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Vocabulary A to Z- Custom Vocabulary Builder http://www.vocabularya-z.com/ I believe that Vocabulary A to Z can be used for pre-training because before I ever start anything new I need my students to be aware of and know the definitions for words that will be introduced and by doing vocabulary before I start the new information front loads my students to be prepared for the information to come. Vocabulary A to Z is a site that offers a free trial for 30 days and then requires a low annual payment of $19.95. I have found this twenty dollars a year to be indispensable when I consider the types of products that I am able to create with it. The wonderful thing about Vocabulary A to Z is that it offers so many different types of resources for all different subjects, grade levels and disciplines, but the feature that I love the most is the custom vocabulary builder they provide. I can enter my list of vocabulary words for any given novel, text book chapter, poem, anything and this custom builder helps me to organize and produce high quality and visually pleasing handouts and information sheets for my students.

Teachnology- Web Quest Maker http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/web_quest/ Teachnology is a website designed by educators for educators that has endless resources including a Web Quest Maker. This website is absolutely one of the simplest ways to create a web quest that I have found. To use the Web Quest Maker one just need to fill in the appropriate fields with the information they would like to use. Web quests are one way to introduce new topics and information in an exciting and engaging way for students at any grade level. I found Teachnology's Web Quest Maker easier to use and more thorough than any of the other web quest makers that I found. I also especially liked the fact that the creation took place all on one screen and that the host provided pictures and clip art for visitors to use.

* Teachnology- Web Quest Maker http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/web_quest/ Teachnology is a website designed by educators for educators that has endless resources including a Web Quest Maker. This website is absolutely one of the simplest ways to create a web quest that I have found. To use the Web Quest Maker one just need to fill in the appropriate fields with the information they would like to use. Web quests are one way to introduce new topics and information in an exciting and engaging way for students at any grade level. I found Teachnology's Web Quest Maker easier to use and more thorough than any of the other web quest makers that I found. I also especially liked the fact that the creation took place all on one screen and that the host provided pictures and clip art for visitors to use.

Virtual Dub http://www.virtualdub.org/ Virtual Dub is a free downloadable online movie editing software for PC users that allows the manipulation and revision of avi files, jpeg and bmp files, and mp3 files. It is a website that allows you to quickly and easily design short videos to present to students or to create personal slideshows set to music. Either way Virtual Dub provides an opportunity to educators to take presentations past PowerPoint and to the next level of engaging video presentations. For the students of today we know and understand the importance of presenting our learners with the fast paced and visually stimulating graphics that they have been raised with. I chose to incorporate Virtual Dub because it is a free resource that is very effective that produces high quality presentations with an easy to use format. Another feature of Virtual Dub that I really appreciate and use frequently is the batch operation feature. This feature allows me to upload many photos or files all at once. Virtual Dub also allows users to edit their photos with advanced filters such as blur reduction, sharpen, emboss and many other features giving the final presentation a more clean cut and professional look.

Xtimeline www.xtimeline.com The second website that I have chosen to share for authentic assessment activities is Xtimeline. Xtimeline is an online timeline creator that allows users to plot dates, events, plot details and other linear occurrences. Xtimeline is a great tool for authentic assessments because the students create the timeline from scratch and build on their timeline as they continue to work on it. Xtimeline also provides access to previously created timelines for research and background purposes. Xtimeline is capable of creating advanced, organized and visually advanced timelines for free. I especially appreciate the fact that Xtimeline lets members (membership is free) upload pictures to add to the timeline making them much more appealing and interesting to look at. I like Xtimeline because it helps me to observe the linear thinking process of my students. I have used Xtimeline for plot diagramming lessons as well as biography mapping. Xtimeline is a resource that I believe social studies teachers would find extremely useful and purposeful in their classrooms. I also like the physical set up of Xtimeline the tabs, categories and search engine make using this site easy for any user no matter their experience.

Google docs is a great way to merge existing documents, with the ability to create and organize documents online. It is better than a lot of other options because it is free, and transfers across computer platforms.

Google docs is a web based productivity platform that allows the creation of documents, spreadsheets, diagrams and forms. Multiple users can access files simultaneously, allow for collaboration.

Google has a ton of free resources that have the same functionality as Powerpoint or Keynote. One of the great components of Google Docs is the ability to collaborate with others through real time chat or make comments/revisions to a document. For a presentation, Google Docs has a presentation tool that is easy to use, free, and accessible from any location with an internet connection. Although the presentations are not flashy, they help teachers incorporate multimedia into their instruction and make the technology accessible for all of their students.

Headline Spot is a collection of website links to places in the web dedicated to news for young learners. The site is learner centered, offering young researchers a plethora of resources to obtain information. Even though these are accessible through the exclusive use of online computing devices its purpose is to be useful in facilitating access to information. Instructional design is important for effective use of this website, where the learner would be expected to collect and analyze information from various sources, interpret it critically and transform it into unique and original pieces of knowledge.

This is one of the best portals for core curriculum lesson plans, activities, ideas, pictures, pod and vidcasts, access through a group of 10 consortium partners. The partners include: the Smithsonian Institution, AAAS, National English Teachers Association, National Association of Teachers of Math, National Endowment for the Humanities, Verizon, National Geographic, and The Association of Economics Educators. The site has its own search engine which can be used to find material across the disciplines, with links that are all peer reviewed. The site is free and open to anyone who wishes to use it.

This site from the University of Houston offers a very good guide to Digital Storytelling. Links to resources, tutorials, examples, articles and products make it a very complete resource collection and a must for any serious classroom producer.

This website provides an overview to digital storytelling as well as essential areas in include, was to create digital stories, was to evaluate them, examples, lists of possible software, and most importantly an extensive background in copyright.

This is a large site that is a bit cumbersome to navigate. If you take the time a teacher can find some amazing resources listed. But it does take time...

Primarily resources focused on rubrics: development of, use of, student perceptions of, etc. Developed by a university.

This website offers alternative authentic assessments as well as a toolbox for teachers. Even though this is my alma mater, The information presented here is proven to work for educators.

This website from the University of Wisconsin-Stout provides a repository of articles about assessment and how to create assessments and rubrics. Sample rubrics links are available.

A variety of resources and recommendations for trainers and program developers Recognized the variety of workshop types and options.

Holt Interactive Graphic Organizers This site has pre-made graphic organizers that students can fill in. There are different organizers for different types of brainstorming. This site would be best for lower elementary school students or for students who need more assistance (EIP or Sp. Ed.) The PDF document is easy to download and add text to the sections of the organizer. This site also allows for printing a hard copy or the ability to save the filled in GO to be shared later.

With this website, participants can create graphic organizers online with premade PDFs. Graphic organizers can be saved. Participants are able to choose which graphic organizer is best for them.

This site shows different graphic organizers and their perspective names that can be used to organize information and how the information can be organized. I especially like this site and how you can actually click on each organizer to use for future use.

This website provides a resource that describes various aspects of authentic assessment. In addition to sharing examples of authentic assessments for different content areas, the author provides flowcharts and step-by-step guidance for develop authentic assessments. Authentic assessments allow learners to demonstrate what they have learned by using concepts in applicable, relevant situations. Authentic assessments provide evidence of essential and generative learning. This website provides a combination of both general steps for developing authentic assessments as well as more detailed descriptions of the "how" and "why" behind this type of assessment strategy. The information at the website is easy to access and follow.

This is a page from a broader wiki on the subject of digital storytelling that specifically addresses VoiceThread. It is at the essential level of cognitive processing, providing a large overview of the process of creating a VoiceThread, its purposes, assessment, and more. Although it is a bit out-dated in format (lots of scrolling), the number of examples and resources (including sample rubrics, student handouts, etc.) make it one of the better sites for using VoiceThread in education I've found.

Freeology.com offers a variety of graphic organizers, and most of their resources are FREE! This is great for educators because we have limited funding and unlimited needs. This website offers explanations and images of their graphic organizers.

It's a great resource because not only it contains a variety of word templates of graphic organizers; it also contains links to other great resources. The templates are easy to use