Vibe tchr mayjune 2013

Shore Regional High School

May/June 2013

William J. Valenti Educational Media

Specialist

Teacher Edition

Teacher Edition

THE VIBE

Bookish is a cool site recommended in the May 2013 edition of PC World Magazine. According to their site, in addition to have lists of books for summer reading, you can enter up to four titles and Bookish will offer another title based on genre, subject characters and awards. This is a great site when you are unsure what to read, but know what you like. http://www.bookish.com

1. Bought- Anna David 2. The Late Lamented Molly Marx– Sally Kislow 3. Mercury in Retrograde– Paula Froelich 4. Pretty in Plaid– Jen Lancaster 5. Perfection– Julie Metz 6. The Story Sisters– Alice Hoffman 7. Commencement– J. Courtney Sullivan 8. The Wish Maker- Ali Sethi 9. And the Mountains Echoed– Khaled Hosseni 10. The Yonahlosse Riding Camp for Girls– Anton Sclafani 11.No One Could Have Guessed the Weather- Anne-Marie Casey 12.Nice is Just a Place in France– How to Win at Basically Everything– The Betches 13.Sisterland– Curtis Sittenfeld 14.The Other Typist– Suzanne Rindell 15.Freud’s Mistress- Karen Mark + Jennifer Kaufman 16.The Engagements- J. Courtney Sullivan 17.Love the One You’re With– Emily Griffin 18.The Beach House– Jane Green 19.Mistress Shakespeare– Karen Harper 20.Summer Blowout– Claire Cook

21.A Killer Workout– Kathryn Lilley 22.I Still Have It– I Just Can’t Remember Where I Put It- Rita Rudner 23.The Smart One– Ellen Meister 24.The Humanity Project– Jean Thompson 25.And Then I Found You– Patti Callahan Henry 26.The Time Between– Karen White 27.Ladies Night– Mary Kay Andrews 28.Life After Life– Jill McCorkle 29.The Steel Wave– Jeff Shaara 30.In the Hear– Ian Vasquez 31.The Hit– David Baldacci 32.Whiskey Beach– Nora Noberts 33.The Son– Phillip Meyer 34.Inferno– Dan Brown 35.Joyland– Stephen King 36.The Silver Star– Jeannette Walls 37.Fin & Lady– Cathleen Schine 38.TransAtlantic– Colum McCann 39.Night Film– Marisha Pessl 40.Zero Hour– Clive Cussler

WEBSITES EMAILED BY WILLIAM J. VALENTI DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION RESOURCES EDUCATIONAL MEDIA SPECIALIST

MAY 2013

Administration Schools Adopt Restorative Justice as Alternative to ‘Zero-Tolerance’ Policies http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/05/schools-adopt-restorative-justice-as-alternative-to-zero-tolerance-policies/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

Art/Music

Business/Technology

5 Resources to Help Students Learn About Income Taxes This morning's episode of CNN Student News has a short segment on income taxes. And on the topic of the economics, today's episode also explains Bitcoins.

For high school students, college students, and adults CNN's Explain It To Me video about the "Buffett Rule" explains why sometimes the super rich don't pay as high a percentage of their income in taxes as the rest of us.

From time to time we all wonder where our tax dollars go. Now thanks to the White House's Federal Tax Payer Receipt we can find out. Visitors to the site can enter the data from their actual tax returns, enter data that they estimate, or choose to use one of the "common scenarios" to see a breakdown of what their tax dollars will be spent on.

Another place to see how tax revenue is distributed is What We Pay For. What We Pay For uses publicly available tax data to show you how your tax money is appropriated.

The IRS website, Understanding Taxes, is a good source of lesson plans and individual learning materials about taxes and budgets. In the teacher section of the site you will find lesson plans like this one (opens as pdf) designed to teach students about services for which tax revenue is used. This lesson plan is based on the 2011 tax code, it has not been updated to reflect the 2012 tax code. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers Teaching K-12 Economics

http://nea.org/tools/lessons/55033.htm Teaching K-12 Economics provides lessons, projects, and support resources for grades K-5 and 6-12. The resources are keyed to national curriculum standards. Teachers can search by concept, standard, or lesson....

~ From NEA 10 Free Things COMPOUND INTEREST CALCULATOR

The Compound Interest Calculator visually shows the dramatic effect that compounding can have on investments.

Adjust the monthly savings, interest ... ~ From Thinkfinity

ECONEDLINK EconEdLink, developed by the Council for Economic Education, provides classroom-tested digital resources based upon timely economic and personal finance topics and real-time economics data. http://www.econedlink.org/ ~ From Thinkfinity

5 Good Places to Learn to Write HTML A Beginner's Guide to HTML & CSS is a nice resource developed by Shay Howe whose resume reveals that he works on the user interface for Groupon among other projects. There are currently ten textbased lessons for beginners. Once you've mastered the beginner lessons you can try your hand at the advanced lessons.

Codecademy is a place where anyone can learn how to write code. Codecademy offers lessons in basic HTML and CSS. Codecademy's lessons in basic HTML start with the very basics of explaining what HTML is, what it does, and how to write the basics. There are seven progressively more difficult lessons that students can work through on their own.

Thimble is a free Mozilla product designed to help users learn how to write HTML and CSS. Thimble features a split screen on which you can write code and see how it works at the same time. On the left side of the screen you write your code and on the right side of the screen you instantly see what that code renders. The latest version of Thimble gives you the option to start from scratch or to modify sample projects. The sample projects include directions for writing code. If you write the code correctly, you will know right away. Likewise, if you don't write the code correctly, you will know right away. Some of the sample projects you can work with include webpages, games, and avatars. w3Schools has long been my go-to place for quick directions when working in HTML. If I get stuck while working on a project, a quick visit to w3Schools usually reveals the help I need to get past a stumbling block. If you're brand new to writing HTML start with the introductory sections of w3Schools to learn the basics.

YouTube is another of my go-to places for tutorials on writing HTML and many other things. Whether you want an introduction to writing HTML or you just need a quick tutorial to get you past one little obstacle in your code, there's probably a video for you. Here's one very popular video for beginners. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers Common Core Practice | Reading The Times and Responding in Code http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/26/common-core-practice-reading-the-times-and-responding-in-code/

~ From New York Times Learning Network

Use Clips of Seinfeld to Teach Economics http://yadayadayadaecon.com/

The Economics of Seinfeld is a neat concept for teaching economics lessons developed by economics professors from Eastern Illinois University and Baker University. The Economics of Seinfeld is a catalog of clips (sometimes entire episodes) from the hit sitcom Seinfeldthat demonstrate various economics concepts. There are seven pages of clips that you can browse through. Alternatively, and more practically, you can search for clips by entering an eco-

nomics term like "demand," "supply," and "substitute goods." ~ From Free Technology for Teachers Life on Minimum Wage - A Hands-on Economics Lesson http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/freetech4teachers/cGEY/~3/uAlEID7Q7Bg/life-on-minimum-wage-hands-on-economics.html ~ From Free Technology for Teachers

English International Consortium of Investigative Journalists http://nea.org/tools/lessons/55131.htm

Resources for high school journalism students include tutorials on data analysis, interviews of investigative reporters, tips for debunking myths with online tools, and advice for harnessing social media.... ~ From NEA 10 Free Things

The Autumn of the Middle Ages: Chaucer and Dante

http://edsitement.neh.gov/feature/autumn-middle-ages-chaucer-and-dante ~ From Thinkfinity

“Shakespeare Uncovered” in the Classroom http://edsitement.neh.gov/feature/shakespeare-uncovered-classroom

There is always a new way to team up with Shakespeare to produce something with Shakespeare Uncovered, a new series on PBS, full of great energy, meaning, and relevance for the classroom. In the Macbeth episode, host Ethan Hawke says “It’s great to work with a play you can’t live up to.”Shakespeare Uncovered demonstrates the joy of that challenge, and the related educational resources help students and teachers begin that collaborative adventure together. On this robust website, teachers have access to all six episodes: ~ From Thinkfinity

A Conversation with John Green http://www.readwritethink.org/parent-afterschool-resources/podcast-episodes/conversation-with-john-green30333.html Tune in to hear John discuss why he writes for teens, what he believes readers can gain from their English classes, and some of the thinking behind his newest book, Paper Towns. ~ From Thinkfinity

A Harlem Renaissance Retrospective: Connecting Art, Music, Dance, and Poetry http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/harlem-renaissance-retrospective-connecting252.html Students research, evaluate, and synthesize information about the Harlem Renaissance from varied resources, create an exhibit, and highlight connections across disciplines (i.e., art, music, and poetry) using a Venn diagram. ~ From Thinkfinity

All’s Well that Sells Well: A Creative Introduction to Shakespeare http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/well-that-sells-well-1120.html Students compare attending a performance at The Globe Theater with attending a modern theater production or movie. They then create a commercial for an Elizabethan audience promoting a modern product. ~ From Thinkfinity

Alternative Book Reports http://www.readwritethink.org/professional-development/professional-library/alternative-book-reports-30455.html This article describes different ways that students can report on books they have read other than the traditional “book report.” ~ From Thinkfinity

An Introduction to Beowulf: Language and Poetics http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/introduction-beowulf-language-poetics-813.html Students are introduced to Old English and the poetic devices of alliteration, kenning, and compounding in preparation for reading the epic poem Beowulf. ~ From Thinkfinity

A Poem of Possibilities: Thinking about the Future http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/poem-possibilities-thinking-about-943.html After reading John Updike's “Ex-Basketball Player,” students write poems describing themselves five years in the future. The teacher takes the poems and mails them to students in five years. ~ From Thinkfinity

A Significant Influence: Describing an Important Teacher in Your Life http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/significant-influence-describing-important824.html In this project, students write tributes to teachers who have made a profound difference in their lives then publish their work in a class collection. ~ From Thinkfinity

Author Tim O’Brien was born on this day. http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/calendar-activities/author-brien-born-this-30566.html After reading O’Brien’s story “A True War Story” from The Things They Carried, students choose a powerful event from their own lives and map it using the Timeline Tool. They then create a fictional version of this event. ~ From Thinkfinity

Communicating on Local Issues: Exploring Audience in Persuasive Letter Writing http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/communicating-local-issues-exploring-945.html Students will research a local issue, and then write letters to two different audiences, asking readers to take a related action or adopt a specific position on the issue. ~ From Thinkfinity

Connecting with Young Adult Authors through Writing http://www.readwritethink.org/parent-afterschool-resources/activities-projects/connecting-with-young-adult30303.html This activity guides teens in reaching out to authors of books they love by composing personal letters or connecting to authors through their websites or blogs. ~ From Thinkfinity

Connotation, Character, and Color Imagery in The Great Gatsby http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/connotation-character-color-imagery-831.html Students explore the connotations of the colors associated with the characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald’sThe Great Gatsby. ~ From Thinkfinity

Creating Psychological Profiles of Characters in To Kill a Mockingbird http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/creating-psychological-profiles-characters1184.html Students explore the motivation behind characters’ actions in To Kill A Mockingbird by creating psychological profiles for characters from the novel. ~ From Thinkfinity Decoding the Dystopian Characteristics of Macintosh’s “1984” Commercial

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/decoding-dystopian-characteristics-macintosh933.html This lesson uses the “1984” Macintosh Commercial to introduce students to dystopian characteristics. Students analyze techniques used in the commercial and identify the comments that it makes about contemporary society. ~ From Thinkfinity

Do Bystanders Have a Responsibility to Intervene When There is Trouble? http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/23/do-bystanders-have-a-responsibility-to-intervene-in-crimes/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

Would You Ever Consider Getting a Tattoo? http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/19/would-you-ever-consider-getting-a-tattoo/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

Why Aren’t There More Girls in Leadership Roles? http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/17/why-arent-there-more-girls-in-leadership-roles/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

Do You Ever Seek Advice on the Internet? http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/10/do-you-ever-seek-advice-on-the-internet/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

How Does Your School Deal With Students Who Misbehave? http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/09/how-does-your-school-deal-with-students-who-misbehave/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

Common Core Practice | Narrative, Argumentative and Informative Writing About Baseball http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/05/common-core-practice-narrative-argumentative-and-informative-writing-aboutbaseball/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

How Would You Feel About a Computer Grading Your Essays? http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/05/how-would-you-feel-about-a-computer-grading-your-essays/ ~ From New York Learning Network

How Important Do You Think It Is to Marry Someone With the Same Religion? http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/04/how-important-do-you-think-it-is-to-marry-someone-with-the-same-religion/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

Do You Think Child Stars Have It Rough? http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/02/do-you-think-child-stars-have-it-rough/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

What Were Your Favorite Picture Books When You Were Little? http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/26/what-were-your-favorite-picture-books-when-you-were-little/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

Teaching ‘The Great Gatsby’ With The New York Times http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/25/teaching-the-great-gatsby-with-the-new-york-times-2/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

Have You Ever Felt Embarrassed by Things You Used to Like? http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/29/have-you-ever-felt-embarrassed-by-things-you-used-to-like/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

Do People Complain Too Much? http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/06/do-people-complain-too-much/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

Is Prom Worth It? http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/02/is-prom-worth-it/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

How Do You React When Provoked?

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/07/how-do-you-react-when-provoked/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

Acting Up, A Melodrama – FOR THEATER ARTS http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/educators/lessons/grade-9-12/Acting_up_a_Melodrama.aspx

In this lesson, the students practice some melodramatic movement. ~ From Arts Edge

38 COMMON SPELLING AND GRAMMAR ERRORS http://devour.com/video/38-common-spelling-and-grammar-errors/ ~ from Devour

Should What You Say on Facebook Be Grounds for Getting Fired?

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/10/should-what-you-say-on-facebook-be-grounds-for-getting-fired/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

Should Kids Be Allowed to Wear Whatever They Want? http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/13/should-kids-be-allowed-to-wear-whatever-they-want/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

Do You Have Helicopter Parents?

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/14/do-you-have-helicopter-parents/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

Shakespeare Uncovered - Videos and Lesson Plans http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/collection/shakespeare-uncovered/1/

Shakespeare Uncovered is a collection of videos and lesson plans hosted on PBS Learning Media. The collection is organized into twenty-one smaller, thematically collections. Some of the themes are "Shakespeare and History," "The Use of Soliloquy," and "Gender Roles in Shakespeare." Each collection includes short, documentary video clips, reading materials, and discussion questions. And like almost any new U.S.-based education site launching today, Shakespeare Uncovered includes a list of Common Core standards that can addressed through the use of the materials on the site. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers

What Would Your Dream Home Be Like? http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/17/what-would-your-dream-home-be-like/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

How Important Is Driving to You? http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/16/how-important-is-driving-to-you/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

When Has a Sports Team Most Disappointed You? http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/15/when-has-a-sports-team-most-disappointed-you/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

Do You Wish You Could Return to Moments from Your Past? http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/20/do-you-wish-you-could-return-to-moments-from-your-past/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network 5 Good Resources for Teaching & Learning About Shakespeare http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/freetech4teachers/cGEY/~3/L42XRxzC7CI/5-good-resources-for-teaching-learning.html ~ From Free Technology for Teachers

What Role Will Robots Play in Our Future? http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/23/what-role-will-robots-play-in-our-future/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

How Much Slang Do You Use? What Are Your Favorite (Printable) Words? http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/22/how-much-slang-do-you-use-what-are-your-favorite-printable-words/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

Faculty  Tildee - Craft and Share Tech Tutorials http://www.tildee.com/

Tildee is a service for creating multimedia tutorials on anything you want to teach. Tildee provides a template and platform for sharing tutorials with others. Your tutorials can include any combination of text, screen captures, Google Maps, and videos. The best feature of the updated Tildee interface is the option to drag and drop sections of your tutorials into order. Let's say that just before publishing your tutorial you realize that you forgot to include a step. Just write out that step then drag it into the proper spot in your tutorial. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers

Wikispaces Introduces a Brand New Look for Classroom Wikis

http://www.wikispaces.com/

Wikispaces has been a great supporter of classrooms for years now. They allow any teacher to use their services to create wikis for free and without advertising. Today, Wikispaces introduced a brand new look for classroom wikis. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers VideoNotes - A Great Tool for Taking Notes While Watching Academic Videos http://video.unishared.com/

VideoNotes is a neat new tool for taking notes while watching videos. VideoNotes allows you to load any YouTube video on the left side of your screen and on the right side of the screen VideoNotes gives you a notepad to type on. VideoNotes integrates with your Google Drive account. By integrating with Google Drive VideoNotes allows you to share your notes and collaborate on your notes just as you can do with a Google Document. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers

National Geographic and the Common Core National Geographic Education's website continues to evolve and it no longer has the "beta" label attached to it. One of the resources that I spotted on the site this morning is about Common Core standards. National Geographic and the Common Core is a small collection of web and print materials from National Geographic that can be used in ELA lessons aligned to Common Core standards. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers

Fotor - Edit Images and Create Image Collages on Almost Any Device http://www.fotor.com/

Fotor is a free image editing tool available in your web browser, as a desktop application for Mac and Windows, as iPad app, as an Android app, and as a Windows 8 application. Fotor can be used without creating an account. With Fotor you can crop images, apply filters, add picture frames, insert clip art, and add text to your images. You can also create image collages on Fotor. All of your work can be saved on your computer or mobile device. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers

A Nice Cheat Sheet for Gmail Shortcuts http://visualeks.com/portfolio/gmailcs/ ~ From Free Technology for Teachers

A Quick Round-up of New Google Drive Features http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/freetech4teachers/cGEY/~3/nWFRCQxKKlM/a-quick-round-up-of-new-google-drive.html ~ From Free Technology for Teachers

LEVEL IT BOOKS http://levelitbooks.com Level It Books is a fantastic iOS app for teachers and parents. This app allows users to scan a book's ISBN and get detailed information such as a Reading& Lexile Level. Also, a teacher can maintain a class roster of students w/ their Reading Level information as well as maintain a library of books. Another nice feature is the ability to manually search for a book and even maintain a library of classroom books. ~ From Technology Tidbits

ExamTime - Create & Share Flashcards, Mind Maps, and Quizzes http://www.examtime.com/

ExamTime is a new service that middle school, high school, and college students can use to prepare for tests. I tend to like any service that offers a mind map option for students and ExamTime does so I had to try it out. When students signs into their ExamTime accounts they can create flashcards, mind maps, and practice quizzes to help them study.

Students can arrange their materials into topics. All materials can be shared with other Examtime users. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers

Create Quizzes in Edcanvas http://edcanvas.com/

Applications for Education Edcanvas is an excellent tool for creating digital packets of information for your students to read, watch, and listen to.

Now you can have students check their understanding of the materials in those digital packets by having them take a short quiz. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers

Common Core Practice | Pigs, Cicadas and Wrestling http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/17/common-core-practice-pigs-cicadas-and-wrestling/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network Get Help With Name Pronunciation from Hear Names http://hearnames.com/

Hear Names provides guides for pronouncing names. On Hear Names you will find recordings of native speakers pronouncing given names and surnames. You can search for pronunciations by language or look through an alphabetical listing. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers CNN Student News http://www.cnn.com/studentnews/

CNN Student News is an excellent resource for middle school and high school current events lessons. The roughly ten minute episodes feature US stories, a world news stories, a "shout out" to a classroom, and a quick quiz. Transcripts for each show are available for download as are suggested viewing questions to cover with your students. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers Day in Pictures http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-15791213

The Day in Pictures displays a small collection of photographs from around the world. The pictures capture a mix of serious news stories and lighter cultural stories. The Day in Pictures collections are part of a much larger resource from the BBC simply called In Pictures. The In Pictures resource provides hundreds of images in a variety collections and slideshows about current events throughout the world. Some of the slide shows even include narration. All of the images include captions explaining what is happening in the picture and a little background knowledge about the event being photographed. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers

Guidance Career Sighted - Short Videos About Career Options http://www.careersighted.com/#home

Career Sighted is a new website designed to help students learn a bit about jobs in careers they have an interest in. The videos introduce students to the essential functions of each job and education needed for it. The videos feature real people talking about their jobs and what they like about them. Career Sighted is only a couple of months old so at this point it only has a few dozen videos, but hopefully they'll be adding more over the next few months. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers

5 Sites Students Can Explore to Learn About Career Options Career Thoughts is a site that aims to help students make informed career decisions. On Career Thoughts students can find career profiles that outline what a person in a particular career field actually does, the education requirements for that field, salary ranges, and employment prospects. The Career Thoughts YouTube channel provides even more information through video profiles of careers. Students who are ready to start applying for jobs will find plenty of resume writing, job hunting, and interviewing tips on Career Thoughts too. iCould is a UK-based website that features videos of people sharing their career stories. The stories cover people in all types of careers and at all phases of their working careers. One of the the main purposes of iCould is to expose viewers to what different types of jobs really entail. Visitors to iCould can search for stories by job type, life theme, or keyword tags.

Inside Jobs is a site that offers information about careers and the training required for them. On Inside Jobs visitors can search for career information by keyword or browse through categorized collections of information. Each career in the list has a short video featuring someone in the industry explaining what they do and how they got into the field. Inside Jobs provides lists of schools that offer programs related to the careers that students are interested in. (Note that the schools do pay to be included on Inside Jobs).

Career Sighted is a new website designed to help students learn a bit about jobs in careers they have an interest in. The videos introduce students to the essential functions of each job and education needed for it. The videos feature real people talking about their jobs and what they like about them. Career Sighted is only a couple of months old so at this point it only has a few dozen videos, but hopefully they'll be adding more over the next few months.

The Atlantic has a great article titled What People Don't Get About My Job.The article is comprised of 26 contributions from readers explaining what most people don't understand about their jobs. There is one job for every letter of the alphabet. In the article you will find jobs like Kindergarten Teacher, IRS employee, zookeeper, and even unemployed. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers

Getting Personal: Writing College Essays for the Common Application http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/11/getting-personal-writing-college-essays-for-the-common-application/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

What Are Your Sources for Information About Colleges and Universities? http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/01/what-are-your-sources-for-information-about-colleges-and-universities/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

ExamTime - Create & Share Flashcards, Mind Maps, and Quizzes http://www.examtime.com/

ExamTime is a new service that middle school, high school, and college students can use to prepare for tests. I tend to like any service that offers a mind map option for students and ExamTime does so I had to try it out. When students signs into their ExamTime accounts they can create flashcards, mind maps, and practice quizzes to help them study.

Students can arrange their materials into topics. All materials can be shared with other Examtime users. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers

The FAFSA and Financial Aid in a Nutshell http://planetnutshell.com/videos/choosing-financial-aid-in-a-nutshell http://planetnutshell.com/videos/fafsa-in-a-nutshell ~ From Free Technology for Teachers

Math Â

10 Good Video Sources for Math Students and Teachers WowMath.org is developed by high school mathematics teacher Bradley Robb. His YouTube channel has more than six hundred videos covering topics in Algebra and Calculus. You can access the videos on a mobile version of WowMath too.

Numberphile is a neat YouTube channel about fun number facts. There are currently thirty-three videos in the Numberphile collection. The videos cover things like 998,001 and its Mysterious Recurring Decimals, Pi and Bouncing Balls, and 1 and Prime Numbers.

Bright Storm is an online tutoring service. On their YouTube channel Bright Storm provides hundreds of videos for Algebra I, Algebra II, Trigonometry, Precalculus, and Calculus. Bright Storm also offers some SAT and ACT prep videos.

Ten Marks is another online tutoring service that offers mathematics tutorial videos on their site as well as on their YouTube channel. Some of the lessons in their playlists include lessons on units of measurement, decimals, fractions, probability, area and perimeter, and factoring.

Math Class With Mr. V features seven playlists made by a mathematics teacher teaching lessons on basic mathematics, geometry, and algebra. In all there are more than 300 video lessons. Like most mathematics tutorials on YouTube, Math Class With Mr. V uses a whiteboard to demonstrate how to solve problems.

The Open University is one of my go-to YouTube channel for all things academic. A quick search on The Open University reveals seven playlists that include lessons in mathematics. The lessons that you will find in these playlists are more theoretical than they are "how to" lessons.

Yay Math! features an excited teacher teaching mathematics lessons to his students. The videos capture just the teacher and his whiteboard with some feedback from students. The videos cover topics in Algebra and Geometry. You can check out theYay Math! companion website to learn more about Robert Ahdoot, the teacher featured in the videos.

Knowmia is a website and an iPad app for creating, sharing, and viewing video lessons. The website portion of Knowmia is a collection of videos made by teachers for students. There are roughly 10,000 videos in the Knowmia collection right now including lots of instructional math videos. Many of the videos are pulled from YouTube while others are hosted on Knowmia. The videos are arranged by subject and topic Math Doctor Bob's YouTube channel was suggested by a reader using the Disqus ID Npisenti. Math Doctor Bob offers nearly 700 video lessons on statistics, algebra I and II, calculus, geometry, and much more.

The lessons feature Doctor Bob giving the lesson in front of a whiteboard so you see him and don't just hear his lessons.

Patrick JMT Khan or Math Doctor Bob, but the videos are equally solid. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers Math Is Power 4 U - A Database of Math Videos http://www.youtube.com/user/bullcleo1/videos?flow=grid&view=1

Math Is Power 4 U is a large collection of tutorial videos primarily covering topics found in middle school and high school math courses. The videos are short and direct. You could make very similar videos yourself, if you wanted to. The best aspect of Math Is Power 4 U is thesearchable database of videos. The database, hosted by Phoenix College, makes it easy to quickly find a video explaining topics in arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, and half a dozen other topics. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers

How Is Math Beautiful? Exploring by Creating http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/24/how-is-math-beautiful-exploring-by-creating/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

N Ways to Apply Algebra With The New York Times http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/26/n-ways-to-apply-algebra-with-the-new-york-times/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

Physical Education ‘Cinnamon Challenge’ Can Damage Lungs http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/23/cinnamon-challenge-can-damage-lungs/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

Should There Be Stricter Rules About How Coaches Treat Their Players? http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/08/should-there-be-stricter-rules-about-how-coaches-treat-their-players/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

Growing Concern That Too Many Children Are Receiving A.D.H.D. Diagnosis http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/02/growing-concern-that-too-many-children-are-receiving-a-d-h-d-diagnosis/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

Student Crossword | The Human Body http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/20/student-crossword-the-human-body/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

Not So Sweet: Investigating Science and Health Questions About Sugar and Our Bodies http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/13/investigating-science-and-health-questions-about-sugar-and-our-bodies/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

Depression Quest - An Interactive Story About Depression http://www.depressionquest.com/

Applications for Education Depression Quest is a site for high school students use in their health classes. The scenarios are very realistic and I know that some students will relate very strongly to some of the scenarios. For other students the scenarios will provide them with some understanding of what depression sufferers feel. All students completing the story will learn about the signs of depression. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers

Angelina Jolie’s ‘My Medical Choice’ Have students read Angelina Jolie’s “My Medical Choice” to answer the questions below. For more on the issue, they might also read Denise Grady’s “Jolie’s Disclosure Highlights a Breast Cancer Dilemma.”

Related: Students might be interested in reading some of the comments that have been posted in response to Ms. Jolie’s piece. Our lesson plan “Diagnosis Cancer: Creating Fact Sheets About Screening, Prevention and Treatment” may also be helpful.

~ From New York Times Learning Network

Science Genetic Variation within the One Human Race http://sciencenetlinks.com/lessons/genetic-variation-within-one-human-race/

Through this lesson, students will understand the pattern of genetic variation among humans. ~ From Thinkfinity

What Do You Think of the New Next Generation Science Standards? http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/09/science-teachers-what-do-you-think-of-the-new-next-generation-standards/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

Toxic Algae Threatens Florida’s Endangered Manatees http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/08/toxic-algae-threatens-floridas-endangered-manatees/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

They’re Back … Learning About Periodical Cicadas to Participate in ‘Citizen Science’ Projects http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/03/theyre-back-learning-about-periodical-cicadas-to-participate-in-citizen-science-projects/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

Common Core Practice | Drones, Stolen Art and Space Exploration http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/22/common-core-practice-drones-stolen-art-and-space-exploration/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

Climate Commons - An Interactive Map of Climate Change Stories http://climatecommons.earthjournalism.net/map/

Climate Commons is an interactive map developed by the Earth Journalism Network. The map features weather data and emissions data related to climate. The map allows you to compare baseline weather data with anomalies and extreme weather events. The map also features articles about climate change. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers

The Story of Photosynthesis and Food http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-simple-but-fascinating-story-of-photosynthesis-and-food-amanda-ooten

the TED-Ed lesson, The Simple Story of Photosynthesis and Food. The video could make a good review of or introduction to photosynthesis. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers

Social Studies 10 Resources for Teaching About the American Revolution Mission U.S. offers an interactive journey through Boston in 1770 (five years before the Battles of Lexington and Concord) through the perspective of a 14 year old boy who has to choose sides Revolutionary War Animated is a great place to find nice animated maps of troop movements throughout the Revolutionary War.

America, A Narrative History is a text published by WW Norton. As a free supplement to the book, Norton has published ten Google Earth tours.

Teaching American History has a series of interactive lessons about the American Revolution that are suitable for middle school and elementary school use.

Pictures of the Revolutionary War is a compilation of images about the Revolutionary War. Crash Course has a ten part series on U.S. History. Included in that series is Taxes & Smuggling - Prelude to Revolution.

Keith Hughes offers Colonialism for Dummies as part of his series on U.S. History for Dummies.

The American Revolution Center has a fantastic interactive timeline about the American Revolution.

Liberty, The American Revolution is a feature on PBS.org. There are a couple of resources in this feature that are worth noting. First, and probably the most useful, is The Chronicle of Revolution. The Chronicle of Revolution provides a timeline of events that contributed to the start of the American Revolution. Students can read newspaper accounts as they go through the chronicles. Within each newspaper account there are links to further reading about important people and places mentioned in the articles. The second item of interest in Liberty, The American Revolution is the Road to Revolution game. The game isn't really a game, it's more like a quiz with some graphics added to it. The game is designed to quiz students on the information in The Chronicle of Revolution.

The Revolution: Interactive Guide is a free iPad app about the American Revolution. ~ From Free Technology for Teachers

Lyndon B. Johnson and the Crisis in the Dominican Republic

http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/lyndon-b-johnson-and-crisis-dominican-republic

In this lesson, students will look at the history of the United States’s relationship with Latin America, and they will then evaluate the competing priorities which shaped the American intervention in the Dominican Republic in 1965.

They will hear President Johnson discuss the intervention with his top advisors, and compare this to his presentation of the issue to the public. ~ From Thinkfinity

Americans at War Learning Resources http://historyexplorer.si.edu/resource/?key=829&lp=interactives ~ From Smithsonian’s History Explorer

Brown v. Board of Education Electronic Field Trips http://historyexplorer.si.edu/resource?key=203&lp=interactives

In these electronic field trips produced by the National Museum of American History, viewers are given a 20 minute tour by the curators of the exhibition Separate Is Not Equal: Brown v. Board of Education, followed by a 30 minute videotaped questi... ~ From Smithsonian’s History Explorer

European Theater During World War II http://historyexplorer.si.edu/resource?key=3279&lp=interactives

Newsreel video footage from 1944 and 1945, showing the Allies prepare and carry out the invasion of Normandy, the

liberation of Paris, Battle of the Bulge and the eventual fall of the Third Reich and surrender of Germany. ~ From Smithsonian’s History Explorer

Annie Moore becomes the first immigrant to enter Ellis Island in 1892. http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/calendar-activities/annie-moore-becomes-first-20384.html Students explore online resources about Ellis Island, interview an immigrant in the area, and publish their stories. ~ From Thinkfinity When Should You Be Able to Buy Cigarettes, Drink Alcohol, Vote, Drive and Fight in Wars? http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/25/at-what-ages-should-you-be-able-to-buy-cigarettes-drink-alcohol-vote-drive-and-fightin-wars/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

Explore 20th Century World History Declassified http://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/collections

The Wilson Center Digital Archive recently published a new set of 73 collections of declassified historical documents.

The documents contain memos and transcripts of communications between diplomats and country leaders. The collections are arranged into topics and themes. You'll find collections of documents related to the construction of the Berlin Wall, the origins of the Cold War, and Sino-Soviet relations ~ From Free Technology for Teachers

Common Core Practice | Kentucky Derby, Factory Disasters and Berlin Street-Naming http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/03/common-core-practice-kentucky-derby-factory-disasters-and-berlin-street-naming/ ~ From New York Times Learning Network

World Language Two Virtual Keyboards for World Languages Students Type It is a free online program for typing accent marks and other special characters that are often required for languages other than English. Type It supports twenty-one languages and currency symbols.

You can insert accents and characters by selecting them from the menu provided by Type It or by using their suggested keyboard shortcuts.

Lite Type is a virtual keyboard that allows you type and search the web in your choice of 53 different languages. To use Lite Type select a language and begin typing. Lite Type displays a keyboard that shows you what each key on your computer's keyboard will generate. The keyboard key is displayed directly below the box in which your typed text appears. Lite Type has some other convenient features like integrated search for images, videos, and websites. Lite Type also has an integrated multilingual dictionary. ~ From Free Technology for Students Knowmia – a bevy of video Spanish lessons http://www.knowmia.com/browse/world-languages/spanish

Visuals for Foreign Language Instruction Offers Hundreds of Drawings http://digital.library.pitt.edu/v/visuals/

Visuals for Foreign Language Instruction is a free gallery of images hosted by the University of Pittsburgh's Digital Research Library. The gallery contains nearly 500 drawings of people conversing, scenes in houses and buildings, and objects commonly found in houses. You'll also find drawings scenes in cities, in stores, and in nature. The visuals are all drawn cartoon style without any text or speech bubbles.