Five Tools for the Best Teacher!

     Okay, so I have been away for a while.  (Got behind on my grading.)  But now I am back again...until I am behind again.  If you teach, you know.  Here's a little treat I thought I would throw out, an article over at CNET, Webware that is worth the reading.  From Webware:

There are a variety of online tools available to teachers. And though they all focus on something slightly different, they can help make classroom instruction more effective.

Most online tools for teachers provide the option to both create and keep a grade book. Teachers can upload assignments and keep track of their students' attendance. The tools also let teachers share grades with parents. And since the syllabus and assignments are online, students will have access to the class resources no matter where they are. The classroom is truly anywhere the teacher (or student) wants it to be.

The majority of online teaching utilities are designed well. They guide teachers through the process of creating a grade book, uploading content, and making that information available to parents and students. The learning curve isn't steep.

      While many of the recommendations assume teachers are able to use these tools independently, the facts are that most schools and districts already have some sort of system set up that teachers must use but these are good for not only ideas but suggestions. Try them out, write them down, and then suggest them the next time your administration has a staff meeting for suggestions!  It is a definite check out!  While not all are free many are or offer some free tools.  (Many this dark-crusader uses!)  To the Bat-mobile!

Follow the link:

Five tools for the world's best teacher | Webware - CNET

As always, if you think you have good tools you have run into, add them in the comments!

Can Quizlet Make Students Smarter? Only If They Can Read.

What is Quizlet? It is cool, that's what. When a young man decides he will be going to MIT, I guess he is probably smart. When he makes a website that gives the tools he employs to aid his academics to high-schoolers, in fact, all students for free, that makes him cool. Really cool. That's what Quizlet is. From Quizlet:

What you can do with Quizlet...

Browse and use millions of flashcards created by other students and teachers, or create your own.

Create Flashcard Sets

1. Easily create flashcard sets with as many questions and answers as you want.
2. Import questions and answers from your computer or other websites (or just type them in directly).
3. Cut and paste questions from other peoples' flashcard sets to make your own.
4. Invite friends to share your flashcards via email, Facebook, or MySpace.
5. One-click lookup of official dictionary definitions, and other users' previous answers.

Group Studying

1. Create a group so your friends or classmates can study together.
2. Discuss answers with your group via live chat.
3. Get notified when group members post new study sets.
4. Edit and improve sets created by other group members.
5. Groups can be private or public.

When I came to the school I am presently teaching at, I introduced Quizlet to my classes. I don't remember how I ran into it but I was impressed the moment I saw it and knew it would be useful. (One of those, "if I had had it when I was a student" things.) An instant fan, I began looking for ways to employ it too. At first, not many students really caught on to it but since that time, in three short years, it has shot up to almost 100% of my freshmen class registered and that is just for my courses. I have watched it grow rapidly in the past 9 months to something that has spread to Junior High and to classes prior encompassing other classes and subjects as well. Good. It is worth it.

In addition to free study tools, group learning opportunities, games, practice tests and more--for the kids, it even can be placed on Facebook, Myspace and works on the iPhone (another good reason not to allow phones in class.) So, when a teacher approached me about recommendations for an online quizzing program I had no other recommendation. I showed her what it could do, Bam! Better than Billy Mays, she was sold.  It may not clean clothes like OxiCLean but I am sure parents, students and teachers alike may find it to be the answer to many study and integration ideas they are pining! Hey, give our young MIT dude some credit, (pictured) he made a great site and wonderful tool for study and collaborative learning. Want to know more? Here's a little intro from Quizlet:

(Coming Soon, waiting for permission from site!)

Do you use a site that is better than Quizlet? Let us know about it... if you think it can stand the competition... and Billy Mays.

Life: A New Life

Life has posted a new "beta" of their library of photography for public viewing and consumption. careful reading of their terms of service include rules for non-profit use (personal copies, etc.) This library is a little more visually appealing than the 'Time Life" Google search I have written on before. (The two, that is "Time Life" and "Life", should not be confused--proprietary law limits the library and its use and some photos are available on one engine and others on the other site.) The current offerings at the site offer many intriguing pics, including some only just released, exclusives of the night Martin Luther King Junior was assassinated. Very dramatic doesn't even begin to explain the few pics in the gallery:
What is perhaps most intriguing is, as should be expected, the quality of all the images and the ease of copying are excellent. Best of all--really best of all-- you can embed galleries on web pages as shown above and below, which if you know some other hacks, means they can be place in PowerPoint, used for class, etc.!

Categories which many galleries are included are: News, Celebrity, Travel, Animals, and Sports. These categories are not only historical but contemporary and offer tempting options for integration. Bring it on! (I put the second gallery as a shout out for the golfers among us... I have no clue who half of them are... Does it matter? Its just a game anyway, not really a sport.)



Do you have a site you use regularly? Why not share it in the comments?