Friday, October 14, 2011

Student Self-Publishing, Solar Energy Lessons & More

Tikatok Across the Curriculum - This Barnes & Noble-owned website, which allows kids to publish their own books, will be releasing a free series of activities, projects and more for incorporating writing across the curriculum in grades K-8 over the next year.  There will be one new module released each month on their website.

U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon Curriculum - There was an exciting event going on recently on the National Mall: teams of college students from around the planet are showing off solar-powered houses that aim to maximize efficiency while keeping costs low (and designing something people might actually want to live in).  The DOE has created four lesson plans on solar energy for middle and high school students to supplement the event.

28 Creative Ideas for Teaching with Twitter [MindShift] - See my earlier posts Weekend Reader on Social Media in the Classroom - Sept 2011 and 5 Thoughts & Ideas for Embracing Social Media in Education.

A Non-Designer's Guide to Creating Awesome Diagrams for Slides [Lifehacker] - If you must make slides (please don't), here's some creative guidance.

Learning Anywhere, Anytime: MIT Bringing Education to Cell Phones [GOOD] - For more on using cell phones in education, read last month's Weekend Reader on Cell Phones in the Classroom.