It’s hard to believe…

…that school starts in just over a month! For those of us who take on the challenge of summer school, summer break is basically non-existent. But I do know I’d be bored to tears if I was sitting at home though. My summer school students are piloting a new online World Geography course my school is offering next year, so it has allowed me some planning time and opportunities to check out and find new websites to use this upcoming year. Ones I have come across thus far:

• Wetpaint: an alternative to Wikispaces, pbwiki, and the like, this site so far seems very user friendly and has many more design options than the others.
• Timetoast: This site allows students and teachers to create timelines and share them out with others. A great alternative to programs such as Timeliner.
• CreateDebate: This site allows teachers or students to post debate questions online and have others in the class post arguments in favor of or against while voting each other’s arguments up or down on a point system. This is a great way to get those quiet kids involved in the class discussion!

If you have found or know of any great sites like these, please comment. I’d love to see them and be able to share them with colleagues.

Another thing I’ve been working on this summer is planning for next year. I’ve set up a wiki, at Wetpaint of course, that I’ve been working on. Please check it out and leave feedback if you have some ideas to offer. It is very much a work in progress right now.