4 Incredible educational tools you may not have seen

Every Slide
With Every Slide you can turn your average presentation slides into an interactive educational experience for your students. You simply have to upload your presentation and then add polls that your students can respond to with their own devices. The polls can be text, true/false or multiple choice and you can add them ahead of time or as you go. Students can join the presentation by typing in a code which is visible at the top of your presentation. This is a powerful tool and best of all, it is free for teachers.

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Flip Quiz
Most teachers are always looking for ways to make formative assessments more fun and engaging. Flip Quiz (in Beta) allows you to create Jeopardy style review games and you don't have to possess any technical know how. Once you sign up you can easily create your first game in a short amount of time and your students will love playing along. Thank you Doug Peterson (@dougpete) for sharing this via Twitter.

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Populr
This site allows you to create a simple single page poster with text, images, and videos. Once you sign up (it's free) you simply add the elements and then publish the final product. Elements can be added from your computer, social media sites such a s Flickr, or added from the web. One of the best features on Populr is that it allows collaboration on a page which is great for group projects. Finished projects can be shared via email or your favorite social media sites.

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Pastbook
Here is a terrific site for creating an online photo album or scrapbooks. This site also allows collaboration which make it ideal for group projects. Signing up does require an email address but no other personal information is needed. The site is very simple to use as all you need is to add pictures and then text to accompany each picture and the site does the rest. Once you are done the book can be downloaded as a PDF to be handed in or students can share the book with the teacher.

4 more (free) websites to create cool student projects online

Fodey
Fodey is very useful a website that allows you to write your own newspaper story and headline. The site also allows you to change the name of the newspaper as well as the publishing date which makes it a perfect tool for social studies projects. Once the story is completed you can download it to your computer or use a screen capture tool to save the image. While this is a perfect tool for history projects, this website is great for any subject area.

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Newspaper Generator
This newspaper generator by Homemade Gifts Made Easy is very similar to Fodey but it has several features that make it more a powerful tool. First, it allows you to add a picture to your story which helps to make the finished product more interesting to students. Second, there seems to be no limit to how much text you can write. The finished product can be saved as a pdf by right clicking on the image. However, the story you write will be accompanied by several "nonsense" stories that come with the site.

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Paste to Grid

This website (currently in beta) allows you to easily create a photo collage which can be used on a website or as part of a student project. Choose one of the 14 grids and then add pictures and the final product can be saved to your computer as a jpg file. This tool can be used along with the Newspaper Generator above by Homemade Gifts Made Easy to create a nice newspaper project. 

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Brother Creative Center
This powerful site by Brother allows you to generate posters, newsletters (mailers), calendars and brochures. Each type of document comes with a collection of dynamic templates which a simple to edit. Projects can be saved for later editing and then be printed or saved to your computer when they are done. This site is a great online alternative to Microsoft Publisher and it is free to use.

Futility Closet - An entertaining collection of educational related curiosities

Futility Closet is an entertaining website that shares strange and curious stories from history, language, literature, math, science, art, philosophy and more. You can read stories about amazing coincidences, unusual occurrences or try to solve challenging puzzles. The site has over 6800 entries and is growing daily. You can browse by one of their 19 topics, use the search bar or click the "random" button and see what "curiosity" appears. While Futility Closet's posts will appeal to anyone, teachers should be able to find material that they can incorporate into their lessons to make them more interesting. Once you begin reading the material on Futility Closet, you will likely find yourself returning over  and over again.

6 websites to discover stunning images from around the world.

1- One Big Photo
One Big Photo is a site with a simple concept, just show amazing photographs. You can browse scroll through their pictures, browse their 12 categories or use the search bar to find pictures that go from simple to stunning. Users can upload their own pictures to the site but it must be reviewed and accepted before it gets posted. If you enjoy the site's content then you can subscribe to their site and get One Big Photo in your inbox. If you love photography or just incredible pictures then you should take a peek at One Big Photo.

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2- Clik/Hear
Clik/Hear is a multimedia web page from the Palm Beach Post that features compelling stories, stunning images, and amazing videos from around the world. Their extensive collection has six categories; South/Florida, World/Nation, Sports, Lifestyle, Video, and Pictures of the Week. Just browsing through this last category (pictures of the week) can take up a lot of your time due to the sheer volume of photographs on display. If you are a fan of incredible photography, thought provoking stories, and remarkable videos, then take a look at Clik/Hear and be prepared to spend a lot of time browsing around.

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3- Trek Earth

Planet Earth is an amazing place and Trek Earth wants to share it with you. This is a travel themed website that features some of the most amazing photography from all over the world. The sites incredible pictures are searchable by their search bar, by favorites, by category, by theme, and under "statistics" you can search by nation. Trek Earth's 1.1 million images must be seen to be appreciated.  Many of the photographs rival any you will find anywhere. Trek Earth is not only great for travelers, nature lovers and photography buffs but it can be used by foreign language, geography, science and history teachers as well.

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4- All that is Interesting
All that is Interesting is a website that feeds our desire to be amazed by our world. The site contains a large collection of photographs from the web and each photo is captioned explaining the picture. You don't need to look too deep into through their website to find a picture that will capture your attention. The photographs are sorted by categories such as "astounding", "curiosities," and "photography." Teachers will be interested in knowing that other categories include "history", "science", and "art." All that is Interesting is a website worth browsing and may prove to be useful to some educators out there.

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5- Earth Cam
Earth Cam is your window to the world. This very cool website features live web cams giving you a front row seat to cities over the globe. See live shots of Times Square, Florida beaches, the Statue of Liberty, Caribbean Islands, or the Eiffel Tower. You can choose a country from their map and take a look at their wide variety of web cams as well. Earth Cams is an enjoyable way to see the world without the expense.

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6- Beauty in Everything
If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then this next website is a site to behold. Beauty in Everything is a site that features hundreds of photographs from Flickr. The subject matter of the photographs is widely varied and consists of people, animals, landscapes, nature, objects, cities and just about anything else. You can scroll through pages of beautiful photographs from today, yesterday, or go to their calendar and pick a date. You are sure to find many pictures that appeal to your sense of beauty.

12 World War II resources you may not have seen

World War II is one of the greatest tragedies in human history which is why it is so thoroughly studied. We are still so fascinated by it's endless tales triumphs of the human spirit amid the crushing scenes of horror. Below are twelve websites that go behind the scenes of the 20th century's defining event. Please note that a few of the categories share more than one website.

1- World War II in Color

World War II Pictures in Color is a site that contains over 30,000 photographs from history's most devastating war. As the title of the site suggests, many of the pictures are in color. You can search using their search bar or browse by category. The site also contains discussion forum for people interested in sharing information or asking questions. They also sell the photographs from their site as well as other items such as posters and videos.  If you are a history teacher or are interested in World War II, then head on over and bookmark World War II Pictures in Color.

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2- Digital Collection of WWII Propaganda Posters

Check out this  collection of historic World War II posters from the Cincinnati Digital Library. This collection of over 85 World War II propaganda posters are from both the U.S. and other nations. Since they are digital they can be downloaded and printed for use in the classroom. History teachers should race on over to this site ASAP.

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3- D-Day to Victory

D-Day to Victory takes you from the D-Day invasion to the fall of Berlin. It offers detailed stories of the soldiers and their experiences and uses stunning 360 degree animation to tell the story. This site is great for teacher, students, and any World War II enthusiast.

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4- Anne Franks' Secret Annex Online

From her journal to movies, the tragic story of Anne Frank has fascinated millions of people. Annefrank.org has a special section on their webpage called the Secret Annex Online that allows you to explore the secret annex where she and her family hid from the Nazis. From this site you can explore the apartment and all of the hiding places and learn about all the people involved. After you explore her living quarters you can view videos, read articles, and see photographs as well. The Secret Annex Online is one of the most compelling sources available to learn about the Anne Frank story.

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5- Science and Technology of World War II

The Science and Technology of World War II in an interactive site that contains information, activities and lessons about the scientific advancements that were made during the Second World War. Explore visuals in the Darkroom or learn to send a coded message in the Activities section. Lern more in the Timeline area or perhaps take a virtual field trip. The Science and Technology of World War II offers a wide variety of learning opportunities and includes lesson plans for teachers.

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6- FDR's Fireside Chats

FDR's Fireside Chats were radio addresses used by the 32nd president to inform and comfort the nation. They started during the Great Depression but he continued using them throughout the war. This site, The American Presidency Project, offers a selection of audio recording from Roosevelt's broadcasts. The Mid Hudson Regional Information Center offers transcripts of FDR's radio broadcasts which would make excellent close reads for students.

American Presidency Project - Hear FDR's Fireside Chats

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7- Photographs from the Office of War Information

For a collection of high quality color images from the American Home front, check out this impressive photo collection from The Atlantic. These images come from the Office of War Information (OWI). The agency, created by FDR, was responsible for reporting war news, promoting patriotic activities, and providing the media with audio, film, and photos of the government's war efforts. While most of the scenes were posed, the subjects were the real thing -- soldiers and workers preparing for a long fight.

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8- BBC History of WWII

BBC History has a terrific World War II section that's loaded with a variety of multimedia resources. This site contains detailed summaries of key events but keep digging because there is much more to discover. The BBC History site has animated maps, videos, audio files, quizzes, and more. This site offers a good comprehensive overview from a British point of view.

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9- Japanese-American Internment

Exploring Japanese American Internment is a site that seeks to teach about the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. It uses video and other resources to explore this period of American History.

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10- American Home Front

Scholastic also offers a section about the internment of Japanese American but their site also explore other aspect of the American Homefront including rationing and women working in the war industry.

Americanhistory.org also has an excellent page that explains about rationing and the effects on civilians.

5 websites to find amazing historic and vintage photographs

1- New York City Municipal Archives

I love old photographs. That may be due to the fact that I am a history teacher but whatever the reason, I am mesmerized by them. Early last year, the New York City Municipal Archives released over 870,000 vintage photographs to the public on their webpage found here. I would encourage you to take some time just to peek at the collection because you are bound to find some amazing pictures. Alan Taylor from The Atlantic published over 100 of these historic photographs on the magazine's website in two separate collections. The first has 53 pictures and can be found here, while the second has 50 and can be seen here. I would strongly encourage everyone to take a look at these tremendous resources from New York City's past.

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2- The Denver Post's Photo Blog

The Denver Post's Photo Blog's combination of high quality historic images and their relevant topics make their site one of my all time favorites. In 2009 they published a collection of 73 pictures about the Berlin Wall to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Wall's collapse. In commemoration for the Statue's 125th anniversary in 2011, they published a collection of pictures from the creation of the Statue of Liberty as well as many rare pictures of the Statue over its 125+ years of existence. The Denver Post photo blog features many more historic photo galleries that are a "must see" for history buffs and fans of old photography.

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3- Retronaut

Retronaut is a website for people who love history. Not only that, it is a website for nostalgic people to relive fond childhood memories. Retronaut is one part history site and one part social media site. Much of the content is uploaded by the sites members and membership is free. At Retronaut, you can browse pictures from past decades and even past centuries. The site is searchable by decade, by topic and by search bar. Whether you love history or just like reminiscing about the past, Retronaut is a site you should check out. Be careful, you may end up spending hours of your day browsing all there is to see. Don't say you weren't warned.

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4- Old Pictures

Old Pictures is a fantastic site that features an extensive collection of historic photographs from the 1850's through the 1940's. They have sorted their pictures into three categories; themed collections, picture collections, and defining moments. The website also contains an extensive library of old maps dating as far back as the 1300's. Their map collection is sorted by date, nation, and state. Social studies teachers need to set aside time to view these great vintage images. Old Pictures compilation of old photographs and maps makes for an excellent resource for teachers  students, and people who cherish the past.

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5- Life Magazine Photo Collection

The final site I would like to share is the Life Magazine historic photo collection hosted by Google. This site offers millions of photographs from the LIFE photo archive, stretching from the 1750s to today. Most were never published but are available on this terrific website. You can choose a decade or use the accompanying search bar to find what you are looking for. If you love history or vintage photography, be prepared to spend quite a bit of time at Life Magazine's photo collection.

World War II in Color

World War II Pictures in Color is a site that contains over 30,000 photographs from history's most devastating war. As the title of the site suggests, many of the pictures are in color. You can search using their search bar or browse by category. The site also contains discussion forum for people interested in sharing information or asking questions. They also sell the photographs from their site as well as other items such as posters and videos.  If you are a history teacher or are interested in World War II, then head on over and bookmark World War II Pictures in Color.

Denver Post Photo Blog - Great collections of Historic Photographs

I love the Denver Post's Photo Blog. The quality of pictures they share as well as their highly relevant topics make their site one of my all time favorites. In 2009 they published a collection of 73 pictures about the Berlin Wall to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Wall's collapse. A with everything published by the Denver Post's photo blog, the pictures are spectacular. I encourage everyone to take sometime to look through this important part of world history at the Denver Post's Photo Blog.

Next there is the Denver Post's Photo Blog about the Statue of Liberty. This post was published in 2011 for the Statue's 125th anniversary. It features pictures from the creation of the Statue of Liberty as well as many rare pictures of the Statue over its 125+ years of existence.

Finally there is this post from Denver Post photo blog. It is a photo gallery of 77 pictures of American cities before 1950. Many of the pictures are from the 19th century and go as far back as the Civil War era. These pictures are a "must see" for history buffs and fans of old photography.

Picture the Recipe - Great recipes with lots of pictures

It has been awhile since I shared a cooking site so I figured I was overdue. Picture the Recipe is a food site that is visually appealing and informative. The site's author, Noreen, describes herself as the "ultimate foodie" who loves experimenting with recipes and takes pictures of the food at restaurants. She turned her food passion into this great website that shares well photographed recipes as well as other tips and information. If cooking is your passion or you simply want great ideas, you should definitely head over to Picture the Recipe to see the great things Noreen has for you.

Historic Photographs of New York City

I love old photographs. That may be due to the fact that I am a history teacher but whatever the reason, I am mesmerized by them. Early last year, the New York City Municipal Archives released over 870,000 vintage photographs to the public on their webpage found here. I would encourage you to take some time just to peek at the collection because you are bound to find some amazing pictures. Alan Taylor from The Atlantic published over 100 of these historic photographs on the magazine's website in two separate collections. The first has 53 pictures and can be found here, while the second has 50 and can be seen here. I would strongly encourage everyone to take a look at these tremendous resources from New York City's past.

Pingram - When Instagram meets Pinterest

Fans of Instagram and Pinterest can now have the best of both worlds with Pingram which allows you to save your Instagram photos on a Pinterest style interface. When you sign up you get your own "vanity" url and you can upload your Instagram photos directly to your Pingram account. As with Pinterest and Instagram, people can follow you and pin your photos to their account just as they do with Pinterest. With Pingram you can enjoy all the features of Instagram with the clean look of Pinterest.

PicMark - Brand your pictures before sharing them

PicMark is a simple tool that allows you to brand your pictures with a custom frame before you post them online. Adding a mark is as simple as uploading your picture to their site, choosing a frame, and sharing it to Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest. The site allows you to further enhance your frames by choosing colors, styles, and typing messages on the frame. If you'd like, you can even design your own custom frame to use anytime. PicMark is great for teachers to share class pictures on their class web page or with students in projects. PicMark is free to join and it makes sharing pictures just a little bit more fun.

Picclick - Visual search engine for eBay and Etsy

Online shopping can sometimes be frustrating especially when you use eBay. Searching eBay for a certain item can sometimes take awhile as you scroll through page after page looking for the item you want. Picclick is a site that makes searching for items on eBay and Etsy so much easier by making the search 100% visual. Using their search bar, you simply type in what you are looking for (you can also set price and location) and the site gives you up to items, pictures only.(Below is a screenshot of a search I did for desk organizers)  The images start off small but you can adjust their size to make them easier to see and you simply scroll until you see the item you want and clicking on the picture will bring you to the item page. Once you use Picclick, you won't ever use eBay's tired old interface again. After all, you know what you are looking for, you just need to see it.

Calorie Gallery - Showing you what 200 calories looks like

There are countless site that show the nutritional value of foods but the numbers might have more meaning if there were a visual to help you understand them better. Calorie Gallery is a site that not only provides the nutritional information it also gives you a picture of what a 200 calorie portion of that food looks like. According to the site's homepage, the site has not officially launched but you are still free to look around at their library of food pictures and information. There site offers 11 categories that you can browse or use their search bar to find a specific item and there is information. Each item you view comes with complete nutritional values information in grams or ounces as well as how long it will take you to burn those calories by different exercises. Their site also offers a meal planning tool that will help you calculate calories depending on what ingredients you choose. Calorie Gallery is a good website to help people stay healthy through nutritional choices. Health teaches as well as Consumer and Career teachers should give this site a try and they may find it useful for their students.

Old Pictures - Thousands of historic photographs and maps

Old Pictures is a fantastic site that features an extensive collection of historic photographs from the 1850's through the 1940's. They have sorted their pictures into three categories; themed collections, picture collections, and defining moments. The website also contains an extensive library of old maps dating as far back as the 1300's. Their map collection is sorted by date, nation, and state. Social studies teachers need to set aside time to view these great vintage images. Old Pictures compilation of old photographs and maps makes for an excellent resource for teachers  students, and people who cherish the past.

Trek Earth - Learn about our world through amazing photography.

Planet Earth is an amazing place and Trek Earth wants to share it with you. This is a travel themed website that features some of the most amazing photography from all over the world. The sites incredible pictures are searchable by their search bar, by favorites, by category, by theme, and under "statistics" you can search by nation. Trek Earth's 1.1 million images must be seen to be appreciated.  Many of the photographs rival any you will find anywhere. Trek Earth is not only great for travelers, nature lovers and photography buffs but it can be used by foreign language, geography, science and history teachers as well.

Like Cool - Discover Cool Content from the Web

Like Cool is a website that shares interesting gadgets and fascinating content discovered on the internet. They tout themselves as a web based gadget magazine but they are more than that because they share videos , GIF's, and pictures that are entertaining. They currently have nearly 400 pages of "cool" content for you to enjoy so why not give Like Cool a look.

One Big Photo - Amazing Photographs

One Big Photo is a site with a simple concept, just show amazing photographs. You can browse scroll through their pictures, browse their 12 categories or use the search bar to find pictures that go from simple to stunning. Users can upload their own pictures to the site but it must be reviewed and accepted before it gets posted. If you enjoy the site's content then you can subscribe to their site and get One Big Photo in your inbox. If you love photography or just incredible pictures then you should take a peek at One Big Photo.

Bacon Wrapped Media

The internet has its fair share of sites that feature quotes, funny pictures, demotivational posters, and amazing facts. Bacon Wrapped Media is a site that contains all of the above and more. It is a one stop shop for all the entertaining and funny bits of the web all rolled into one greasy internet snack. At Bacon Wrapped Media you can laugh, be inspired, and learn something new in a matter of a few minutes.

All that is interesting - Pictures of our amazing world

All that is Interesting is a website that feeds our desire to be amazed by our world. The site contains a large collection of photographs from the web and each photo is captioned explaining the picture. You don't need to look too deep into through their website to find a picture that will capture your attention. The photographs are sorted by categories such as "astounding", "curiosities," and "photography." Teachers will be interested in knowing that other categories include "history", "science", and "art." All that is Interesting is a website worth browsing and may prove to be useful to some educators out there.