Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 12/11/15

Here are some interesting sites that I’ve found this week, thanks to my PLN. As a teacher, I feel we have to keep up to date concerning research in our field and current issues in the education system. I hope some of these inspire you, inform you, and even have you asking questions. Thank you for coming by and visiting!

Note: Each resource is labeled with a level and subject area to make it easier to use.

Levels:  E: Elementary; M: Middle; H: High; G: General, all levels; SN: Special Needs; T: Teachers

Subject Areas: LA: Language Arts, English, Reading, Writing; M: Math; S: Science; Health; SS: Social Studies, Current Events; FA: Fine Arts; Music, Art, Drama; FL: Foreign Language; PE: Physical Ed; C: Career; A: All

Star Charts – “Star Chart is available on most App Stores, from iOS App Store to Google Play.  Can’t see the moon? Want to know where it is? Look through the eyes of your device to see a virtual window into the whole visible universe. Using state of the art GPS technology, an accurate 3D Universe, and most of your smart phone's high tech functionality, Star Chart calculates – in real time - the current location of every star and planet visible from earth and shows you where they are; even in broad daylight, or 100 feet underground! Want to know what that bright star is called? Point your compass enabled device at it – you might just find out it’s a planet! Want to know what the night sky looks like to people on the other side of the earth? Well just point your device down! Want to know where your star sign is in the sky? Look no further than Star Chart, it’ll tell you all this and more. Now you can have a virtual star chart in your pocket! All you have to do is point your device at the sky and Star Chart will tell you exactly what you are looking at.” (L:G; SA:S)

National Geographic’s Map Maker – “Welcome to MapMaker Interactive. We've redesigned this tool to support interactive mapping on tablets. And new features have been added to help you view and customize maps. Three New Features: Country Facts and Flags - Explore and discover information about countries and territories around the world. Customize the fill and border colors to make this map layer your own, Latitude and Longitude - See the coordinates of any place on earth, Custom Text, Photos, Videos - Use markers, lines, or shapes to tell your story on MapMaker by adding in text, photos, and videos with the rich editing tool.” (L:G; SA:SS)

Quizalize – “Quizalize is a new diagnostic assessment website by Zzish that provides children with a fun and engaging way to learn. Quizalize goes one-step further than just being your average quiz website, it provides teachers with in-depth data to analyze their children’s strengths, weaknesses and learning gaps instantly. It not only caters for the main subjects such as Maths and Science but it is versatile and can be used across all subjects.” (L:T; SA:A)

OpenEd – “K-12 Videos, Games, Assessments, Homework. Organized by Grade, Subject, Standard and Textbook” (L:T; SA:A)

Superhero Science – TED-ed lessons; fun math and science lessons (L:G; SA:S)

Original photo by Pat Hensley