Favorites

Blue Valley Schools:
Favorite Starting Places

These "Favorite Starting Places" have been identified by Blue Valley staff because they provide well-organized links to quality materials to support teaching, learning, and professional growth. If you wish to nominate a site to be included as a "Favorite", contact the webmaster.

Favorite Search Engines: Both general purpose search engines and specialized search tools are accessible here. Try ditto.com to locate a photograph or the Internet Movie Database, for example.
Search Engine Watch: Here is a place that keeps track of all the new search engines that come out from time to time and prepares ratings of their effectiveness.
The Spider's Apprentice: Learn about how search engines work and ways you can put them to work more effectively at this instructive site.
Anywho: This is a great place to look up any individual or business address & phone number.
Teacher Utilities Center: This is a quick set of links to teacher utilities such as an online gradebook, places to post a class web site, tools to create and post online course, etc.
Blue Web'n: The Blue Web'n site provides links to web sites categorized as tutorials, web-based activities, web-based projects, as well as the more mundane lesson plans and hotlists. Content is available that is suitable for grades k-12.
Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators: This may be the definitive list of sites for educators. Maintained by a full time staff at the Discovery Channel, they do about a good a job of collecting and classifying education web sites as is possible. This may be a good place to start a search for technology-based resources to support a particular lesson.
Technology Toolbox: Maryland Public Television assembled a great set of links that support good research practices, project based learning, and active engagement of students in learning activities online.
Classroom Connect Today: This portion of the Classroom Connect Site features weekly themes with links and great information about the topic of the week. It is the kind of site kids might want to explore at home just for the fun of it. An archive of materials from previous themes is also provided.
Example WebQuests: The strategy created by Bernie Dodge of San Diego State University has generated many quality learning activites. This site is a collection of some of the best learning opportunities on the Internet. Be prepared for materials that are overwhelming in their depth, their use of effective strategies for learning, and their specific application.
StudyWeb: The StudyWeb site has categorized hundreds of educational resources into a single page as a resource for teachers and students.
Lesson Plans and Activities: These are the collected lesson ideas of the Mid-Continent Regional Education Laboratory.
WebSites and Resources for Teachers: This is a site maintained by two Professors of Elementary Education at California State University, Northridge. These sites, organized in nine categories, include lesson plans, instructional materials, online activities and projects, and virtual trips to museums and countries around the world.
AskERIC Lesson Plans: ERIC also has compiled lesson plans on their web site. From this site, it is also possible to go to the ERIC site for searching educational resources.
Homework Central: This site allows us to search for specific topics in their database of lesson plans or to browse by curricular area.
National Education Association: This is the home page for the National Education Association - it is expanding to include information about educational research, the NEA organization, and links to State affiliates.
Web Exhibits: This site is frequently updated and contains a wide range of online exhibits of the highest quality on the Internet. It is a good place to browse around or perform a search for a particular topic.
Microsoft Radio Sites: This page has links to many radio stations that can be heard live online. Just be aware that listening over a network can slow down performance of the network for others!
CartoonBank: Liven up a presentation with a cartoon from New Yorker. Don't do it illegally, though. License the cartoon for a small fee and it's yours to use without guilt.
Sample Projects: This is a collection of just a few projects created by Blue Valley students and staff.
TechCheck: One of Blue Valley's technology integration specialists is creating a web-based newsletter with helps for teachers at her school. Some of these resources could be good for teachers outside the district, too.

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