Audacity Tutorials
http://www.people.vcu.edu/~cjbaedke/iWeb_Audacity/Audacity/Welcome.html

If you're interested in doing some multi-media recordings, you've got a great program installed on your network. Audacity is the premier open source recording utility. It's also available for you to download at home. Download it from here: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Using it is pretty intuitive but sometimes a little extra help is, well, helpful. The tutorials here are excellent and have great instructional and independent learning value.

 

 

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KidBlog
http://kidblog.org

People are always interested in blogging with students. However, the question of privacy always arrives when you look at the big blogging platforms like Blogger or Wordpress.

Into the action comes KidBlog. Here, you create a class that is password protected. The teacher has total control over the student blogs and students can read and write to each others' but that's the extnet.

If you're in that boat with your students, check out KibBlog and see if it addresses your needs.

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WildFinder
http://gis.wwfus.org/wildfinder/

Looking for wildlife and habitats?

The World Wildlife Federation maintains this incredible resource for protected species. Beautiful imagery is found throughout the site along with an amazing collection of statistics about these species. Search by species or location to start and begin the exploration.

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Create a Graph
http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/default.aspx

Do you need a quick graph? Do you need your students to create a quick graph? We use pencil and paper to learn these tools and that still remains a mainstay in the math currciulum.

But, when you want to experiment in the world of electronic graphs, where do you turn? Spreadsheet programs will do the trick but they're created with a sense of sophisticated computer use. For a more age appropriate site, head on over to this website.

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Dolan DNA Learning Center
http://www.dnalc.org/resources/animations/index.html

There is nothing that works as well for explanation than animations. Rather than reading straight forward text or looking at pictures, deeper insights are gained by watching it happen right in front of you.

There are many animations that you'll find here and you can play them right in a browser. The site also facilitates the download of them so that you can embed them in other places like a wiki or a SMART Notebook.

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Best YouTube Videos for Teachers
http://www.smartteaching.org/blog/2008/08/100-best-youtube-videos-for-teachers/

Best of lists always challenge me. No matter what the list has, I always want to ask - "Yes, but what about...?"

When it somes to YouTube videos, there is so much in that enormous collection that you don't have time to visit them all, even if you were so inclined. So, a good place to start would be to skim this list looking for something that catches your interest and explore from there.

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Wiarton Willie
http://www.southbrucepeninsula.com/en/wiartonwillie/welcome.asp

What would a February newsletter be without a reference to the favourite Canadian Weather forecaster. Check out Wiarton Willie's website to see whether he see his shadow on the 2nd. There are also some resources and groundhog facts for the kids!