Top 10 Sites for Educational Resources by David Kapuler

Top 10 Sites for Educational Resources by David Kapuler

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There are a ton of resources for educators and students around the web, but it would be very time consuming wading through the offerings to find what suits you. So I've created a list of my picks for best educational resources. However, that doesn't mean there aren't others also qualified to be listed. I'd love to hear feedback on which sites you feel have educational value so that we can create an even better repository of websites!

1. Thinkfinity - One of the most popular educational resource sites on the web. Created by Verizon Foundation with 1000s of lesson plans, interactive tools, etc. 
2. Teachers.net - A wonderful site with lesson plans created by teachers for teachers. A ton of classroom projects in all subjects and grade levels can be found here too.
3. Edhelper - A great collection of educational resources on all subject areas. This is a paid service for a low cost which can be purchased in teacher packs of five as well.
4. Shmoop - One of my favorite sites for education. A very fun and friendly site with a variety of resources such as links, lesson plans, guides, etc.
5. teAchnology - 1000s of lesson plans can be found here as well as other resources on holidays, events, etc.
6. Super Teacher Worksheets - A massive list of free printable worksheets for teachers on a number of subject areas.
7. Educational World - A great site with lesson plans and other materials for teachers.
8. TeachAde - A social network designed for educators with lots of free educational materials and a beautiful user interface.
9. Cybraryman - An excellent site with multiple links and resources for educators and students.
10. FREE - Free Resources for Educational Excellence. This site has it all -- lessons, videos, documents and more.

David Kapuler is an educational consultant with more than 10 years of experience working in the K-12 environment. For more information about his work, contact him at dkapuler@gmail.com and read his blog at cyber-kap.blogspot.com

Create a slide show with Animoto

Once logged on the www.animoto.com, there are three simple steps to creating your video slide show.

Step 1: Select your pictures and/or video. You can upload images and videos of you own, select from the Animoto stock gallery, or import them from sites like Facebook, Smugmug, Flickr, Picasa, and Photobucket. Once selected, your photos and videos can be reordered simply by dragging and dropping them. Feeling more carefree? Select shuffle and have them randomly ordered by Animoto. On the same screen you can also add text to your pictures, duplicate them, rotate, delete and spotlight images. Spotlighting an image gives it more prominence in your finished slide show.


Step 2: Choose your slide show music. Think of what may be most appropriate for the online slideshows you are creating. Again, you can select music from your own collection, or choose from a variety of tunes in the Animoto library

Step 3: Finalize your video. Here you can choose what speed you want the video to play at - half, normal or double speed. You can also select what thumbnail you would like to have as your video cover screen. Finally, give your video a title and write a short description of what it is about. After you do this, Animoto will process and render your video. This may take a little time, depending on how long your slide show is. Once it is ready, Animoto will email you a link to your finished slide show. On this page you will also see a blue toolbox with links to email it, embed it in your classroom website, remix or export your video.


A free standard video can only be 30 seconds; however, with a educator package you can have unlimited time.

Google Maps

This is a great you tube video on how to get started with creating a map in Google Maps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TftFnot5uXw&feature=player_embedded#at=15

  Acitivity - Local shopping trip with three stops.
  Acitivity - Dream vacation.

How to use in education? battles, missions. wars, travels, political races, Flat Stanley projects, living museum activities, ancestors, review information, virtual field trips, "where are we activity,"etc.

Google maps are saved as kmz. files. To find some created, do an advanced search in Google and select the kmz. file type.


Google Earth is very similar to Google Maps with a few exceptions.

Brochures and Answer Garden

Today we discussed how to create a brochure using Power Point, Answer Garden, and Ideas to Inspire.

Tech Survey for a Date

It looks like from our survey that there are some teachers that would like the three hours of your choice of training. Now I would like several dates to offer to the teachers. If you have a preference, type me in a date.




What is a good date for after school technology for comp time?... at AnswerGarden.ch.

Tuesday Technology 1/18

Today, I have a survey for you to complete on Technology inservices to come this spring. Also I have an activity with Word and Post-it notes. You know how I love "post-y notes". I also reviewed the reader used while surfing the web. The time today will be spent with you perusing a website with a plethora of activities.



Link to survey
Link to Ideas to Inspire website

Technology Tuesday 1/5

Welcome 2011

I am looking forward to 2011.  Each year it seems that it brings new, exciting technologies for us. I cannot wait to see what this year has in store for us.