Teacher talk - general education

• Ask Eric - A personalized Internet-based service providing education information to teachers, librarians, counselors, administrators, and parents. Includes a virtual library, lesson plans, and a database of documents & journal articles (citations and abstracts) published since 1989.
• Banned Books Online - In a tribute to freedom of thought and speech, "Banned Books Online" offers a representation of texts that have been - or still are - kept from readers by nervous authorities. The site was created by free speech advocate John Ockerbloom, and includes a section called "Unfit for Schools and Minors?" which should be of special interest to educators.
• BellSouth's Education Gateway - Organized for students, teachers, and parents, this site contains links to many education locations, including Teacher 2 Teacher, which offers information about professional growth, technology planning guides, collaborative projects with other schools, and more.
• Blogging and RSS: the "what is it" and "how to" of powerful new web tools for educators ( article) - read about the hottest new tool to get students to write and think!
• Blue Web'n -A goldmine of information and links by subject area.
• Classroom Applications for the Internet - Helps teachers design and/or find programs that meet their students' needs on the Internet.
• Classroom Connect 's goal is to help teachers integrate the Internet into the classroom. There are free lesson plans, a monthly calendar, a web newsletter, and links screened by a "cybrarian".
• The Copernicus Education Gateway is an Internet-based, customized network of online learning communities. These communities provide schools with the highest quality K-12 resources and tools from trusted sources.
• Education Week on the Web - American education's online newspaper of record. Includes Teacher Magazine online, daily news, special reports, products & services, and archives.
• Education World - This free site is an online resource that helps simplify the education community's ability to use the Internet, from teachers and administrators to parents and students.
• eThemes - eThemes is an extensive database of content-rich, age-appropriate resources (i.e., web links) organized around specific themes. These resources are created for educators to use in their classrooms. eThemes is a service of the eMINTS National Center. eThemes resources are created and maintained by University of Missouri-Columbia College of Education staff and graduate students from the School of Information Science and Learning Technologies. Topics range from aerodynamics to Yellowstone.
• Federal Resources for Educational Excellence - This site is a guide to free educational web sites created by federal government agencies. It's a clearinghouse for ALL government resources: materials from NASA and the Departments of Energy, Agriculture, Treasury, Defense, Labor, & National Institutes of Health, just to name a few. Search by subject, or scroll through and ogle all the offerings.
• Filling the Tool Box - Subtitled "Classroom Strategies to Engender Student Questioning", this web site is not a collection of lesson plans so much as it is a way to re-shape and direct classroom inquiry. Within this web site you'll find practical, effective activities that help shift the focus of classrooms from teacher-orchestrated mastery and memory of information to student processing of information to create understanding and problem-solving. Whether it's problem-solving, foreign language, writing and editing, or taking a test, these tactics will turn your students into critical thinkers.
• Ide@s - Features online resources chosen by Wisconsin educators. The sites were selected based on ease of access, ease of navigation, reliability of content, and relevance for the reader. The links are searchable by grade, subject, and keyword. Subjects include technology education, world languages, physical education, and professional development. Click “New” for additional sites that have been added in the last 30 days. Links to video clips are also included.
• In2Edu - This site’s goal is to give teachers access to the best free educational software, the best reference sites, and cull down the list of sites they need to visit for themes, lesson ideas and teaching resources, computer lesson plans. Additional resources include a variety of freebies such as software, certificates, and clip art.
• Information Searcher Online: The Newsletter for CD-ROM, Online Searching and the Internet in Schools - This site is an interactive learning environment for educators. Learn about web evaluation, reference sites, search engines, and new technologies. Discover strategies, tips, practical advice and valuable information on the best web sites to support and enhance the curriculum.
• International Distance Learning Course Finder - This online directory includes information on a number of institutions offering courses via the web.
• Internet4Classrooms: a virtual library for teachers - This site provides teachers with links to high-quality and free Internet resources. Sections include Links for K-12 Teachers (By Subject, Teacher Tools, Virtual Field Trips, Assessment…); Online Practice Modules is a collection of in-depth tutorials for most of the popular software programs used in K-12—the PowerPoint module includes every facet for teaching PowerPoint in the classroom).
• Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators . Classified list of sites on the Internet found to be useful for enhancing curriculum and teacher professional growth.
• The Landmark Project - As popular as it has become in recent years, the Internet is still a vast wilderness. For this reason, it still takes the explorer in us to seek out those net-based gems that can bring life to our learning environments. - Most educators, however, have little time to go exploring on the Net, as much as they would like to. To serve these professionals, David Warlick and The Landmark Project have utilized 20 years of experience inventing instructional applications of computer and communication technologies for teaching and learning. Landmarks for Schools (LFS) serves as a hub for these and other resources available to teachers to help them prepare students for the 21st century.
• Learners Together - Published by Ngee Ann Polytechnic in Singapore, this monthly e-zine features articles about current research and trends in education and technology written by experts from all over the world. It includes such topics as computer-supported collaborative leaning, assessment, and problem-based learning. Search by Latest Articles, Assessment, Educational Design, eLearning, School/Discipline, and Case Studies.
• LETSNet - Learning Exchange for Teachers and Students through Internet provides teachers with a model for integrating the Internet into the classroom through several dozen outstanding Web-based units accessed through seven subject areas.
• The Library Spot - This site is designed to provide an easy and fast way to find category-specific information on the web. It provides links to an interactive atlas and encyclopedias as well as to law, medicine, and music reference materials. Library Spot also has a collection of its own articles on topics including job searching, teacher planning, term-paper writing, and parenting.
• Midlink Magazine - The mission of MidLink Magazine is to highlight exemplary work from the most creative classrooms around the globe. It is a non-profit project supported by North Carolina State University and the University of Central Florida . Any school, teacher, or student is invited to participate. Besides the projects, the site contains invaluable resources for both students and teachers on how to research, cite, evaluate, and more. The Professional Development section is rich in resources.
• New times demand new ways of doing things
• The New York Times Learning Network - This new site brings the news into classrooms in engaging ways. A daily feature story from the Times is accompanied by lesson plans developed in conjunction with New York's Bank Street College of Education.
• PBS Teacher Source - A constantly growing inventory of more than 1,000 free lesson plans, teacher guides, and online activities; most are designed to compliment PBS programming.
• Pics4learning - Copyright-free photographs, cataloged by broad subject area, with lesson plans that utilize the photographs.
• Pro Cartoonists Index Page - This teacher's guide to the Professional Cartoonists' Index site offers suggestions for using political cartoons in elementary, middle-school, and high-school classes such as civics, current events, and English and to reinforce skills such as interpretation, forming opinions, and persuasion. Follow the links to daily cartoons from top names in the field, including Pulitzer Prize winners Jim Borgman, Jeff MacNelly, and Mike Peters.
• Purdue Online Writing Lab - This site has vast resources for writers and teachers of writing. The sections titled "Writing Across the Curriculum" and "Writing in the Disciplines" will assist you in everything from creating short, single writing assignments to newsletters.
• Schwab Foundation for Learning - This site focuses on learning differences. SCL is one of the only online organizations that offers individualized information and personal responses from specialists in the field. It boasts an impressive collection of articles, lesson plans, publications, and other valuable resources for teachers and parents.
• TagTeacherNet - Based in the United Kingdom, this site is the ultimate teacher resource. Registration, which is free, is required. The site offers educators the opportunity to create online communities, develop skills, find lesson plans, and share resources. In addition to math, science, history, and English, subjects also include drama, which features links to contemporary and classic plays. Information Communications Technology offers free graphics, templates, and tutorials. The geography section lists journals, current expeditions, Webcams, and useful statistics. Showcase features ideas on how to produce stunning multimedia presentations as well as information on audio software.
• Tapped In - Tapped In brings educators together both locally and worldwide to cultivate a community that supports each teacher as a professional. We build the capacity of teachers to support one another through peer networks supported by the Tapped In community. Educators:
  • Plan and conduct learning projects with colleagues and students.
  • Participate in or lead topical discussion and groups.
  • Manage and attend online courses offered by TPD providers.
  • Mentor other educators.
  • Try out new ideas in a safe, supportive environment.
• TeacherVision , hosted by the Family Education Network, offers lesson plans, recommended reading lists, discussion boards, and links to other hot web sites.
• Teaching Today: Download Depot - Busy educators will use these free materials every day. Try to Goal Setting Worksheet, Substitute Teacher Information Packet Template, Five Easy Transition Activities, Suggestions for Classroom Rules, and Test-Taking Strategies. Download the Student Learning Log, Note-Taking Tips, WebQuest Lesson Planner, and more New materials are added weekly.   
• Technology as cognitive tool: Learners as designers - successful integration of emerging tools such as MSN and web logs will challenge educators to rethink how they teach.
• Video Placement Worldwide distributes free, sponsored educational materials to teachers. An online newsletter helps teachers discover new videos, including titles that deal with health & safety, life skills, volunteerism, careers, and environmental awareness & protection.
• Vocabulary University - Free interactive cartoon word puzzles for students in grades 4-12, foreign students, and adults. There are also puzzles designed specifically for improving vocabulary for the SAT and ACT and puzzles with vocabulary words from books such as Catcher in the Rye and The Joy Luck Club.
• Yahoo! Lesson Plans - Search by topic or browse through the 25 or so featured links.