Another week done. My physics classes have been working on their bridge projects. They did a webquest on bridge design and construction, designed their own bridge, and are now building them out of balsa wood. Then they will do a structural and stress analysis of the bridges, as well as a design review, and then we will test the strength of the bridges. Next week starts standardized testing for the 9th and 10th graders, and loss of classroom time for everyone (don't get me started on this).

Have a great weekend. Rest up, enjoy life!

My wife and I are going shooting (I have a Glock 23 .40 caliber handgun - lots of physics there!), a date night dinner, and then relax and spend time together after a busy week. (She's a high school Biology teacher)

Here are the most read posts from the past week: (and don't forget to check out the posts from Friday. They don't usually have time to get to most read status.)


1. Adobe PhotoShop Touch for iPad2 now available

2. 11 steps to planning Professional Development

3. Great collection of E-Safety/Digital Literacy Resources

4. Dabbleboard - virtual whiteboard for online collaboration

5. NASA Simulation based Aerospace Resources for Educators

6. NCLB’s Impact on Science Education - NSTA Reports

7. This Dynamic Earth - free plate tectonics lesson from USGS

8. PBS Teachers Activity Packs - free lesson resources for educators

9. College Necessities 1988 vs. 2012 (as in stuff to bring, not what is needed for success)

10. Some more great Android Apps for Education

Vacation! We are on vacation from school for next week. I will be posting new articles, but not as often as normal, as we do have plans for some fun and relaxation.

Here are the most popular articles for the past week. There is some great information and some great resources here.

1. Teachers - What people think we do, and what we really do - some humorous pictures

2. 10 great, free apps for Students for Note taking and Class planning

3. Great Resources for New Teachers - advice, tips, support and training

4. Social Media in Education - connect, share, learn, communicate and more

5. STEM Career information resources for educators to share with students

6. Evernote for Schools site - official Evernote web page for using Evernote in Education

7. LibreOffice - a great, free, office suite - gets upgraded 

8. Media Converter - fast, free online audio and video file converter

9. eTextbooks, Textbooks, iPads - what are the costs?

10. Teaching with Google Plus - tips and resources

And here are some older or permanent pages and articles that have been trending this week:


1. 10 Tech Skills Every Student (and teacher) should have

2. 10 Important Skills Students need for the Future

3. Infographic on better searches using Google

4. Google for Educators Resources

5. My Favorite Resources for Educators and Students



Have a great weekend, and if you are off next week, have a great vacation!

Today (actually tomorrow, but it's Saturday) this blog is 3 years old. My first blog posts were on Wednesday, February 11th 2009. What a great experience it is. I started it as a way to document resources that I was finding and using and share with a few other teachers. In those three years, I've written over 1200 blog posts sharing thousands of resources and went from 5 readers to thousands. I've learned as much from my readers as I hope they have learned from me. Blogging is a way for me to share my likes and experiences with others and then have them share with me and the other readers. I do it because I love doing it. Thanks for being a part of it with me!


In the tradition of doing Top Most/Best/etc lists at the end of the year, I decided to do a list of the Top 10 Most Read posts of all time on this blog.


1. Interactive Periodic Table of Elements - surprising! But an excellent site for anyone studying or teaching chemistry.

2. 10 Tech Skills Every Student Should Have - for success in school and beyond

3. Science Lab Safety and Science Resources - great safety and lesson resources for science teachers

4. 10 Important Skills Students need for the Future - skills every student needs to prepare them for future education and any career

5. Differentiator - free web app to help teachers differentiate using Blooms Taxonomy - helps with lesson planning and objectives

6. Sea Monsters - Nat Geo - ancient sea creatures - another surprising one, but a very interesting site.

7. Google announces new Google in Education resources - one-stop-shopping for Google for Education

8. Great Web 2.0 Resources for Students - some great resources for students to use, including TrackClass, Evernote, Google apps, and Dropbox.

9. Google is Now a Graphing Calculator - use Google as a calculator

10. Infographic on Better Searches on Google - searching is more than just typing a few words in a search bar.

Here are the most read posts from last week:

1. 10 Tech Skills Every Student Should Have

2. Differentiator - free web app to help teachers differentiate using Blooms Taxonomy

3. Infographic on the digital divide - interesting data

4. Essay Tagger - grade essays easier

5. Ten Sites Supporting Digital Classroom Collaboration - great article

6. Report on State Science Standards - my thoughts on state curriculum

7. #PBLchat - Twitter chat for Project Based Learning

8. 20 Innovative Ways High Schools Are Using Twitter

9. Literature-Map - the tourist map of literature - find authors similar to one you like

10. Discovery Educator Network - great resources and great addition to any PLN



What was your favorite post from the last week?


Don't forget about the permanent pages at the top of the blog also. There are some great tips, ideas, and resources there in a variety of subjects.

January has been a busy time on Ed Tech Guy. I have posted more articles that usual in a month because I have been setting aside specific time to write vs. just finding time to write. I have also been scheduling them for the future. I've also had the highest page views for articles, ever, this month and lots of comments on articles. Thanks for reading, sharing and commenting!



Here are the most read posts from January:

1. 10 Important Skills Students need for the Future

2. 10 Tech Skills Every Student Should Have

3. Google Announces new Google in Education resources

4. What I use with Physics classes instead of textbook

5. Why I Use Google's Products as an Educator

6. The How's, Why's and Value of Educational Technology

7. 5 Great course management resources for educators

8. Apple Announces iBooks2 E-Textbooks - my initial thoughts

9. HP webOS TouchPad Tablet - updated review after 6 months of use

10. My Favorite Resources for Educators and Students


The permanent pages at the top of the blog also have been getting a lot of page views also, especially the Evernote for Educators, Google for Educators, and STEM Resources pages.

I am also available to speak at your school or conference and to run professional development sessions. 

Please visit the advertisers on this site.

Good morning from damp, wet Connecticut (lots of rain on Friday!). Today, I'm in Hartford, at the Mark Twain House, attending an in-person event sponsored by the CT Leadership Council of the Discovery Educator Network, participating in Discovery Education's SCICon, which combines live and virtual sessions for professional development.


Here are the most read posts from last week:

1. Soapbox - real time student feedback during class - back channeling, messaging and polling

2. The Teaching Channel - video lessons and resources for educators

3. What I use with Physics classes instead of textbook - online resources, simulations, digital textbooks, and more

4. The Andes Physics Tutor - intelligent homework helper for Physics - use in class or have students use for practice and help.

5. TIE
Studyers - create, organize, and share notes    and   The 3 apps and services I can't live without

6. ActivePresenter - free screencasting software

7. PDFBinder - simple tool to merge PDF documents into one

8. Great Science Fair resource created by a student - animation to get students interested in and participating in science fair and science classes

9. Twitter, Google Plus, Facebook - a nice comparison

10. TIE
Google Calendar for Educators    and   Google announces new Google in Education resources

Here are the most read posts from the past week on EdTechGuy:


1. The How's, Why's and Value of Educational Technology


2. New Evernote for Education resource page


3. Apple Announces iBooks2 E-Textbooks - my initial thoughts


4. Wolfram announces Wolfram Education Portal


5. Why I Use Google's Products as an Educator


6. Yummy Math - making math relevant to the world


7. 19 Pencils - quick and easy tools for learning


8. 5 Great course management resources for educators


9. Doodle 4 Google contest for K12 US Students - win a scholarship


10. Improving Literacy and Digital Literacy with Adobe Digital School Collection








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Thanks for reading and sharing!!!!

Here are the most read posts for the past week:

1. Great Physics Resources for Teachers and Students - this got a huge amount of reads over the rest. I'm very happy that people are finding it useful.

2. Insync - Sync Google Docs to your Computer

3. My Favorite Resources for Students and Teachers - some great stuff here.

4. How to Embed video in PowerPoint and package as a single file

5. 10 Important Skills Students Need for the Future 

6. Infographic - Consequences of Teaching to the Test

7. NASA Debunks 2012 Apocalypse with new FAQ


And I really like this one:

Making School Relevant for Students - I posted it on Thursday, but it's already gotten a lot of hits. I feel very strongly about this topic too.

I was out having some fun this weekend on Saturday and Sunday (great trip to NYC) and didn't get a chance to post this. 




Most Popular Posts from Last Week, in order of popularity:

1. How to Turn a Teen Into an Engineer

2. Google is now a graphing calculator

3. Win a MimioView Document Camera by sharing lesson resources

4. Adobe - no more mobile Flash, but lots of mobile apps for Adobe products

5. Explania - animated explanations - great for education