255,800+ FREE Resources: Share My Lesson

Looking for tons of resources, including lesson plans, discussions and other learning materials? Share My Lesson is expected to be the largest online resource for teachers in the U.S. The site is divided by age group, with K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12 and special populations. Sections include a resource calendar, highlights and the latest resources posted. Once you join (FREE) you can upload materials to share with other teachers.

Inspire Your Student Musicians

Usman Riaz is a 21 year old guitarist who taught himself how to play by watching his idols on YouTube. Preston Reed invented a percussive technique for the guitar and performs with Usman in this enjoyable video.

Rutgers R.I.O.T. Rocks

Rutgers University has posted RIOT (Research Information Online Tutorial) to aid students and teachers with their research. The 5-part animated tutorial is interactive. Teacher-Librarians can use this to get students started on their research papers. Thank you Richard Byrne (Free Technology for Teachers) for posting this awesome resource for students and teachers.

Award Your Students for Their Accomplishments

Class Badges is an online program which allows you award students custom made badges. Students create an account and teachers can award badges to student accounts when earned. Every kid enjoys being recognized for good work, don't they? At the moment you have to request an invite (I did it this afternoon and am waiting to hear from them...) Here's a sample of a badge I saw on their page which I would like to use with my library-media council members:

If You're New to the Blog.....

If this is your first time her, welcome to "A Media Specialist's Guide to the Internet". Here are some quick info-bits about the blog:

Tabs at the top mark specific pages where information is constantly updated.

Recently updated posts include:
The 2012 Presidential Election- more resources added

eReader Books- added as a page (top) and updated


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Banned Websites Awareness Day

Wednesday, October 3, 2012 is a day where we recognize how Internet filtering is impacting our students' learning in school. I've already spoken about how we are blocked from everything in my school, including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, just to mention a few. Even when YouTube created an education link which filtered out objectionable videos, our school did not back down. Does your school district have excessive filtering of sites? As a media specialist/ teacher-librarian how do you go about convincing the administration that they need to loosen that lock on the Internet? Please share below.

NJASL Video Says it All!

Here's a wonderful promotional video produced by the N.J. Association of School Librarians. (NJASL)