Storybird reverses the process of visual storytelling by starting with the image and "unlocking" the story inside. Choose an artist or a theme, get inspired, and start writing.

This is so exciting!

I thought that you all would enjoy reading this blog post. It made me really think about how I teach in my classroom. I felt that these concepts really support the 21st Century skills that we are teaching. 

National Academies Press has now made 4,000 books free via .pdf. There is so much there!

This is the corrected version of our peer coaching video.

The students then created a digital book that included their memoir as well as their personal philosophy that they wrote in World History. Ultimately, the project culminated in an exhibition where the students presented their digital books to an audience of family, friends, peers and community members. Each student individually presented his or her book and read an excerpt of the memoir. For many students it was the first time they had such "high stakes" in a project and they simultaneously had to work on elements of public speaking along with the project development.

As we become an older country, our greatest stories are sometimes lost when members of the generation before us dies. This four week unit is designed to encourage students to discover the hidden stories of their families and community. During the course of this project, students will interview members of their community and/or family members and develop a newsletter that provides background of the time period of the story and the person telling the story. Additional stories will be shared with the students by downloading clips from the stories that have been shared with members of Story Corps(www.nationaldayoflistening.org), one of the largest oral history projects in the world.

Grade/Subject: 9-12 Language Arts Description: Students will research the American Dream, what it means to different people and cultures, how it changes, and how it manifests itself in politics, religion, education or entertainment. In addition, students will define their own American Dreams and explore obstacles and adjustments they might need to make. Benefits: The student will apply pre-reading skills and comprehension strategies, while extending independent reading, and will organize and synthesize information that will be used to plan, create, organize and present an age appropriate media product. Students will also become more aware of the way culture changes across the decades. Possible Pitfalls: Finding an authentic audience could be an issue. However, some front work could solve that problem.

Collaboration Coaching at AJHS has allowed us to better use our instructional time and resources to effectively engage and inspire students. Through training sessions and frequent interactions, we have been able to share ideas, receive encouragement, and seek guidance on lesson plans. In looking forward we anticipate creating a stronger support system, increasing student achievement and accountability, and discovering resources to better teach 21st Century skills.

Discovery Education provides engaging digital resources to schools and homes with the goal of making educators more effective, increasing student achievement, and connecting classrooms and families to a world of learning. Tons of Web 2.0 tools to utilize in your classrooms.

Another great resource from Edublogs

Assessing Projects is a no-cost, advertisement-free online resource to support the implementation of effective assessment practices. Visit to: *Create an account in the Teacher Workspace where you can save 21st century skills assessments to your Personal Library *Learn about the research and theory behind successful assessment. *Browse Assessment Plans that illustrate how different units incorporate ongoing assessment *Explore explanations and examples of assessment strategies

This is the Library of Congress Teacher Page. It has so many activities. You can also sort them by state standard!

This is a fabulous source for students to access a public library.