Webspirations : General

Posted November 27, 2007

VIRTUAL MUSEUMS OF THE WORLD

Science

Our “Must See” Selections

Denver Museum of Nature and Science - http://www.dmns.org/
Click on Adventure Central and take a virtual field trip!
http://www.dmns.org/main/en/

Oregon Museum of Science & Industry - http://www.omsi.edu/
Check out "Science Online" for activities.
http://www.omsi.edu/

Other Great Sites

Academy of Natural Sciences - http://www.acnatsci.org/
Explore several online exhibits and games.
http://www.ansp.org/index.php

C.E. Smith Museum of Anthropology - http://www.isis.csuhayward.edu/cesmith/acesmith.html
Archaeological items from around the globe.
http://class.csueastbay.edu/anthropologymuseum/Home_Page.php

Canada Science and Technology Museum - http://www.science-tech.nmstc.ca/english/index.cfm
Collection profiles, games and much more.
http://www.sciencetech.technomuses.ca/english/index.cfm

Computer Museum History Center - http://www.computerhistory.org/
Multimedia exhibits and a timeline.
http://www.computerhistory.org/

Exploratorium - http://www.exploratorium.edu/
Excellent archive of past and current exhibits.
http://www.exploratorium.edu/

Franklin Institute Science Museum - http://sln.fi.edu/
Learn about current exhibits and IMAX films.
http://www2.fi.edu/

Houston Museum of Natural Science - http://www.hmns.org/?r=1
Don’t miss the Butterfly Center and other animal exhibits.
http://www.hmns.org/?r=1

Miami Museum of Science - http://www.miamisci.org/
Take a virtual tour of the exhibits.
http://www.miamisci.org/

Museum of Science and Industry - http://www.msichicago.org/
Great virtual tours of museum exhibits.
http://www.msichicago.org/

Tech Museum of Innovation - http://www.thetech.org/
Great online exhibits and activities.
http://www.thetech.org/

Yale Peabody Museum - http://www.peabody.yale.edu/
Explore more than a dozen exhibits online from the folks at Yale University.
http://www.peabody.yale.edu/

Art

Our “Must See” Selections

The Metropolitan Museum of Art - http://www.metmuseum.org/
Wonderful education section; be sure to visit the For Kids section.
http://www.metmuseum.org/

National Gallery of Art Washington D.C. - http://www.nga.gov/
The virtual tours on this museum are excellent, possibly the best on the web.
http://www.nga.gov/

Other Great Sites

Louvre Museum - http://www.louvre.fr/louvrea.htm
Good virtual tour area and a wonderful collections area for online visitors.
http://www.louvre.fr/llv/commun/home.jsp?bmLocale=en

J. Paul Getty Museum Home Page - http://www.getty.edu/museum/
This museum has a collection of art that is from all time periods. The best area to look in is the Collections Overview.
http://www.getty.edu/museum/

Museum of Modern Art, New York - http://www.moma.org/
Great place for kids to go to learn about art and then create their own artwork that can be submitted and viewed by others. There is also a good explanation of some of the terms used in art in this section.
http://www.moma.org/

The Art Institute of Chicago - http://www.artic.edu/aic/
The collections section is the best online content.
http://www.artic.edu/aic/

Cabaret Mechanical Theatre - http://www.cabaret.co.uk/
This museum has mechanical toys that you can see working and rotate around to view from different angles.
http://www.cabaret.co.uk/

History

Our “Must See” Selections

Smithsonian Institute - http://www.si.edu/
Click on any of the hundreds of exhibits.
http://www.si.edu/

National Civil Rights Museum - http://www.civilrightsmuseum.org/
Take an interactive tour and read the bios.
http://www.civilrightsmuseum.org/

Other Great Sites

Museum of American History - http://americanhistory.si.edu/
Many virtual exhibitions to explore.
http://americanhistory.si.edu/

The British Museum - http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/
Explore the history of many world cultures.
http://www.britishmuseum.org/default.aspx

Holocaust Memorial Museum - http://www.ushmm.org/
Online exhibits from the museum.
http://www.ushmm.org/

American Indian Museum - http://www.si.edu/nmai/
Explore this resource by browsing the object index.
http://www.nmai.si.edu/

N.Y. Historical Society - http://www.nyhistory.org/
Paintings, sculpture and other art from New York.
https://www.nyhistory.org/web/

National Civil Rights Museum - http://www.civilrightsmuseum.org/
Take an interactive tour and read the bios.
http://www.civilrightsmuseum.org/

National Liberty Museum - http://www.libertymuseum.org/introduction/index.html
Heroes in history and the founding of the U.S.
http://www.libertymuseum.org/introduction/index.html

Museum of Women's History - http://www.nmwh.org/
Take the quiz and explore the timeline.
http://www.nmwh.org/

Some Unique Ones

Our “Must See” Selections

Toaster Museum
http://www.toaster.org/

Quatloos! - Museum of Scams and Frauds
http://www.quatloos.com/

Posted October 16, 2007

Internet Content in the Classroom

This edition highlights a mother lode of Internet resources available from one comprehensive website: Internet Content in the Classroom by Thinkfinity.
Verizon provides the funding for Thinkfinity. The content partners have produced seven discipline-specific, standards-based websites geared primarily toward K-12 teachers and students. All sites offer excellent search engines and the content is all developed by teachers.
The main website can be assessed at: http://www.marcopolo-education.org/home.aspx
The following are descriptions from the website for each content area:

ARTSEDGE

John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Created by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, ARTSEDGE provides resources and exemplars for teachers to teach in, through, and about the arts. The site includes lesson plans, advocacy and professional development resources, and up-to-date information on arts programs from around the world.
http://www.kennedy-center.org/

EconEdLink

National Council on Economic Education
Developed by the National Council on Economic Education, EconEdLink provides teachers and students with lessons and classroom learning activities based on economics topics in the news and real-time economics data. EconEdLink content is designed to help integrate economic concepts across the curriculum as outlined in the Voluntary National Content Standards in Economics.
http://www.econedlink.org/ and http://www.ncee.net

EDSITEment

National Endowment for the Humanities
Presented by the National Endowment for the Humanities, EDSITEment features lesson plans and additional classroom resources in art and culture, literature and language arts, foreign language, and history and social studies. It also serves as a gateway to the best humanities sites on the Web, and it features a monthly theme-based teaching resource calendar.
http://edsitement.neh.gov/ and http://www.neh.gov/

Illuminations

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
The Illuminations site is designed by The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics to bring NCTM's Principles and Standards for School Mathematics to life through engaging interactive applets, comprehensive standards-based lesson plans, and other teacher resources.
http://illuminations.nctm.org/ and http://www.nctm.org/

ReadWriteThink

International Reading Association
The National Council of Teachers of English
Developed by the International Reading Association (IRA) and the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), ReadWriteThink.org provides educators and students access to the highest quality practices and resources in reading and English language arts instruction. The site features standards-based lesson plans, interactive student materials, and a literacy calendar.
http://www.readwritethink.org/ and http://www.reading.org/ and http://www.ncte.org/

Science NetLinks

American Association for the Advancement of Science
Developed by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Science NetLinks provides resources for K-12 teachers and students. The site includes lesson plans, interactives, hands-on activities, and reviewed resources, all of which provide opportunities to bring science and technology discovery into the classroom. Science NetLinks resources are matched to Project 2061's Benchmarks for Science Literacy.
http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/ and http://www.aaas.org/

Xpeditions

National Geographic Society
Developed by the National Geographic Society, Xpeditions brings rich, standards-based geography content to teachers and students. This site includes materials for K-12 teachers and students and their families, including an interactive atlas with over 1,600 printable maps and Xpedition Hall, a virtual learning museum with exhibits aligned to the U.S. National Geography Standards.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/ and http://www.nationalgeographic.com/

Smithsonian

National Museum of American History
The National Museum of American History collects, preserves and displays American heritage in the areas of social, political, cultural, scientific and military history. Documenting the American experience from Colonial times to the present, the museum looks at growth and change in the United States. This Partner site is currently under development. Stay tuned for its launch.
http://americanhistory.si.edu/ and http://www.si.edu/

All Thinkfinity content meets the following criteria:
Seal of Approval
All Thinkfinity content is endorsed by the nation's leading education organizations. Each of these organizations is a recognized leader in the specific discipline for which they create Thinkfinity content.
Expert Review
Each Content Partner has a thorough review process in place, ensuring that you will find content that is accurate, up-to-date, unbiased and appropriate for students. Review panels include Nobel laureates, classroom educators and leading content experts in each discipline.
Standards-Based
The Content Partners represent the premier standards-setting organizations, and all lessons are developed to support, align with and/or extend the national standards. State agreements are also ensuring that Thinkfinity lessons are aligned with state-specific standards.
Classroom-Ready
Thinkfinity's classroom-ready lesson plans and other teaching materials make it easy to begin integrating Internet resources into your classroom. You'll find primary source materials, interactive student resources and grade-specific research lists to help you tailor materials to your teaching style and needs.

Posted September 25, 2007

Great Teacher Tools For Back-to-School

Assessment Tools

Easy Test Maker
Free online test generator to create your tests.
http://www.easytestmaker.com/default.aspx

Hot Potatoes
The Hot Potatoes suite includes six applications, enabling you to create interactive multiple-choice, short-answer, jumbled-sentence, crossword, matching/ordering and gap-fill exercises for the World Wide Web
http://hotpot.uvic.ca/

Quiz Maker
Make tests easily and quickly, storing them for later use. Can only be run from a PC with Java loaded.
http://www.edict.com.hk/quizmaker/

Rubric Help
An extensive list of rubrics and rubric development sites. Don’t miss our future Webspirations on Rubrics.
http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/38.html

Awards and Certificates

Award Maker
From Lakeshore Learning Materials, choose your border, font and color.
http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/awardmaker/index.tem

Award Certificate Maker
Definitely elementary, this offers fewer options, but a quick certificate is produced!
http://kidbibs.com/awards/card.htm

Award Certificates
Appropriate for every grade level, this comes to you from Teachnet.
http://www.teachnet.com/how-to/endofyear/certificates060399.html

Certificate Maker
Very easy program to use to create your certificates. Lots of manipulability
http://www.senteacher.org/wk/certificates.php

Books to Make

Flipbooks
From the folks at Read/Write/Think, you can create your own flipbooks. Fill out the info and even draw pictures for your books, then print them out.
http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/flipbook/

Making Books
Directions for making lots of book types.
http://www.makingbooks.com/freeprojects.shtml

Bulletin Boards

Bulletin Board Ideas
Tired of the same old bulletin boards? Try here for creative ideas (complete with pictures).

http://www.kimskorner4teachertalk.com/classmanagement/bulletinboards.html
http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/bulletin/index.html (from Kathy Schrock)
http://lessonplans.btskinner.com/bboard.html (for Business classes)
http://www.webenglishteacher.com/bulletinboards.html (for English/Language Arts classes)
http://www.musicbulletinboards.net/ (for Music classes)
http://home.bellsouth.net/p/s/community.dll?ep=87&;amp;subpageid=11350&ck (for Reading)
http://www.displayphotos.co.uk/ (cross content, TONS of pictures of actual bulletin board, many secondary)
http://faculty.kutztown.edu/schaeffe/BulletinBoards/bbs.html (for Secondary Math classes)
http://www.theteacherscorner.net/bulletinboards/subject/index.htm (for ALL content areas-sorted by content)
http://www.teach-nology.com/printables/bulletinboard/ (thematic pictures)

Calendars

Calendar Resources
Need to create a calendar for your classroom or personal use, don’t miss these tried-and-true websites.

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/calendar/ (thematic calendars from the folks at Enchanted Learning)
http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/custommenu.html (create you own customized calendar)
http://www.cleavebooks.co.uk/trol/trolqc.htm (great for Math Teachers. All of these are 3-dimensional models of the conventional cut-out, fold-up and glue variety)
http://donnayoung.org/calendars/blank/index.htm (basic blank calendar templates)
http://www.mrsperkins.com/testing.htm (classroom calendars in .doc format so that you can write in them and edit events)
http://www.calendarhub.com/ (create a calendar that you can access from anywhere)

Flash Cards

Flash Card Resources
Get off to a great start with flashcards—make your own or access pre-made ones from the sites below.

http://www.scholastic.com/kids/homework/flashcards.htm (words or math, type in the information you need to study and print out the cards)
http://www.flashcardexchange.com/

Very extensive sets of flashcards for your students or your peers; or create your own. Primarily secondary.
http://www.studystack.com/ From 4th through AP, check out the flashcards, study stacks, word searches, etc.

Posted May 2006

What Did I Do During My Summer Vacation?

I Read, Of Course!

Here is a reading list of sites and magazines to keep you up to speed with usingtechnology in your classroom. Find a wireless connection on the beach and enjoy.

Edutopia
The George Lucas Educational Foundation (GLEF) was founded in 1991as a nonprofit operating foundation to celebrate and encourage innovation inschools. Since that time, we have been documenting, disseminating, and advocatingfor exemplary programs in K-12 public schools to help these practices spreadnationwide. We publish the stories of innovative teaching and learning througha variety of media -- a magazine, an e-newsletter, CD-ROMs, DVDs, books, andthis Web site. Here, you'll find detailed articles, in-depth case studies, researchsummaries, instructional modules, short documentary segments, expert interviews,and links to hundreds of relevant resources. You'll also be able to participateas a member of an online community of people actively working to reinvent schoolsfor the twenty-first century.
Free subscription for mailed magazine at:
http://www.edutopia.org/php/sub.php

Edutopia
also has 3 new weekly electronic news letters on Project Based Learning(Features articles related to curriculum based on student-initiated projects,plus relevant news, resources, and opportunities.), Technology Integration (Featuresarticles related to integrating technology in the schools, plus relevant news,resources, and opportunities.), and Edutopia News (Highlights the latest articlesin Edutopia magazine and on Edutopia.org, plus news, resources, and opportunities.)Sign up for a free e-mail subscription at:
http://www.edutopia.org/products/edutopianews.php

Technology & Learning
With information for Teachers, Tech Coordinators,and Administrators, this site has many articles, magazines and information onusing technology. Free subscriptions for the magazines (mailed and/or online)at:
http://www.techlearning.com/techlearn_registration.jhtml

T.H.E. Journal
T.H.E. journal is a comprehensive on-line magazine designedto give information to teachers, from the National Associations of EducationalTechnology Specialists. For a free subscription to their mailed magazine or e-mailedezines, go to:
http://www.thejournal.com/

From Now On (FNO)
publishes “The Educational Technology Journal” by Jamie McKenzie. This site also had links to his presentations, workshops, and other itemsof interest for technology using teachers. For free e-mailed magazine, go to:
http://www.fno.org/JM/subscribe.html

eSchool News Online
First published in March of 1998, eSchool News is a monthlyprint newspaper providing the news and information necessary to help K-20 decision-makerssuccessfully use technology and the Internet to transform North America's schoolsand colleges and achieve educational goals. The print newspaper is read by morethan 180,000 school leaders, and a companion web site is visited by more than200,000 unique visitors each month, including 65,000 registered members. eSchoolNews covers education technology in all its aspects--from legislation and litigation,to case studies, to purchasing practices and new products. Together the newspaperand the web site serve an unduplicated audience of more than 340,000 executiveeducators. Free subscriptions for the magazines (mailed and/or online) at:
http://www.eschoolnews.com/

Blogs to read:

The Committed Sardine Blog
A project of Ian Jukes, this blog touches on a lotof information for teachers using technology.
http://homepage.mac.com/iajukes/blogwavestudio/index.html

2 Cents Worth
Occasional thoughts about education, teaching, learning, & the21st century from David Warlick
http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/2005/07/18/the-problem-of-integrating-technology/