Educational Blogs
An educational blog I found interesting was entitled About Keyboarding Research at http://keyboarding.wordpress.com/about/. Postings here allow others to read and discuss ideas for teaching keyboarding in the classroom. Most of the discussions cover what research material would be beneficial for others to use in their classroom. I find this blog useful for middle to high school level teachers because many opinions are shared of how important it is to integrate keyboarding throughout middle school and high school curriculum.The Sizzle in Science at http://delamagente.wordpress.com/ is a great blog site for teachers, students, and parents who love to explore all the dimensions of science. This site has instructional videos, virtual tours and interactive activities. I found Edheads to be a very interesting link which allows students to perform virtual activities that deal with areas such as weather, machines and health (allowing students to interact with virtual surgeries). There is also a link to the top science blog for students in third grade and above who are interested in astrology. Towards the bottom of the page there are short articles about a variety of science topics such as robots, biology, evolution and the high-tech generation today that students can read and post their thoughts to.
Classroom Blogs
Get Lost... at http://guysread.typepad.com/getlost/ is a great blog that can be used to integrate into a geography lesson. This site was made by geography teachers who collected videos and pictures from all over the world. The entries include such categories as environment, food, history, movement and people from all across the world. Each entry allows students to get an inside view of different cultures. The site begins by giving a couple paragraphs of background information about the site. Below the introduction there is a list of links to entries that were voted the most popular by students. I would highly recommend teachers to review this site if they plan on covering culture in their curriculum.
Today a majority of the younger population is unaware of the current issues that are going on in our world. The Blurb found at http://guysread.typepad.com/theblurb/ is a great site to integrate into a middle school or high school level classroom. Recent posts on this site include topics such as immigrant children, wildfires in California and how students can help with the crisis of poverty. Each entry gives a very detailed description of what is really happening in the world that students or even adults may not be aware of. Each entry attracts the readers by not only giving descriptions but by adding pictures, poems, fun facts, maps and questions to consider. I find this to be a great site to integrate into a class at either the beginning of the day or as a final thought of the day. I believe it is important for all students to be informed about current issues and it can even help lead into a class discussion about their thoughts and ideas.
Today a majority of the younger population is unaware of the current issues that are going on in our world. The Blurb found at http://guysread.typepad.com/theblurb/ is a great site to integrate into a middle school or high school level classroom. Recent posts on this site include topics such as immigrant children, wildfires in California and how students can help with the crisis of poverty. Each entry gives a very detailed description of what is really happening in the world that students or even adults may not be aware of. Each entry attracts the readers by not only giving descriptions but by adding pictures, poems, fun facts, maps and questions to consider. I find this to be a great site to integrate into a class at either the beginning of the day or as a final thought of the day. I believe it is important for all students to be informed about current issues and it can even help lead into a class discussion about their thoughts and ideas.
Teacher Blogs
It is difficult to find videos to present to students that relate to math, in all of my years as a student I have never been showed a math video. The blog entitled Math Video Blog found at http://math-videos-online.com is a great site to find interactive math videos that go along with almost every topic in math. The interactive videos include some areas such as calculating money, algebra problems, geometry problems and probability. The videos walk through story problems step-by-step also allowing you to pause at any time. Each step is verbally read and the key points are highlighted with a variety of colors. This is great for both students and teachers to use in the classroom and at home. If students are having a difficult time with a certain concept they can work at home from their computer on a variety of sample questions that are given. They can even play some challenging math games. Teachers can utilize this site by sharing some of the videos in their lesson plans or they can even find lesson plans right on the site for them to use in class. There is even a daily word problem that can be integrated each day into the lesson. I recommend this site for students and teachers in the middle school to high school level. I believe this site would also benefit more if they added videos and activities for younger students as well, this is a great way to teach to students who are visual learners at any age level.
I found a great site for teachers that will help incorporate technology into the classrooms. Just A Techie Teacher 3.0, which can be found at http://scott.edtechteachers.com/, shares entries of websites and programs that can be useful with literature, science and geography. The author of this site talks about a program called Bitstrips that he uses with his students to help guide them with literature assignments. I found this to be really fun to work with and the videos on the site showed the students were having a blast. The purpose of this link is to allow students to create their own comic strip based on what they are covering. Another link I found interesting on this site was The Periodic Table of Videos. This allows students who are studying the elements to choose any element on the table and by clicking on it they are able to watch a short 5-10 minute video on that element. The authors also provide entries that support teachers with different programs they may use, what programs may be helpful for them, or helpful hints about a Mac or PC. Posted on this site was information about the Mid South Technology Conference held in Memphis, this is also a great resource a teacher could benefit from. I would recommend this site for any teacher who teaches fourth grade through high school.
I found a great site for teachers that will help incorporate technology into the classrooms. Just A Techie Teacher 3.0, which can be found at http://scott.edtechteachers.com/, shares entries of websites and programs that can be useful with literature, science and geography. The author of this site talks about a program called Bitstrips that he uses with his students to help guide them with literature assignments. I found this to be really fun to work with and the videos on the site showed the students were having a blast. The purpose of this link is to allow students to create their own comic strip based on what they are covering. Another link I found interesting on this site was The Periodic Table of Videos. This allows students who are studying the elements to choose any element on the table and by clicking on it they are able to watch a short 5-10 minute video on that element. The authors also provide entries that support teachers with different programs they may use, what programs may be helpful for them, or helpful hints about a Mac or PC. Posted on this site was information about the Mid South Technology Conference held in Memphis, this is also a great resource a teacher could benefit from. I would recommend this site for any teacher who teaches fourth grade through high school.
