Looking to a New Year

Happy New Year all! Technically, it isn't a new year yet in the Central Time Zone, but it is close enough to create this post. For me, 2008 brought relief from back pain, an Alaskan adventure, not one, but TWO visits with my best friend Kirsti, lots of renovations to my home, the beginning of a transition in my job role, the college graduation of my daughter, and new and continued friendships which I value greatly!
I look for more great experiences in 2009. I know that 2008 hasn't quite yet ended, but as a teacher, I tend to plan ahead. Today's sites are devoted to those planners, or at least calendar watchers.

Read*Write*Think Calendar
This is an interactive lesson idea calendar produced by the esteemed Read*Write*Think, a site created by International Reading Association (IRA), the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). Simply view a month and click an event to view an interactive lesson about the topic. Great lessons for grades K-12 related to national standards and completely free.

EDSITEment Calendar
This calendar is brought to you by the National Endowment for the Humanities on their EDSITEment site. This calendar also shows topics by date which are linked to site features or lesson plans for grades K-12. All lessons are standards based and free as well.

TeacherVision Calendar
This calendar has linked topics, similar to those above, but as a subscription site, each day's topic provides multiple links to related web sites, lesson plans for grades K-12 and printables. The site allows for three free previews, then you must sign up for the free 7-day trial. Subscriptions run $39.95 a year. I couldn't find standards information, but maybe it is provided with a subscription. This site is part of the Family Education Network from Pearson Education.

Keeping Up

Some days it is just hard to keep up! I would absolutely die without my Outlook calendar. It keeps me straight, if not on time, for all of my appointments with teachers, meetings, etc. Because we use Microsoft Exchange, I had to find a gadget to view/add appointments to my calendar when not on campus. There are lots out there, but I chose Google Calendar, a gadget to put on my iGoogle page. It syncs with my Outlook calendar whether I am on campus or not. I can also add appointments when I am away from work. And, of course, I can view it from any Internet connection. Now my whole life is straight! I just gotta be on time...



Google Calendar in the Classroom

http://monarchlibrary.wikispaces.com/LibraryCalendar This library media specialist added Google calendar to her wiki. She uses it to keep track of library classes and lesson plans. A teacher could do this and make it the student's homepage. The teacher sets the option to make the calendar read-only or collaborative. Students need not have a gmail account to collaborate. They get to see assignments and upcoming projects or add items themselves. This could also be set up for staff members to collaborate for PLC's, committees, staffings, etc. What a great idea!
More information here and here on how to set up your Google calendar and ways to use it.