This week’s featured website comes to us from Maryland, but it has some great stuff for those of us further south, too!

http://www.thinkport.org/default.tp

Looking for clipart, photos, templates, sounds, or just about almost anything else you can think of to make your PowerPoint, Word, Excel, etc., really “pop”?

Well, it’s here — Microsoft Office Online. Microsoft gives you lots of wonderful, FREE, resources.

This week’s featured website is Computer Literacy 101. The title says it all — it’s a great site with lots of basic, easy to understand, information on computers and technology.

Our new Web 2.0 tool, AfterClass, went live today! For those of you wanting to dive in to these nifty new instructional tools, here is an online help site from SchoolFusion.

http://www.schoolfusion.info/help/afterclass/teachers/

Thomas Friedman is the author of The World is Flat which is all about 21st century globalization and how it is affecting business, education, and our lives in general. By “flat” he means “connected”. I admittedly have not finished the book, yet. It is an endeavor “in progress”, but what I’ve read so far is very interesting.

Enter the “Flat Classroom Project” where teachers and students from around the world are collaborating on projects using Web 2.0 tools. Just how cool is that?!?! And I really don’t think it would be that tough to do. I’ve already talked to our specialty program coordinator, Meg H., about the possibility of linking up with some of our partner schools from around the world. Check out the link and if you are interested in giving something like this a try, let me know!

This week’s featured website comes recommended by one of our wonderful Oceanography teachers, Cathy L.

http://www.vims.edu/bridge/

Don’t know what Flickr is? It’s one of the most popular photo sharing sites available on the Internet today.  For those of you quick-clickers — you’ve already figured out that the site is, of course, blocked by the county. Web 2.0 tools like Flickr have made publishers out of literally everyone! Problem is, some of the things folks publish don’t quite fit the “appropriate use” policy of our AUP, so it has to be blocked.

All that aside, it is a pretty nice service. And now the Library of Congress has joined the Flickr community! Why is this a big deal? After all, the pictures they posted were already available on the LOC site…

The big deal is that now the world, and I do mean the ENTIRE world, can provide comments, feedback, history, perspective, etc., to accompany the pictures. Does that mean some crap may be posted? Of course! But the tremendous community of knowledge that makes up our little world (and it IS getting smaller, at least as far as technology is concerned) most certainly outweighs the garbage that some goofballs post.

 THAT’S why this is a big deal….

This week’s featured website comes from Tim Stahmer who, in addition to being a technology specialist in a neighboring school district, is the author of the blog, Assorted Stuff. He has compiled a list of the top 101 websites for educators and it looks absolutely awesome! Check it out!

This week’s featured website is Students 2.0. It is an edublog (blogs that only deal with topics relating to education) written and published entirely by students from all around the globe where they express their views about education today. It’s pretty impressive and thought-provoking. Some of what they say may make you squirm in your seat a bit, but the posts are thoughtful and well-written. Be sure to check out the information under the About tab to learn more about their mission.

Welcome back and happy 2008!

The link for VDOE’s SOL electronic practice tests (ePats) has changed. Last year, we downloaded all these tests to the computers in the library and IT Lab to assist with SOL remediation. This year, a link has been added to our Novell desktop which is great! Now, you and your students can access these practice tests from anywhere in the building! At home, though, your students will still need to download and install the tests they wish to practice with. The link has been updated on our portaportal, and I’ve provided it for you above, as well.

We’ve added quite a few more links to Hylton’s PortaPortal that you will want to check out. One of these is Primary Source Learning that our Gifted Education teacher, Janice G., shared it with me. It looks like a great resource! She was also kind enough to share the training materials for the site. If you would like copies, just come by the IT Lab.

Additionally, if you are looking for the SOL remediation resource links, they are also now on the PortaPortal.

We’ve all heard about Facebook and MySpace, but for those of us just a teensy bit older than 25, there’s another social networking service called Ning. Just like MySpace and Facebook, the site is blocked by the school system. However, I found I could still get to a really great Ning community called Classroom 2.0. The pictures don’t work if you are in the school building, but the text is there. It’s a great resource! If you’ve been thinking about learning more about social networks, nothing’s better than giving one a try!

Today we have a whole list of featured websites–just slide your eyes a bit to the right and down and check out the Blogroll! Every blog has a listing of other blogs the author likes to read.  Therefore, if you like what you are reading here, chances are you’ll like what you find in the Blogroll. Although I read them all, my current favorites are Warlick’s 2 Cents Worth, McLeod’s Dangerously Irrelevant, Fisch’s The Fischbowl, and Gate’s Tipline. These blogs are much better written, much better researched, and way more interesting than mine. While my blogroll reflects my interest in technology and education, but there are over 50 million blogs out there on every subject. To find one on a subject of your choice, just google it!

Yes, today’s Website Wednesday features a two-for deal! In addition to the MyRocketbook.com site you see below, I’ve also found a couple of great sites for free Social Studies videos — John Stossel’s 20/20 segments and izzit.org.

Enjoy!

I’m not sure if I would share this resource with students, unless you want them using the resources available here to ”read-up” on the classics rather than reading them first hand. Having said (written?) that, however, this is a really cool site–MyRocketbook.com. If either you or your students want to review classics like The Scarlet Letter, 1984, The Great Gatsby, or more, everything you need can be found here! I was especially intrigued by the video study guides, but downloading the MP3s sounds like a great alternative, too.

This week’s featured website is courtesy of one of our wonderful librarians, Connie M.!

From Connie:

The Library has just added a new database called BrainPOP. It has short, animated, videos on seven curricular subjects: English, Math, Social Studies, Technology, Art & Music, and Health. They are short, colorful, entertaining, and educational!

You don’t need to have your class in a computer lab to use them. You can show them right in your classroom if you have a projector or PC/TV connection and Internet access!

Our license allows for 35 simultaneous logins during school hours. For the user ID and password, please see one of our friendly librarians!

Blue Web’n is a really nice site chocked full of teaching resources!

This week’s featured website is United Streaming, now part of Discovery Education. If you haven’t previously set up your account and logged in, click New User Login to create your account (please see your friendly ITRT for the school’s passcode). After logging in, tons of videos are available under the DE Streaming tab. In addition, there are great new resources for you under the Educator Network tab, too!

United Streaming training is scheduled for Thursday, November 8, after school in the IT Lab.

Addressing the needs of each individual student can be a daunting task for a teacher. For all of us, but especially if you are teaching with a co-teacher, T/TAC Online is a great resource to find tools that can help address our students diverse learning abilities and styles. Click the Resources tab to find lots of great information!

This week’s featured website is our very own Instructional Technology website. There are tons of resources posted here that apply specifically to our school. Additionally, dates for all upcoming IT training are posted here (we’re doing photostory this Thursday!).

The site is easily accessed through Hylton’s website. After logging in to the website, all faculty have a direct link displayed on their navigation bar.

Looking for instructions on how to install IGPro at home? They are here!

Do you want access to Groupwise email at home? The information is here!

Need something and it’s not there? Just let your friendly ITRT know and it will be posted in a flash!