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MyVocabulary.com offers free vocabulary lessons, word lists, and word puzzles designed for middle school and high school students. The vocabulary lists are based on books commonly used in middle school and high school classrooms. MyVocabulary.com also offers word lists and activities based on SAT vocabulary. Visitors to MyVocabulary.com will find stand-alone vocabulary lessons as well as activities to complement the reading of specific stories. Applications for EducationIf you're planning a series of lessons on one of "standard books" for middle school or high school, MyVocabulary.com could provide you with some good vocabulary lists and lesson ideas to get started. Students prepping for the SAT should take some time to explore the SAT word puzzles offered by MyVocabulary.com

Gyosei International School in Chiba, Japan

# Never use technology for the sake of using technology. Ensure instead that the use of technology is warranted within your schemes of work and that it will help you achieve your lesson objectives. # Use streaming video in your classroom. The advent of broadband has facilitated the inclusion of video straight from the internet within lessons. Authentic video material from sites like YouTube or national TV broadcasters' websites, such as TVE or Canal+ are a fantastic way to expose reluctant teenagers to the popular culture other reluctant teenagers enjoy in their native countries. # Use more music. Teenagers are fanatical about music. The likelihood is that they use iTunes and so should you! Find out what type of music they are into and try to get similar music in the target language, which you can then use in your lessons. # Use teleconferencing tools, such as Skype, to put your students in touch with students in partner schools abroad. They'll realise there are other people in the same situation in other countries and might even end up establishing relationships they can follow up using MSM Chat, Hotmail, etc. # Create your own interactive exercises. You know your pupils' strengths and weaknesses better than anyone, so why be stuck with exercises done by other people for other people? Make your own using tools such as Hot Potatoes or game makers from ContentGenerator.net or LanguagesOnline Australia and then get your school teccie to put them on the school's website or Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). You can see my interactive Spanish exercises here. # Use your interactive whiteboard more effectively. Go on a course and learn the basics. A little knowledge goes a long way helping you create more effective interactive classroom activities for you and your pupils. I have posted some tutorials here. # Create your own podcasts. They are technically easy to do and once they are done they can be downloaded again and again, year after year. Think about them a

Great word list and free online games for the first week of school

Survey from JogNog reveals schools unprepared to support digital learning - EdTech Times

Great run down and videos about Finnish success at schooling. Also see PISA results... http://www.pisa2006.helsinki.fi/finland_pisa/results/2006/2006.htm

Necessary watching - note his mention of "Metaphors we live by " http://www.soc.washington.edu/users/brines/lakoff.pdf Also the distinction between the nested hierarchy and the networking models

Powerful speech which questions the role of business and our true commitment to schools and education. 

Many students around the world sit an English Language Test called IELTS (International English Language Testing System). There are two versions of the test: Academic Module - For entry into university or other tertiary institution offering degree or diploma courses. General Training Module - For entry into secondary school or vocational training courses. This hub gives basic information about the modules in the IELTS academic test modules.

A web 2.0 job site for English teachers and schools. Upload video resumes, make your profile, find all the jobs on the web on one site! Lots more.

Mary Ann Zehr is an assistant editor at Education Week. She has written about the schooling of English-language learners for more than seven years and understands through her own experience of studying Spanish that it takes a long time to learn another language well. Her blog will tackle difficult policy questions, explore learning innovations, and share stories about different cultural groups on her beat.