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"Will you ever just walk into class and ask, "Okay, what do you want to study today?" Of course not. Inquiry-based learning is founded on students taking the lead in their own learning, but it still requires considerable planning on your part. Projects must fit into your larger program structure, goals and plans, but the students will be actively involved in planning the projects with you and asking the questions that launch their individual inquiries." In thinking about PBL and other inquiry-based learning, this post and the graphic of the inquiry process are easy to connect with.

This We Believe: Keys to Educating Young Adolescents (National Middle School Association, 2010) identifies interdisciplinary teams as one of these organizational features and reminds us that these teams need "daily or regular common planning time" so they "can plan ways to integrate the curriculum, analyze assessment data, examine student work, discuss current research, and reflect on the effectiveness of instructional approaches being used" (p. 32). Teachers also use common planning time to address management issues related to individual student and parent concerns, the day-to-day management of the team, and scheduling of activities. 

Using Vygotsky's theory of the Zone of Proximal Development and scaffolding, one district moved their Prof. Development plan toward a more differentiated model. Read the article, "Individualized Technology Goals for Teachers" for a detailed explanation of it's evolution and practice. http://goo.gl/BJfZIQ

Using Vygotsky's theory of the Zone of Proximal Development and scaffolding, one district moved their Prof. Development plan toward a more differentiated model. Read the article, "Individualized Technology Goals for Teachers" for a detailed explanation of it's evolution and practice. http://goo.gl/BJfZIQ

Lessonopoly, a free tool that lets you manage your classroom, find and share lesson plans, and connect with other teachers. Over 30,000 plans to choose from!

Excellent direction & examples of how to build an award-winning sub plan. May be too much for some, but you can pick & choose the elements you would want to use.

Great to see we're back to encouraging backwards design as we approach the CCSS. I use parts of this myself in technology planning & professional development - "Begin with the end in mind" (Stephen Covey)

Great information and a chance to watch a school pilot Chromebooks from the beginning stages of planning & implementation

"Students and teachers are making trailers to do things like demonstrate their learning, explain vocabulary words, document experiments, preview novels or textbook chapters, summarize historical events and promote school activities. " Tony provides great tips on how to outline a trailer and student/teacher examples.

The Art Project powered by Google features interior tours of seventeen world famous art museums. Select a museum from the list on the homepage and you can virtually tour it using the same interface style you experience in Google Maps Streetview. Inside the museum just double click to zoom to a location. You can also open a floor plan overview and click on a room to navigate to that part of the museum. The best part of the Art Project powered by Google is the option to create your own artwork collection while visiting each museum. As you're touring a museum click on the "+" symbol on any work of art see it in greater detail, to add it to your collection, and to open background information about that work of art. To create a collection you must be signed into your Google account.

Amazon provides 5 GB of free online storage (about 1000 songs; 2000 photos) - all file types. The great part about Amazon Cloud Drive is that you can stream your music - and from your Android phone. Unlimited access from any computerOther plans available - 20GB for $20/yr (4000 songs; 8,000 photos)

This list is considered the "best of the best" by AASL and is comprised of free, user-friendly sites that encourage a community of learners to explore and discover. They also provide a foundation to support AASL's Standards for the 21st-Century Learner. The sites offer tools and resources in content collaboration, content resources with lesson plans, curriculum sharing, digital storytelling, managing and organizing, and social networking and communication.

U.S. Dept. of Education Technology Plan - Infrastructure: Access and Enable - discusses the role of filtering and providing access - read "Balancing Connectivity and Student Safety on the Internet" 

Great ways to make word clouds. I use Wordle, but plan on trying some of the other tools.

Nice, short video tutorial on how to search for publicly shared Google Docs, Slides, Presentations, & lesson plans.

"students turn to when tasked with an assignment. Whether it's for research, real-time results, or just a little digital exploration … it's important they know how to properly Google." Here are some helpful lessons to do that

A dynamic web-based multimedia resource that includes peer-reviewed lesson plans, handouts, presentations, videos and other resources to enhance the teaching of information literacy (K-16).

"I've had the pleasure to deliver and be part of countless sessions and workshops, and I can tell you from first-hand experience that there is nothing worse than a presenter who doesn't know his or her audience. Adult learners carry with them a very diverse set of skills and needs. To prepare a one-size-fits-all (or most) session does everyone a disservice. Whether you work in a district as an instructional support staff or you provide ancillary development as a contractor, the three tools and tactics featured in this post will provide an effective means to gauge the needs of your audience and chart your course to effectively support them."