Bring In The New

If it has been awhile since you've been there or if you have yet to try it, Curriki, should be on your list for repeat visits.  At the home page their billing reads:  The non-profit empowering educators to deliver and share curricula.  Curriki made the Top 25 Web sites for Teaching and Learning 2009 generated by AASL,  the American Association of School Librarians.

In their about section they state:

Curriki originated from the idea that technology can play a crucial role in breaking down the barriers of the Education Divide---the gap between those who have access to high-quality education and those who do not.  ... A non-profit organization, Curriki is the leading K-12 global community for teachers, students and parents to create, share, and find open learning resources that improve teacher effectiveness and student outcomes.

On their home page users are greeted by a variety of choices:  see what's new in Curriki, find teacher resources by grade and subject, conduct a Google search by subject, grade or keywords, follow their blog, explore special collections, or join Curriki.  It is free to join.  You can login with your Facebook or Google account without joining. To join enter in a username, password, first name, last name, email address and member type; being sure to check the Privacy Policy and TOS box.  You will be sent an email listing a validation key which must be entered in at the site to complete the registration process.  When you do that an optional donation screen pops up.

Across the top of the home page are a series of tabs:  contribute+publish resources, connect with teachers, interactive resources, and full courses.  There are a series of tutorials on making contributions to Curriki, contribute a file attachment, create a resource using a template or create an HTML resource from scratch.
Users can get and give constructive feedback on current curriculum resources, join or start a group with a specific goal, read how others are using Curriki and get the latest news by reading the Curriki blog.

The interactive resources tab takes users to a page listing resources, groups, members, and Curriki pages. Finding resources can be done by entering in any combination of eight different search terms.  Each resource is listed by name, instruction type, contributor, Curriki review and member rating.  The same process is available in looking for full courses.

If you are looking for a new take on a lesson that you are currently teaching, have an idea upon which you wish to expand or have a great lesson that you want to share with others than Curriki is the place for you.

Photo Finish

Back in the day I was fortunate enough to have a darkroom not only in my home but in my media center.  At that time I was working in a K-12 building as their librarian and teaching a photography and yearbook class to high school students.  When you are teaching classes using black and white photography along with developing it as an art form (and I use that term loosely for myself) you develop a different eye for viewing the world around you. 
Even though the web 2.0 tool Spell with Flickr has been available for at least four years it is new to me and it clearly illustrates that there is more to be seen in your surroundings then one might notice at first glance.
Spell with Flickr allows you to type in words and have them spelled out using letter photos that are part of Flickr.  Once your word or words are spelled out you can click on any letter to have the image changed. 
You can save the images, print them or capture their code to use them in an online publication. 
Students could use this to practice new vocabulary, create titles for projects, or make an acrostic poem.  Its use is only limited by you and your students' imaginations.  Spell with Flickr makes using words and writing just plain fun. 
Stephen T. Johnson's books, Alphabet City or City by Numbers could be paired with this application to make for a great learning experience.  Perhaps this just might lead to students taking digital letter photos to create their own books.
Kid at heart that I am, I've already started to create new signage for the middle school media center.

Treasures Trove

Please check this out!
I follow a blog called iLearn Technology.  I have it linked at this blog rather than using RSS in Bloglines.  Yesterday Kelly Tenkely posted an additional creation of hers to help her teachers using the Treasures reading program.   I believe that this post  http://ilearntechnology.com/?p=2973
would be absolutely wonderful for you to use once you get everything figured out.  You can also link to a previously created supplement that she designed for her staff.  It looks at first glance to have a whole lot of additinal fun choices for your students.  Is this cool or what?!
If we can make learning fun its just that much better for our students.  They will never want to stop learning.  And isn't that the point really?