Oh, what the first week of 2018 had to offer!

2018 – Off to a Great Start!

We are only seven days into 2018 and I’m already overwhelmed by ideas, resources, lists of lists, and new people to follow. So exciting!

Here is a quick rundown of my favorite finds from the first week of 2018.

Top 5 Lessons for Integrating a Makey Makey into Your Classroom – I’ve had my Makey Makey for a couple years now and I’m still just scratching the surface of what it can do. In this article, SparkFun shares some great ideas for using one in your classroom.
Math File Folder Games – If you are looking for a fun way to get your students engaged in Mat, check out Math File Folder Games. The blog has some great ideas and resources. Check out his Facebook page too.
Math Doesn’t Have to Suck – Keeping with the math theme for a moment, Ed Week Teacher shares three ways to make learning math fun.
Digital Forensics from Popular Science – In this era of fake news and phony pictures, it is important to teach students how to spot digital trickery. Popular Science shared an excellent article on ways to spot a digital fake.

Arts Integration Student Placemat – This is probably my favorite find of the week! This printable placemat from Education Closet gives students easy access to elements of the arts, as well as visual literacy strategies, math standards of practice and the engineering design process. Save it. Print it. Love it!
The Learning Network – Did you know the New York Times had classroom resources? Now you do. Check them out.
What’s the Difference Between Project- and Challenge-Based Learning, Anyway? – Do you get your project-based, problem-based, inquiry-based, whatever-based learning strategies all mixed up? Who doesn’t? Edsurge has a handy article that helps you get to the basics of “based” learning.

Best of 2017: Helpful Instructional Design Resources – Excellent list of instructional design resources compiled by the Articulate E-Learning Community, E-Learning Heroes. These resources will help you make 2018 the best designed year yet.
101 Free Tech Tools for Teachers – The team over at Simple K-12 gives us all one last holiday gift with this free downloadable e-book. It is exactly what the title says and it’s glorious.
YA Books Recommended by Cult of Pedagogy Readers – If YA lit is your thing (if it’s not, it should be) then check out this list of some of the best YA books out there. This is a spectacular list. One that will help me burn through my Amazon gift cards in no time.
The 9 Hottest Topics in Ed Tech – What are your predictions for 2018? ISTE provides their predictions on the ed tech trends to watch for 2018.
8 Tried and True Ed Tech Tools for 2018 – Vicki Davis (@coolcatteacher) and Steve Dembo (@teach42) discuss tech tools for 2018. Several of my personal favorites on this list and a brand new one for me. Check out my review of Sutori.

Control Alt Achieve – Eric Curtis share tons of great resources on his blog. Loved the 12 days of Tech-mas. Yes, it was posted in December, but I found it last week so it counts.
Wait But Why – Delightful and informative posts.

Whew! If that’s what the first week of 2018 had to offer, I can’t wait to see what the rest of the year brings!