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Step by step tutorial on how to get started with blogging by Sue Waters of Edublogs. Sue is part of my PLN and is my go to person when I have questions about blogging. She's wonderful!

iPad screen recording and annotation app - 99 cents

Kyle Pace, Google Certified Teacher and Instructional Tech. Specialist shares his insights into creating workflows in Google Drive with students. The most common methods used are #2 and #3 (Doctopus is another popular script that I like). However, another teacher shared another on you can view here ( http://goo.gl/Kuy3b9 ) that utilizes the idea of a digital portfolio. Using one of these methods is KEY to helping you and your students more effectively leverage Google Drive...and keep your Inbox a bit leaner from all of those file sharing notifications.

"Through digital curation we collect, manage and collate the best, most relevant content, on a specific topic or theme,  for ourselves and share with others. Using tools like Scoop.it, Pinterest, Diigo and Livebinders educators collect the best resources to put them into context with organization, annotation and presentation." This post is a summary of ideas, tips, and resources to become an effective curator.

Powtoon is a neat app you might want to check out. Jayme does a great job with this example. You can see more examples by another teacher at http://learninprogress.blogspot.com/2013/09/starting-off-school-year-with-pow.html

Kathy Cassidy, first grade teacher, received a challenging comment on her blog, regarding her classroom blog and protecting her students. She shares masterfully, and with kindness, to the comment. Want a rationale for classroom blogging? Find some of that in her reply.

there are somse great ideas here,and this might make a super jumping off point for a music project.

Especially with the CCSS, teachers/admin. need to take a look at how grading reflects assessment practices. What do the grades you give really REFLECT about what students CAN DO and know? The table comes from the work of Tom Guskey, a college professor who has done extensive research and writing on grading. (see http://goo.gl/DAHyH)

Thomas Guskey, noted researcher/writer on grading/grade reporting, uploaded his presentation and some of his writing for a conference. Great topic for us to review as we look at the role of grading/grade reporting in teaching/learning and the CCSS.

"ames are infiltrating every aspect of daily life - and everyone's now a gamer, in one form or another. Early-on "gamification" involved adding simple game mechanics like points, badges and leaderboards to websites and apps. But that's not what makes games truly compelling. Good games take players on a journey, giving them something to learn, master and share. Gamification 2.0 is about creating game-like digital services that shape real-world behavior and deliver deep value to players, -- using a blend of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. In this talk, we'll do a teardown of the biggest and most influential social gaming services, and distill those lessons into these Seven Core Concepts for Smart Gamification. "

Check out the activities on this site, which give students immediate feedback. I looked at the math activities for Algebra/Geometry. Students can test their understanding of concepts quickly using this platform. Check it out!

Alice Keeler, MS. Ed/Google Certified teacher/researcher & part of my PLN, provides a clear explanation of Playsheets (Gamification activities like Quia) to foster learning and formative assessment.

"Free Learning Tools betaTest your knowledge, improve your scores and leverage our free testing system. Detailed Results and Performance Statistics! Individual Question Analysis & Explanations Percentile Rankings Score v. Time Distribution Time Spent Per Question"

Concise definition of self-directed learning, six bullet points, and a nice infographic of self-directed learning. An important point mentioned: "One of the misconception about self-directed learning is that learners learn in complete isolation from others while in fact the core idea behind SDL is that learning is driven by intrinsic motivational factors  stemming from the learners own desire to learn and drive his/her learning experience beginning with recognizing a need to learn."

Helpful look at some of the reasons we need to help students learn how to engage in online content through blended and asynchronous learning environments.

This a search engine for free photos. These come from many sources and are license-specific. You can view a photo's license by clicking on the license icon, below and left of photos. Membership is free and allows you to rate, tag, collect and comment on photos.

an amazing  bank of images - all CC licensed for re-use.

"The conversation below on the Power of Twitter Chats was designed to share the value of this mode of professional development with other educators." Embedded video by six educators on the Power of Twitter Chats was designed to share the value of this mode of professional development with other educators.

Kirsten Wilson (@teachwiki) shares how social media has provided the platform for educators (& others) to share, collaborate, & communicate, moving us from just being social to a community of learners. Curation is an important part of that process. She shares apps she uses to collect and share with others. I like how she includes several good questions to consider in the process.