ABCMouse

ABCMouse is the new favorite in the Ed Tech world. It is an entire learning environment with lessons and activities designed to prepare little ones (2-5) for school. Users can either pick and choose the activities they want to try, or follow a pre-set path that works its way through a standards-aligned curriculum.

 

If you have an account, you can log in as a teacher and create student accounts, complete with avatars, ability levels, and pre-set lessons. Students can then log into their own accounts, and have everything set up for them to learn and explore the site. There are dozens of printables, too. 

For those of you with younger students just learning the alphabet, colors, numbers, and other basics, this is a fantastic place for interactive practice. It is free for teachers and librarians, and requires a subscription for parents. 

19 Pencils

Here’s a great pick from AASL’s “Best Websites for Teaching and Learning 2014” list. 19 Pencils is a one-stop lesson plan organizer, where teachers can find great lesson plans, save the ones they like, add their own lesson plans, and provide easy access of classroom resources to students. Phew!

Once you sign up, you have a Teacher Dashboard where you can save all of your lesson plans, add new ones, and save the online resources that go along with the lessons (all those links that you keep in your bookmarks folder!). Create a Class Page, and upload the resource to it with one click to share it with your students.

If you want to spring for the premium version, you can also create quizzes and educational games (like word searches) and track student progress.

The EduBlog Awards

If you are curious about the latest and greatest in education blogs, look no further than the recently-announced winners in the EduBlog Awards. This is a comprehensive list of the best of the best, in categories like Best Teacher Blog, Best Free Web Tool, Best Open PD/Webinar Series, and Best Educational Wiki. It’s a great place to find resources and inspiration!