Admittedly, it has been quite a while since I had time to research sites (beyond those I discovered while performing research for my job).  As my life has started to be a bit more settled, I have found time to explore once again and am happy to share some of my finds this past week. In no particular order, I have listed my favorite top 10 sites, blog posts, and videos (this week) below. Feel free to share your favorite finds of the week using the comment link found at the bottom of this post. Have a great weekend!

1. 1x.com – this site claims to post some of the best photos on the web.  I don’t know whether the photos are the “best,” but there are certainly some marvelous images to explore.  All images on the site are screened and must meet the approval of the editor.  Please note:  some of the images include “Fine Art Nudes.” Here is a link to one of my favorite photographs:  Deep in Thought.
2. A little tongue-in-cheek YouTube about Twitter…
3. Smashing Apps: 10 Best Websites To Generate Buttons Online – I realize that Apple may be nudging Flash sites and apps out of existence, but for those of you who are still using Dreamweaver and similar web designing products there are some great resources posted on this blog.
4. Calculator Soup - formerly, Free Online Computers.net, free online calculators galore…you can’t be more calculating than that!
5. A New Way to Lecture – a nice online book featuring some great Web 2.0 presentation tools….

   Open publication – Free publishing – More education
6. 1st Webdesigner – Visualize Everything:  32 Free Tools to Create Different Diagrams – As I began research to develop a post about Web 2.0 diagramming I came across this marvelous post and realized the post had already been written! (Tar-nation!)
7. Slodive: 70 PhotoShop Tutorials for Text Decorations from 2010 – the effects shown in this blog post are outstanding!  Click on each image to go to a tutorial that you can use to create similar text and effects.
8. Simon’s Cat “TV Dinner” – anyone who owns a cat can relate…
   
9. Youth for Human Rights – “teach youth about human rights, specifically the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and inspire them to become advocates for tolerance and peace. YHRI has now grown into a global movement, including hundreds of groups, clubs and chapters around the world.”  The site includes excellent information for educators and students.  Please be aware some of the video material may be too graphic for younger students.  As always, please review material before sharing it with your students.  Educators can order free materials for use in the classroom.
10. Math Warehouse - numerous interactive math activities, worksheets, and links for middle school or secondary students.   Great for reinforcing math literacy skills.

I hope you enjoy the resources I have managed to discover during small snippets of time this week. Feel free to share your favorite finds of the week using the comment link found at the bottom of this post. Have a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend.

1. A Continuously Updated Global Display of Major Interdictions – a sobering interactive display of drug dealings around the world. The map also displays various different world events (click on the blue buttons under the map)
2. A Clusty Cloud related to the Gulf oil spill…simply click on any of the words in the cloud to learn more about this environmentally tragic accident…
   Loading Clusty Cloud …

3. Ask 500 People – a Web 2.0 polling opportunity. Post a question on this site and use the embed feature to make it available to individuals who access your classroom site. See the sample below…
4. 7 Tips to Keep Technology from Taking Over Your Life (from Wisdom 2.0) – an article posted on Tiny Buddha that I am trying to take to heart! (tweeted by Twitter user web2.0classroom)
5. Holt Interactive Graphic Organizers – Wow!…Open, Edit, Print…Wow! Many thanks to Diana Dell for sharing this great resource via Twitter.
6. wePapers.com – “wePapers is a place where students (and everybody) can expand their knowledge and share their wisdom, for free.” WePapers was created to help people learn from one-another. wePapers is where you find the kind of quality information you wouldn’t find anywhere else on the web, the kind of papers you’d have to dig for in dusty library basements and still not find what you’re looking for. wePapers is also where you share what you’ve learned, with people who are learning the same thing. You can discuss your work with them and get useful feedback.” (think: peer editing, keep an eye out for cheating).
7. ePubBud – Free children’s eBooks for any reader. Create, digitize, upload, or download an ebook that can be shared with students via interactive whiteboards, on devices, on computers, etc.
8. Adamongo – a marvelous interactive game that will help students develop critical thinking skills to understand ads, messages conveyed by ads, and what advertisers want kids to do?
9. A sweet video dedicated to mothers….
10. A Mother’s Prayer – Rachel Aldous – Another beautiful video for Moms…

It’s been a while since I have written a post. Life get’s busy, but I have still had time to discover and relish some excellent sites. I hope you enjoy my top 10 sites of the week (listed in no particular order). It’s good to be back!

1. 50 Resources for Bibliophiles – this article is geared towards antiquarian and rare book collecting. Thanks go out to Richard for sharing this excellent link.
2. Paper and More Box Templates – these marvelous little box templates can be uploaded in a paint program to color and digitally decorate or print them as is and let young artist decorate them with crayons, markers, colored pencils, etc.
3. Titan Pad – Bravo and thank you! Titan Pad has rescued EtherPad for collaborative online use…a great opportunity for students who are researching as a group…consider using this free online tool when students are collaborating to create research-based newspapers, presentations, or webquests.
4. Sen Teacher Free Printables – a while back I wrote a post 10 Neat Generators for Teachers. This is a marvelous site that would have been included in that post had I discovered it sooner. The site has generators to make common 3D shapes. a generator to create time worksheets, onset and rime tiles, and much, much more! Don’t miss this site, particularly if you are an educator!
5. Mrs. Waltke’s Literacy Page – a marvelous teacher, Rose Welsh, shared this great site with me as we considered how we could embed SMART technology in her current curriculum. We used the Making and Writing Words activities posted on the site to create a number of Notebook 10 activities that support the Scott Foresman Reading program. The site is rich in resources and well worth a visit if you are teaching younger students. To access the SMARTboard activities visit my school website and download the file at the bottom of the page.
6. Explore – marvelous and inspiring…”a multimedia organization that documents leaders around the world who have devoted their lives to extraordinary causes. Both educational and inspirational, explore creates a portal into the soul of humanity by championing the selfless acts of others.”
7. National Archive Experience – all I can say is WOW! If you enjoy history and would like to take advantage of our National Archives collection in an wonderfully interactive way. Explore randomly by using the shuffle button or use the buttons on the bottom to search more purposefully. This is a fantastic site to share with students as they explore history using historical documents.
8. YouTube: Music Discovery Project – enter the name of a famous musical artist or song and stand back as this YouTube search tool rewards you with several marvelous YouTube videos (and a few surprises you might not appreciate). I don’t know that I would recommend this tool for school use, but it is a great way to see how various video artists use similar songs or music from similar artists to create a video memory.
9. Alphabet Origami - a neat site for Origami enthusiasts…directions for creating Origami letters of the alphabet.
10. What Happened in my Birth Year? – input a date and find out…a great tool for comparing and contrasting years in history or developing historical newsletters.