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"f you and your students rely on images covered by Creative Commons licenses - and learn and observe the license variations - you won't be bothered with "cease and desist" emails over a sausage slice. And you can use several search tools to help you identify non-CC materials that are also free to use in your own work. Finding Creative Commons & license-free material This year, I have gathered (sometimes with the help of students) a number of ways to search for License-Free or Creative Commons Licensed content. Here are a few of the best:"

"The end of the school year is upon us however many are looking forward to next year. You may be thinking what can you do differently next year? How can you stand out above the crowd? How can your school become a larger part of the school community? While Twitter is beginning to catch on with many educators, schools are lagging in their adoption of the platform. But let's think about it. Twitter is a quick and easy tool to let the entire school community know whats going on with you and your students. Updates can come from anywhere and users don't have to have a Twitter account to follow along. But where do you start? What are some things to consider? Here is my primer and some advice for schools (and districts) that want to start using Twitter."

" I have spent today and will spend the next few days talking leadership with folks from around the country. Leading from the box doesn't really get us anywhere. If we stay in our silo and live in our own world can we say we really lead? Being a teacher-leader, curriculum leader, technology leader, or just a leader is about being public. Its about sharing and learning and growing together. So it bothers me when I hear people, powerful people, people in positions that could really drive change, say educators need to be connected, but in the same breath discount the validity of Twitter or other social networking tools. Their idea of connectedness is the traditional. Let's travel 1000's of miles to have a conversation over dinner about assessment or the Common Core. I can have the same conversations with many more people any time of day. That isn't to say that the face-to-face time isn't valuable. On the contrary, I value greatly that time I get to spend with others. But if we are truly going to drive change and make waves as educational leaders we have to plug in and get connected. We have to reach out and read blogs, send tweets, participate in forums."

A great spoken word poem that points out that there are gaps between what we can do with technology and what we are doing with technology. We can make powerful changes in the world using digital tools, but we aren't. Share this in the cause driven learning sessions I do.

An online search tool that doesn't do any tracking of your searches. Makes you safer.

As director of technology for Groton-Dunstable Regional School District in Groton, MA, as well as a teacher of high school courses in digital and information literacy, Andrew Marcinek knows what it takes to effectively implement tech in the classroom. One of Marcinek's recent discoveries is Google Hangouts, a free video chat service that enables one-on-one chats and group chats with up to 10 people at a time. For Marcinek, Hangouts provides a new way to connect students beyond the four walls of the classroom. Where students used to need permission slips and school buses to get that "out of classroom" experience, tools such as Hangouts (which educators can join simply by setting up a Google+ page and signing up for the Hangout feature) allow instructors to do all of the following tasks:

Do Now is a weekly activity for students to engage and respond to current issues using social media tools like Twitter. Do Now aims to build civic engagement and digital literacy for young folks.

create and share visual ideas online
vhemes are visual themes. drag and drop a vheme onto your canvas for easy creation of your visual idea!

Use video presentations and interactive assignments to impact students both in and out of the classroom. It's simple and free.

Many educators use Twitter to as a way to build their Professional Learning Network (PLN) and share what they are doing in the classroom. Twitter is a social media platform that allows you to share small bits of information in 140 characters or less. Robert Marzano shares the importance of summarization, stating "effective learners are able to sift through a great deal of information, identify what is important and then synthesize and restate the information". (Classroom Instruction That Works: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement) Using the Twitter format, this strategy engages students in the videos they are watching as they create "tweets" to summarize and share what they are learning.

Canva gives you everything you need to easily turn ideas into stunning designs. Create designs for Web or print; website banners, presentations, Facebook covers, flyers, posters, invitations and so much more.