Makerspaces in the Library

Are you a librarian? Curious about incorporating the Makerspace Movement into your library? Diana Rendina, a library media specialist in Hillsborough County School District, has Slide Share presentation showing librarians ways to include STEAM projects in their library program. She states, "Makerspaces and the Maker Education movement are quickly taking hold of the library world. In this session, you can learn what the Maker Movement is and find some ways to get started bringing Science Technology Engineering Arts and Mathematics into your library program."

Thanksgiving Resources

Happy Thanksgiving!! We have the next week off, so I won't post as much next week. In the spirit of the upcoming holiday, Teacher First has numerous resources for Thanksgiving. Enjoy your time off and rest up!

Google Classroom Updates

For all those using Google Classroom, there are 6 important updates to work with this fall. Alice Keeler outlines the 6 updates on her blog, Teacher Tech. Also, if you're on twitter, follow her @alicekeeler.

Static Electricity

I recently had a student ask me about static electricity. It led us on a search through the wonderful world of the internet. We stumbled upon this post from Free Tech 4 Teachers: The Science of Static Electricity. It helps students understand why rubbing a balloon on your head makes your hair stand up.

Coding for Kids

Here's a new website out of Boulder, CO, Bitsbox, allowing users to easily create Apps by writing code. You can even sign up for their newsletter and they'll send you codes every month to try with your students.

Free Typing Program

I've been using Typing Club with my students to teach them how to type, but I recently stumbled upon another program called Alfa Typing. Firstly, it's a FREE program. Typing Club, to access all the functions of it, you pay $2.40/student. I'm going to see if Alfa Typing allows me to use the same features for FREE.

Web Tools for Teachers

Educational Tech and Mobile Learning released a blog post about 7 new tools teachers should be using:

Exampl allows you to take a picture of your math problem that has you stumped, upload to their website, and receive help from your peers. I'm really excited to pass this along to our Math Dept.

Field Trip Zoom allows teachers to connect with institutions in their area who provide learning opportunities for students. The examples the site provides are zoos or museums, but there are many more opportunities to explore.

BirdBrain is an online science textbook which are aligned to the Common Core. It's a great supplement for any science teacher.

Check out the other four tools at Educational Tech and Mobile Learning!

Veteran's Day

Veteran's Day is this Wednesday (Nov. 11). Free Tech 4 Teachers provided a few resources for teaching students about the holiday. Would you add anything to these resources? Any resources you use to teach about Veteran's Day?

EdTech Teacher

Next weekend (Nov 14-16), the MASS Fall Conference will be held at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. They've released many of the programs being presented during the conference, and EdTech Teacher released links to their presentations on the EdTech Teacher website. Follow the links next to the presenter's name to view their presentations. This is an excellent FREE resource with some interesting ideas about the future of education.

Professional Development

Here's an interesting site: Bloom Board. It allows teachers and administrators to create a personal path for their professional development. The user enters information about the areas they'd like to know more about, like differentiation, personalized learning, inquiry-based teaching, etc. It's a great way for teachers to take control of their professional development. I created a free account today!

Brain Teasers

Educational Tech & Mobile Learning recently posted an article about 10 iPad Apps for Brain Teasers. This could be excellent apps for parents to put on their iPads for their kids to use, or it could be a great way for students to use a "brain break" in you class. Would you add any apps to this list?

Makerspace Resources

Here's another fantastic resource for Makerpsaces, Coding, Video Game Creation, and Video Creation: Lewis and Clark Elementary School. Living up to their school's moniker as explorers!

Minds in Bloom

Here's an interesting websites with tons of FREE resources: Minds in Bloom. They pride themselves in discovering and creating "strategies and activities to promote creative and critical thinking." I've found numerous STEM activities to introduce in my Makerspaces. Great resource!