With Social Media and the Internet, The World is a Bit Smaller

Assemblyman Gary Schaer
and me at last night's
Board of Ed. meeting.

It's always amazing to me how many new people I know from all over the world because on the Internet. I am a child of the 60's, so the first time I used a computer was to type a report for my masters thesis. I had borrowed the Apple computer from the school I worked for, and saved my report on a 5" floppy disk. It never ceases to amaze me how far we have come over the last 25 years since the Internet was brought into our lives. Even State Senator Corey Booker follows me on Twitter! 

Several weeks ago, I was contacted by my teachers' union president that our local Assemblyman, Gary Schaer wanted to recognize my accomplishments at a Board of Education meeting in April. Me? How does he know about me, I pondered. How much information was there out there on me that I didn't know about? Time to Google myself and my blog. (Every so often you should do this; interesting results can come out of it.) I chose SEARCH TOOLS > PAST YEAR so I would get recent results.

So here's what I found out: The Pentagon (yes, that one) Library Intranet  lists my blog  as a "useful link for an eBook search". The AASL blog did a recent post about my 2013 Edublog Award for Best Library Blog, and said "Please check out this awesome resource and you will see why it was voted Best Library Blog in 2013!" American Libraries Magazine mentioned me and the list of poetry resources I had posted for National Poetry Month. eSchool News put me on a list with 10 Follow-Worthy Educational Blogs.

Now I know I have strayed a bit from my original idea, and thank you for allowing me to boast a bit. Last night at our Board of Education Meeting in the school library, Assemblyman Gary Schaer recognized my contributions as a media specialist and educational blogger. My administration all attended, including the Mayor of our town, who said some very nice things about me. (I'm not used to this, but it felt great!) The best part of the evening, is that two of my Library Council students came to the meeting! With the horrible weather, I couldn't believe they were there (it was raining buckets) with my assistant, a young blind man from the town who looks after the library and makes sure things run smoothly when I am not there. (He is not a full-time employee, yet he gives 110% every day) I was so happy to see their smiling faces when I arrived. Wow. How things have changed since the Internet entered my life.

LEGOs in the Classroom? You Bet!

There was a time when LEGOs were only used for playtime. But there are so many things beyond play, including lessons for math, science, engineering and technology. (STEM) Here are 16 websites with great information on using LEGOs in the classroom.


20 Ways Teachers are Using Legos in the Classroom- a nice post from Edudemic

Carnegie Mellon Robotics Academy- guide to assist teachers in starting a robotics program

How Do You Store Your LEGOs?- see how other teachers keep their LEGOs in the classroom

How to Use LEGOs to Teach Pre-K To Third Grade- from eHow

LEGO Block Center- lesson plan about homes and community helpers

LEGO City Comic Builder- students can create comics using Lego elements

LEGO Education- lesson ideas form PreK through College; homeschooling included

LEGO and Education: Make a Lapbook- page also has other projects

LEGO Engineering- supporting STEM

LEGO Lesson Plans for Math and Science

LEGO Space- activities

Mathematics and LEGOs: Math Teaching Activities- PDF covers grades 1-10

Pre-LEGO Activities-presentations for middle school from Texas Tech University


STEMRobotics 101- class from Portland State has lessons which can be used in middle and high school

Using LEGO to Build Math Concepts- from Scholastic

WOW! 100 Interactive Games, Lessons and Quizzes For Your Students

Hopefully you have been bookmarking sites you'd like to use with your students in the new school year. The collection on this page covers the main subject areas: Social Studies, Language Arts, Technology, Science, Math and Foreign Language. I could have continued on and on but thought at some point I needed to stop. Be sure and add any sites you like to use. I can always edit this page at any time. Enjoy!

Geography/ History
GeoGame- interactive geography game

Geography Hangman

Geography IQ-online world atlas "packed with geographic, economic, political, historical & cultural information".

Geography Quiz

Global History & Geography Multiple Choice Questions

Hiroshima Quiz

History Mystery

HyperHistory Online- over 2,000 files covering 3,000 years of world history

InfoPlease Interactive Atlas- from Fact Monster

Learn About Finland- for grades 9-12; video clips & quizzes

Lewis and Clark- from National Geographic

Mr. Nussbaum's Social Studies Games- grades 2-5

The Oregon Trail- interactive site produced by History Globe.com

Road Maps and Mileage Tables

Salem Witch Hunt- interactive from National Geographic

States Web Games- locate the state, place the state, state postal abbreviations, state capitals etc. Different levels.

U.S. Constitution Trivia

United States Presidents Trivia Game- interactive online game

United States Quiz Game- select your level of difficulty

World Capital Concentration

Language Arts
Activities for ESL Students

American Literature Trivia

Conjunctions

Correct or Incorrect?- check your grammar

English Zone- the BEST English-Learner's site on the Net!

Grammar Bytes

Mr. Nussbaums's Language Arts Games- grades 2-4

Name That Literary Element

Parts of Speech

Passive Voice

Preposition Practice

Self-Study Grammar Quizzes

A Shakespeare Quiz

SpellBee.org- for grades 2-6; compete with your peers in an online spelling bee

Using Nouns as Adjectives

Word Game of the Day- from Merriam-Webster; word games, downloads

Math
Algebra Flash Cards

Algebra Matching

BasketMath Interactive- exponents (in Spanish and English)

Billy Bug- helps middle school kids learn coordinates

Billy Bug 2- a new quest for middle schoolers

Decimal & Whole Number Jeopardy

Decimal Multiplication Football

Decimal Quiz

Exponents

Fish Tank-probability

Fractions

Hitting the Target- learning angles through sports

Hooda Math Games- geometry, arithmetic, logic

Interactive Graphs

Interactive Mathematics Miscellany & Puzzles- History of math, math glossary; GRADES K-12

Line Jumper Algebra

MathCar Racing- integers

MathDork- view 10 of 24 lessons for free; animated algebra lessons

Motivating Math- practical math for people on the go

Mr. Nussbaum's Math Games- color coated by grade level; mainly for younger kids

Mrs. Glosser's Math Goodies- integers

Online Graphing Calculator- Java mathematical graphing system

S.O.S. Mathematics-Algebra

Sumdog- free math games

Virtual Coin Toss-probability

Mind Games
Brainbashers-brainteasers, puzzles, riddles, games and optical illusions

Play With Your Mind-collection of original mind games and IQ tests

Science
The Amazing Human Body

Animal and Plant Classification Mini Quiz

The Atoms Family- from the Museum of Science in Miami, FL

The Blobz Guide to Electric Circuits

The Compass Activity Page

Cow's Eye Dissection

Creative Chemistry Crosswords

David's Whizzy Periodic Table

Digestive System

DNA Detective

Drop and Drag Body Parts

Edheads- virtual knee surgery, weather, machines

Electromagnets

Gadget Anatomy- site has an Inventor's Toolbox

Human Body- for Middle School (6th,7th)

Inventor and Inventions

Melting and Boiling

Microscope Magnification

Mitosis: an interactive animation

Mr. Nussbaum's Science Games- grades 2-4

Science Stumpers- play against your classmates

Vascular Plants

The Virtual Body- site is in English or Spanish

Virtual Open Heart Surgery- from the Australian Broadcasting Network; very cool!

Technology
The Bully Roundup- online board game

Career Capture- explore stories of women who use technology

The Carnegie Cyber Academy- Internet safety

Click-n-Learn JR- parts of the computer (interactive learning)

Dance Mat Typing- 4 levels to practice keyboarding

Find the Technology- from ABCya; for younger kids

How Do Computers Work?- keyboarding, computer parts, using a mouse

Online Safety Quiz

Technology: Grades 3-6- from the Utah Education Network; games cover keyboarding, hardware/software and Internet safety
Three Cyberpigs- interactive story teaches young kids about Internet safety

World Languages
Digital Dialects- covers 60 languages

Language Games- choose from 5 different languages: English, French, Spanish, Italian, German

Language Gain- 10 different languages

Vocabulary Games

77 Online Museums

Taken at the Museum of Tolerance

Here's a pretty extensive listing of museums for you to use in your curriculum. I've covered subject areas of art, culture, history, natural history, science, technology and miscellaneous. Please add any suggestions you have to the comments section.


Art and Our Culture
Art Institute of Chicago

Artsonia- world's largest art museum for young artists; this is an excellent place "to post and find student art"; all graphics are done by students.

Bling Universe- art museum in Maryland

Contemporary Arts Museum Houston

Denver Art Museum

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Fowler Museum at UCLA

J. Paul Getty Museum

Louvre Museum

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Musee d'Orsay-very large galleries

Museo Nacional Del Prado- Madrid, Spain

Museum of Fine Arts- Boston, MA

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Museum of Modern Art (MOMA)- multimedia site

Museum of Tolerance

National Archeological Museum of Athens

National Gallery of Art- online tours of the Washington, DC museum

National Museum of Women in the Arts- more than 3,000 works from the 16th century to the present

National Portrait Gallery: London- digital history resources

Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery- houses 12,000 records

State Hermitage Museum- St. Petersburg, Russia

Tate Online- British & International Modern Art

Vatican Collections Online-virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel

History
American Memory Historical Collections

The Anne Frank Museum

The British Museum

Colonial Williamsburg Museums

Conner Prairie Interactive History Park- Indiana

The Hermitage- located in Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ
Imperial War Museum

Museum of Tolerance

National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum

National Museum of the American Indian

Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum

Salem Witch Museum

The Secret Annex- Anne Frank's hiding place

Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza- tribute to John F. Kennedy
Smithsonian Institution

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum


Miscellaneous
American Red Cross Museum

The Freud Museum (London)

Mathematics Museum (Japan)
National Inventors Hall of Fame

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Robert C. Williams American Museum of Papermaking

Natural History
American Museum of Natural History

The Archaeology Channel

Canadian Museum of Nature

Museum of Paleontology- Univ. of California, Berkeley

Natural History Museum- Los Angeles County- activities and programs; teacher resources

Natural History Museum of Florence University- botanical

Nature Online- Natural History Museum; London

Ology at the American Museum of Natural History- for young children

University of Michigan Exhibit Museum of Natural History-virtual tour


Science and Technology
Computer History Museum

Exploratorium- this is a hands on science museum which has online versions of some of their exhibit

The Field Museum-several permanent exhibits

The Franklin Institute Online

IEEE Virtual Museum-the history of electronics, electricity and computers

Imagination Station Science Museum

Kennedy Space Center

Marian Koshland Science Museum of the National Academy of Science

MIT Museum- multimedia

Museum of Broadcast Communications

Museum of Flight

Museum of Science-Boston

Museum of Science and Industry- Chicago

NASA for Students

National Air and Space Museum- Smithsonian

The Paley Center for Media (formerly The Museum of Television and Radio)

Robotics- part of the Tech Museum

San Diego Aerospace Museum

Science Museum of Minnesota-online activities

The Tech Museum

Try Science- virtual field trips for kids

Wilbur R. Enns Entomology Museum

Robotics and Cars For Blind People

Dennis Hong, founder and director of RoMeLa -- a Virginia Tech robotics lab, has created a prototype car which allows a blind person to drive. Now I know this doesn't directly have anything to do with technology in most classrooms, but it is so incredible and does actually relate directly to robotics, laser rangefinders, GPS and smart feedback tools.Watch this video and see how amazing this is!