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RethinkingSchools.org offers a free, interactive web application that does a great job of teaching the locations of countries in and around the Middle East.

Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan are mentioned often in the news but few Americans have any idea where any of these places are.

Thirty five countries from this important region of the world are presented in a word pool and the objective is to drag and drop them into the correct positions on a map.  Countries “stick” when they’re in the right spot and you can use trial and error to figure out countries that you’re unsure of.

This ability (trial and error) is where the power lies; I thought I was pretty well versed in geography but soon discovered that I had a lot to learn.

If you’re teaching anything related to this region or just want to become more educated yourself, then go check this out.

Take me to RethinkingSchools.org to learn about other countries

I recently discovered a simple and completely free flash card generator.

The website is  http://www.kitzkikz.com/kitzkikz/flashcards and despite the site’s incredibly ugly interface, the results are superb.

You just type in your question on one side, the answer on the other and then select how you want the cards to look.

Here is a set of multiplication cards that I produced in about 1 minute, complete with score marks so that it will be easy to know where to fold:  See my example

Every now and then I come across a website that is really worth your time.  One of those sites is www.SpellingCity.com.

SpellingCity is free to use and in a nutshell, you can type in your spelling list and the site will:

1. automatically produce 8 different spelling games utilizing your list
2. automatically produce 2 or 3 different kinds of interactive, online quizzes
3. display your vocabulary words in sentences
4. audibly pronounce the words for you
5. offer a variety of printable worksheets involving the spelling words you’ve entered
6. provide other useful functions that you can check out while you’re on the site

Did I mention that it’s free? Additionally, if you create a user account (also free) you can save your lists for future use.  This can be handy if you want to sit down once for an hour or so and prepare all of the vocabulary quizzes you’ll need all year in one sitting.

Once you’ve set it up, just have students pull up the appropriate list and get to work!

Click the link below to see for yourself.

Take me to SpellingCity.com to check out a truly useful website

P.S. The site has a vocabulary of 38,000 words.  As a smarty pants, I typed in “discombobulation” and the site correctly pronounced the word and correctly used it in a sentence.  I was blown away.

Change is in the air.  Hope for a more unified world and a more balanced role in that world is upon us.

To help re-align our thinking with the demands of the new world, I suggest revisiting some of the forward-thinking tools from our recent past.

One of these tools is the Hobo-Dyer Projection World Map, which is the map that President Jimmy Carter used to display his agency’s efforts at his Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in December 2002.

The Hobo-Dyer Projection is an equal area design that displays countries by their true size in relation to one another.  The reverse side of the map shows the exact same projection, but with two somewhat startling changes: south is on top and Australia is shown in the middle of the map. (See a larger view)

Most Americans have never seen this projection and instead can only imagine a world in which the United States is a prominent country almost literally at the center.  While romantic and glamorous, that kind of distorted thinking hampers our ability to make rational and balanced judgements about our role and importance in the world. 

How does such a simple thing as reversing the poles or changing the “centering” influence your impression of what’s important?

(Shameless promo section ahead… )  Totally3rdGrade.com has partnered with ODT Maps for a special packaged deal; we are offering a Teacher and the Rockbots “World” CD bundled with an 11×17 Hobo-Dyer World Projection Map for $14.95 (a $4 savings).

If you are interested in acquiring modern resources that fit the modern era, click of the link below and it will take you to ODT Maps where you can make your purchase.

Take me to ODT Maps for my Hobo-Dyer/”World” CD offer