Two Sides to Students’ Right to Privacy: Safety vs. Intellectual Freedom

This week is Choose Privacy Week , an event sponsored by the American Library Association. While privacy has been part of our recent national discussion, privacy issues are nothing new to K-12 public education, which must follow at least three privacy rules and laws.  These include the 1974 Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a … read more »

TeachersFirst Special Topics Collections

If you are a frequent user of TeachersFirst, you know our site contains an amazing amount of information and resources. A quick look at the home page shows a calendar, news and updates, search, TeachersFirst Edge resources, and Featured Sites. But that’s just the beginning; the home page also links to Classroom Ready-to-Go and a … read more »

Being Resourceful Part Two: Reliable Sources and C.R.A.A.P.

Evaluating resources, in any medium, is a critical thinking skill for information literacy, media literacy, or digital citizenship.  Of course, it is also part of educational state standards patterned after the Common Core.  They emphasize reading, writing, and speaking grounded in evidence from texts. In a discussion of the key shifts in the standards, the … read more »

Tech Tool of the Month: Penzu

In the fall I had a chance to get reacquainted with Penzu. It’s a great tool for writing that allows you to create a free online journal. Individual entries can be public or private which allows you to share them in many ways. Using Penzu would be an excellent way to reflect or share your … read more »