Issues and Trends

gives examples of how students can tie a map in to a story. Good for history classes, maybe for showing where different battles took place?

article discussing different ways in which twitter can be used in the classroom

Sarah, Thank you for sharing this article. Twitter exploded last year in my district, especially at the high school, as a form of communication for everyone. The middle school, where I am primilary at, is slowly catching on. However, I LOVE Twitter as a professional resource. I think it is like a social bookmarker. I can share the websites, and then go back when I have time to explore them more. I agree this can be used in my library to be an effective communication tool for both students and staff. I believe this resource can be used for both students and staff, but they have different purposes. As a professional, using hashtags can be very benefical to find information. It can also be a great way to network, using the Twitter Chats that go on all around the United States and the world. Students can use this to communicate. For example, the students wanted to have a blue out in honor of a student who has cancer at the football game last night. They asked the opposing team to join them in wearing blue to honor a young man who is fighting for his life. They did, and they donated an additional $425 because they found that information on Twitter! I am not aware of other resources that do that same thing. I believe Twitter is unique with their limit of 140 characters and the strong hashtag movement they begun all throughout the internet world.

Emma, are you in Clinton? I heard about the "blue out"! I like to use Twitter for mainly professional use, but that varies from anywhere between retweeting professional articles to reminding the study body to buy their yearbooks. I try to throw in some personal stuff every now and again just to show that their teacher is an actual human, too. :)

a list of 100 lesser-known tricks to help with everything Google

I agree, Megan! Emma, happy to hear you are moving to Google Apps for Education. I made the switch my first year of teaching and haven't looked back! Google has so much to offer, and for free usually, that the possibilities seem endless. It has totally revolutionized how I thought I'd be teaching!

Google has so many hidden tricks that nobody knows about! Being aware of these can help you use Google to the most of its ability. I would definitely use this since I want to use Google in my classroom. I have found out how wonderful Google is, and I didn't know some of these tips! This is for teacher use for obvious reasons. There are many lists of things out there, but this is a less known topic so there probably aren't too many.

Social media resources for educators I can use these tools to create a wider variety of communication using social media.

I can use the resources posted on this site in my classroom to enhance learning. These resources can be used by both teachers and students for interactive learning experiences. I am familiar with Edmodo and I like the many features it offers to teachers and students. In my school we use Canvas, which is based on a similar concept. However the Edmodo interface is very similar to Facebook which can be more user friendly for students.

This resource is valuable to students and teachers. The first video on talks about how it can be used by anyone. My concern is that the video was made in 2007. That seems like a long time ago I wonder what the updated video looks like? I am very glad to hear there are alternatives to Blackboard and Google classroom but I wonder if the alternatives to these big shots work the same?

Ways to incorporate technology into music education I can use the technology links to integrate more technology into my classroom.

Ways to incorporate technology into music education I can use the technology links to integrate more technology into my classroom.

Compilation of online resources for the elementary general music classroom I can use these as activities in my music classroom.

Compilation of online resources for the elementary general music classroom I can use these as activities in my music classroom.

How 21st Century Skills from the common core connect to arts education I can use this as an advocacy tool to help justify arts education in the common core.

How 21st Century Skills from the common core connect to arts education I can use this as an advocacy tool to help justify arts education in the common core.

This is a good resource for teachers to take to administration to justify teaching the arts. I believe that the arts play an irreplaceable role in the development of young minds, and it makes me sad that some districts are cutting funding, marginalizing, or getting rid of the arts entirely. While I do not teach the arts, I want my own children to grow up surrounded by the arts. They foster creativity and inspire innovation, which is what I want future generations to excel at doing. Thank you for sharing!

A resource for apps that are appropriate for the elementary music classroom. I particularly like the idea of PhotonEDU that allows flash sites to run on ipads.

A site with teacher-rated apps for the music classroom. Apps are grouped by function and ranked within functional categories.

How e-book usage is changing in school libraries over the next few years

List of technology resources that can be applied in the CTE areas.

This blog post is about creating home-to-school connections through the use of various social media platforms. I hope my school utilizes the different types of technology discussed in this article so that I have an efficient means through which I can reach my students' families.

ISTE standards for students describe the skills and knowledge they will need to learn in a global and digital society. Especially important when creating project-based learning lessons.

ISTE standards for students describe the skills and knowledge they will need to learn in a global and digital society. Especially important when creating project-based learning lessons.

This is a great resource that gives you lesson plans and activities in a variety of different subjects and grade levels. You can even search by standards, grade, and subject!

Lesson plans and activities for a wide range of subject geared towards real-life examples. Difficult to sort through and search for material relevant to the math standards needed for my courses.

The CoolCatTeacher is an education blog that focuses in on technology. Blogger, Vicki Davis writes an article about the very FIRST ever student-led technology conference (back in Jan, 2015).

Sometimes taking a chance to do some proper breathing in the classroom is helpful for both students and teachers. I decided to save this article because it provides a quick and visual description of some breathing exercises you can do with your students!

This is an article that breaks down the "Four C's" of 21st Century Skills. It is a nice, light, read and I feel like it hits the nail on the head about what kinds of skills our students will need in the workforce of today and tomorrow.

Great article about the Four C's. This article is very long and detailed but atleast it gives a better understanding and more in depth lesson about the Four C's.

This whole blog is a great resource for information literacy and other important 21st century skills

I've never heard of this blog before and I greatly enjoyed this post! I agree with the statement that people have to continuously learn and be educated throughout their life in order to be successful.

Edudemic is an education and technology blog. This article goes in depth, explaining 3 ways schools are able to fund new educational technology.