The Final Frontier

Want to make a Big-Bang in science education?

Tap into the Space Telescope Science Institute's curriculum based
on discoveries being made by the 17,500 MPH traveling looking glass!
(AKA - Hubble Telescope)

To read the full article from Edutopia ~ Click here.

To begin utilization of this amazing tool to teach science in your classroom,
click here.

Open Your Mind ~ Close Your Wallet

If your wondering how your school can make ends meet in these tough economic times while still providing a quality education;
open your mind to open source!

A recent article published by LinuxPlanet, oulines 55 Free educational products ranging from core curriculum, (Math, Science, English), to Learning Management systems.

For example, Jmol, is a Chemistry app allowing students to create diagrams of atoms, molecules, macromolecules, crystals, and more.

To view the full article, click here.

When I Grow Up?

My son is leaving for college in a couple weeks and has know idea what he wants to major in let alone a career choice! Fortunately he is surrounded by friends and family members who are prosperous because of their education. Sadly, far too many American teens aren't this lucky.

If public schools are to succeed in breaking the cycle of poverty we must show our students a tangible pot of gold at the end of educational rainbow!

Thanks to a Microsoft, this task has gotten much easier with their FREE online learning program, CareerForward.

To visit the CareerForward site, click here.

A League of Their Own

Trying to get your students excited about science? Lab activities and field trips are great but what about the classroom or at home?

Tabula Digital has released a series of online, science based games for 3-5 grade students to learn through active play and competition.

And like so many other digital resources, they are 100% Free!

To access these games, click here.

Calling all Educators!

Upcoming Webinar: Cellphones as Instructional Tools
Thursday, July 23, 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern time
Sponsored by: Sprint
Cellphones have been called “the new paper and pencil” or “the new laptop,” and they could be in the hands of as many as 10 million to 15 million schoolchildren in the next few years. For their instructional potential and ability to connect students to the Internet, mobile devices are quietly making their way into schools in the United States and abroad. Guests will discuss policy and implementation issues and offer practical curriculum ideas for every subject.

Lordy~Lordy...look who's 40!

40 years ago, yesterday, the Apollo 11 mission carried Neil Armstrong to the moon! It's difficult to fathom the technology involed to accomplish this amazing feat and harder still to provide today's students (tomorrow's astronauts?)with a proper historical perspective of what this meant to humankind.

But now, thanks to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, our kids can experience, and hopefully be inspired by the past.

To visit this FREE site, click here.

Health Games = Healthy Kids = Healthy Learning

I grew up in the 70's learning from Seseme Street and The Electric Company.

However, today's kids want more than passive viewing, they are hungry for Active Doing!

Fear not, Grover and Cookie Monster have e-volved and are still providing FREE, interactive education content for today's digital learner.

The focus is on a healthy diet which has been directly linked to improved academic achievement.

To visit, see, and PLAY ~ Click HERE.

A glimpse into the future

Don't trade the stimulus cow...

For Magic Beans!

Some Prime cuts of the 100 billion AARA beef:

53.6 billion in stablization

10 billion for Title I

3 billion for school improvement

12.2 billion for Special Education
instructional modifications
assistive technology
related services
instructional content
assessment tools
training

Fee Fi Fo Fum...Arne Duncan says, don't be dumb!
Spend Wisely

Before you buy the latest and greatest technology, ask yourself what information can your students discover by using the technology.

Inverted Education Model

1. Brain research has demonstrated that delays in error correction reinforces the error.

2. Homework may not be reviewed and returned to students for several days.

3. Contemporary scholarly research has shown students learn better from listening to a podcast than the actual live lecture.


We presently lecture at school, assign homework, and then grade.

What if???

We assigned students to listen to a podcast of the lecture at home, and then guided them in class to complete their assignments?

Sound too simple?

Most worthwhile ideas are.

Thank you Alan November for providing this insight at NECC.

Will any of you dare to do a pedagogical flip?

I hope so.

Examine ~ Research ~ React

The Smithsonian is offering interactive web tours to help our students explore America's rich and varied cultural heritage. Students will be challenged to tap higher order thinking skills by utilizing the tools provided to examine, research, and react to the incredibly interesting artifacts of historical significance.

And best of all, it is absolutely FREE!

To visit the site, click here.

Play to Learn

In two weeks, Carnegie Mellon University will be hosting the 2nd Annual Game Education Summit.

I love gaming...
I love education...
I love da' Burgh...

Hope to see you there!

For more information, click here.

A Writing Revolution

"Writing has never been accorded the cultural respect or the support that reading has enjoyed, in part because through reading, society could control it's citzens, whereas through writing, citizens might exercise their own control"
K. Yancey

Web 2.0 is helped shift the focus of literacy from obedience to creativity. So go ahead and Tweet your heart out, the world is listening.

For an excellent article on literacy in the 21st century, click here.

Shmoop There It Is!

Shmoop wants to make you a better lover (of literature, history, poetry and writing). See many sides to the argument. Find your writing groove. Understand how lit and history are relevant today. We want to show your brain a good time.

Our mission: To make learning and writing more fun and relevant for students in the digital age.

Shmoop is currently a Beta Test. To paraphrase Robert Frost, we know that we still have miles to go before we sleep.

To visit Shmoop, click here.

Learn to Laugh & Laugh to Learn

"Humor is needed in literature because it ventilates or disrupts oppressive conditions, it provides a different lens to view reality, provides hope, pleasure, and fun."
Zarnowski (2000)

The moralistic, didacticism of 17th Century Puritan literature is gone. If we want our children to read, let reading be enjoyable, and the universal sound of enjoyment is laughter!

Comic Creator, a free online tool for educators, is just the right medicine to cure classroom boredom. Students can easily write and illustrate their own stories, or develop a comic strip as an extension exercise for assigned readings.

To visit Comic Creator, click here.

Middle School Literacy

Teachers' Domain is a multi-modal, multi-media approach to providing middle school literacy instruction. Utilizing standards-based lessons delivered with the support of online video, audio, flash interactives, images, and documents, Teachers' Domain is an excellent FREE (cross-curricular) resource to engage your students in Literacy.

To visit Teachers' Domain, click here.

Magoogle, You've Done It Again!

If seeing is believing, Google Earth has provided an amazing pair of eye opening lenses to improve our view of the world.

According to Al Gore who won a Nobel Peace Prize for his work raising awareness about climate change:

“This is an extremely powerful educational tool,” “One of my fondest hopes is that people around the world will use Google Earth to see for themselves the reality of what’s happening because of the climate crisis.”

One cautionary note for educators, don't download applications to your network unless you intend to use them! Ask any IT professional and they will tell you that band width is a scarce resource that must be conserved to ensure an adequate return on our educational investment.

To link to the google earth site, click here.

Can We Deliver?

President Obama is echoing the sentiments of educators calling out for change:

"In a 21st-century world where jobs can be shipped wherever there's an Internet connection, where a child born in Dallas is now competing with a child in New Delhi, where your best job qualification is not what you do, but what you know -- education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity and success, it's a prerequisite for success."

"I'm calling on our nation's governors and state education chiefs to develop standards and assessments that don't simply measure whether students can fill in a bubble on a test, but whether they possess 21st century skills like problem-solving and critical thinking and entrepreneurship and creativity."

~Obama

With funding in place, a supportive administration, and a Nation lookig for answers, can Public Ed. deliver?

For a full transcript of Obama's speech, click here.

Don't be quick to judge...

Horace Rackham, Henry Ford’s Lawyer
“The horse is here to the stay, the automobile is only a novelty, a fad”

Daryl Zanuck, Movie Mogul, 1946
“Television won’t be able to hold on to any market it captures after the 1st 6 months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night”

Kenneth Olson, 1977, President and founder of digital equipment corporation
“There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home”

What present day comments have you heard, or can you imagine are being uttered in public schools about digital literacy that may someday be added to this list?

Eco-Challenge