Looking for Some New Websites?

All My Faves is a quick way to search for good websites in a specific category.  If you click on the category menu, you can see the education section, which has many great sites all categorized for you.  In each category, you will see 10 highly regarded websites that might be useful to you.  I guarantee that you will find some great resources here.  It is also a great site to visit when you have some time to waste, because there is always something to do.  The weekly faves are updated every Monday, and are usually worth checking on.

Current Event Cartoons for the Classroom

Cartoons for the classroom is a great resource that puts together an editorial cartoon on a current event about every 2 weeks and gears it toward students.  I think this is a great way to open up the discussion about current events in a way that makes students really analyze it.  Even if you are not a Social Studies teacher, these cartoons open up the discussion of how to display an opinion without explicitly stating it, which is something that is very beneficial for students to understand.  It can also hit those visual learners in a way that a written article will not.  It also allows you to download a blank cartoon that the students need to create the text for - which gives them the opportunity to be creative with the content of the picture.  You can click on the image below for an example.

Brainstorm with Wallwisher

 Wallwisher is a site that allows you to quickly create a wall that your students can create and post sticky notes to.  This sounds like a simple thing, and it is, but it is also a great way to help motivate student participation.  You can make as many walls that you want to, and they each have their own url address that you can easily post for your class to navigate to.  Once they are there, all they have to do is double-click anywhere on the board and create a sticky note with text.  The great thing about using a digital board is that it can be re-visited and edited very easily for future use.  Take a couple minutes and create a board for an upcoming topic in your class.  It doesn't get easier than this - they have done a great job keeping it simple.

Free Streaming Documentary Films for Students

 I have mentioned before that Snag Films is a great website that offers an ever-growing library of documentaries of all types.  These are free to stream and are a great resource.  The only catch was that there was a lot of adult content that would not be appropriate to show in the classroom with many of the films.  So, to make it easier on teachers to filter content, Snag Learning was created.  This site takes classroom appropriate content from Snag Films and organizes them into the appropriate content area and grade level.  Check it out.

Any Math Tutorial Video Possible

Last year I discussed the opportunity that Khan Academy provides for teachers and students.  I think it is important to re-visit, as it is an extremely valuable resource that is perfect for a learning environment like ours.  I urge all math teachers to visit this website and think about how this can benefit your teaching.  Instead of repeating myself, click here to read more from my previous post on this topic.  Khan Academy is not the end-all be-all, but it is taking advantage of the opportunity that today's technology provides.