Part 1 of 2 Suggesting an Improved Approach to Accountability and Testing I recently had an informative discussion with Stuart Kahl, founding principal of Measured Progess. Stuart has been at the... [Please click on the post title to continue reading the full post. Thanks (and thanks for subscribing)!]

Curriculum Embedded Performance Assessment Should Lie at the Center of Teaching, Learning, and Accountability Yesterday we began exploring the white paper, "Re-Balancing Assessment: Placing Formative... [Please click on the post title to continue reading the full post. Thanks (and thanks for subscribing)!]

Inspiring, informative, useful, or just plain fun tweets posted on Twitter over this past week … collected here to share with our blog readers. This week … teachers can try the Minecraft... [Please click on the post title to continue reading the full post. Thanks (and thanks for subscribing)!]

District’s Professional Learning Community Chooses the itslearning Platform to Gain Efficiencies, Consistency School districts around the nation are being asked to do more with less these days.... [Please click on the post title to continue reading the full post. Thanks (and thanks for subscribing)!]

Image Source These Books Would Make Outstanding Additions to Every Educator’s Book Shelf Books have been one of the enablers of lifelong learning that have existed since long before the Web... [Please click on the post title to continue reading the full post. Thanks (and thanks for subscribing)!]

The Vital Need for Public and Private Collaboration to Move Education Towards new Learning Modalities "Nothing that happens is without effect. If you throw a stone in a pond, the universe... [Please click on the post title to continue reading the full post. Thanks (and thanks for subscribing)!]

The weekend is here and hopefully you have some relaxing things planned for yourself. Taking time to reduce stress has many benefits to our health. From zits to headaches to colds TED-Ed has three lessons about how stress can affect your body. How stress can make you sick. Does stress cause pimples? How stress affects your brain. Join me in July for the Practical Ed Tech Summer Camps. Discounted early registration is available now. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesWho Owns Antarctica? - A Political Geography Lesson5 Tips to Improve Critical Thinking Skills - A TED-Ed LessonWhy Do We Love? - One More Valentine's Day Lesson 

StoryTop is a good web-based tool for creating digital stories and comics. StoryTop features an easy-to-use drag and drop tool for creating your story. To use Story Top simply select your background, characters, and text bubbles from the menu and drag them into your story box. After selecting the basic story elements you can then add additional elements like plants, animals, and vehicles. When your story is complete you can save it in your Story Top account or send it to friend. Applications for EducationStory Top is a good tool for getting students online and creating stories quickly. The user interface is easy to use and offers just enough features to allow students to create digital comics that they can be proud of. Join me in July for the Practical Ed Tech Summer Camps. Discounted early registration is available now. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related Stories3 Tools for Creating Comics on iPads5 Great Writing Activities from Read Write ThinkComic Writing Prompts for Students 

Earth Day is a little less than a month away. This year Buncee wants to see what you and your students are doing to recognize Earth Day. Buncee Buddies is a free service that connects classrooms to Skype and or share messages through Buncee cards. Buncee Buddies: Earth Day 2016 aims to connect classrooms around the world to explore how they celebrate Earth Day in their parts of the world. Teachers worldwide can register their classes for the project and create Buncees about the importance of environmental protection, methods of execution, and what the local environment is like in their corner of the world. Click here to register your classroom for Buncee Buddies: Earth Day 2016. Disclosure: Buncee is a client of MindRocket Media Group. I am a partner in MindRocket Media Group. Join me in July for the Practical Ed Tech Summer Camps. Discounted early registration is available now. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesStoryTop Story Maker - Create Simple Image Based Stories3 Tools for Creating Comics on iPadsMoveIt - A Chrome Extension to Keep You Active 

Good afternoon from sunny Woodstock, Maine where my dogs and I have just returned from a great morning of walking in the woods. The end of winter and beginning of spring is referred to as "mud season" around here and my boys made sure to find all the mud that they could walk and roll in. Wherever you are this weekend, I hope that you make time for some fun things too. This week FreeTech4Teachers.com reached a new milestone. I only look at the blog traffic on Saturday so it was a surprise to me to see that at some point in the last week FreeTech4Teachers.com passed 50 million all-time page views. It still boggles my mind that so many people have visited and continue to visit this blog that I started as a side project nearly nine years ago. Thank you to everyone that has visited, followed, and referred your friends over the years. This would keep going without you. Here are this week's most popular posts: 1. Six Tools for Creating Videos on Chromebooks 2. 5 Ideas for Using Google Sites in Your Classroom 3. A Nice Set of Animated Science Lessons for Children 4. JoeZoo Express Makes It Easy to Grade in Google Docs 5. More Than 40 Alternatives to YouTube 6. Gauging Your Distraction - A Game to Show Students the Dangers of Texting While Driving 7. 5 Great Writing Activities from Read Write Think Professional Development Opportunities!There will be two Practical Ed Tech Summer Camps this year. There will be one tailored to schools that have 1:1 Chromebook programs and one for everyone else. Both Practical Ed Tech Summer Camps will be held in July. You can learn more about them here. Discounted early registration is available now. The Practical Ed Tech Summer Camp has sold out every year for the last three years. Would you like to have me speak at your school or conference?Click here to learn about my professional development services.  Please visit the official advertisers that help keep this blog going.Practical Ed Tech is the brand through which I offer PD webinars.BoomWriter provides a fantastic tool for creating writing lessons. Cloudschool is a great online LMS and course creation tool. Google Forms in the Classroom is a good book on all things Google Forms.  Storyboard That is my go-to tool for creating storyboards and cartoon stories.Discovery Education & Wilkes University offer online courses for earning Master's degrees in Instructional Media.PrepFactory offers a great place for students to prepare for SAT and ACT tests.The University of Maryland Baltimore County offers graduate programs for teachers.Boise State University offers a 100% online program in educational technology.EdTechTeacher is hosting host workshops in six cities in the U.S. in the summer. Join me in July for the Practical Ed Tech Summer Camps. Discounted early registration is available now. This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers if you see it elsewhere, it has been used without permission.              Related StoriesThe Week in Review - The Most Popular Posts of the WeekThe Week in Review - A New Family Member3 Tools for Creating Comics on iPads