Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 12/23/16

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

Since it is the holiday season, I thought I would link to some of the holidays celebrated in December. This might be a good time to expose our students to these different holidays.

Grosvenor Teacher Fellow Program – “Selected educators will travel aboard the ships National Geographic Explorer, National Geographic Endeavour II,and National Geographic Sea Lion on expeditions to regions including the Arctic, British and Irish Isles, Canadian Maritimes, Iceland, the Galapagos, Antarctica and more. While aboard, Fellows will share the importance of geographic literacy with fellow travelers, develop activities to bring back to their classrooms, and have an adventure of a lifetime. Prior to the expedition, all 2017 Grosvenor Teacher Fellows will travel to Washington, D.C. (March 23–26, 2017) with all expenses covered to participate in a pre-voyage workshop sponsored by Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic.” (L:T; SA:A)

Kidknits – “Founded by a nine-year old knitter three years ago, the KidKnits movement continues to grow! Each month, hundreds of people are introduced to KidKnits and learn how, through a simple craft, lives are being changed across the world. We are thankful that you are here!” (L:G; SA:A)

Questioning Toolkit – “Each district should create a Questioning Toolkit which contains several dozen kinds of questions and questioning tools. This Questioning Toolkit should be printed in large type on posters which reside on classroom walls close by networked, information-rich computers. Portions of the Questioning Toolkit should be introduced as early as Kindergarten so that students can bring powerful questioning technologies and techniques with them as they arrive in high school.” (L:G; SA:A)

TESTeach – “Create digital lessonsin 5 minutes; Interactive lessons, projects, presentations and more” (L:T; SA:A) 

Every Trail World Map – Find trails from all around the world. (L:H; SA:S, SS)

Original photo by Pat Hensley