Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 9/15/2023

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

American Ideals Virtual Field Trip - “Immerse students in the living, breathing process of democracy with a virtual celebration of America’s unique history of civic engagement. Students will get a special look inside The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, and hear from alumni of various education programs held onsite there, to learn how they can practice leadership, communication, and informed action in their everyday lives. Give students the tools to develop their civic voice and build their best future using the values upon which our nation was founded.  Hear from students around the country who are pioneering change in their communities.” (L:M,H; SA:SS)

Reading Like A Historian - “The Reading Like a Historian curriculum engages students in historical inquiry. Each lesson revolves around a central historical question and features a set of primary documents designed for groups of students with a range of reading skills.This curriculum teaches students how to investigate historical questions by employing reading strategies such as sourcing, contextualizing, corroborating, and close reading. Instead of memorizing historical facts, students evaluate the trustworthiness of multiple perspectives on historical issues and learn to make historical claims backed by documentary evidence.” (L:M,H; SA:SS)

Notecard Confessions - “Note card confessions are a social media trend to bring attention to a story that needs to be told. They tend to be very powerful and emotional.” (L:M,H; SA:A)

Flippity - “Easily turn a Google™ Spreadsheet into a Set of Online Flashcards and Other Cool Stuff!” (L:T; SA:A)

Introduction to AI for Educators: Using ChatGPT Preview of the AI for Educators Course - “Explore the incredible potential of AI in education with this eye-opening video! Witness firsthand how artificial intelligence can revolutionize your day-to-day tasks, making your life as an educator more efficient and rewarding than ever before. From automating administrative burdens to providing personalized learning support, AI is here to transform the way you teach and inspire your students.” (L:T; SA:A)

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 9/8/2023

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

Make a Word Game - “Use Google Sheets to create a fun word game you can play with a friend! Along the way, learn how to use formulas and functions.” (L:M,H,; SA:LA, C)

Electoral College - “The Constitution provides for a system of electors to elect the President and Vice President of the United States. These electors are chosen to represent each state in the Electoral College. Educating students about this process is essential in developing their understanding of the political process.” (L:H,; SA:SS)

Library by the People - “Help transcribe Library of Congress documents. Volunteers create and review transcriptions to improve search, access, and discovery of these pages from history.” L:H,; SA:SS)

Goal Setting and SMART Goals - “Understanding and mastering proper goal setting techniques will help students effectively hone in on interests and desires. Keeping yourself motivated to reach long term goals is a hurdle all individuals must accomplish to reach their intended outcome. A dream is a goal without any action plan, but dreams can easily become achievable goals. Following the SMART goals format, students will be able to develop their goals and understand the factors that go into achieving them.” (L:T,; SA:A)

Why your phone battery gets worse over time - “Explore the science of why single-use and rechargeable batteries die, and find out why recycling batteries can be challenging.” (L:H,; SA:S)

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 9/1/2023

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

Post It Notes - “Stop spending hours transcribing notes after a brainstorm. When you download the free Post-it® App, you can instantly capture and share notes with the team without recaps or delays.” (L:T; SA:A)

OPEN - “Tools for Teaching Physical Education” (L:T; SA:A)

Journey to Mars - “Put on your spacesuits, because we’re off to explore Mars! We’ll learn all about how we could live there, and meet the robots that already do!” (L:E; SA:S)

Pairs Math Game - “Pairs Math Game is a free paper based math game designed using LibreOffice Calc spreadsheet for printing in landscape format on 11 x 17 (tabloid) paper --- or on legal size paper (8.5 x 14 inches.) This game was developed as a side project at the Takoma Park Maryland Library. It is mostly suitable for 8 to 12-year-olds, although older and younger students might well enjoy it, too.” (L:E,M; SA:M)

Catchy Words - “Meet a new word game made specifically with augmented reality in mind! Immersive experience without touching the screen. Just walk around, catch the letters with your device and solve the word!” (L:E,; SA:LA)

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 8/18/2023

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

Making a Solar Oven - “It's easy to cook with solar and the fuel is free, renewable and non-polluting. You can even use a solar oven in the winter on a bright, sunny day. Just add some insulation under the oven and protect it from the wind. The food will take longer to cook, but that's no problem. Just start your dinner in the morning and turn the oven a few times to make sure it's facing the sun.” (L:M,H; SA:S)

Loopy - “It's the ancient, time-honored way of learning: messing around and seeing what happens. Play with simulations to ask "what if" questions, and get an intuition for how the system works!” (L:T; SA:A)

Choice Board - “Canva for Education has many bingo card templates, but did you know that it also has a Bingo generator app? This means you can not only make Bingo cards, but also even create choice boards that look engaging.” (L:T; SA:A)

Basics of graphic design in educational technology - “This article proposes several visual design guidelines for designing more appealing and readable instructional materials. The guidelines follow the design principles of alignment, contrast, repetition, and proximity. In addition, this article presents tips for combining fonts, selecting colors, and finding resources.” (L:T; SA:A)

Met Publications - “MetPublications is an online portal to The Metropolitan Museum of Art's comprehensive art publishing program. It features over 1700 titles, including books, guides, Bulletins and Journals from the last six decades. The full contents of over 1400 out-of-print titles may be read online, searched, or downloaded as a PDF for free. Publications still in-print may be previewed and fully searched online through a link to Google Books.” (L:T; SA:LA,FA)

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 8/11/2023

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

Clickview - create interactive video lessons (L:T; SA:A)

Census Data - “Learn about America’s People, Places, and Economy” (L:T; SA:M,SS)

Library of Congress Magazine - “Library of Congress Magazine (LCM) is published bimonthly to tell the Library's stories, to showcase its many talented staff, and to share and promote the use of the resources of the world's largest library.” (L:T; SA:A)

DIY Sun Science - iPad app; “DIY Sun Science is designed to make it easy for families and educators to learn about the Sun anywhere, anytime!” (L:T; SA:S)

Odd One Out - “Can you spot the odd one out? Guess the AI generated “imposters” hidden among the artworks on Google Arts & Culture.” (L:H; SA:FA)

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 8/4/2023

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

Hello History - “An AI powered app that lets you have life-like conversations with historical figures” (L:G; SA:A)

17 AI Tools and Resources for Teachers - “I’ve put together a list that highlights some AI tools that you might want to try.” (L:T; SA:A)

Images to Inspire - great images to use for writing prompts! (L:T; SA:LA)

Hyperdocs - “HyperDocs are digital lesson plans that are designed by teachers and given to students.” (L:T; SA:A)

Centripetal Force - a collection of resources on this topic (L:T; SA:S)

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 7/28/2023

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

How rollercoasters affect your body - “In 1895, crowds flooded Coney Island to see America’s first-ever looping coaster: the Flip Flap Railway. But its thrilling flip caused cases of severe whiplash, neck injury and even ejections. Today, coasters can pull off far more exciting tricks and do it safely. Brian D. Avery investigates what rollercoasters are doing to your body and how they’ve managed to get scarier and safer at the same time.” (L:M; SA:H)

Lemon Squeeze – The Lemonade Stand - “Everyone has at one time or another opened a lemonade or Kool-Aid Stand. What a great place to begin an economics lesson. Students can taste test three brands of lemonade and compare prices with taste – is the most expensive the best? Using a reader’s theater students will construct a supply and demand schedule and can create a bar or line graph to demonstrate market interaction between buyers and sellers.” (L:E,M; SA:SS,C)

Why Are Wet Dogs Smelly? - “Squeaks and Jessi made a new friend, Cassie the puppy! They gave her a bath after playing in the mud, but now she smells even worse than before! Why do wet dogs smell so bad?!” (L:E; SA:S)

Lego Building Instructions - “A dump of all available building instruction booklet PDFs from the LEGO website (As of March 2023)” (L:G; SA:A)

Engageable - “Great teaching has always been about more than getting kids engaged, its about developing their ability to engage. We help you do this in a more mindful and measurable way than ever.” (L:T; SA:A)

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 7/21/2023

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

Return of the Cat Mummy - “Return to life as a cat mummy & help save the pharaoh's journey of eternity” (L:E; SA: LA.SS)

Fact Check Explorer - “The Fact Check Tools consist of two tools: Fact Check Explorer and Fact Check Markup Tool. Both tools aim to facilitate the work of fact checkers, journalists and researchers. Google does not endorse or create any of these fact checks. If you disagree with one, please contact the website owner that published it.”(L:G; SA:A)

Some Like It Hot - “Learn about the science of hot wings—from the Scoville Scale to capsaicin we zero in on how our bodies react and process sensory information. Then, students test their sensory perception of temperature.” (L:G; SA:S)

Build a Solar Oven - “An engineering Design Challenge to design and build a solar box cooker, and test it out to see if it works well enough to make S ‘mores.” (L:M,H; SA:S)

Make Your Own Sundial - “Squeaks broke his watch! Luckily Jessi knows of a handy way to tell time, with a sundial!” (L:E; SA:S)

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 7/14/2023

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

Making a Solar Oven - “People all over the world use solar ovens. Campers use them instead of campfires. No risk of forest fires! No smoke in your eyes! No marshmallows! What? Okay, so solar ovens can't do everything. But, you can put your dinner in the oven and go for a long hike. The food cooks all by itself-no watching, stirring, or turning needed. And the food won't burn if you're an hour late getting back to camp. In Third World countries, wood is still the main fuel for cooking. Many families spend hours every day trying to find wood for the evening meal. As the trees disappear, their lives become harder and harder. And their land becomes a desert.” (L:M; SA: S)

The Science of BBQ - Learn more about BBQ (L:G; SA: S)

Unpoppable Bubbles - “Jessi and Squeaks play with bubbles and learn how to make some that take a really long time to pop!” (L:E; SA: S)

How to Create Your First Quiz in Google Forms - “One of the most common uses of Google Forms is creating and giving self-graded quizzes. If you have never created a quiz with Google Forms, the tutorial that is embedded below will walk you through all of the steps you need to take to make your first quiz in Google Forms.” (L:T; SA: A)

Teaching with Historic Places - “Teaching with Historic Places offers a series of more than 160 classroom-ready lesson plans that use historic sites as a means for exploring American history. Educators and their students can work through these online lesson plans directly on the computer or print them out and photocopy them for distribution.You can browse lesson plans by theme, time period, and state.” (L:T; SA: SS)

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 6/30/2023

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

Spacecraft AR - App designed for an iPad; “Created by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, this stunning educational app uses native mobile augmented reality to bring spacecraft explorers from across the solar system to whatever space you’re in. Find a flat surface and view interactive 3D models right in front of you, scaled to table-top size or in their true-to-life proportions. Take pics with the spacecraft in your favorite environments, and explore detailed info about their fascinating missions.” (L:G; SA: S)

Fahrenheit, Celsius and Kelvin explained in ten seconds - YouTube video explanation (L:M,H; SA: S)

Living Wage vs. Minimum Wage - “...two resources that I've highlighted in the past to help students understand why minimum wage and livable wage are almost never the same thing.” (L:H; SA: C)

Flippity Flashcards - Use Google Sheets to make your own flashcards. (L:G; SA: A)

Why Are There So Many Different Kinds Of Milk? - “Josh explains the difference between common types of milk, looking at calories, fat and the rest of their composition.”(L:G; SA: S)

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 6/30/2023

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

Sounds of the West - “An audio tour of Montana’s four major ecosystems (L:G; SA:S, LA, FA)

Optical Sound Effects Library - “The Gold and Red Libraries (Gold effects start with “G”, Red with “R”)) consist of high-quality, first generation copies of original nitrate optical sound effects from the 1930s & ’40s created for Hollywood studios. They were collected by a prominent sound editor who worked in the industry for 44 years. The fragile optical elements were donated to USC, and transferred to tape by USC Cinema students in the early 1970s. The Sunset Editorial (SSE) Library was also donated to USC around 1990. It includes classic effects from the 1930s into the ’80s. These effects are from 35mm magnetic film. They were often several generations removed from the originals, and not as clean, so some careful restoration was done to make them more useful. SSE effects start with “S”” (L:G; SA:S, LA, FA)

1001 Novels: A Library of America - “For five years I’ve read classic novels of American life, and stories deeply embedded in the many regional places of the United States, with the intent of placing them—literally—on a map.” (L:H; SA: LA)

Museum of New Zealand - “Collections Online has information on almost 800,000 artworks, objects and specimens from Te Papa’s collections; from dinosaur teeth to contemporary art, buzzy bee to Xena. Collection areas cover Taonga Māori, Pacific Cultures, History, Photography, Art, Botany and Zoology. These items are complemented by over 190,000 images, with over 60,000 available for high resolution download. There’s also a wealth of information on related people, places, topics, species and research from Te Papa.” (L:H; SA: FA)

How to Design a Mars Rover! - from SciShow Kids; “Today, the crew at The Fort learn about engineers and how they design different ways to solve problems like they did for the rovers exploring Mars!” (L:E; SA: S)

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 6/23/2023

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

How Brass Instruments Work - “What gives the trumpet its clarion ring and the tuba its gut shaking oompah-pah? And what makes the trombone so jazzy? Al Cannon shows how these answers lie not in the brass the instruments are made of, but in the journey that air takes from the musician’s lungs to the instrument’s bell.” (L:G; SA:FA)

Would You Rather - “The Auto Classmate ‘Would You Rather’ Question Generator is designed to add a high-energy activity to any warm-up or lesson plan for any grade level or content area. By simply selecting your grade level and topic/content, our AI-powered generator will produce 10 unique and custom-crafted ‘Would You Rather’ style questions. These types of questions are wonderful for student interactions between peers and educators in any classroom setting,”(L:T; SA:A)

Thinking Routine Toolbox - “This toolbox highlights thinking routines developed across a number of research projects at PZ. A thinking routine is a set of questions or a brief sequence of steps used to scaffold and support student thinking. PZ researchers designed thinking routines to deepen students’ thinking and to help make that thinking “visible.” Thinking routines help to reveal students’ thinking to the teacher and also help students themselves to notice and name particular “thinking moves,” making those moves more available and useful to them in other contexts.” (L:T; SA:A)

Countries Within Countries - Learn more about some countries surrounded by other countries. (L:G; SA:SS)

Goods and Services - “In this economics activity, you will learn about goods and services via drag and drop classification.” (L:H; SA:SS)

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 6/16/2023

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

See a Salamander Grow - “Witness the ‘making of’ a salamander from fertilization to hatching in this six minute time-lapse.” (L:G; SA:S)

The Money Multiplier and the Gigantic $100,000 Bill - “The money multiplier is the mathematical relationship between the monetary base and money supply of an economy. It explains the increase in the amount of circulated money that is created when a bank makes loans using funds previously deposited by customers.” (L:H; SA:SS, M)

Taxes Tic Tac Toe - “In this game, students can play tic tac toe while answering questions about progressive, regressive, and proportional taxes.” (L:H; SA:SS, M)

The True Size of… - “It is hard to represent our spherical world on flat piece of paper. Cartographers use something called a "projection" to morph the globe into 2D map. The most popular of these is the Mercator projection. Every map projection introduces distortion, and each has its own set of problems. One of the most common criticisms of the Mercator map is that it exaggerates the size of countries nearer the poles (US, Russia, Europe), while downplaying the size of those near the equator (the African Continent). On the Mercator projection Greenland appears to be roughly the same size as Africa. In reality, Greenland is 0.8 million sq. miles and Africa is 11.6 million sq. miles, nearly 14 and a half times larger. This app was created by James Talmage and Damon Maneice. It was inspired by an episode of The West Wing and an infographic by Kai Krause entitled "The True Size of Africa". We hope teachers will use it to show their students just how big the world actually is.”(L:G; SA:SS)

How Do Honeybees Get Their Job? - “Every honeybee has a job to do. Some are nurses who take care of the brood; some are janitors who clean the hive; others are foragers who gather pollen to make honey. Collectively, honeybees are able to achieve an incredible level of sophistication, especially considering their brains are only the size of sesame seeds. But how are these jobs divvied up, and where do bees learn the skills to execute them?” (L:G; SA:SS)

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 6/9/2023

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

Is It Normal to Talk to Yourself - a TED-ed talk; “Being caught talking to yourself can feel embarrassing, and some people even stigmatize this behavior as a sign of mental instability. But decades of research show that talking to yourself is completely normal; most if not all of us engage in some form of self-talk every day. So why do we talk to ourselves? And does what we say matter? Dig into the psychological benefits of positive self-talk.” (L:H; SA:S)

Music Explorers Digital - “To get started, simply pick a program, use the online development resources and lesson plans, and teach your students about new musical genres and cultural traditions. Each program includes six lessons built around two songs by three unique artists. All programs culminate in an interactive concert experience, during which your students will celebrate what they've learned, singing and dancing along with their favorite new artists.” (L:G; SA:FA)

Breaking News Generator - Make your own headlines (L:G; SA:A)

How to Use Google Takeout 2023 - “Through Google Takeout you can download the data and files that you have in your Google account. This information can include things in your Google Drive, Google Keep, Google Earth, and all of the other Google services you may have used with a school-issued Google account.” (L:T; SA:A)

NASA Infographics Gallery - great selection of science infographics (L:T; SA:S)

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 6/2/2023

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

Teach Rock - “TeachRock improves students' lives by bringing the sound, stories, and science of music to all classrooms.From The Beatles to Beyoncé, from kindergarten to AP History, in the classroom or remotely, TeachRock offers meaningful lesson plans all at no cost to teachers, students, and families, inspiring deeper learning and understanding through the power of music.” (L:T; SA:A)

The psychology behind irrational decisions - “Often people make decisions that are not “rational” from a purely economical point of view — meaning that they don’t necessarily lead to the best result. Why is that? Are we just bad at dealing with numbers and odds? Or is there a psychological mechanism behind it? Sara Garofalo explains heuristics, problem-solving approaches based on previous experience and intuition rather than analysis.” (L:H; SA:S)

Squeak Grows a Garden - “​​Squeaks and Mister Brown really want to plant a garden this spring, but they don't know where to start! Lucky for them, their friend Juniper the Earthworm is a gardening expert! Join in as they learn the when and where to plant their garden so they can enjoy home-grown veggies all summer. Plus, they'll watch seeds sprout into baby plants, and even learn how to grow plants without soil!” (L:E; SA:S)

Indoor Farm - “Family turns small-town Sask. school into indoor farm ​— and runs a drive-thru for veggies” (L:T; SA:A)

Mental Health Chart - “Teacher’s Mental Health Chart for Students Inspires Educators Across the Globe to Follow Suit” (L:T; SA:A)

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 5/26/2023

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

Visuwords - “A modern dictionary for a modern world. Visuwords™ represents Language visually.” (L:G; SA:A)

Georgia Public Broadcasting - “Georgia Public Broadcasting's education division is proud to provide FREE digital media & content for GA's educators & students.” (L:G; SA:A)

Can You Power A House With A Bicycle? - “After pedaling for hours, I discover there's a difference between the power you use and the power your body can generate.” (L:H; SA:S)

The Math Learning Center - “These free apps are based on the visual models featured in Bridges in Mathematics. Apps are available in multiple versions: a web app for all modern browsers, and downloadable versions for specific operating systems and devices (such as Apple iOS for iPad).”(L:T; SA:A)

C3Teachers - “The Inquiry Design Model (IDM) is a distinctive approach to creating curriculum and instructional materials that honors teachers’ knowledge and expertise, avoids overprescription, and focuses on the main elements of the instructional design process as envisioned in the Inquiry Arc of the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for State Social Studies Standards (2013). Unique to the IDM is the blueprint, a one-page representation of the questions, tasks, and sources that define a curricular inquiry.” (L:T; SA:A)

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 5/19/2023

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

#Color Our Collections - “This Learning Lab collection has been created to encourage learners of all ages to #ColorOurCollections and engage with our portraits! Each coloring page is followed by the portrait in our collection that the coloring page is based on. We invite you to compare and contrast your creation with our collections! What might you add to your portrait? What colors would you use? What choices did you make that were the same as the choices the original artist made? What choices did you make that were different?” (L:G; SA:FA)

Old Maps Online - “The easy to use gateway to historical maps in libraries around the world.” (L:G; SA:SS)

How Do Solar Panels Work? - “The Earth intercepts a lot of solar power: 173,000 terawatts. That’s 10,000 times more power than the planet’s population uses. So is it possible that one day the world could be completely reliant on solar energy? Richard Komp examines how solar panels convert solar energy to electrical energy.” (L:H; SA:S)

Exclusion and Empire - “The annexation of both Hawaii and the Philippines in 1898 opened a new chapter in congressional history. Limited in their legislative tools as statutory representatives and stymied by racial prejudice, Resident Commissioners and Delegates worked to protect their islands’ economies and define their political status. Elsewhere across America, discriminatory policies at the federal and state level denied Asian immigrants access to citizenship and all but erased their political rights.” (L:H; SA: SS)

May Wakelet - “Resources for teachers to use with students. Curated by Terri Eichholz.” (L:T; SA:A)

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 5/12/2023

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

The Math Learning Center - “The Math Learning Center (MLC) is providing resources for all students to use independently or with support from family members or educators” (L:G; SA:M)

Meet Landers Gaydosh: A 13-Year-Old World Championship Climber Who Scales Ice Walls - “Meet Landers Gaydosh: an ice climbing world champion who has competed across the globe by climbing up slippery ice walls with long-handled hammers with blades. In January 2022, at the Ice Climbing World Youth Championships in Switzerland, he scrambled all the way to the top of an 80-foot-tall ice wall — and bested others in his category by 20 seconds.” (L:E,M; SA:LA)

Spotify for Podcasters - “Powerful tools for beginners, pros, and everyone in between – all for free.” (L:G; SA:A)

Weather Lab - “Weather Lab is a tool to help visualize how North America’s weather is formed. This lab is designed to model the complex interactions between air masses and ocean currents, but like all models it represents probable outcomes. Each prediction you make is for possible outcomes during Spring.” (L:M,H; SA:S)

Baseball Hall of Fame - free lesson plans, “The materials available here can enrich your on-site field trip or virtual field trip experience with the Baseball Hall of Fame. You may also use these materials independently to help you teach a variety of subjects using baseball as a catalyst.” (L:M,H; SA:A)

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 5/5/2023

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

Conundrums - “This learning series with Activities introduces the challenging idea that not all problems have a clear right answer. Each episode is carefully designed to develop problem solving and critical thinking skills!” (L:E,M; SA:C)

Propello - “Propello makes it easier to give every student a first-class learning experience. Our K-12 teaching and learning platform combines high-quality, customizable curriculum with built-in scaffolding and supports to propel learning forward.” (L:T; SA:A)

Stickity - “Seamlessly integrate digital stickers into Google Slides and Google Docs.” (L:T; SA:A)

Focusable - “Life gets more distracting by the day, diminishing your ability to pay attention. Now AI is becoming part of your everyday life - offering up enormous new potential and also a new path of least resistance to your attention. Yet to flourish, we need to retain the ability to take on the resistance. To embrace challenges. To do the deep work. Investing in your ability to focus is the foundation to thrive.” (L:G; SA:A)

Bird migration, a perilous journey - a TED-ed lesson; “​​Nearly 200 species of songbirds migrate south for winter, some traveling up to 7,000 miles. No easy task, the annual journey is dangerous to birds due to landscape change -- so much so, that only half the birds that migrate south will return home for spring. Alyssa Klavans details why bird migration is so taxing and how we can assist our chirping friends.” (L:G; SA:S)

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 4/28/2023

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

River Runner - “Click to drop a raindrop anywhere in the contiguous United States and watch where it ends up.” (L:G; SA:S)

When Will Spring Bird Migration Hit Its Peak? - “Spring migration timing varies across the U.S. and even within regions, according to radar data analyzed by BirdCast.” (L:G; SA:S)

Pathway to Financial Success - “Pathway to Financial Success empowers you to take control of your financial future. Explore the self-paced online modules and other tools to equip you to make sound financial decisions to meet your life goals.” (L:H; SA:M,C)

WWF Free Rivers - free app; “WWF Free Rivers puts an entire landscape in your hands. Through this immersive, augmented reality experience, you’ll discover a river that flows through the lives of people and wildlife, and how their homes depend on those flows. Dam the river to see what happens, and then try different options for sustainable development that keeps the river healthy and flowing. Collect stories of people and animals along the way!” (L:G; SA:S)

Aquation: The Freshwater Access Game - “Choice, strategy, balance, and . . . water equity? Parts of the planet are struggling to get enough water. Use each region's wealth to build pipes, desalinate water, and conduct research to bring water where it's needed most. Monsoons, dry spells, disease, and even cursed lawn sprinklers can help or hinder your progress. Manage your wealth and water carefully to solve the world's water crisis!” (L:M,H; SA:S)

Original photo by Pat Hensley