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

Have Your Students Tried Visual Note-Taking?

I am a very visual person, which is why I love using infographics in the classroom. Did you ever notice how your students take notes in your class? Here's a great video which discusses the art of visual note-taking. Thanks to Joyce Valenza for sharing on Twitter.

9 Free Programs Your Students Should Be Using Right Now

Audacity

Multilingual audio editor and recorder for many operating systems. Record live audio, convert tapes and records into digital recordings or CDs; Edit Ogg Vorbis, MP3, WAV or AIFF sound files, cut, copy, splice or mix sounds together, change the speed or pitch of a recording and much more.

Cam Scanner for iPhone 
Cam Scanner for Android
Students can scan through their smartphone! If they need a copy of a handout, worksheet, or need to email homework, they simply scan and email. (File can be pdf or jpeg)

EasyBib (also app for iPhones and Androids)
Free bibliography maker offers ALA, MLA, Chicago/Turabian formats; cite from 59 different sources. Download MLA 7 Guide, MLA Parenthetical Citations Guide, and much more, including online research guide assistance, step by step.

 Evernote (also app for iPhones, iPads, Blackberry and Androids,)
One of my personal favorites, Evernote allows you to collect web snippets, pages, images photos etc. all on their server and syncs with your computer, smartphone or iPad. The web clipper extension in Chrome allows you to take all or part of a site. The computer version (download Evernote at home) adds the function of voice memos. Evernote Trunk offers many apps which directly work with Evernote.

 Google Drive
Everyone should have a Gmail account. No other email offers as much as Google does, and here's why: Google Drive allows you to upload files and folders, create documents, spreadsheets, presentations, forms and drawings and download them in many different formats. If the teacher asks for a PDF file, Google can convert the file. Need a file in MS Word format? DOCX is available. Your students can collaborate on projects even if they are not in the same location. Doing a survey? Google Forms will present results through a Gmail account. Totally awesome, period.

Jing
Jing allows you to take screenshots or record screencasts. (up to 5 minutes) Not bad for short videos, right? (The pro version costs $9.95/month.)

Pixton
Students can create their own comic strips using the click and drag method. 

Skitch (use with Evernote) Android app,  iPhone app
"Annotate images with arrows, shapes, text, and more. Use Skitch to sketch something new, mark up maps, screen captures, or even a photo. Then save or share your Skitch annotation to help others see and understand your ideas."

Zamzar
Students can convert files without downloading any software. Zamzar currently supports a huge number, including documents, images, music, video, e-Book and compressed files.
 

Perfect Gifts for Teacher-Librarians (Or Things You Would Buy for Yourself)

100 Gifts for the Bookworm- unique and some are over the top ideas

2010 Librarian Lump of Coal Guide-

2011 Librarian Lump of Coal Guide- humorous gits

2012 Librarian Lump of Coal Guide- humorous gifts

ALA Store- books, posters, clothing, gifts, incentives, downloadable art files

ALikelyStory- "literary jewelry and bookmarks for the bookish"

Demco Gifts

Gifts for Bookworms: 10 Clever Ideas for Readers and Writers

Gifts for Bookworms Who Live for Lazy Weekend Reads

Just Dewey It- necklaces, t-shirts, bookmarks, posters

Nerd Tote- carry all your books

Swiss Army Librarian- library holiday gift guide

Ten Awesome Gifts for Librarians- from Library Journal

Unique Personalized Gifts for Librarians- includes gifts for volunteers and retirees

NOTE: This list has been added to the Teacher-Librarians page.

40 Websites For Physical Education Teachers

ARTICLES
The New PE Curriculum: An Innovative Approach to Teaching Physical Fitness- from Edutopia 

PE Goes High-Tech- from Mindshift

The Tech Savvy PE Teacher- blog by Shayna Fastovsky



HEALTH
B.A.M. (Body and Mind)- info from the CDC on diseases, physical activity, food and nutrition, your life, your  body

Eating Out: From Bad to Worse- infographic

Heath Education Curriculum Grades K-5- includes handouts and lessons

Health Teacher- health lessons

How Healthy is Your City?- 40 web apps and infographics

Human Reproductive System

National Institute on Drug Abuse

The Scrub Club- teaches kids how to wash their hands

Secrets of Sleep Quiz

Solusville- fun food games for younger children

Sugar Stacks- shows how many sugar cubes are in various foods and drinks

Your Guide to the Female Reproductive System

LESSON PLANS
Awesome Library Lesson Plans

Education World Physical Fitness- activities and lesson plans

EMTECH Lesson Plans- nice listing

Female Reproductive System Lesson Plans

Health Teacher- health lessons

Lesson Plan Search- covers grades PreK-12

Male Reproductive System Lesson Plans- from the Lesson Corner

PBS Teachers Health and Fitness- lessons, quizzes cover grades K-12

TeAchnology Health Lesson Plans

TeAchnology Physical Education Lesson Plans

Teen Health- 10 activities


PHYSICAL EDUCATION
20 Movement Activities and Games for Elementary Classrooms

Computers and Phys Ed Do Mix- article from Education World

Daily Physical Education Activities and Games

FitnessGram-Activity and fitness assessment, reporting, tracking

Game Ideas- from CanTeach; K-5

iPad Apps for Physical Education- from phys ed teacher in the UK

Lower School Physical Education

PE Central- "the premier site for health and physical education"

Physical Education Game Ideas- broken down by grade level

Real Indoor- use Google Street view while you pedal on a stationary bike; virtually pedal wherever you want in the United States

Susan's PE Site- activities, lessons, PE sites

Technology Integration Resources- Nova Scotia schools; for middle school

Technology Integration Strategies- by Chip Flemmer

Why Motor Skills Matter

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Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!! 31 Ways to Celebrate Read Across America Day

[ Had he been alive today, Dr. Seuss would have turned 109 on March 2nd.]

READ ACROSS AMERICA DAY
(Dr. Seuss' Birthday-March 2nd)
A to Z Teacher Stuff
The Art of Dr. Seuss

Batholemew and Oobleck

Cat in the Hat Jigsaw Puzzle-online game in English and Spanish

Coloring Page of Dr. Seuss Characters- from LucyLearns.com

Crafts to Make- nice list from Family Crafts

Dr. Seuss Activities- for 15 Dr. Seuss books

Dr. Seuss Cloze Activity- from Enchanted Learning

Dr. Seuss Crafts and Activities

Dr. Seuss Lesson Plans and Other Teaching Materials
Dr. Seuss Literacy Night is the Cat's Meow
The Dr. Seuss Memorial Sculpture Garden

Dr. Seuss Printables- from ABC Teach

Dr. Seuss Soundwords- playing with phonics and spelling
Dr. Seuss' Biography

Education World

Factmonster's Biography of Dr. Seuss

"Horton Hatches the Egg" Activities
Index to Dr. Seuss: Characters and Unusual Creatures

Infoplease Biography of Dr. Seuss

Just for KindergartenersMeeting and Reading Dr. Seuss- lesson plans for Dr. Seuss week

Mrs. Jones' Dr. Seuss Activities and Printables

Read Across America

Scavenger Hunt

Seuss Dude- board games, Dr. Seuss book club, lesson plans

Teacher Planet- lessons and printablesTeaching Phonograms Through "The Sneeches" by Dr. Seuss- for first grade

Theodor Seuss Geisel Printables

The Virtual Vine- activities, websites, games related to Dr. Seuss' books

Who's Who and What's What in the Books of Dr. Seuss- downloadable glossary in pdf format

You've Got a Wocket Where?- lesson plan

4 Good Image Conversion Programs

I recently was informed about an image conversion program called IMVERTER. This wonderful program allows you to convert your image to one of 14 different image formats, including TIFF, JPEG, GIF, PSD, PDF, EPS, PNG, BMP, FAX, PCX, PGM, PICT, PPM and TGA. Thanks to Diane for the suggestion. Here are  more programs to add to the list. (You can also find this listing under Web 2.0 Tools I-P)

Convert My Image- supports the following:

• PNG - Portable Network Graphic
• JPG or JPEG
• GIF - Graphics Interchange Format
• TIF or TIFF - Tagged Image File Format
• BMP - Bitmap
• RPG
• XPM - X Pixmap
• PIC - PICtor
• PDF - Adobe PDF (Portable Document Format)
• EPS - Encapsulated PostScript
• PS - Adobe Photoshop

YouConvertIt- the list is too long to put here, but this site offers file conversions of all types; web-based program allows up to 300MB file.

Zamzar- another very long list of file conversions available (files up to 100MB)