Essential Web Tools for Teachers and Students

After two weeks of merrymaking while on holiday in Greece and Turkey, I am back online and supercharged for the 2009-2010 school year. While the holiday gave me a chance to satisfy my desire to read literature (The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera) and hear chick lit (Breathing Room by Susan Elizabeth Phillips via iPod) while on long bus rides and overnight trains across the border, I came back with a strong thirst to resume my ritual morning combing of the web for interesting finds in the fields of education, technology, literacy and business.

While I was offline, Mashable posted two fantastic lists of back to school apps for students and teachers. Make sure to take a look at the full lists on Mashable and my highlights below!

Back to School: 15 Essential Web Tools for Students. My favorites on the list include:

• Evernote–A note-taking and organization tool for the 21st century student (and teacher). This is a great tool for helping students stay organized, remember homework and compile research.
• Google Docs–Why use pricey Microsoft Office when you can use Google’s free collaborative spreadsheets, better-than-wiki docs and wonderful form/survey tools? If you like to assign group projects, this is a tool your students will most certainly find useful to stay organized and in touch during and after school hours.
• CiteMe–An automatic tool for creating APA, MLA, etc. citations… Need I say more?!

Back to School: 10 Terrific Web Apps for Teachers. My favorites on the list include:

• Curriki–Your one-stop-shop for free and open curricula and K-12 online resources and lesson sharing tools. Make sure to check out the new subject focused pages for ELA, Math, Science and Social Studies! The new browse page is very useful too!
• Shmoop–Resources and study guides for ELA, history and more! Learn how teachers are using Shmoop here and read my past blog about Shmoop here!

May your school year be filled with many awesome educational apps and organization tools!

Anna

P.S. Thanks to Jenny Krueger for sending me the above two Mashable links while I was away on holiday! These are two posts not to be missed!

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