Teaching Challenges Blog — Active Board Ideas for Taking Roll and Finishing Work

Bloggers Day from Brain Pop offers a video to help teachers and students become bloggers.

The Math Fact Cafe 

Free math worksheets for elementary school and home use. This includes generators for math drills, flashcards, time, money, and more!

The Best Kids Book Site has dozens of links to seasonal topics that take you to children’s books related to the theme.

Susan Taylor Brown\’s Site for Teachers has teacher tools, numerous lists of links to literacy resources, a playground of activities related to literacy, and a blog for teachers.

Planet Esme is a wonderful literacy resource from author and former classroom teacher, Esme Raji Codell.  She reviews hundreds of children’s books and has her own blog.  She is the author of a Sahara Special, a book that truly opened my eyes and brought new empathy for struggling learners

Kideos Children\’s Video Site

Due to You Tube content, not all videos will play correctly at school.

Kideos is the premier destination for kids to safely watch videos online. Each video on Kideos has been screened by our Video Advisory Council before it makes it onto our site. Our goal is to empower parents to feel comfortable allowing their child to spend time on Kideos, while also making sure children have a thoroughly entertaining experience.

Standards Based Report Card Research

ASCD examines the movement toward standards based report cards and includes research from Marzano.

More research at Principals Partnership and ASCD Seven Reasons for Standards Based Grading

Coloring Contest for College Savings

ASCD H1N1 Flu Resources for Schools has links to important information regarding the H1N1 flu including a communication toolkit for schools. 

In addition, the CDC has issued this H1N1 and Children – Vaccine and School Guidance Aug 26 to present vaccine guidance for schools.

One again this year, New Providence Baptist Church wants to show their appreciation for local educators by providing special meals/treats throughout the school year.  Letters to thank these fine folks can be sent to New Providence Baptist Church, 245 White Road, Loudon, TN  37774.  Or, you may email Mitch Webster at mwebster@npbcloudon.org .  Here is the schedule of events:

September 8 — Dessert

October 13 — Breakfast

November 10 — Lunch

December 1 — Fruit

January 12 — Dessert

February 9 — Lunch

March 9 — Fruit

April 12 — Breakfast

May 16 — School Celebration Picnic

25 Ways to Gain Children\’s Attention from Education World is a great article for teachers — new or veteran.

How to Keep Kids Engaged in Class is a very good article from Edutopia with concrete suggestions and ideas.  Check it out and share with your teacher friends.

30 Classic Outdoor Games to Play with Children has a nice collection of outdoor games for kids to play.  Remember — those days when children played outside more than inside with video games?

The Biography Maker is a writing help/organization site for students preparing to write a biography.

Lesson Plans from the Museum of Humor Grades K-3

Lesson Plans from the Museum of Humor Grades 4-6

Make Beliefs Comix.com allows students to create comic strip stories online.

Art Ed 2.0 is a global community of art educators exploring uses of new technology.

Schooltime Online Science Games 

School Time Math Games

School Time Social Studies Games

School Time Language Arts Games

School Time Logic Games

Audio Pal.com allows you to add your voice to your web site, blog , or social network.

Time for School Series on PBS This two-part series airs Wednesday September 2 and September 9, 2009

WIDE ANGLE’s unprecedented, award-winning 12-year documentary project, Time for School, returns in 2009 with visits to seven classrooms in seven countries to offer a glimpse into the lives of seven extraordinary children who are struggling to get what nearly all American kids take for granted: a basic education. We started filming in 2002, watching as kids first entered school in Afghanistan, Benin, Brazil, India, Japan, Kenya and Romania, many despite great odds. Several years later, in 2006, we returned to film an update — and now, three years later, we travel to check in on our young teenagers who are making the precarious transition to middle school. Among the highlights: in Afghanistan we reunite with 16-year-old Shugufa, who resolutely remains in school despite the Taliban’s recent acid attacks on young women her age. “If they continue attacking schools, our country won’t progress. Without an education you can’t get anywhere,” says Shufuga, whose own education was delayed when her family lived in a refugee camp in Pakistan during years when the Taliban ruled her country. We also visit the biggest slum in Nairobi, Kenya, where 15-year-old Joab’s mother has died and his father has abandoned the family. We watch as, incredibly, Joab manages to stay at the top of his class while also raising and feeding his two younger siblings. And in the blazing desert of Rajasthan, India, we encounter Neeraj, 15, only to learn that she has been unable to realize her dream of making it to 10th grade: since our last visit her night school has closed, and she now helps support her family by grazing the livestock full-time while her brothers continue their education.

These children’s stories put a human face on the shocking fact that more than a hundred million children are currently out of school; of these, two thirds are girls. One in four children in developing countries does not complete five years of basic education, and there are nearly one billion illiterate adults — one-sixth of the world’s people. WIDE ANGLE plans to continue revisiting all the children, and their peers and families, through 2015, the year they should graduate — and, not coincidentally, the U.N.’s target date for achieving universal education, a Millennium Development goal endorsed by all 191 members of the United Nations.

While each child in Time for School 3 has a unique story, taken together their lives tell an epic tale, shedding light on one of the most urgent and under-reported stories of our time.

My Story Maker sponsored by the Carnegie Library allows students to create digital stories on line by combining art and writing.

My Plant ID is a great site when working with students on plant units.  Students can send in plants to be identified and then post them on a world map.  The information below is from the web site.

My Plant ID began in January 2008 as a plant identification service. People from all over the world sent us photographs of their plants and we identified them for free. The demand was overwhelming. When we realized that we couldn’t keep up with the amount of daily submissions, we knew something had to change. At the same time, there was a large number of plant enthusiasts who contacted us, eager to help identify. The result is www.myplantid.com. With you help and curiosity, we hope to build myplantid into the premier plant identification website and forum.

Fun Photo Box is yet another free site where you can upload your photos and create special effects — even animations.

Brain Pop Topics List shows up in the Brain Pop blog.  This teacher prints the topics lists and keeps them in her planning book so they are handy when planning as a team or individually.