(Photos this week are a random collection from my archive - A good photo tells a story all by itself.)
1. In the morning before I leave home I scan the
national and world news. I turn first
to the New York Times http://www.nytimes.com... Many American
newspapers now use a limited number of news sources - but New York Times is
often the most substantive, with 'real' investigative journalists writing. I
often only scan the headlines - but when a major issue appears -
this is where I learn more.
2. I also read international sources to get their take on world events. BBC
remains a benchmark in quality reporting. They also have
fascinating links to on line British radio, life style you name it... http://www.bbc.com/news/
3. Since so much of
our news affects the Middle East - where better to learn what they are thinking
than Aljazeera News. If you are not
familiar with them the straight forward reporting that you find there may
surprise you. Take a look: http://america.aljazeera.com/topics/topic/categories/international.html
4. My encyclopedia of
choice is Wikipedia... Want to know something about any topic? Enter the key words in the search box and
"pop" there it is... Their information is current and amazingly
complete: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
5. My search engine
of choice is good old Google: https://www.google.com. If I need information fast this is where I
turn. You have to be a bit
discriminating about the array of articles that appear - Always check the
source first and assess if they have an "ax to grind" on the topic!
6. Do you ever find
opinionated "hit pieces" appear from a "friend" on your
computer? The first thing I do is to cut
and paste the piece into Snopes: This is
a free service that will give you a straight forward evaluation of the accuracy
of the information. Its also
interesting to scan the range of topics that they make available: http://www.snopes.com
7. The first site I
send to my young teachers: CK-12: http://www.ck12.org/teacher/. If you know any teachers - forward this site
to them - it is a rich source of practical useful information for enriching
classroom instruction in a variety of topics... If you are a teacher or not take a few minutes
to explore some of the topics... especially note the short video clips that appear for many topics.
8. Another teacher
source that I likeis the "Tree of
life" site from UC Berkeley ... You
will need to take a few minutes to explore the various links: This site is extensive and takes time to digest...http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibits/historyoflife.php
9. ...Also from UC Berkeley: http://evolution.berkeley.edu
10. When I am working
at my computer - I often turn to Grooveshark for music - You must make a free
account to get started, but then you can build and store your own collection of
favorite music - You will be astonished with what you can find here... Only
drawback is that you can not listen and scan the web at the same time, non
download the music to your computer: http://grooveshark.com
11. The most reliable
substantive weather available if from the national weather service. Just type in your postal area code and your
own local weather appears. http://www.noaa.gov
12. Many Christians
today, of a wide range of denominations, count themselves as "progressive"
Christians. If you would like to know
more about this movement - visit "Progressive Christianity" to get
the flavor of these churches http://progressivechristianity.org
13. Many of use today
are trying to eat healthier foods. I
find this site to be a good source of information and recipes: 100 healthiest
foods http://www.whfoods.com/foodstoc.php
14.
Technology in the classroom is changing how we do business! You will find these
informative if you are a non-teacher (and useful in many different
applications), but dramatically useful if you are a teacher. Check out these 5 sites:
32 ways to use
Google apps in the classroom https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1_6fh7wXkugHQbbA2ILrjsFqysvclJCbul2I3Oc912D8/present?slide=id.i300
