Adobe Creative Suite 6 Arrives Today: Teachers Can Save 80% !!

I admit it. I love Photoshop. And Illustrator. And Dreamweaver. If you teach graphic design or just love Adobe products like I do, you'll be happy to hear that CS6 has shipped as of today. Best part of all? Teachers (and students) can purchase packages of the software for 80% off list price. EXAMPLE: The Design Standard package sells for $1,299.00.  Cut to the educator price- $349.00.  Just prove that you are a teacher and you get the price! Both versions have exactly the same software. For more information on the packages in CS6, click here. Adobe is not the only retailer with educator discounts; the Academic Superstore sells software for Windows and Macintosh computers, and currently is selling the same Design Standard package for $344.95. Photoshop Elements 10 (stripped-down version of Photoshop which is plenty for most people) is only $114.95 at the Academic Superstore and $119.00 at Adobe. Seems strange that the software costs more money from the people who make it, isn't it?

Ideas for the End of the School Year

It's that time of the year again! Is it just me, or are the years going by faster as we get older? Right now we are involved in AP testing for juniors and seniors, with biology testing this week as well. Then the concerts, class trips, fashion show, prom.....well, you know the drill. It is crazy here as I'm sure it is at your school. If you're looking for some great ideas on how to finish the school year, look no further. These 17 links have hundreds of ideas for you.

150+ End of the Year Activities- the Organized Classroom's blog has gathered this list from their Facebook page.

Certificates, Awards and Coupons- posting from this blog with templates to download

End of School Lessons and Teacher Resources- from HotChalk

End of School Theme Unit- from Edhelper

End of the School Year Ideas for Primary Grades

End of School Year Pinterest Board- ideas for younger children

End of the Year Technology Project Ideas- nice listing from the Port Washington School District

End of Year Activities, Printables, Lessons and Teaching Ideas- from A to Z Teacher Stuff

Five End-Of-Year Lessons- from Education World

Ideas For End of the Year Activities- from Bright Hub

Lesson Ideas and Reflection- from high school physics teacher David Andrade

School Memory Book- Enchanted Learning's activity for young children

Super Teacher Worksheets- teacher submitted ideas; covers all grades

TeacherVision's End of Year Resources- loads of resources here, including printables and slideshows

Terrific Ways to Motivate Kids at the End of the Year

Vicki Blackwell's End of the School Year- nice listing for elementary teachers

Wrap Up the School Year With a Strong Finish- Scholastic's K-6 offerings

Job Resources for Teachers

It's that time of the year again, where due to budget cuts, many teachers have not had their contracts renewed. This listing has recently been updated with the addition of 38 more sites and now has its own page. Just click the tab at the top of the blog.



To subscribe to this blog, click here.
Follow me on Twitter.

Google has announced the winners of the state contests for the Doodle 4 Google contest. Students from grades K-12 participated, by drawing their answer to the question: "If I could travel in time, I'd visit…".  The winner of the national contest (vote here  for your favorites in each grade category) will see their design on Google's home page as well as on a Crayola 64 crayon box! Here's a listing of all the prizes which will be awarded to the various winners.

The Power of Music Therapy

It's nap time for the kindergarten children. They are all rolling around and trying to close their eyes. Playing music to calm them down is a no-brainer. My recommendation: "Welcome to the World: A Musical Collection for the Nursey". This is my original music, and since most of my tracks are instrumental, the CD will work for 5 years olds as well as newborn babies. Give a free listen here. You can also sample or download tracks on iTunes. Just search "Julie Greller." Thank you for allowing me to be a tad self-serving.....

Geology for Kids: 44 Places to Find Information

Amethyst Galleries' Mineral Gallery- the first Internet rock shop

Ask a Geologist

The Burke Museum in a Box- interactive

Cavern Geology Lesson Plan 

Classifying Igneous Rocks- lab worksheet

Classifying Sedimentary Rocks- lab worksheet

The Dynamic Earth- from the Smithsonian

Earthforce 

Earth's Timeline Worksheet

Fossils-Facts-and-Finds- everything fossils

Fossils, Rocks and Time- U.S. government site

Geologic Time 

Geological Society of America 

Geology for Kids- geared towards middle school

Geology Glossary- from Cengage Learning

Geology Rocks- tutorials and photographs

Geology, Rocks and Minerals- from Enchanted Learning (for younger kids)

Geology Science Fair Project Ideas

Government Sites for Geology

KidsGeo- for younger kids

The Image- picture galleries of rocks

Interactives: Rock Cycle

Johnston Geology Museum

Links for Mining

Links For Rocks and Minerals

Make Your Own Fossil

Metamorphic Rock Questions- worksheet

Middle School Geology Lesson Plans- also includes homework and quizzes

Mineral Identification Key

Mineral Information Institute- interactive site with a teacher and homework helper section

Minerology Database

Mr. Young's Bouncy "A" Geology Activities-  kid-friendly page

OneGeology Kids

The Sugar Rock Cycle- lab worksheet

Rock Cycle Animation

Rock Cycle Diagram

Rock Cycle Interactive

Rock Cycle Lesson Plan- from Hot Chalk

Rock Hounds

Rocks and Minerals- research and information sites

Sedimentary Rock Questions Worksheet

Sinkholes- Florida's landscape

U.S. Map Collections for All 50 States- Relief, Elevation, Drainage, Political and Road Maps

What is Geology? What Does a Geologist Do?

If You Teach Current Events.....Try These 44 Resources

The list below covers grades K-12. Some specify the grade and others can be adapted for your students.

SITES
The Awesome Library Current Events Links

BBC News Online

CNN- news clips, video clips; excellent site

The CNN Challenge- take an interactive quiz to see how much you know about current events

CNN Student News

Dogo News- "fodder for young minds"

Education World- 25 Great Ideas for Teaching Current Events

FOX News- known to be more conservative

Frontline- PBS program

Google Directory- with 8 categories to search, including natural disasters, politics and breaking news

Google News Archive Search- search the world or by country

Guzzle- customize your page to receive hundreds of feeds

HeadlineSpot- comprehensive listing for all types of news

Issues and Causes- from the Yahoo! Directory; long list includes climate change, race and racism

Izzit.org- lesson plans for current events are updated daily

Mapeas- world news on a map

Morning Rush!- Top 5 morning show moments are updated daily

National Geographic for Kids

National Hurricane Center

News Currents- covers grades 4-12

News in Pictures- list of close to a hundred sites of news galleries, including ABC News, MSNBC and Reuters

Newseum- "814 front pages from 78 countries"

Newsmap- visual display of daily news shows larger type for more important stories; choose from 15 countries

NewspaperMap- choose your language from a world map; directly link to the website for that paper 

Scholastic News Online

Science News for Kids 

Sports Illustrated for Kids

Student News Daily- wonderful site

Teen Tribune

This Day in History- History Channel

Time for Kids

Time Magazine

Tween Tribune- also version in Spanish

USA Today

The Washington Post

Weather.com

Weekly Reader

The Week in Pictures Archive- from MSNBC

The Week in Rap from Flocabulary- at a cost of $5/month, students will love the connection to music

Youngzine- "news and more for the young"

PRINTABLES
Analyzing Current Events Worksheet- for middle school students

Current Events Printables- from TeacherVision; by grade level

Current Events Worksheet- simple Word file

Mrs. Rostas' Current Event Worksheet