Teacher Tube

I got this video from www.teachertube.com. It's full of really interesting educational videos that teachers can show to their students. This particular video is a science experiment documenting the reaction when you mix diet coke and mentos together.

Creative Commons Photograph

This is an image I found on the creative commons website where people license their work for free commercial use. This is really important for teachers because images are often used to help engage learners. www.creativecommons.com

This particular photo is from kittenfaceoff

Educational Software

A couple of years ago, I was a teacher's aid in a Kindergarden classroom at an elementary school where I also worked in Before/After Care. The teacher I was helping had her students use both drill and practice as well as instructional game software to teach the children their math skills. The children had so much fun using the computers and playing the games that they did not even realize they were learning until they had a small assesment at the end of each unit. Both children and their parents were equally surprised as this teacher was the only one in the use to really implement technology into her curriculum. Since it was so successful, many of the other teachers began considering taking this approach as well and some even attended conferences on the use of educational software and technology. The teacher's name was Kim Smith at Dry Creek Elementary.

Digital Frog

This is a website that provides an alternative to that famous biology lab in which students are asked to disect a frog. However, using this software program allows students to get the experience on the computer instead of in real life. Many teachers who gave personal testimonies reported very positive results from the software. It is apparently very instructional and detailed and helpful without the mess of disecting an actual frog. However, my question is, are students really getting the full experience if the experience is only a simulation? What about variations from frog to frog? Wouldn't many people agree that simulations, no matter how life like, just can't compare to the real thing?
www.digitalfrog.com

Success

Hopefully, I'm not the only teacher to be who has some anxiety about whether or not I will be successful at my job. Planning lessons and attempting to engage an entire class of kids alone seems like sort of a daunting task although it is fast approaching. Thankfully, there are many resources for new teachers to use to help them through these everyday proceses. For instance, Learn NC is a website that provides lots of K-12 resources for not only teachers but students as well. There is great advice on teaching strategies and lesson plans. Blue Web'n is another site which is a library of a collection of outstanding educational resource sites. Software express is a site designed to help teachers through the use of technology by giving information on various educational software programs that can be used to help teach in the classroom. The bottom line is, technology is a big part of helping teachers become successful. Countless internet sites are available to aid in lesson plans and teaching strategies while various other sites provide innovative software that will engage one's students and help foster learning.

Copyrights

The first U.S. copyright law was enacted in 1790. By definition, a copyright is a property right given to the original author of a work of literature or art. Teachers have fair use of parts of copyrighted works as long as they are used for educational purposes. However, some teachers may unintentionally duplicate materials illegally because they may not have the correct knowledge about copyright rules and laws. Since teachers have a moral obligation to be trustworthy, it is every educator's responsibility to update themselves on these laws so as to set a good example for one's students.

ITEA

The International Test and Evaluation Association wants to further technology information in the area of assessments. The website is www.itea.org