Go Social Studies Go Website!

If you teach Middle School Social Studies, this site is for you. High school teachers could use it to, but this site is built for middle school teachers and kids. It gives you lots and lots of history topics in shorter bits than a huge textbook and adds in a few fun and goofy tidbits to keep the kids reading about these key events in history. You might read them to add to your knowledge and instruction or maybe just have the kids read and review them and report to other kids. Lots of possibilities!

Go Social Studies Go! click here!

100 Best Apps and 60 Best Websites and Apps

Two big resources in one! I have posted links for 2 great resources below. One is listed as a source for the 100 best free apps for kids. Who doesn't love Free?? I have tried some of the apps they note and they have been very good for my kids. My guess is most of these will be for kids younger than middle school, but some of them are likely middle school appropriate and some may be for our struggling learners as well.

  Secondly, Richard Byrne has his 60 Best Apps and Websites for Educators. A lot of really good stuff in here too. Thanks Richard and thanks for your blog Free Technology for Teachers!

Enjoy!

Google+ is Now Open to All Teens as Well

  As mentioned in a previous post, I have a Google+ account but do not use it. Google+ is a cleaner form of Facebook, free of the many games and apps that clutter Facebook. It used to also be free of teenagers pretty much. But now Google+ is opened up for anyone 13 and older, so our students could sign up for their own account too. Google+ is still dominated by the professional and adult world and teens are not flocking to the site right now, but if they do, Google+ does have several safety features built in for security. And they also have features teens may like (Google Hangouts and Video chats). Click on this blogpost from Educational Technology Guy to learn more.

Educational Technology Guy's post about Google+ Change to Allow all Teens to be Members