It has been quite a while since I have blogged and SO much has happened.  I have alot to share and I will in increments...I don't want to overwhelm you with information!

I have been blessed to to be able to attend some wonderful professional developments this year, related to iPads and Google Apps for Education.  Below is the information.

• iPad Summit in San Diego, CA - Here is a link of all the materials and presentations of the presenters: http://ipadsummitusa.org/san-diego/sessions-materials/
• Ed Tech Team AZ Summit Featuring Google - Here is a link of the materias and presentations of the presenters: http://az.gafesummit.com/program/2014-sessions

I have since then used Google Hangouts, YouTube and facilitating Google research all with my 3rd graders. I have also "played around" with a couple of apps in my classroom.  I will post a list of some good apps soon. 

Video/Media Resources

PBS Learning Media contains educational videos to present on various subject areas also a great resource to get videos for anticipatory sets in your lesson - for all subjects..

http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/

Math/Science Videos and Math Cross Curricular Integration

The Kahn Academy is always a great tool to use in the classroom.  These videos provide step by step procedures for students. I like to utilize these during direct instruction and guided practice. They are very thorough and a great way for students to follow procedural steps/formulas.

https://www.khanacademy.org/

GeoMath is a wonderful lesson planning tool that provides you plans and ideas for integrating other subject areas into math!

http://alliance.la.asu.edu/geomath/general.html

Grammar - Wacky Web Tales

You choose from a long list of possible funny stories. You choose story, then fill in grammar boxes with various parts of speeches.  When it is completed, you will get a Wacky Tale.  Great for a guided practice activity and also a great end of the day fun activity.  I usually do this at the end of a long language arts lesson, as a quick way to give them a brain break and review grammar skills.

http://www.eduplace.com/tales/

Kids Blogging

This is a great tool to use, when checking for student's understanding.  It is also a great qualitative data method in learning more about your students.  I like to use this during a project, instead of journaling in a notebook.  Students like to log in and blog their thoughts, ideas and responses to questions.

http://kidblog.org/home/

Lesson Planning - Common Core!

Lesson planning can be fun, haha, right!?  I have found these two sites to be easy, helpful, organized and contain a wealth of lessons to choose from.  Most importantly, they align to Common Core Standards.

ReadWorks, is solely for Language Arts.  What I like about this site is that it provides you the lessons in sections, in addition to providing you with needed materials and resources. All the skills and strategies to choose from are very well organized.   http://www.readworks.org/

LearnZillion is a new site that contains lessons for all subject areas. They have already been positively mentioned in articles from CNN, ed Surge,  the gatesnotes, and npr.  I will be new to lesson planning with this but so far I am highly impressed.  It contains video lessons, assessments and progress monitoring resources!  http://learnzillion.com/about

Online Stories

These sites are a great alternative to traditional read-a-loud's.  They contain a wide-variety of literature, poems and informational text.

http://www.storylineonline.net/ 

http://www.speakaboos.com/stories

http://www.wegivebooks.org/

http://www.poetry4kids.com/