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Math Pickle is the most excellent mathematics inspiration I have come across. It approaches mathematics from the standpoint of a problem solver instead of from the standpoint of a rules follower. Already that shift in thinking makes my brain happy. Brilliant. Math Pickle has problems and videos for every grade kindergarten through twelfth. Use these videos to pump some inspiration into the way you approach and teach math or show them to your students and encourage them to continue solving the problems. Don't forget to film your students working through their own math pickles! The Inspired page of Math Pickle is a must see. Students can take a look at what mathematicians do in real life. They can also learn about the source of Math Pickle problems. Tips: Be sure to check out Muse, news and reviews for additional ideas, puzzles and reviews of math products, puzzles and games for the classroom.

A comparison of Skydrive and iCloud side by side. There's Google apps, Skydrive, and iCloud as the big three of online cloud-based word processing and since we do so much writing in schools, it is likely that your school would select one of the three. If you haven't selected any, then you have a big problem unless you've got a masterful way of syncing locally. This is how we work in the 21st century and it is time to get with the program. Microsoft gives all SkyDrive users 25GB of free storage space. That's a whole lot of bang for absolutely no bucks.

We Give Books instantly increases your classroom library and puts high-quality books within reach for children everywhere. We Give Books makes an excellent companion to the interactive whiteboard or projector-connected classroom computer for a class read along. Pull up a story and read the book chorally, ask students to take turns reading, or simply follow along. Everyone can see the pictures and words! This is a great resource for practicing reading strategies together as a class. We Give Books makes a wonderful reading station on classroom computers. Students can access wonderful stories any time through We Give Books. For those students that struggle with indpendent reading (or are emergent readers) there is a read-along option on some of the stories. Students can follow along with the reading building fluency, flow and vocabulary. If you are a primary or elementary teacher, this is a must-add link to your classroom website or blog. Be sure to share the site with families so that students can access the same wonderful library of books from home. Students (and teachers) can create their own library where they keep the books they have read (or enjoy reading). To add a book to a library, you must be a member of We Give Books- no problem, it is quick and free to become a member! Tips: Students can use the word cloud on the right side of the We Give Books page to find books about their favorite subjects.

While there are some UK-specific terms thrown in here and there, a simple preview of the activity yourself will determine if it's significant enough to be a concern. (I'm willing to bet it won't be.) I can see these activities used in a whole-class setting for formative assessment, to introduce topics or reinforce skills, especially where Interactive White Boards (IWBs) are available. Bring students up to the board and let them explain how they are solving the problem! The site could also be used effectively in centers, especially given the ease of navigation. Finally, since each activity has its own unique URL, it's easy to add Favorites or Bookmarks to local browsers, making immediate access a snap.

 Government-sponsored "contests" for adults and kids that are designed to elicit ideas on how to solve various problems.

How to integrate Pegby into the classroom: Pegby is one of those tools that I get totally geeked out about. I love the 3×5 note card look, the columns, the tagging, the associated calendar dates. A recipe for edu-love I tell ya! Pegby is a great tool for organizing your teacher self this year. Add ideas for the school year, tasks, lesson plans, to-do items, etc. to your board as cards. Create columns that make sense to you and organize to your heart's content! Want one better? Share your board with colleagues so that you are all on the same page and can share lessons/resources/task responsibilities. Older students can keep their school year organized by adding assignments, tasks, uploading work, taking/keeping notes and sharing their board with Pegby. As students work on and complete tasks, they can move items from one column to the next. Those unit tests won't be a problem because they can tag pertinent information and easily study and review tagged information. Pegby would also be a great tool for organizing research projects (even collaborative research projects). Students can decide how they want to organize their research and notes, tag information and attach documents. All of the research is in one place and tagged for easy reference when it comes time to compile the research. Does your school use standards to keep track of learning? Why not create columns of Standards headings, and associate each standard with a note card? Students can upload any files or work associated with the standard. OR instead of making each column a standard heading, columns can be associated with mastery level of the standard. As a student moves through levels of mastery, they can move that standard card from one column to the next making stacks out of the standard subject. Students can keep track of their own learning, share their "Standards" board with teachers and parents. Is your class collaborating with other classrooms? Create a collaboratio

Targeted to 8- to 16-year olds, Scratch allows students to create and share projects, presentations, stories and best of all - videos games! The emphasis is on multi-media and includes graphics, sound, music, and photos. Supported by National Science Foundation research, Scratch encourages creativity, problem-solving, and collaboration.

Comic Creator in the classroom: The Boy's Life Comic Creator is a great little tool to help your boys connect with writing and story telling in a way that they enjoy and understand. The tool is simple enough to use as a writing station/center on classroom computers. The comic does need to be created in one sitting, there is no way to save and come back to a comic later. Completed comics can be printed off and shared. The Comic Creator is a great entry point into writing but could also be useful in math for creating and solving story problems. Students can create a short math comic strip that can be traded with other students to solve. Students taking a foreign language class could practice new words by creating a comic strip story in Comic Creator. Use Comic Creator the first week of school as a way for boys to tell all about themselves. Each student can create a comic strip that stars them as the main character. Invite other students to try to match the comic strip with the student as a fun interactive bulletin board activity (Think comics on one side, student pictures on the other and string to draw the "line" between matches).