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If you attended CUE 09 this year and the keynote by Robert Marzano, you'll recognize this article as an encapsulation of his research on the use of Promethean smartboards.

Environmental Defense has created twelve educational signs as part of an effort to reduce copy paper use through our work with Citigroup. Please use the signs in your office to encourage double-sided printing and copying, which reduces paper use, helps the environment and cuts costs.

From eschoolnews, this article about the Philly School of the Future and why it wasn't the huge success that they had envisioned. I think this is a must-read for folks who are considering one-to-one programs. Learn from the mistakes of others. Interesting comments from readers, too.

Interesting read about assumptions, a well-meaning program, and the lessons learned

The game occurs inside the ecosystem of an estuary on the West Coast of the United States. Following a young girl named Valerie, players interact with Oscar the sea otter and the fictional Claminator, a geoduck clam. To succeed, players must learn about the factors that produce healthy estuaries, food webs, and why estuaries are essential to both ocean life and humans. During the course of the game, students recycle and clean up trash, remove obstructions in waterways, replant the habitat to bring back food webs, and battle pollution monsters to restore Oscar's home

Mabey some Federal dollars will be enough to move some districts to modernize their curriculum.

Now there is MONEY incentive to modernize your curriculum.

Created by ETV for K-12 students, teachers, and parents, Knowitall.org is a free online collection of resources designed for classroom use. This educational web portal contains interactive sites, simulations, image collections, virtual field trips and streaming video that support and provide quality inquiry-based experiences for students on the Internet.

Governor Schwarzenegger, Superintendent O'Connell, and the State Board of Education have announced the Free Digital Textbook Initiative, a project to provide a list of standards aligned free digital textbooks for high schools that cover the course content in mathematics and science subject areas.

A new poll conducted by the nonprofit organization Common Sense Media suggests that students are using cell phones and the internet to cheat on school exams. What's surprising, however, is not just the alarming number of students who say they cheat, but also the number of students who think it's OK to do so.

An online version of the book, Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age: Universal Design for Learning David H. Rose & Anne Meyer ASCD, 2002

Is a lack of PD a barrier? Professional development is a barrier, although I think they can teach themselves much of what teachers need to be learning to be able to modernise their classrooms. The worst thing a teacher can say is: "who's going to teach me how to do that?" Teachers are teachers and should be able to teach themselves what they need to know. If they can't then they probably shouldn't be teaching. You want a teacher who can keep up. There are networks of other educators out there that can connect you with new skills. Professional development doesn't have to be something that is done to teachers - it can be just ongoing conversations they're having with other professionals that they're learning from every day.

Nice graphic on the types of Literacy.

Historians using digital technologies for reading and publishing.

Membership study of Discovery Educators network and the impact on their professional development. While I have just become someone that you CAN book through Discovery for speaking (to be on their website soon) I do learn a lot from DEN.

NYS ELA test prep

Great interview with Ralph Fletcher on topic of mentor texts

What I've encountered most in dealing with colleagues is the fear and the notion that this is just another five to ten year fad in education. It is important first to help others understand CCSS are not a quick-fix or an answer. In some ways, CCSS take us back to what good teaching looks. Ultimately, aside from the budgetary concerns with implementation, perhaps the other greatest struggle here will be the state-level assessment of the CCSS. In order for states to get it right, there needs to adequate time devoted to determining adequate assessment, not drill-and-kill. Broad, interconnected, higher-order thinking cannot be bubbled-in. Period.

"Back to the Drawing Board: The 5Js In the 1990s, the Austin-based educational organization, SEDL, developed a technology professional development framework called the "5Js." The five 'J's, which I will explain in further detail in this article, are: job-related just enough just in time just in case just try it."

Cool (not free though) website with some really nifty gizmos.

I think we're going to see more companies that have valid, standards based games like this one for elementary science and math. This isn't free but you can have a free trial and try the games free for 5 minutes. I think that games are going to be part of what we do and smart textbook companies would behoove themselves to embed games as part of the curriculum for each chapter. I wish my school could do something like this, another thing to look at.