Agent SmithChallenging the matrix of traditional, boring education.

These are my links for April 23rd through April 27th:

• The Walters Art Museum – love this place! and so do my kids! try Waltee’s quest!
• Top Educational Websites For Children That Are Fun | MakeUseOf.com – some cool, fun, and (yes!) educational sites!
• Twitter Handbook for Teachers –
• Welcome to Aviary – Free online photo, vector editor.
• Newsmap – visual display of major news stories-customizable
• NJ Tech Teacher Musings – love reading blogs from fellow computer lab teachers!!
• KnowEm UserName Check – Thwart Social Media Identity Theft, check Username Availability – Check to see if your username is taken on several Social Networking sites.
• ThinkGreen.com – What happens to the waste we all produce? When does it make sense to recycle? Can trash become energy? These are just a few of the timely topics to explore here.

I am a n00b when it comes to blogging.  (Now, running my mouth, that’s a whole different story!)  But, basically, I have been studying and learning from some master teachers, even though they don’t even know it! 

Case in point: Vicki Davis.  I love the things she is doing with her class, and love to read her blog about all things education.  But I was just checking my Google Reader this morning and re-read a post that I had just glazed over before.  There was a quote in there that nearly moved me to tears.

“My dad says that the only way to avoid criticism is to do nothing, be nothing, and try nothing.”

Wow. I had been feeling pretty down, for some personal job-related reasons, and though I do better with criticism than I used to, it still hurts sometimes. But I will remember this statement for a long time. I am about to embark on a new chapter in my life, and I will remember that, along the way, there will be missteps and challenges. But the alternative is to sit on my hands and do nothing! That is not how I want to live my life.  So thank you, Vicki’s Dad.  You made my day.

These are my links for April 20th:

• Eco-games help kids to do good – USATODAY.com – Games for fun and learning!
• Earth Day Materials: Timeliner XE – snatched up this link from Vicki Davis’ Diigo feed – some great Earth Day lesson materials!
• Teach Digital: Curriculum by Wes Fryer / podcasting – Wes Fryer’s Info on podcasting in the classroom – WOW!
• FINAL REPORT | DIGITAL YOUTH RESEARCH – White Paper – Living and Learning with New Media: Summary of Findings from the Digital Youth Project (pdf)
• Earth Day Resource Guide –
• Teacher Expectations Student Achievement (TESA) – The power of positive thinking…
• Games People Play –

These are my links for April 15th:

• Project Laundry List promotes clotheslines, drying racks and green laundry – Aah, the smell of fresh, air-dried sheets! Can you believe that there are places that OUTLAW this?
• Changents – Connecting Agents of Change with a fan-base of Backers around the world – Want to get involved with a worthy cause in the US or around the world? Check out what some of these people are doing to help others…

These are my links for April 14th:

• Story Maker – Get Writing – LearnEnglish Kids – British Council –
• Create Your Scenario! – this one lets you create a scene with dialogue
• Reading Is Fundamental | Reading Planet | Game Station –
• StoryTop Story Maker — The Online tool for storytelling – drag and drop story maker – I’m using this for a first grade lesson
• Animator vs. Animation by *alanbecker on deviantART – This is so cool! This guy is really talented!

These are my links for April 3rd through April 5th:

• Concord School Web-Based Social and Collaborative Learning – How the Concord School outside of Melbourne created and implemented a variety of social networking tools in its school.
• ideaslab – Home – Saw this link on Will Richardson’s blog- from Australia Ed. Dept.- working on educational technology ideas…
• Starting a blog? 12 ideas for blog posts | Online Journalism Blog –

These are my links for April 2nd:

• Women’s Adventures in Science – From National Academy of Sciences- resources to get girls interested in science
• Grant Wrangler Grants for Teachers – Easily find grant opportunities for your classroom or school

These are my links for April 1st:

• TwitterSheep –
• Disk Inventory X –