Back to School 2004

I have more than five sites for this theme this week; I couldn't help myself! Enjoy!

- Lucy

1) Yahoo! Educationhttp://education.yahoo.com/

There's something for everyone here at Yahoo's Education page. There's a nice reference section as well as resources for kids conducting college searches. Additionally, there are some tools in the k-12 section for those who want to information on schools.

2) Responsive Classroom Article Libraryhttp://www.responsiveclassroom.org/articlelibrary/index.asp

Use the pull down menu to select "first weeks of school" and you'll find some great ideas for managing mostly primary classrooms. This site also sponsors a quarterly newsletter.

3) Scholastic - Back to Schoolhttp://teacher.scholastic.com/professional/backtoschool/index.htm

Even though Scholastic is a commercial site, it has tons of wonderful resources, including ones geared towards organizing and planning for the new school year. I really like the Class Setup Tool, for instance ( http://teacher.scholastic.com/professional/backtoschool/index.htm ).

4) National Geographic Explorer Back to School Postcardshttp://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngexplorer/0209/postcards/

and National Geographic's Back to School Gamehttp://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngkids/games/wildandwacky/wildandwacky_0308/wildandwacky_0308.html

5) First Day Of School American Onlinehttp://www.firstday.org/

This an organization that promotes community involvement in schools.

6) Back-to-School Activities: EnchantedLearning.comhttp://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/backtoschool/

Again, this site is superb in general, so make sure you explore beyond the back to school stuff.

7) Active Learning Practice for Schools (ALPS)http://learnweb.harvard.edu/alps/tour/about.cfm

I'm throwing this web site in because it looks fascinating. I've only just started to explore this Harvard sponsored project, and it seems to have one tool for planning curricula that is really different ( http://learnweb.harvard.edu/ccdt/). It's free to register and you can see what other teachers are doing using this specific framework at http://learnweb.harvard.edu/alps/bigideas/q1.cfm.

Here's the correct link for Scholastic's Classroom Setup tool:

http://teacher.scholastic.com/tools/class_setup/

Friday 5: Additional Election Resources

Hi List Members,

Here are some election web sites to add to the ones I sent out last spring. Since there are only about 60 days until the big event, I thought perhaps this material might be particularly useful.

Have a great Labor Day,

Lucy

1) ZOOMout the Vote http://pbskids.org/zoom/fromyou/elections/

This site is part of PBS Kids, and it looks like Zoom will be sponsoring an online mock election for kids on November 2. There are some nice links specifically for kids at the bottom of the Elections 101 page.

2) The New York Times Learning Network | Issues in Depth | Election 2004http://www.nytimes.com/learning/issues_in_depth/20040128.html

3) Librarians' Index to the Internet Theme Collection: 2004 Presidential Electionhttp://lii.org/search/file/election2004

This site has a pretty comprehensive list of links related to the election.

4) SouthCentral RTEC | Active Learning with Technology Professional Development For Teachers | Module 17: The People's Choice - Digital Imagery and the Art of Persuasionhttp://www.southcentralrtec.org/alt/mod_17.html

I have always admired the constructivist based lesson modules produced by this education consortium. Make sure you click on the blue hyperlinked text "Download Module" in order to see this technology infused lesson on analyzing campaign ads.

5) CNN's AllPolitics - Ad Archivehttp://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/candidates/ad.archive/

This is a link used in the module mentioned above.

Previous lists are archived at Topica and at http://collaboratory.nunet.net/CollabJump/jumpToCybrary.cfm?libID=1720 .

Friday 5: Blogs

Dear List Members,

If you haven't heard the term web log or blog yet, you will! Weblogs, or blogs for short, are web pages in which people journal their thoughts and opinions. I have become interested in this self-publishing phenomena since attending a workshop at NECC and have even started my own blog (http://compsciteacher.blogspot.com/) for professional activities. This week's list is comprised of blog related web sites that I've discovered over the summer. It’s a long list as I couldn’t just stop at five sites this week!

Take care,

Lucy

1. A definition of blogs from Whatis.comhttp://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci213547,00.html

2. Blogging and RSS – The “What’s It? and “How To” of Powerful New Web Tools for Educatorshttp://www.infotoday.com/MMSchools/jan04/richardson.shtml

3. DoITnet – Blogs, Wikis, Bulletinshttp://atswindev.doit.wisc.edu:8000/MiscProjects/113

Here’s a good explanation of similarities between blogs, wikis, and electronic bulletin boards.

8) Education World ® Professional Development Center: Log On to a Bloghttp://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/voice/voice123.shtml

This is another good, basic article on blogging for teachers.

4. Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/start

This is an easy to use service for posting a blog and is now a part of Google’s tools. Another such service is LiveJournal

(http://www.livejournal.com/) .

5. Educational Bloggers Networkhttp://www.ebn.weblogger.com/

6. Examples of interesting blogs, not necessarily related to the field of education.

Mrs. Frizzlehttp://msfrizzle.blogspot.com/

Edblog Newshttp://www.edublognews.com/

Metroblogginghttp://www.metroblogging.com/

bostonDparty – 2004 Democratic National Convention Bloghttp://blog01.kintera.com/dnccblog/

RNC 2004 Weblogs: News Aggregatorhttp://www.conventionbloggers.com/

Apple Computer History Weblog: Hellohttp://apple.computerhistory.org/

Yahoo! Directory Weblogshttp://dir.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/World_Wide_Web/Weblogs/

Friday 5: Hurricanes

Hi Everyone,

Here are some really neat sites related to hurricanes and other assorted severe weather phenomena. While the next hurricane this season is called Jeanne, I was heartened to learn that the next one will be called Lisa, not Lucy. :)

Have a great weekend,

Lucy Gray

1) The Old Farmer's Almanac - Hurricanes in 2004http://www.almanac.com/weathercenter/hurricane.php

2) FEMA for Kids ( Federal Emergency Management Agency)http://www.fema.gov/kids/

Click on the What's Happening Now button for current disaster information.

3) Hurricane Virtual Field Triphttp://www.field-trips.org/sci/hurricane/

4) Hurricane Lesson: Your Stormhttp://weathereye.kgan.com/expert/hurricane/olivia.html

This is a great middle school lesson that seems to be based on the WebQuest model. Students research and make decisions based on real data from Hurrican Olivia. The true outcome of this storm is not revealed until all activities are completed!

5) Sky Diary KIDSTORM - Facts about tornadoes, lightning, hurricanes, storm chasinghttp://skydiary.com/kids/

Hi All,

I'm posting these sites without a lot of commentary this week. These sites are selected with the simple of criterion of being interesting to me. They are not necessarily related to the field of education, and a few are quite silly. Explore and enjoy!

Lucy Gray

1) Let Them Sing It For Youhttp://www.sr.se/cgi-bin/p1/src/sing/default.asp

2) Scribblerhttp://www.zefrank.com/scribbler/

3) Harmony - John James Audubon - The Birds of Americahttp://www.mcq.org/audubon/menu.html

Make sure you click on the birds in the painting and that you have sound on your computer.

4) Future Mehttp://www.futureme.org/

5) MLA Language Maphttp://www.mla.org/resources/census_main

In addition to posting links on neuroscience this week, I'd also like to encourage you to register your school for NetDay Speak Up Day (October 20), an annual event in which students of all ages are surveyed on issues related to technology in education. For more information, please visit http://www.netday.org/speakup_forstudents.htm. A college classmate of mine has been involved with this project, and I think it's wonderful to give kids a voice in how technology is used in schools today!

Here's this week's list:

Serendip’s Brain and Educationhttp://serendip.brynmawr.edu/sci_edu/education/brain.html

MAP Internet Links – Brain Researchhttp://www.coe.missouri.edu/~map/edulinks/brain.html

The Brains Behind the Brain: Five Prominent Educators and Researchers Discuss How the Brain Learnshttp://tinyurl.com/44on5

ASCD’s Brain and Learninghttp://www.ascd.org/cms/index.cfm?TheViewID=1707

New Horizons for Learning: News from the Neuroscienceshttp://www.newhorizons.org/neuro/front_neuro.html

- I also really like New Horizon's other areas, so make sure to check out the home page of this organization: http://www.newhorizons.org/

All Kinds of Mindshttp://www.allkindsofminds.org/

Friday 5: College Information

This week's list is inspired by the fact that I'm attending my college reunion this weekend. The resources availabe to today's applicants are amazing in comparison to when I applied to colleges a billion years ago.

Enjoy,

Lucy Gray

1) TCRecord Content Collection: College Advisinghttp://www.tcrecord.org/Collection.asp?CollectionID=32

2) Frontline: Secrets of the SAThttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/sats/

Check out the section entitled "Who Was Good Enough?". You can evaluate college applications and see whether the applicants were accepted at UC- Berkeley.

3) High School Guidance: Colleges & Careershttp://highschoolhub.org/hub/guidance.cfm

4) CampusTours: Virtual College Tourshttp://www.campustours.com/

5) The Very Worst College Application Essayshttp://world.std.com/~edit/ouch.htm

I have no idea if these are authentic, but I was amused reading these essays.

A colleague and I are currently researching how other schools are establishing technology competencies for their students and teachers. During the course of our investigation, I've come across a few good sites that I thought were worth sharing.

Have a good weekend,

Lucy Gray

1) North Carolina's Dept. of Public Instruction: Computer Technology Skills Standard Course of Studyhttp://www.dpi.state.nc.us/curriculum/computer.skills/index.html

2) Bellingham Pubic Schools' Tech Standards and Performance Indicatorshttp://www.bham.wednet.edu/technology/techstd.htm

3) Denver Public School's Information Literacy and Technologyhttp://ilt.dpsk12.org/

Use the links on the lefthand side of the page or at the bottom of the page to look at Denver's matrices for elementary and secondary grade levels.

4) Boston's Basic Computer Operations for elementary, middle, and high schoolshttp://boston.k12.ma.us/teach/competencies/Elementary.htmlhttp://boston.k12.ma.us/teach/competencies/Middle.htmlhttp://boston.k12.ma.us/teach/competencies/High.html

5) Mountain Brook Public Schools (AL) Technology Education Curriculumhttp://www.mtnbrook.k12.al.us/curr/cf/tech/tech.htm

This comprehensive site is my favorite out of the five listed this week.

Friday 5: Copyright and Plagiarism

My middle school students started a unit this week on computer ethics. Small groups explore various topics and create multimedia presentations to teach their classmates about their chosen subjects . Today's selections are from the list of resources on plagiarism and copyright that I have compiled for this project. Over the years, I've bookmarked many sites whenever I've encountered a good recommendation on a listserv, magazine, newspaper, etc.

Hope you find these links useful,

Lucy Gray

1) OWL at Purdue University: Avoiding Plagiarism: Printable Handoutshttp://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/print/research/r_plagiar.html

2) Technotes Teaching Tip: Thinking and Talking About Plagiarismhttp://bedfordstmartins.com/technotes/techtiparchive/ttip102401.htm

3) The Plagiarism Court: You Be the Judgehttp://library2.fairfield.edu/instruction/ramona/plugin.html

4) The University of Maine at Farmington's Is It Copyright Infringement Quizhttp://departments.umf.maine.edu/departments/library/plagiarism/copyright/copy_infrin.html

This quiz has some great examples detailing the nuances of copyright. The rest the site is good, too.

5) Education World's Technology in the Classroom Center: Schools, the Internet, and Copyright Lawhttp://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech121.shtml

6) The Copyright WebQuest by Miguel Guhlinhttp://www.edsupport.cc/mguhlin/artifacts/consulting/copyright/

Hi Everyone,

Sorry for the blank post I just sent. I got a little carried away and hit the send now button while getting ready to send this week's list! The annotations for this week's links will be brief as I am very busy with school life this week.

Don't forget to vote and Happy Halloween!

Lucy Gray

1) Clusty the Clustering Enginehttp://clusty.com/

2) My Yahoo! Search (beta)http://mysearch.yahoo.com/

Note that you do need to have a free Yahoo ID to use this new feature .

3) Specialized Search Engines and Directorieshttp://edweb.sdsu.edu/webquest/searching/specialized.html

4) IMSA 21st Century Information Fluency Portal http://21cif.imsa.edu/

Check out the learning tools section in particular.

5) South Central Regional Library Council's Discover the Invisible Web

http://www.lakenet.org/net_ref/manuals/invisible.html

Hi everyone,

I had strep last week and then attended the Independent Schools Association of the Central States conference, so I apologize for the tardiness of last week's list. I attended three sessions at the ISACS event, and I'm passing along related links.

Have a great week,

Lucy Gray

1) ISACS (Independent Schools Association of the Central States)http://www.isacs.org/

Many list members are not currently teaching at a private school. However, if you are interested in learning more about independent schools, this site may prove helpful.

2) Authentic Educationhttp://www.authenticeducation.org/

Authentic Education's president, Grant Wiggins, spoke at ISACS about questioning techniques. He is known for a book co-authored with Jay McTighe called Understanding by Design. Also check out the Understanding by Design Exchange at http://www.ubdexchange.org/.

3) Education Speakers: Todd Whitaker, Ph.D.http://www.educationspeakersgroup.com/t_whitaker.html

Here is a profile of another speaker at the ISACS conference. Some attendees found him to be rather glib, but I thought he was rather funny and did provide some food for thought. Fo more information, visit Education World's interview of him: http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/chat/chat042-5.shtml

4) Principal's Electronic Desktophttp://www.myped.net/audio.vm

I found this site while browsing for additional information on Todd Whitaker. This page contains audio clips of educational experts addressing a variety of issues and topics. You need real audio to hear the clips and possibly a subscription to the site.

5) Cincinnati Country Day Schoolhttp://www.countryday.net/

Two teachers presented on CCDS's efforts to integrate technology into their curricula via the use of PC tablets. This school has been on the forefront of effective technology usage, and this session provided a fascinating look at how one school has really embraced technology. I

was particularly impressed with this session. For more info, also check out:

http://www.countryday.net/ourtakeontechnology.asphttp://www.microsoft.com/Education/COECincinnati.aspxhttp://www.cincinnati.com/local/madeira/G80html_08172004__GNMIHcountryday.ART_Other.html

Hello,

I'm sending out the Friday 5 a day early this week. Today's links focus on general source of education news. You may find them helpful if you have an interest in various topics and issues facing our profession.

Lucy Gray

1) ASCD SmartBrief | Sign Uphttp://www.smartbrief.com/ascd/index.jsp

The SmartBrief is a newsletter delivered to your email inbox on a daily basis. Links to indepth articles are sorted under categories such as curiculum, leadership, technology, and educational policy. I usually scan this daily for items of interest, deleting it if nothing catches my eye or visiting a link of interest. Past issues are also searchable.

2) District Administration: Subscribe to District Daily E-Newsletterhttp://www.districtadministration.com/page.cfm?p=303

District Administration magazine offers an enewsletter similar to the ASCD one described above. I also like their monthly print magazine which is now located on their web site in a cool flip book format (http://www.districtadministration.com/page.cfm?p=772 ).

3) ENC Online: Register with ENCThe Eisenhower National Clearinghouse for Mathematics and Science Educationhttp://www.enc.org/register/regUserInfo/0,5549,,00.shtm

ENC also publishes a education headline enewsletter in addition to updates to their web site and a print magazine.

4) Education Weekhttp://www.edweek.org/clips/news/us/2004/11/11/index.html

Here is another list of headlines. Edweek.org also has three other sections that contain news: Teacher Magazine ( http://www.edweek.org/tm/index.html), Research Center (http://www.edweek.org/rc/), and Agent K-12 Jobs (http://www.agentk-12.org/) that also have more specialized news topics. Free subscriptions to content are required now and I believe that some

of this content may become available only by a paid subscription beginning in January.

5) The New York Times> Education News> Educational Lifehttp://www.nytimes.com/indexes/2004/11/07/education/edlife/index.html

This is a supplement to the New York Times.

Friday 5: Internet Safety

Hi Everyone,

Special double issue this week! There will be no Friday 5 list next week due to the Thanksgiving holiday, so this edition contains 10 links. My principal requested recommendations for Internet safety resources for his upcoming newsletter, so here is a compilation of what I found.

Also, I need to plug an event for which I am coordinating volunteers, the Illinois Technology Conference for Educators, which will be held in St. Charles, IL, March 1 - March 5. If you are in the area, please consider volunteering! Contact me at lgr-@ucls.uchicago.edu if you are interested. And, please consider participating in ICE's Classroom Video Contest. Details for the contest are available at http://www.iceberg.org/ and details about the conference itself are available at https://www.il-tce.org/home/home.asp .

Thanks and have a great holiday,

Lucy Gray

1) FBI Publications - A Parent's Guide to Internet Safetyhttp://www.fbi.gov/publications/pguide/pguidee.htm

2) CyberSmart! : For Studentshttp://www.cybersmart.org/for/students.asp

3) Get Your Web License | PBS KIDS GO!http://pbskids.org/license/

4) Disney's Surf Swell Islandhttp://disney.go.com/surfswell/

5) NetSmartzhttp://www.netsmartz.org/index.htm

6) Kids Domain - Safe Surfing Guidehttp://www.kidsdomain.com/features/safesurf/

7) Media Awareness Networkhttp://www.media-awareness.ca/english/index.cfm

8) Education World - Curriculum: The Internet Safety Debatehttp://www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr070.shtml

9) i-SAFE Americahttp://www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr070.shtml

10) GetNetWisehttp://kids.getnetwise.org/

Friday 5: Science Sites

Hi Everyone,

My school is hosting a Science Expo this winter in which students, teachers, and parents will host a variety of projects, demonstrations, skits, hands-on activities and lectures. In preparation for this community wide event, I found some really neat science related web sites. I hope you find them interesting as well!

Take care,

Lucy Gray

1) NOVA Interactive Archivehttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/hotscience/

2) Exploratorium: Hands-on Activitieshttp://www.exploratorium.edu/explore/handson.html

3) The PathFinder Science Network for Student and Citizen Sciencehttp://www.pathfinderscience.net/

4) Math Forum: Math Ideas for Science Fair Projectshttp://mathforum.org/teachers/mathproject.html

5) Science Fair Project Center at HomeworkSpot.comhttp://www.homeworkspot.com/sciencefair/

6) Middle School Hub: Sciencehttp://middleschoolhub.org/school/science.cfm

7) The Why Fileshttp://whyfiles.org/

Friday 5: Photo web sites

Ho ho ho, everyone...

Once again, I am waiting to the last minute to do my holidays cards. In my quest for picture perfection, I've taken some time to investigate the various services available online for creating photo cards and gifts. And... in case you are wondering, I don't receive anything from these companies for endorsing them! I just thought these sites were worth checking out.

Take care,

Lucy Gray

1) USA Today: Sites Let You Create and Send Holiday Cardshttp://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2001/11/26/online-holiday-cards.htm

This is a general article on the trend towards creating cards online.

2) Shutterflyhttp://www.shutterfly.com/

I've used Shutterfly quite a bit for invitations and calendars. Both of these types of projects have been received well by my friends and relatives. I also like how Shutterfly will address and mail cards for you.

3) Cardstore.comhttp://www.cardstore.com/

I used this service for a set of Christmas cards before I discovered Shutterfly . Again, I was pleased with the results.

4) Photowow.com - Turn Your Photos Into Arthttp://www.photowow.com/

This is the COOLEST site! You choose a design for your photo or photos and can have them made into canvases, prints, tiles, cards, bags, and furniture, just to name a few objects. If you are really adept with using Photoshop, perhaps you can create some of these designs yourself!

5) Club Photohttp://www.clubphoto.com/

This site has unique photo gifts including lollipops and baked goods with photos imposed on them!

Friday 5: The Tsunami Disaster

Happy New Year and welcome back to school...

This week's extensive list has been compiled mostly from other sources including Kathy Schrock's listserv (http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/) and from the Librarians' Index to the Internet ( http://lii.org/ntw/). I hope you will find it helpful as you begin to disccus this tragedy with your students.

Take care,

Lucy Gray

Informations on tsunamis and earthquakes in general -

Savage Earth: Waves of Destructionhttp://www.pbs.org/wnet/savageearth/tsunami/

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's West Coast & Alask Tsunami Warning Centerhttp://wcatwc.gov/

Tsunami!--Earth Science lesson plan (grades 6-8)--DiscoverySchool.comhttp://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/programs/tidalwave/

NASA's Observatorium: Tsunamihttp://observe.arc.nasa.gov/nasa/exhibits/tsunami/tsun_bay.html

FEMA FOR KIDS --- Disaster Connection: Kids to Kids --- Tsunami Warninghttp://www.fema.gov/kids/tsunami/

Earthquake Web Information Sourceshttp://www.exploratorium.edu/ls/infosources/EarthquakeInfo.html

Information on the current situation-

BBC News| In Depth | 2004 | Asia Quake Disasterhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/world/2004/asia_quake_disaster/#

USGS Earthquake Hazards Program - Latest Earthquakeshttp://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/Quakes/usslav.htm

World Health Organization | South Asia Earthquake and Tsunamishttp://www.who.int/hac/crises/international/asia_tsunami/en/

The South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami Bloghttp://tsunamihelp.blogspot.com/

CIA-The World Factbook -- Indian Oceanhttp://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/xo.html

Time.com: Reading Room: The Tsunamihttp://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1012801,00.html

Information on making donations -

Disclaimer: I am not endorsing any of these sites in any way. These are just some organizations involved in relief efforts. It might be a good idea to conduct some research on how money is used within each group. These first two links are helpful in that area.

Wikipedia: Donations for Victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquakehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donations_for_victims_of_the_2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake

GuideStar - The National Database of Nonprofit Organizationshttp://www.guidestar.org/

USAID: Earthquake and Tsyunami Reliefhttp://www.usaid.gov/locations/asia_near_east/tsunami/

American Red Crosshttp://www.redcross.org/

U.S. Fund for UNICEFhttp://www.unicefusa.org/

ReliefWebhttp://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/vWN

Oxfam's Asia Earthquake & Tsunami Fundhttps://secure.ga3.org/02/asia_earthquake04

Americareshttps://www.americaresfoundation.net/default.aspx

Direct Relief Internationalhttp://www.directrelief.org/index.html

Sarvodaya - Tsunami Relief, Donations Sri Lankahttp://www.sarvodaya.org/

Save the Childrenhttp://savethechildren.org/

Doctors Without Bordershttp://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/

Friday 5: iPods

Happy Friday, Everyone.

Unless you've been living under a rock, you might have noticed that Apple's MP3 players, otherwise known as iPods, are turning up everywhere. I recently acquired an iPod Photo, which not only has the ability to play songs, but also to display pictures. It's quite a nifty device, and I'm starting to get an inkling about why these slim devices are all the rage.

This week's list is the result of my self-serving research on what I can do with my new toy, and the possibilities are not just limited to music and image storage. Keep your ears open for new iPod news as next week's MacExpo is the place were big product announcements are usually made!

Take care,

Lucy Gray

1) Apple - Education - iPod in K-12 Educationttp://www.apple.com/education/products/ipod/

Here are the basics on using iPods in the classroom.

2) MacDailyNews: Private School on Manhattan's Upper East Side Requires Apple iPodhttp://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/4433

I found this link on Apple's web site and thought it gave a glimpse of how iPods can be incorporated into the educational life of students.

3) iPodLounge | All Things iPodhttp://ipodlounge.com/

This picture from iPodLounge is great and Chicagoans can really appreciate it:http://gallery.ipodlounge.com/displayimage.php?pos=-6197

4) Wired News: iPod Users Go Into the Closethttp://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,65278,00.html

Here's an interesting article on the popularity of iPods.

5) Wired News: Podcasts: New Twist on Net Audiohttp://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,65237,00.html

This article explains a more advanced use of iPods called podcasting. I need to read more about this!

Friday 5: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dear Colleagues,

Here are several sites that support the teaching of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy. I gathered from general web sites including the Educator’s Reference Desk, Education World, Blue Web’N, G.E.M, and the ED TECH listserv. Hopefully, these links reflect a range of materials for most grade levels.

Also, please take the time to complete a brief survey about the Friday 5. I will use this data to further refine and improve the list. I am discussing this list during a presentation at the Illinois Technology Conference for Educators, and your feedback will be helpful to me as I explain how this list has been developed. The URL for this survey is:

http://collaboratory.nunet.net/CollabJump/survey.cfm?id=885

Finally, I know I am not the only person out there in cyberspace who knows of good web sites! Let’s make this listserv more collaborative! Here is my proposal… I am going to start selecting list topics three weeks in advance. I will publish those topics in my weekly message. If you have any links that you think are invaluable to these particular subjects, email me (lgr-@ucls.uchicago.edu) and I’ll include your suggestions. The topics for the next two weeks are English as a Second Language, Physical Education, and Poetry.

Thanks,

Lucy GrayUniversity of Chicago Laboratory Schools

1) The Collaboratory Project’s Living History Project

http://collaboratory.nunet.net/lhp/about.html

The Collaboratory Project portal is teaming with an online archive of oral history videos, so that students can create and post various documents in honor of African-American History Month.The project also includes the development of a cybrary, an Internet based book club, and a survey for students. On this coming Monday, students and teachers can view a web cast of Yolanda King’s keynote speech at Northwestern University.

2) Martin Luther King, Jr. – EnchantedLearning.com

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/history/us/MLK/

Activities from this site are suitable for younger children.

3) The Seattle Times: Martin Luther King Jr.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/mlk/index.html

This site contains some basic information on Dr. King including some

audio clips from his speeches.

4) Tolerance.org: Teaching Tolerance: A Dream We Can All Share

http://www.tolerance.org/teach/magazine/features.jsp?p=0&is=36&ar=557

Here’s an interesting essay on how we should not relegate the teaching of African-American history to just one month. This site is sponsored is the web project of the Southern Poverty Law Center and is well worth browsing.

5) ReadWriteThink: Lesson Plan on Martin Luther King, Jr.

http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=257

This is a comprehensive unit complete with links to other projects. Especially interesting is a link to a virtual tour of King’s birth home.

6) The Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project at Stanford University

http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/

This site looks fabulous and its Liberation Curriculum is designed for high school students and teachers with a focus on the use of multimedia.

Friday 5: ESL and Misc. Notes

Hello Everyone,

As promised, this week’s list focuses on web sites related to the teaching of English as a second language. A few weeks ago, a subscriber asked for ESL links, particularly related to science, so I found a few starting points for her.

Here are a few housekeeping details -

1. Please take a few minutes to fill out the Friday 5 survey at:

http://tinyurl.com/3tcol

Thanks to those who have already given me feedback. FYI, you do not need a username or password to take this survey. Simply click the “Take Survey” button in the righthand corner of the description page.

2. The topics for the next three weeks will be Poetry, Physical Education, and Drama. If you would like to contribute links that support these topics, send them to me at lgr-@ucls.uchicago.edu.

3. To view the archives of these postings at Topica, go to http://lists.topica.com/ . You will then need to login to Topica. Select My Topica at the top of the page. This link is located on a purple stripe. You should then see a list of any and all Topica generated listservs to which you belong. Click on Messages for the Friday 5 list and you will have access to each list posting.

4. To see the links in the Collaboratory Project, follow this link:

http://tinyurl.com/6ol9t

Again, you do not need a username or password to view this list. If you are a Collaboratory member, however, I can give you privileges to directly add to to the cybrary. Also, please note I’ve added a folder containing links to frequently consulted sources for this list.

5) As I’d like to make this listserv more interactive, please send me any web sites that you would like to contribute. I’m also open to any suggestions of topics for future lists. There is no set formula topics. Current events, holidays, and curricular subject areas usually serve as inspiration for the Friday 5.

Have a great weekend,

Lucy Gray

English as a Second Language

1. Internet TESL Journalhttp://iteslj.org/

2. ESL Magazinehttp://www.eslmag.com/

3. Dave’s ESL Caféhttp://www.eslcafe.com/

4. Activities for ESL/EFL Students (Free English Study)http://a4esl.org/

5. everythingESL: The K12 ESL Resoucrce from Judie Hayneshttp://www.everythingesl.net/

6. Boggle’s Worldhttp://bogglesworld.com/

Friday 5: Poetry

Here are links for last Friday. Sorry I didn't get this out sooner, but

I was wrestling with grade reports!

Thanks,

Lucy GrayU of C Lab Schools

1) Online Poetry Classroomhttp://www.onlinepoetryclassroom.org/index.cfm

2) Poetry 180: A Poem a Day for American High Schools http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/

3) Scholastic.com | Writing with Writers: Poetryhttp://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/poetry/index.htm

4) Poetry Expresshttp://www.poetryexpress.org/

5) Clickable Poemshttp://www.clickablepoems.com/

6) Favorite Poem Projecthttp://www.favoritepoem.org/

-----

A few reminders:

1. Old and new subscribers alike, please take a few minutes to fill out the Friday 5 survey at:

http://tinyurl.com/3tcol

2. The topics for the next three weeks will be Physical Education, Drama and the Holocaust. If you would like to contribute links that support these topics, send them to me at lgr-@ucls.uchicago.edu. Suggestions for future list topics are also welcome!

3. To view the archives of these postings at Topica, go to http://lists.topica.com/ . You will then need to login to Topica. Select theMy Topica link at the top of the page. This link is located on a purple stripe. You should then see a list of any and all Topica generated listservs to which you belong. Click on Messages for the Friday 5 list and you will have access to each list posting.

4. To see the links in the Collaboratory Project, follow this link:

http://tinyurl.com/6ol9t

Friday 5: Physical Education

This week's Friday 5 are:

1) BAM! Body and Mind - Health Topics for Kidsfrom the Centers for Disease Control and Preventionhttp://www.bam.gov/health/index.htm

2) The School Athletics Center - Copernicus Education Gatewayhttp://psd.edgate.com/school_athletics/student/

This site hosts free web pages for coaches.

3) Exploratorium: Sport Sciencehttp://www.exploratorium.edu/sports/index.html

4) KaBOOM!http://www.kaboom.org/

This group raises money to build community playgrounds.

5) P.E. Centralhttp://www.pecentral.org/

Have a fabulous weekend!

Lucy Gray

---------------------

A few reminders:

1. Old and new subscribers alike, please take a few minutes to fill outthe Friday 5 survey at:

http://tinyurl.com/3tcol

2. The topics for the next three weeks will be Drama, the Holocaust and Web Tools. If you would like to contribute links that support these topics, send them to me at lgr-@ucls.uchicago.edu. Suggestions for future list topics are also welcome!

3. To view the archives of these postings at Topica, go tohttp://lists.topica.com/ . You will then need to login to Topica. Select theMy Topica link at the top of the page. This link is located on a purplestripe. You should then see a list of any and all Topica generatedlistservs to which you belong. Click on Messages for the Friday 5 listand you will have access to each list posting.

4. To see the links in the Collaboratory Project, follow this link:

http://tinyurl.com/6ol9t

Friday 5: The Holocaust

Greetings,

This week's list is comprised of Holocaust links. I was planning on covering Drama related web sites this week, but I decided to push the Holocaust ones ahead as Apple is sponsoring a virtual field trip with the Holocaust Museum next week. On Tuesday, February 15, students can watch a live webcast from the museum and participate in an online discussion with experts. For more info, check out http://ali.apple.com/ali_sites/ali/exhibits/1001520/ .

The following suggested web sites come from another Laboratory Schools teacher, Susan Shapiro. Susan teaches a high school course on the Holocaust at the Laboratory Schools which culminates in a visit to the Holocaust museum in Washington, D.C. I'm very pleased to have her share her expertise with the Friday 5 list. Thank you, Susan!!

I hope you find these resources helpful in teaching and learning about a very important topic.

Take care,

Lucy GrayThe University of Chicago Laboratory Schools

1) United States Holocaust Memorial Museumhttp://www.ushmm.org/

2) Holocaust Survivorshttp://www.holocaustsurvivors.org/

3) Holocasut Educational Resource (Nizkor)http://www.nizkor.org/

4) Holocaust Memorial Foundation of Illinoishttp://www.hmfi.org/index.htm

5) Eduscape's Holoc Pagehttp://www.42explore2.com/holoc.htm

6) Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundationhttp://www.vhf.org/

I added this site to Susan's list; Steven Spielberg is one of the

founding members of this group.

---------

A few reminders:

1.  Old and new subscribers alike, please take a few minutes to fill out

the Friday 5 survey at:

http://tinyurl.com/3tcol

2. The topics for the next three weeks will be Drama, Web Tools and Early Childhood. If you would like to contribute links that support these topics, send them to me at lgr-@ucls.uchicago.edu. Suggestions for future list topics are also welcome!

3. To view the archives of these postings at Topica, go to http://lists.topica.com/ . You will then need to login to Topica. Select

the My Topica link at the top of the page. This link is located on a purple stripe. You should then see a list of any and all Topica generated listservs to which you belong. Click on Messages for the Friday 5 list and you will have access to each list posting. PLEASE NOTE THAT TOPICA WILL BE DOWN FOR MAINTENANCE ON FEBRUARY 12.

4. To see the links in the Collaboratory Project, follow this link:

http://tinyurl.com/6ol9t

Friday 5: Technology Tutorials

Friday 5: Technology Tutorials

Hey All –

Here’s a list of places to turn to if you need technology help!

Next week’s list will focus on language arts. Please send me any links that you think are worthy of the list. Remember the Friday 5 is supposed to be collaborative, so share your resources!

FYI, the three enhanced Friday 5 podcasts that I’ve made are temporarily not downloadable at the iTunes store. Long story, but I’ve been playing around with a different way of publishing podcasts and I pulled the files in the process. I should have things fixed within the next couple of days.

Take care,

Lucy Graylgr-@ucls.uchicago.edu

1) Marianne Handler’s List of Bookmarks at Backfliphttp://www.backflip.com/members/mhandler1

Fellow ADE Marianne Handler has offered her comprehensive list of technology tutorials to Friday 5 readers. She specifically recommends LearningElectric.com for online software training videos: http://learningelectric.com/ .

2) Educational Technology: Curriculumhttp://edtech.sandi.net/links/handouts.html

I’ve cited the educational technology pages of the San Diego City Schools web site in previous Friday 5 lists, and I particularly like this section for its PDF handouts and links to other supporting sites.

3) Utah Education Network: Professional Development Manuals, Handouts and Tutorialshttp://www.uensd.org/manuals/

These tutorials often focus on Utah related topics, but they are still valuable to others. The software tutorials are good, but definitely check out the integration course materials. These PDF documents contain great professional development training materials.

4) Cyberbee’s How To’shttp://www.cyberbee.com/how.html

I’ve been looking for a good tutorial on working with audio files, and there’s a PDF explaining audio basics at this web site.

5) Apple Tutorials for iLife applications

http://www.apple.com/support/imovie/http://www.apple.com/support/iphoto/http://www.apple.com/support/garageband/http://www.apple.com/support/imovie/http://www.apple.com/support/ituneshttp://www.apple.com/support/idvd/

6) Atomic Learning Libraryhttp://www.atomiclearning.com/

Atomic Learning is web based tutorial subscription service. Short Quicktime movies demonstrate specific tasks in a multitude of software. Some videos are available to nonsubscribers, but paying for a subscription is reasonable and well worth the investment. Make sure your browse their growing curriculum tools section for the free storyboarding software and video storytelling guide.

- - - -

Friday 5: Google Maps

Friday 5: Google Maps

Greetings!

Google Maps is a fabulous free mapping service that offers maps, satellite images, and driving directions. Users can scroll and zoom in on maps and see hybrid maps of regular maps and satelite pictures. The uses for Google Maps are endless; make sure you check out the Google Map Mania blog to see some examples of how these map “mashups” are being used.

New this week are my picks of the week for blogs, podcasts and widgets. I’ve mentioned blogs and podcasting in previous editions of the Friday 5, but the term widgets may be new to you. Widgets are mini applications that work with Dashboard, a component of the current Apple operating system. This week’s widget complements the Google map theme and is basically a shortcut tool where you can quickly enter an address and get a map.

Have a great weekend,

Lucy Graylgr-@ucls.uchicago.edu

P.S. – Next week’s theme is science. Send me any web site recommendations!

1)    Google Maps – Wikipedia, the free encyclopediahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Maps

Read this first for a full explanation of Google Maps.

2)    Google Mapshttp://maps.google.com/

3)    Google Localhttp://www.google.com/help/maps/tour/

4)    Frapper!http://www.risingconcepts.com/frapper/

Frapper is a blend of the words friend and mapper. Make a map at this site and others can pinpoint and mark their location on it.

5)    Find the Landmark – a Google Maps Gamehttp://landmark.mapsgame.com/

This game seems really difficult, yet it’s an interesting use of these maps.

6)    New York Times: A Journey to a Thousand Maps Begins with an Open Codehttp://tinyurl.com/8a6er

You may be required to register for free with the NYT to read this. It’s a good explanation of the Google map phenomena.

7)    Technology Review’s Killer Mapshttp://www.technologyreview.com/articles/05/10/issue/feature_maps.asp

Here’s another useful article on this topic.

8)    Google Moonhttp://moon.google.com/

Make sure you zoom as far as you can on this map to see something rather humorous. One of my students figured this out this week and showed me!

Friday 5: Science Sites

Friday 5: Science Sites

Hi All –

There is a plethora of excellent science education web sites on the Internet. This week’s list focuses on sites that emphasize technology.

Next week’s topic is innovative schools. If you know of any outstanding schools that are on the cutting edge in terms of design, pedagogy and/or design, send me the links to their websites!

Until next Friday,

Lucy Gray

Weekly Picks:

Podcast of the Week: Skywatchhttp://hubblesite.org/fun_.and._games/skywatch/RSS Feed: http://hubblesite.org/skywatch.xml

Blog of the Week: The Art of Teaching Science

http://artofteachingscience.org/?page_id=12

Widget of the Week: Hurricane Tracker Companionhttp://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/news/hurricanetrackercompanion.html

Links of the Week:

1) ScienceMan.comhttp://www.scienceman.com/

- Website excerpt: “a real hub of science and technology information”

2) The National Science Digital Libraryhttp://nsdl.org/

- Website excerpt: “NSDL is the National Science Digital Library, the National Science Foundation (NSF)'s online library of resources for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education and research.”

3) Digital Library for Earth System Educationhttp://www.dlese.org/dds/index.jsp

- Website excerpt: “The Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE) is a distributed community effort involving educators, students, and scientists working together to improve the quality, quantity, and efficiency of teaching and learning about the Earth system at all levels.”

Make sure you check out the teaching boxes in the K-12 section.

4) The Paleontology Portalhttp://www.paleoportal.org/index.php

- Website excerpt: “This site is a resource for anyone interested in paleontology, from the professional in the lab to the interested amateur scouting for fossils to the student in any classroom. “

This portal contains excellent interactive features, graphics, and content.

5) ResearchChannelhttp://researchchannel.org/

-Website excerpt: “ResearchChannel is a consortium of research universities and corporate research divisions dedicated to broadening the access to and appreciation of our individual and collective activities, ideas, and opportunities in basic and applied research.”

ResearchChannel hosts many videos on its website including this one on podcasting: http://researchchannel.org/program/displayevent.asp?rid=2712 .

Friday 5: Innovation

Friday 5: Innovation

Greetings –

My innovation list runs the gamut from school design to best pedagogical practices. I hope it will inspire you to at least dream different (to borrow from Apple’s Think Different campaign) in terms of the future of education.

Lucylgr-@ucls.uchicago.edu

Blog of the Week: TED Blog http://tedblog.typepad.com/

Podcast of the Week: Budacast http://www.budacast.hu/(shameless plug for the podcast of a college friend)

Widget of the Week: Om Malik’s Broadband Blog Widgethttp://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/blogs_forums/ommaliksbroadbandblogwidget.html

1) BBC News | Technology } US School Swaps Books for Byteshttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4294818.stm

Rob Bowe, the NCE Academic Technology Coordinator at National Louis University, suggested this article on Arizona’s Empire High School. Empire recently deployed what is known as a 1 to 1 program in which every student has a laptop. While this is not completely revolutionary and is happening quite a bit around the U.S, it is remarkable that this school basically did away with all conventional textbooks. For information, there is a collection of articles and media clips on the school’s web site: http://ehs.vail.k12.az.us/downloads.htm.

2) DesignShare: The International Forum for Innovative Schoolshttp://www.designshare.com/

Some really exciting designs can be seen on this web site. Check out the award winners, especially Berkeley High School and High Tech High International in San Diego. Berkeley has a beautiful, light filled rotunda that doubles as a cafeteria and a performance space. High Tech High has a meeting room modeled after the U.N!

3) National Center for Educational Accountability: Best Practices of High-Performing School Systems

http://www.just4kids.org/bestpractice/index.cfm

This seems geared for those dealing with NCLB and a framework is provided for evaluating schools. There is also an online self-auditing tool available.

4) The Cambridge School of Westonhttp://www.csw.org/

On Friday, my school’s professional development day was keynoted by Martha Nussbaum, a distinguished professor here at the University of Chicago. In her address, she mentioned the progressive practices of a school in Massachusetts. Her daughter attended the Cambridge School and Nussbaum currently serves on their board of trustees. I browsed the school’s web site and found it very interesting. Make sure you click on the front page link to the section that describes the school’s modular scheduling system or visit this link: http://www.csw.org/page/academics/modsystem.

4) School Design and Planning Laboratory at the University of Georgiahttp://www.coe.uga.edu/sdpl/sdpl.html

This web page is poorly designed itself, but it contains a treasure trove of links to school design resources.

5) WestEd: Rethinking High School: Five Profiles of Innovative Models for Student Successhttp://www.wested.org/cs/we/view/rs/764

This Department of Education regional laboratory produced a document as part of its work with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Incidentally, the San Diego School mentioned in #2 of the Friday 5 is cited as is Northtown Academy, a charter school located here in Chicago.

6) Edutopiahttp://glef.org

George Lucas’ educational foundation web site has long been a favorite of mine. Although I’ve cited it in previous Friday 5 lists, I’m mentioning it again because I think it’s THE site to consult regarding innovation.

Specifically, check out:

An archived radio talk with GLEF’s executive director, Milton Chen, and Steven Bingler, head of a design and planning firm.http://www.edutopia.org/php/radio.php?id=R80#

(Re)Designing Learning Environmentshttp://www.edutopia.org/redesigning/home.html

Community Partnershipshttp://www.edutopia.org/php/keyword.php?id=189

Friday 5: Computer Science

Friday 5: Computer Science

Hi All –

Don’t faint, but this Apple fanatic is quoting Bill Gates! Recently, he toured several American universities touting the joys of computer science, particularly as related to software. He told students at the University of Wisconsin:

“This is a field where we need new thinking, we need people who haven't gotten their minds clogged up by the way things were done in the past, and that's why it's so fantastic for us to bring in a new generation of computer scientists, to hire in the best people and have them join these teams and really take on the very tough problems.?All of you are very lucky, you're exactly the right age to come in this golden age of computer science and help define a lot of these products. So I'm very excited to see what a lot of you will be able to do with this and take it to a whole new level, and it's going to be fun to be a big part of that.”

Computer science clearly will remain an important field in the world within which we live and it is essential that elementary and high schools include computer science in their curriculum.

I am a member of the computer science department at the University of Chicago Lab Schools, and we often need to explain our discipline to others in order to differentiate computer science from just “technology”. As our department chair, Marty Billingsley often points out, computer science really has nothing to do with computers. It is about algorithmic thinking, learning to apply rules and procedures to solve problems.

The computer science special interest group associated with the International Society for Technology in Education views computer science this way, “ We consider computer science to include skills and concepts of computer literacy/fluency, software development, and computer organization and operation.” Keeping this definition in mind, here are some links that support and encourage the growth of computer science programs in our schools.

Have a great weekend,

Lucy Gray lgr-@ucls.uchicago.edu

1) Computer Science Teachers Association – Curriculumhttp://csta.acm.org/Curriculum/Curriculum.html

The link to the ACM’s model curriculum on this page is not working presently, and I’ve sent an inquiry regarding this. Browser this web site for more info on computer science education.

2) Being Fluent with Information Technologyhttp://stills.nap.edu/html/beingfluent/

My colleague, Marty Billingsley, offered this as suggested reading.

3) Welcome to Squeaklandhttp://www.squeakland.org/

This is the web site for Squeak, an open source programming environment designed for young children by Alan Kay. It is based on constructivist learning theory. Last year, my daughter’s kindergarten class worked with our lower school computer science teacher, Karen Putman, on a project involving Squeak. Several other Lab teachers are also actively engaged in Squeak projects.

4) MicroWorlds in Actionhttp://mia.openworldlearning.org/index.htm

This site provides great support for those teaching programming in MicroWorlds. Many projects are listed here and a helpful listserv is hosted here, too. Middle school students at Lab using MicroWorlds to create games and projects in the LOGO programming language. The software is available for purchase from LCSI (http://www.microworlds.com/).

5) Resources from Gary Stager’s web site.http://www.stager.org/logo.htmlhttp://www.stager.org/planetpapert.html

Educational technologist Gary Stager lists many resources on his web site. Specifically, take a look at his pages of links to LOGO resources and to information about LOGO inventor, Seymour Papert.

Friday 5: Mathematics

Friday 5: Mathematics

Greetings!

Enjoy your upcoming Thanksgiving holiday! Here’s a cornucopia of web sites to support the teaching of mathematics.

Last week’s list is a bit late as I will not be publishing one this Friday. The theme for the following week is winter holidays, so feel free to pass on any recommendations.

Thanks,

Lucy Graylgr-@ucls.uchicago.edu

1) MathWorldhttp://mathworld.wolfram.com/

This site seems to be for older students and has a companion site devoted to science.

2) Martindale’s Calculators On-Line Centerhttp://www.martindalecenter.com/Calculators.html

Find calculators and applets for everything imaginable here. Subject matter is not just limited to math.

3) The National Math Trailhttp://www.nationalmathtrail.org/

This is a collaborative project involving community based math problems.

4) AAA Mathhttp://www.aaamath.com/

Designed for kindergarten through eighth grade classes, this site provides lots of interactive practice for a variety of math topics.

5) Figure This! Math Challenges for Familieshttp://www.figurethis.org/index.html

The purpose of this project is to involve families in the math lives of middle schoolers. This site contains helpful information on how to start such a program in your school.

*****Blog of the Week: Computer Science Teacherhttp://blogs.msdn.com/alfredth/default.aspx

Podcast of the Week: Harvard University’s Computer Science E-1: Understanding Computers and the Internethttp://www.fas.harvard.edu/~cscie1/(also available in the iTunes podcast directory)

Widget of the Week: Formulatorhttp://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/calculate_convert/formulator.html

Friday 5: Winter Holidays

Friday 5: Winter Holidays

Ho ho ho! Happy Holidays!

Here’s a quick list of sites to take you into the New Year…..

Lucy Graylgr-@ucls.uchicago.edu

*****

1) Holiday Fun from PrimaryGames.comhttp://www.primarygames.com/holiday_fun.htm

2) Waterboro Public Library’s Resources for Winter Holidayshttp://www.waterborolibrary.org/christm.htm

3) Global Goodwill Holiday Fun Facts – Winterhttp://teacher.scholastic.com/holiday/factsfun.htm

4) The Imagination Factory’s Project Matcherhttp://www.kid-at-art.com/htdoc/project.html

Look under Holidays for projects using recycled materials.

5) NORAD Tracks Santa 2005http://www.noradsanta.org/index.php

*****Blog of the Week: CD Santahttp://www.cd-santa.com/

Podcast of the Week: FlyLady: Crusing Through the Holidays http://www.wbir.com/style/flylady.aspx(This is also available in the iTunes podcast directory as a video podcast.)

Widget of the Week: The Holidays Widgethttp://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/shopping/theholidayswidget.html

Friday 5: History & Social Studies

Hi All –

This week’s theme is a hodgepodge of sites related to the teaching of history and social studies. As my winter school vacation begins this week, the Friday 5 will be on temporary hiatus until the New Year.

Wishing you health, happiness and a restful break,

Lucy Graylgr-@ucls.uchicago.edu

1) Picture Historyhttp://www.picturehistory.com/

2) History Mysteryhttp://teacher.scholastic.com/histmyst/index.asp

3) Tracks: American History for Social Studies Students and Teachershttp://www.ecb.org/tracks/index.htm

4) Timeref.org (deals with medieval Britain) http://www.timeref.org/

5) The Interactive Communications & Simulations Group at the University of Michiganhttp://ics.soe.umich.edu/

6) History Matters: The U.S. Survey Course on the Webhttp://historymatters.gmu.edu/

7) Digital Historyhttp://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/

*****

Blog of the Week: Speaking of Historyhttp://speakingofhistory.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Podcast of the Week: Military History Podcast (produced by a 15 year old, see http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/249706_historyteen25.html?source=mypi)

http://militaryhistorypodcast.blogspot.com/

Widget of the Week: This Day in Historyhttp://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/games/thisdayinhistory.html

Friday 5: Happy New Year

Friday 5: Happy New Year

Hi Everyone –

Here’s a quick list of links related to the past year!

Wishing you a healthy and happy 2006,

Lucy Gray

1) Education World’s Best Sites of 2005http://www.educationworld.com/best_of/2005/reviews.shtml

This link came via Middleweb’s Of Particular Interest listserv.

2) Refdesk.com’s 2005 Year in Reviewhttp://www.refdesk.com/2005best.html

Here’s a comprehensive “best of” list of links.

3) 2005 Year-End Google Zeitgeisthttp://www.google.com/press/zeitgeist2005.html

Check out some of Google’s most popular web searches.

4) BlogPulse’s 2005 Year in Reviewhttp://blogpulse.com/blogs2005/

The hot blog topics of 2005 can be found here.

5) FirstGov.gov for Citizens: Popular New Year’s Resolutionshttp://www.firstgov.gov/Citizen/Topics/New_Years_Resolutions.shtml

Friday 5: Firefox

Friday 5 : Firefox

Hi All –

Here are a few additions to last week’s New Year’s list worth perusing:

Lifehacker – Best of 2005http://www.lifehacker.com/software/best-of-2005/index.php

Alternet: The Ten Best Top-Ten Listshttp://www.alternet.org/story/30157/

Gapers Block Top Tens for 2005http://www.gapersblock.com/detour/gapers_block_top_tens_for_2005/

This week’s theme covers resources for learning about Mozilla’s Firefox web browser, an alternative that many are finding more appealing than Internet Explorer and Safari. Available to Linux, Windows, and Mac users, Firefox allows users to customize their Firefox interface with various extensions, plugins and themes.

As a newcomer to Firefox, I still have a lot to learn about Firefox and I am not sure I personally would choose it as my default browser. I still like Apple’s Safari for some tasks. For instance, bookmarking with Furl is much faster in Safari. Also, I like how I can add pictures directly from the web to iPhoto if I am using Safari. However, the customizing capabilities of Firefox are intriguing and I definitely prefer it over Internet Explorer. Mac users should take note that Microsoft is no longer supporting IE for Macs, so it’s worth your while to explore other alternatives.

Next week’s theme is geography… so send me any sites you’d like to share with Friday 5 subscribers!

Take care,

Lucy Graylgr-@ucls.uchicago.edu

1) Mozilla Firefox and Features of Firefox from Wikipediahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Firefoxhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Features_of_Mozilla_Firefox

Learn a bit about Firefox and the Mozilla Corp here.

2) Mozilla Corporation – Home of the Firefox Web Browser and Thunderbird Email Clienthttp://www.mozilla.com/

Download and install Firefox from this web site.

3) Firefox Central | Mozilla Corporationhttp://www.mozilla.com/firefox/central/

Customize your browser by selecting and installing various extensions, plugins and themes from this set of pages. Recommendations are provided and it’s very simple to configure Firefox to suit your browsing needs.

4) Macworld: Feature: The Power User’s Guide to Firefoxhttp://www.macworld.com/2005/10/features/powerfirefox/index.php?lsrc=mwtoprss

For additional information, visit this set of articles aimed at the

more advanced Firefox user.

5) Special: Geek to Live – Lifehackerhttp://www.lifehacker.com/software/geek-to-live/special-geek-to-live-129658.php

Again, for the advanced user, here is info on how to set up quick searches in Firefox.

6) Bonus: My Two Favorite Extensions

Blogger Web Comments for Firefoxhttp://www.google.com/tools/firefox/webcomments/index.html

When visiting a blog, this extension allows one to see if other bloggers have commented on the site.

StumbleUponhttps://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php?id=138

This extension was brought to my attention by one of my colleagues. Thanks, Liese! Stumbleupon suggests web sites based on your preferences.

Friday 5: Geography/Travel Sites

Friday 5: Geography/Travel Sites

Hello –

Maybe I should turn the Friday 5 into the Saturday or Sunday 6. It seems I’m not meeting my self-imposed deadline these days. Life is busy!

Enjoy this week’s selections,

Lucy Graylgr-@ucls.uchicago.edu

The first two sites were suggested by readers this week… both contributors are named Nicole and both read the Friday 5 via the Web Institute for Teacher’s listserv! Thanks, Nicoles!

1) Google Earthhttp://earth.google.com/

I started playing with Google Earth this week as the Mac version recently was released for beta testing. I didn’t realize what all the fuss was about until I tried it, and it’s highly addictive! I’ve heard the PC version is much better, too. My students also LOVED playing with it, which makes me think that using Google Earth to introduce geography related concepts to kids would be highly motivating. Try it…. you’ll

like it. By the way, check out Google’s logo celebrating Dr. King’s birthday if you happen to read this during the weekend of January 15th.

2) State Capitols: A Never Ending Hobbyhttp://statecapitols.tigerleaf.com/index.htm

This site has everything you’ve ever wanted to know about state capitols and then some!

3) Education World’s Lesson Planning: Five Times Five: Five Activities for Teaching Geography’s Five Themeshttp://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson071.shtml

Despite the plethora of advertising on Education World’s site, I love its content. Activities are presented on this specific page to aid in the teaching of concepts related to location, place, human-environment interaction, movement and regions.

4) Zoom Into Mapshttp://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/features/maps/

This is from the highly regarding American Memory web site.

5) Historic Maps in K-12 Classroomshttp://www3.newberry.org/k12maps/

Here is a great resource from Chicago’s very own Newberry Library. It is very well organized with lots of primary source material and additional resources.

6) A9.com Mapshttp://maps.a9.com/

Suggested by my colleague, Marty Billingsley, this site should be explored and probably will intrigue you almost as much as Google Earth!

Widget of the Week: Yahoo! Widgetshttp://widgets.yahoo.com/

Podcast AND Blog of the Week: TravelvlogBlog and video clips are available here: http://travelvlog.blogspot.com/Video and audio is also available in iTunes if you search for Travelvlog by Graham Walker.

Friday 5: Classroom Management

Hi All –

My apologies for the lack of Friday 5 activity. Since January, I have been quite busy and the Friday 5 had to take a backseat to other priorities!

A reader emailed me several weeks ago asking for sites on classroom management, so I developed a quick list of resources. I also found an article this week in ASCD’s Ed Leadership journal that I think is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the effect of relationships on school culture. It really hit home for me and you can read it for yourself at http://tinyurl.com/rs9w8.

Take care,

Lucy Graylgr-@ucls.uchicago.edu

1) Education World: Classroom Managementhttp://www.educationworld.com/clsrm_mgmt/index.shtml

2) Theory into Practicehttp://tip.psychology.org/

3) NEA Works4Me Tips Libraryhttp://www.nea.org/tips/library.html

4) Responsive Classroomhttp://www.responsiveclassroom.org/

5) Harry Wong column at Teachers.nethttp://teachers.net/gazette/wong.html

6) The Cooperative Learning Networkhttp://home.att.net/~clnetwork/

Blog of the week: Illinois Technology Conference for Educators Bloghttp://iltce2006.blogspot.com/

Podcast of the Week: KidCast: Learning and Teaching with PodcastingDan Schmithttp://www.intelligenic.com/in

iTunes URL: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=81662781&s=143441

Widget of the Week: Google Search – Kid Safe – Dashboard – Searchhttp://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/search/googlesearchkidsafe.html

Friday 5: Vlogs

Friday 5: Vlogs

Hi All –

This week’s theme comes as a suggestion by long time subscriber, James Lerman. If you’re not familiar with vlogging, don’t worry.... neither am I! Researching this week’s list has given me a start to understanding the concept which apparently is different than videopodcasting, aka vodcasting. In the processing of culling links, I joined a helpful and BUSY listserv via Yahoo!Groups (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/videoblogging/) and the owner, Jay Dedman immediately introduced to me to two other eduvloggers. I was impressed with the friendliness of these guys as the list boasts over 2000 subscribers. I asked them about the differences between videopodcasting and videoblogging. I received a few different answers ranging from a desire to disassociate themselves with a brand (as in podcasting) to no difference to the fact that videoblogs are video clips associated with a regular blog and podcasts are just videoclips fed through an RSS feed. Explore the following links and see for yourself!

Feel free to email me topics for future Friday 5 lists!

Take care,

Lucy Graylgr-@ucls.uchicago.edu

1) Wired New: Blogging + Video = Vlogginghttp://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,68171,00.html

2) Vidblogs.comhttp://vidblogs.com/

3) We Media 2.0 > Appendix: Tools – Video Blogginghttp://www.hypergene.net/wemedia2/?p=24

4) EDUCAUSE | Resources | Resource Center Abstracthttp://www.educause.edu/LibraryDetailPage/666?ID=ELI7005

Make sure you download the accompanying PDF.

5) We Are the Media: Videoblogging in Educationhttp://wearethemedia.com/2005/10/25/videoblogging-in-education/

6) Room 132http://room132.com/

This is a really excellent example of educational blogging/vlogging. The author is a contributor to the site referred to in item #5.

7) A Teacher’s Life: Video Blog Samplehttp://elemenous.typepad.com/weblog/2006/03/video_blog_samp.html

I use Typepad for my blog and I discovered this week that videoclips are supported via another company called Videoegg. This is a test run for uploading a videoclip to my blog.

Friday 5: Global Awareness

Hi All –

I’ve been compiling web sites on the topic of global awareness in preparation for a trip this summer. As part of the Apple Distinguished Educator program, I am traveling with fellows ADEs and teachers associates from the George Lucas Educational Foundation to Germany and the Czech Republic this summer. Our goal is to develop a digital global awareness curriculum and the intention is to publish this next fall for all to use. Hopefully, I’ll have more to say on this subject as our trip plans develop!

I’m looking for ideas for Friday 5 themes, so let me know there is a topic that you’d like to see addressed. One list I’d like to develop would be a selection of influential people in the field of education and/or educational technology. Feel free to send me names of people you think are innovative and have important messages to tell.

Happy spring,

Lucy Graylgr-@ucls.uchicago.edu

1) Arthur’s World Neighborhood | PBS Kidshttp://pbskids.org/arthur/parentsteachers/lesson/world/

2) Africa Focus: Sights and Sounds of a Continenthttp://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/AfricaFocus/

3) ASCD’s Multicultural Educationhttp://ascd.org/portal/site/ascd/menuitem.2e743ee7b24194eddeb3ffdb62108a0c/

4) Globaled.org: The American Forum for Global Educationhttp://www.globaled.org/

5) World Party – an article from Edutopiahttp://www.edutopia.org/magazine/ed1article.php?id=art_1472&issue=mar_06

6) Mabry Global Learning Collaborativehttp://mabryonline.org/mglc/

Friday 5: Recent Random Sites

Friday 5: Recent Random Finds

Hi All –

Here’s a quickie Friday 5 list on some generally interesting sites I’ve come across recently. My sources usually include recommendations from colleagues, web blogs and print media. I’m still looking for ideas for future lists, global education links, and names of influential people in the field of educational technology. Submit any suggestions to me at lgr-@ucls.uchicago.edu!

Thanks,

Lucy Gray

1) Gcasthttp://www.gcast.com/

I read out about this podcasting service on Steve Denbo’s blog. You can even phone in your podcast and there’s copyright friendly music available, too! Steve’s blog: http://www.teach42.com

2) DemoChoice Pollshttp://demochoice.org/

This resource was mentioned in a blog post by Miguel Guhlin called Mousing Around. It looks interesting and useful, but I haven’t tried it out yet.Miguel’s blog: http://www.mguhlin.net/blog/index.htm

3) Scholastic.com | Explore Your Earthhttp://teacher.scholastic.com/lessonplans/exploreyourearth/

I am not sure where I heard about this project for middle schoolers, but it sounds fabulous as activities involve Google Earth. And if you haven’t checked out Google Earth yet, you must be living under a rock (http://earth.google.com/) or an asteroid ! ?

4) Their Circular Lifehttp://www.theircircularlife.it/

This interactive web site was suggested by fellow ADE Joe Morelock as part of our preparations for the ADE 2006 Institute.

5) Worldmapperhttp://www.sasi.group.shef.ac.uk/worldmapper/index.html

View maps according to various vital statistics. Credit for mentioning this goes to the Librarian’s Internet Index : http://lii.org/.

Friday 10: Essential Sites for Teachers

Friday 10 : Essential Sites for Teachers

Hi All –

I’m working on a project for which I am compiling a list of web sites I consider to be great starting points for teachers. These sites are ideal for both novice and veteran teachers looking for new lesson ideas, teaching resources, and tools to facilitate the integration of technology into their curricula. My list is comprised approximately 60 such sites, and I thought I’d share with you my top 10 choices. Some are repeats from previous Friday 5 lists, but they are well worth revisiting. In the coming weeks, I will be publishing lists of essential sites for students and for various subject areas.

I apologize that I have not been sending out lists on a regular basis, but life has kept me busy!

Have a great end of the school year,

Lucy Graylgr-@ucls.uchicago.edu

1) Edutopia http://www.edutopia.org/2) New York Times Learning Networkhttp://www.nytimes.com/learning/index.html3) Scholastic http://www.scholastic.com/4) 4 Teachers http://www.4teachers.org/5) Apple Learning Interchange http://ali.apple.com/6) S.C.O.R.E http://www.score.k12.ca.us/7) Michigan Teacher Network http://mtn.merit.edu/8) Discovery Schoolhttp://school.discovery.com/9) Do 2 Learn http://www.do2learn.com/10) StartSpot Network http://www.startspot.com/network/

Friday 5: Sites Found During the Summer

Friday 5: NECC 2066

Hi All –

School started this week for teachers in my building, so I am back in the saddle again publishing Friday 5 lists. For those of you new to this listserv, I try to publish a weekly thematic list of web sites useful to educators. Suggestions are always welcome, and I particularly am in need of theme ideas for this year!

This week’s collection of links are mostly from NECC. Next week, I will supply sites related to the second half of my summer. Enjoy and send any feedback to lgr-@ucls.uchicago.edu!

Thanks,

Lucy Gray

1)    Global SchoolNet Collaborative Learning

http://www.globalschoolnet.org/center/

I took a workshop at NECC led by the founders of this web site. It’s a great resource for finding other teachers interested in working on collaborative projects. The founders, Yvonne Marie Andres and Al Rogers, were assisted during this workshop by a woman from Israel named Karen Eini, who also runs an interesting project called Friends and Flags (http://friendsandflags.org/).

2)    DropShots

http://dropshots.com/

This video hosting site seems similar to You Tube (http://www.youtube.com). The purpose is to upload small video clips for friends and family to view. This link was cited in the aforementioned workshop.

3)    Main Learning Technology Initiative

http://www.mainelearns.org/

Maine took a big risk and issued laptops to all of its middle school students a few years ago. I’m very interested in 1 to 1 deployments in general and this link was one of several cited during a NECC presentation by Pamela Livingston of the Peck School in New Jersey. She has just written a book on the subject which as been published by the International Society for Technology in Education.

At any rate, I am not sure how current this site is, but it seems worth exploring. Another related site to check out might be Maine professor Mike Muir’s web site: http://faculty.umf.maine.edu/~muir/.

4)    Software MacKiev – Kid Pix Deluxe 3

http://www.mackiev.com/kid_pix.html

MacKiev has retooled several popular software titles for Apple Computers. Kid Pix Deluxe 3, for instance, integrates with the iLife suite of software. The newest version announced at NECC supports podcasting! You can make a Quicktime movie in Kid Pix, podcast it, and load it on your video iPod!

5)    InspireData

http://www.inspiration.com/productinfo/inspiredata/index.cfm

Inspiration has announced a new product to add to their collection of concept mapping software. InspireData is designed for students to use when collecting, organizing and analyzing data. I have not tried it yet, but I am looking forward to downloading a trial copy to see what it is all about.

6)    Cosmic Blobs

http://www.cosmicblobs.com/

I stopped by this booth at NECC for a demo, and this 3D software designed for kids looks like fun. Think Kid Pix on steroids! It's for Mac AND PCs.

Friday 5: EuropeSeptember 8, 2006Hello –Following my trip to the National Educational Computing Conference this summer, I had the amazing opportunity to also travel to Europe as part of a delegation of Apple Distinguished Educators charged with developing a global awareness curriculum. This curriculum will become publically available at no cost in the Apple Learning Interchange (http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/) sometime in early October. As an unofficial part of this project, I’ve started an online group to discuss and share anything related to global education. People interested in joining this conversation can email me at lgr-@ucls.uchicago.edu and I will send you an invitation with instructions on how to join. This week’s list is comprised of web sites related to the aforementioned Apple global awareness project and to some of the cities I visited. ADEs toured Berlin and Prague led by EF Education (http://www.ef.com/ ) and afterwards, I headed to Florence and Paris with two other ADEs. I don’t know why I waited so long to travel extensively in Europe. All I can say is that if you haven’t gone abroad yet in your life, do everything in your power to make it happen. The rewards will be numerous.Take care,Lucy Gray

1) ADE Institute 2006http://web.mac.com/globalawareness/iWeb/Site/Welcome.htmlLearn more about the ADE trip by viewing and listening to material created as part of this experience. Find examples of web pages created by Apple’s iWeb software here as well.2) United Buddy Bearshttp://www.united-buddy-bears.com/de/news/showsingle.php?lang=en&bbbyear=2004&newsid=158

Make sure you copy and paste this entire link. The United Buddy Bears project is similar to Chicago’s Cows on Parade project of a few years ago. The bears are painted and designed by various countries in an effort to promote world peace and tolerance. We saw them at the Bebelplatz in Berlin, surrounding an empty underground library which is a symbolic reminder of Nazi book burnings. Check out the children’s pages which feature coloring pages for kids to design their own bears.3) Louvre Museum Official Websitehttp://www.louvre.fr/llv/commun/home_flash.jspI loved the design of the Louvre; the underground entrance beneath I.M Pei’s glass pyramid is stunning. Take your students on a virtual field trip by visiting the Louvre’s Kaleidoscope page: (http://www.louvre.fr/llv/oeuvres/liste_approche_visuelle.jsp?bmLocale=en)

4) NPR: Art and History Intersect at a Paris Shophttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5581725An online acquaintance, principal Tim Lauer of Portand, sent me this link while I was in Paris. This shop was about two blocks away from where I stayed. Unfortunately, it was closed as many Parisians vacation during the month of August. 5) Museum of Communismhttp://www.muzeumkomunismu.cz/This museum is located in Prague, and it was an optional stop on our tour. While the facility is not particularly well designed, I learned a great deal about the history of communism in the Czech Republic. Many ADEs were particularly moved by a film shown in one room of the museum on the fall of communism in this country. You can experience the museum yourself by taking the virtual tour on their web site.6) The Virtue Foundationhttp://www.virtuefoundation.org/cms/front_content.phpOne of the founders of this organization, Dr. Joan LaRovere, addressed our group during our closing dinner in Prague. The Virtue Foundation is a humanitarian organization formed in the wake of September 11 in order to promote global awareness. This group has been active with a number of initiatives related to education and healthcare, including working with Hurricane Katrina victims.

Friday 5: What Are You Reading?

Friday 5: What Are You Reading?

Greetings –

What’s on your bedside table? I have a stack of books and magazines about five feet high just waiting to be read. In fact, I think I have a supply that will last me well into the next decade; I just can’t stay away from bookstores.

My current read is Daniel Pink’s A Whole New Mind which has been widely touted in my circles as the perfect complement to Thomas Friedman’s A World is Flat. I am about half way through this enjoyable and surprisingly practical book, and it’s full of references to interesting people, books, magazines, and web sites. This week’s Friday 5 is a short list of some of my favorite finds either from A Whole New Mind or related to A Whole New Mind.

Enjoy and consider reading this book! Send me any names of books that you think are essential for educators and I'll publish the list in a future Friday 5!

Lucy Graylgr-@ucls.uchicago.edu

1) Dan Pink | A Whole New Mind… and Morehttp://www.danpink.com/index.php

This is the author’s web site and blog.

2) Steve Richards – Adventures in Home Working :: A Whole New Mindhttp://steves.blogharbor.com/blog/_archives/2006/2/19/1772216.html

I can’t remember where I found this blog posting, but it contains a concept map outlining the major points of A Whole New Mind.

3) StoryCorpshttp://www.storycorps.net/

Six senses related to right brain thinking are discussed in A Whole New Mind. They are: design, story, symphony, empathy, play, and meaning. Pink’s premise that 21st century citizens must be skilled in these areas in order to adapt to our changing economy and world. StoryCorps is mentioned in his story chapter, and it is an organization that provides the means of recording interviews with everyday people.

4) Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museumhttp://www.cooperhewitt.org/index.asp

Dan Pink discusses the influence of design in his book, and recommends visiting this museum. In a recent issue of Edutopia, I discovered an ad for Cooper-Hewitt’s new educator resource section that will launch the week of October 15.

5) Halfbakeryhttp://www.halfbakery.com/

Here’s another resource cited in the symphony chapter of A Whole New Mind. It’s an online database for people to flesh out ideas for inventions.

6) IDEOhttp://ideo.com/ideo.asp

Pink writes that this company is successful in the design business because they focus on empathy, the ability to understand human nature. This company produces something called IDEO Method Cards that showcase their design process. Check out the bottom of this web page for method card samples, and for a slew of articles on this company.

7) Laughter Yogahttp://laughteryoga.org/

This web site is featured in Pink’s chapter on play. Looks like fun!

8) Authentic Happinesshttp://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/

Pink recommends the book of the same title written by Dr. Martin E. P. Seligman. Find out more about Positive Psychology here and the site includes several self-assessments. This resource comes from the final chapter of A Whole New Mind, which addresses meaning.

Friday 5: Going Google

Friday 5: Going Google

Hi All –

Radical change is coming to the Friday 5! My life is busy, and if I am going to continue to publish Friday 5 lists, I need to simplify the process. So… I am in the process of googlizing (for lack of a better word) my work flow and thus have decided to move the Friday 5 to Google Groups. In the name of efficiency, I will no longer continue to post in Topica, Yahoo! Groups, or the Collaboratory Project. I also will no longer send the Friday 5 to the NLU TIE and WIT listservs. Don’t take it personally….change is good.

So here’s the scoop:

1) If you currently subscribe via Yahoo! Groups or Topica, you will receive an email invitation to join the new Friday 5 Google Group. I do believe that you have to have a Google account to join. Don’t worry… the process seems painless.2) If you read the Friday 5 via the Collaboratory Project, the WIT list, or the NLU TIE list, send me an email at eleme-@gmail.com and I will send you an invitation or you can join yourself by visiting

http://groups.google.com/group/friday5.3) If you use a newsreader, such as Bloglines or Google Reader, you can subscribe to the Friday 5 RSS feed at http://groups.google.com/group/friday5 as well. 4) I will post to the aforementioned places through September 29, 2006.

On to this week’s list…

Here are some Google features worth checking out:

1) Google Help: Search Featureshttp://www.google.com/help/features.html

Check out this list of things you can do with Google Search. Did you know Google had a built in currency converter or that you can track a package by entering your tracking number into search?

2) Google Packhttp://tinyurl.com/eokzh

Google Pack is essential free software for machines running Windows XP only.

3) Google Calendarhttp://www.google.com/googlecalendar/overview.htmlThis is something I’ve been playing with this week quite a bit.

4) Here are some blogs related to Google products that may give you insight into some of the cool things out there in Googleland.

Official Google Bloghttp://googleblog.blogspot.com/

Blogger Buzzhttp://buzz.blogger.com/

Official Google Video Bloghttp://googlevideo.blogspot.com/

Inside Google Book Searchhttp://booksearch.blogspot.com/

Official Google Reader Bloghttp://googlereader.blogspot.com

The Writely Bloghttp://writely.blogspot.com

Have a great week,

Lucy Grayeleme-@gmail.com