube, Johnson shows us that the question we need to ask is, What kind of environment fosters the development of good ideas? His answers are never less than revelatory, convincing, and inspiring as Johnson identifies the seven key principles to the genesis of such ideas, and traces them across time and disciplines. Most exhilarating is Johnson's conclusion that with today's tools and environment, radical innovation is extraordinarily accessible to those who know how to cultivate it. Where Good Ideas Come From is essential reading for anyone who wants to know how to come up with tomorrow's great ideas.

THis is our PD Site

"Teachers have known forever that happy, engaged students are better learners - especially when it comes to tough material. And learning how to spell is so hard for many kids."