Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 12/27/13

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

Smithsonian X 3D – “offers students the ability to explore some of the Smithsonian’s most treasured objects with a level of control that has never been possible until now. We hope this revolutionary level of access to the Smithsonian collections will spark your students’ curiosity and that the exploration of these objects will enable them to build lifelong observation and critical thinking skills.” (L:G; SA:A)

Engineering Interact - interactive science and engineering (L:E; SA:S)

Wild Music – “A Traveling Exhibition about the Sounds and Songs of Life” (L:G; SA:FA)

Roller Coaster Game – “This simulator is designed for people who want to design their own thrilling coaster and educators who want to use a cool activity to simulate the application of physics by using an exciting interactive tool and access to a wonderful reference source.” (L:G; SA:A)

Class Charts – “Seating charts are an essential part of any good teacher’s tool kit. They help organise students into appropriate learning groups and minimise behaviour issues – the class teacher asserts their authority before the lesson even begins. We take seating charts a step further. You can optionally include and display key data (eg SEN, reading age) about each pupil which is used to intelligently position pupils in the classroom to maximise learning.The seating plans you create in Class Charts are also a behaviour management tool which you can use collaboratively with colleagues to track and analyse student behaviour over time.” (L:T; SA:A)

Original Image: Tools by Pat Hensley