Hot websites

Teaching Pre K-8, Nov/Dec 1998 by Lindroth, Linda

This month, reviews take us to a dig ital magazine, a database for middlE grades and an early start on college.

MidLink Magazine

http://longwood.cs. ucf. edu/~Midlink/

Here's an electronic magazine for and by middle school students. Published quarterly with past issues archived, the fall issue theme is "Virtually Yours" and the winter theme is "It's Monu-MENTAL."

Students from around the world can submit web pages to be considered for publication. The deadline for the winter theme is December 7. Research regional historical monuments and write and illustrate web pages. Detailed lesson plans for researching, writing and finishing a final project are given along with examples. There's even a series of rubric links for assessment!

In addition to the bimonthly themes, there are links to school sites, an in all curricular areas and a that is exceptional. A shows how to integrate themes into any discipline.

MiddleWeb

www.middleweb.com

This comprehensive site seems to have a link to every middle school resource on the web! The focus of this database is on middle school reform with research articles and excerpts. In-depth reports on reform efforts at dozens of middle-school sites with descriptions of successful projects and lessons are available.

There are hundreds of additional links in and for curriculum and instruction. Resources are categorized by content area and include articles, e-mail from and websites.

Get the latest news stories at or check out the complete weekly list of news stories or the archives.

Navigation is easy with a search engine provided and a topical index for assessment, curriculum, parents, professional development, student life, etc. It's all here, whether you are working on staff development or curriculum planning for middle grades.

Think Colle e Early

www.ed.gov/thinkcollege/early/

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, students ages 10 through 14 can start planning their future with this site. Get specifics about courses, college costs and financial aid. The has parent guides, financial guides and links to academics. links to financial aid sources for calculating the cost of a college education.

Academic> links categorizes websites by content area and is very extensive. The links are relevant to middle-school career study.

A has an interactive College Handbook listing the benefits of a college education, how to plan classes and a PDF file of the curricular material to be downloaded. links address college costs and tips for financial planning. will find career awareness activities, math and science links and additional resources.

Tegrity Presentation Station

This month's spotlight is on Tegrity EduCart, a new presentation tool from Tegrity. This exciting, interactive system gives teachers the technology to provide effective, group-centered learning experiences.

The Tegrity EduCart components consist of a portable cart, a Pentium computer, Tegrity Digital Flipchart software, a high-resolution video camera mounted on a data projector, a video capture card and a document camera. Used with an ordinary whiteboard, the teacher has the capability of capturing images and text, annotating class discussion and creating slides of any information written on the whiteboard.

Tegrity software projects a virtual touch panel on your computer screen and allows the teacher to capture any material from the whiteboard to the computer. Class presentations are saved using the video or document camera and can then be printed or e-mailed for distribution. Lessons can be prepared ahead of time using Microsoft Word, Excel or Powerpoint and then added to during the class discussion. Middle school teachers can easily add to or reuse handwritten diagrams and class notes with each class.

The total system is $9,995; components can be purchased separately. Contact 800411-0579 or www.tegrity.com for more information.

Linda Lindroth is an Area Technology Teacher K12 with Kanawha Schools in Charleston, WV. She is also a Teaching Editor for Teaching K-8.