Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Each Presidential election cycle brings with it a new crop of political cartoons and caricatures of politicians. Clifford K. Berryman drew political cartoons at the turn of the 20th century and US Presidents from Grover Cleveland to Harry Truman. This site profiles both the cartoons themselves, and the issues and personalities behind the cartoons. Visually attractive, the site also permits downloading cartoons so they can be printed and studied.

As an important primary source, political cartoons provide an important insight into the issues and controversies of their time period. More than simply who did what, and what happened where, these drawings show us the emotions and conflict involved in the ugly and messy business of politics.

tag(s): comics and cartoons (56), elections (81), politics (118), presidents (136)

It's certainly not difficult to find websites about Ancient Egypt, but NOVA provides an absolutely stunning interactive look at major Egyptian historical landmarks and objects. Take a 360-degree glance at the Great Pyramid or an ancient tomb, browse photo galleries, study cross-sections or examine artifacts from every possible vantage point. You can access these features from a number of search options: chronological, geographical, or by media type. Some of the features require Flash, but most of the valuable information doesn't.
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tag(s): egypt (59), pyramids (24)

This site provides many rubrics for assessing portfolios, cooperative projects, oral presentations, and much more. Quick links lead to different categories such as web 2.0 and content areas of math, art, and science. Each rubric is in a table form with criteria listed vertically and rating categories are horizontal, all contain well-defined expectations and explanations of each category of scoring. Be sure to check out the section with rubrics for primary grades including a kindergarten writing rubric and rubrics for teamwork. Print any of the rubrics using the PDF link located near the top of the page.

tag(s): assessment (146), rubrics (36)

This site hosts podcasts created and produced by science teachers Brian Bartel and Dale Basler. The creators discuss science news and science education with scientists, researchers, writers, and notable science figures. The topics range from standard curricular topics to latest science news. Science no longer lives inside the classroom. View the links and notes that accompany the episodes.

tag(s): podcasts (117), scientists (71)

Try this excellent tool when teaching budgeting, comparing salaries and cost of living in different areas, and money management. Enter two locations and a salary and occupation. Graphs show the difference between cost of groceries, housing, utilities, transportation, and health care in the two places. A comparison shows how much salary you would need to maintain the present standard of living in the other location. You can also compare the cost of living to other major cities.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): careers (182), money (113)

Whether you have a favorite professor or elementary teacher, here is a way to thank them publicly. It's very simple. There is no registration. Click on "Submit a Story" to fill in the teacher name, what you are thanking him/her for, and other details. You can include your Twitter picture. You can even email the letter to the teacher. Read the letters posted by others. This site could be used for thanking a favorite past teacher, or anyone affiliated with a school. There is a multitude of people who work in schools and are kind to children.

tag(s): letter writing (20)

See beautiful, visual representations of mathematical concepts. The site is divided by topic such as plane curves, space curves, conformal maps (with Algebraic functions), fractals and chaos, and polyhedra. Be sure not to miss the Mathematical Art Gallery - this portion contains links to several different artists' pages with images of their art created using mathematics concepts such as symmetry. Each artist also explains a little about their background and work providing an interesting look into their thought processes.

tag(s): artists (87), geometric shapes (133), graphic design (49), sound (71), symmetry (26)

Kaseta allows you to create editable sequences of video and sound from different online sources, including YouTube. You can create up to a three hour long playlist of videos and music, and share them through both URL and embed codes. Embed multiple videos in ONE box or page. You can add new clips during the playback. You can trim and use the fade feature on video clips for more seamless viewing. Basically, you can create your own online "bookcase" for web based videos. This is a great collaborative tool for merging videos, and it is so easy to use that the creators have what they call "couch editor mode." This means you do not have to do anything but DRAG ON to tape, a great online equivalent to the tape recorders of the past.

tag(s): sounds (43), video (267)