At BMIE, we’re big fans of TED talks and huge fans of Sir Ken Robinson, a leading thinker on transforming education. He argues that the education system should focus less on standardized testing and more on developing an environment where students can realize their potential – not just through STEM curriculum but also through imagination and creativity. We recently challenged ourselves to select the Ken Robinson quotes about creativity that have inspired us the most, and we landed on these twelve.

“If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.”

“We are educating people out of their creative capacities.”

“Many highly talented, brilliant, creative people think they’re not — because the thing they were good at at school wasn’t valued, or was actually stigmatized.”

- Schools Kill Creativity (TED Talk 2/2006)

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“The real role of leadership in education…is not and should not be command and control. The real role of leadership is climate control – creating a climate of possibility. If you do that, people will rise to it and achieve things that you completely did not anticipate and couldn’t have expected.”

“Curiosity is the engine of achievement.”

- How to Escape Education’s Death Valley (TED Talk 4/2013)

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“Education and training are the keys to the future. A key can be turned in two directions. Turn it one way and you lock resources away; turn it other way and you realize resources and give people back to themselves.”

“Creativity involves putting your imagination to work. In a sense, creativity is applied imagination.”

“Life is not linear. When you follow your own true north you create new opportunities, meet different people, have different experiences and create a different life.”

- Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative

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“We have sold ourselves into a fast food model of education, and it’s impoverishing our spirit and our energies as much as fast food is depleting our physical bodies.”

“Very many people go through their whole lives having no real sense of what their talents may be, or if they have any to speak of.”

- Bring on the Learning Revolution (TED Talk 2/2010)

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“The arts especially address the idea of aesthetic experience. An aesthetic experience is one in which your senses are operating at their peak; when you’re present in the current moment; when you’re resonating with the excitement of this thing that you’re experiencing; when you are fully alive.”

- Changing Education Paradigms (The RSA 2/2010)

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“Every single one of the 100 billion lives who have walked the face of this earth is unique and unrepeatable. To be born at all is a miracle, so what are you going to do with your life?”

- Sir Ken Robinson Live at CUE 2013

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“The economic imperative for teaching creativity systematically in schools has never been greater. And that requires a transformation in the way the schools work, because they weren’t designed to do it, so they have to be redesinged if they are to do it.”

- Why is Creativity Important in Education? (Adobe Education 12/2010)

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It’s no secret that nutrition affects a child’s school performance. Teachers have witnessed children falling asleep at their desks because they lack energy and can’t concentrate. And when calories come from food that’s high in sugar and fat, it can have an effect on kids’ moods as well – not to mention their weight.

According to Livestrong.com, obesity in children can lead to sleeping problems, which in turn may impact their ability to learn. And just to underline how bad things have gotten, in 2011 Congress declared that pizza was a vegetable. Go figure! Parents and educators, it seems, are fighting an uphill battle.

Still, when it comes to turning kids on to healthy eating, it turns out we can all learn some interesting lessons from Japanese packed lunches.

10. Snowmen

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This visually appealing lunch – complete with adorable snowmen – is called a bento (or obento in Japan). Essentially, it’s a lunch packed in a specially partitioned box, also known as a bento box.

According to website Kids Web Japan, in the Land of the Rising Sun packed lunches date from as far back as the fifth century, when people took dried rice with them when they went out to work in the fields, hunt, or even engage in warfare.

The concept morphed over the years, until carrying a bento lunch was considered essential to any excursion. And between 1603 and 1868 (the Edo period), people even took their packed bento meals with them to theater performances.

9. Super Mario

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As you can see, it’s not simply a matter of throwing leftovers into a box and hoping for the best. In fact, bento meals are said to signify the love whoever made them feels for the person for whom they’re prepared.

In keeping with Japanese tradition, a well-packed bento should contain five different colors of food. And as we know, fruits and vegetables come in a huge array of colors, which makes them the perfect backbone of a good bento box.

The resulting creations are not only good to look at and delicious; they’re quite healthy as well. According to Justbento.com’s Makiko Itoh, switching to bento lunches helped her slim down by 30 pounds.

8. Tiger

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Aesthetics is an important cultural value in Japan. “Food presented attractively looks more appetizing, since we eat with our eyes as much as our taste buds and stomachs,” says Itoh. “That’s emphasized more in Japanese cuisine and culture perhaps.”

Another advantage of creating these visually stunning renditions of cute animals, pop culture icons and other characters is that it can help to get fussy kids excited about food they wouldn’t normally eat. Californian stay-at-home mom Sheri Chen says that she struggles to get her picky daughter to eat certain foods. But, says Chen, “If her boiled egg is shaped like a bunny and it is holding a baby carrot, she’ll eat it.”

7. Alvin and the Chipmunks

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Parentingsquad.com’s Alyssa Chirco says that kids are “more likely to eat a colorful and creatively designed lunch that is neatly packed with small portions of food in easy-to-open containers than a sandwich that’s gotten mashed inside of a Ziploc.”

But mothers in Japan seem to take it to another level. Japanese mom Tomomi Maruo told the BBC that she spends up to two hours making incredibly artistic bento lunches for her children, including portraits of Michael Jackson, Indiana Jones and Barack Obama.

“It’s fun,” she says, “I enjoy doing it and my kids enjoy.” Still, not all mothers are as enthusiastic. In the same BBC feature, Japanese mom Yayoi Uemura confided that she feels a lot of pressure to make great-looking lunches for her kids.

6. Octopus

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Makiko Ogawa, who created the blog Cuteobento.com, began making character-based bentos (known as kyaraben) to help her three-year-old son when he started kindergarten. The boy was finding the schooling transition hard to cope with, and Ogawa discovered that making cute character bentos, like the one she created above, made it easier for him to adjust.

Of course, some of you may be wondering why Japanese moms insist on making lunches when their kids could just eat at the school cafeteria. But in Japan, not all schools offer lunch, and in such cases, students are required to bring packed lunches with them.

Interestingly, in Japanese elementary schools, kids eat their lunches in the classroom with their teachers, who use the time to educate the students about nutrition, good eating and correct social behavior.

5. Corn Dog Mice

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Let’s face it. Given the choice between eating cafeteria gloop and the delightful corn dog mice pictured above, most of us would opt for the mice – especially when the cafeteria may be serving vegetables (a.k.a. pizza) and French fries as the “balanced” meal of the day.

And when it comes to school performance, undernourishment not only negatively affects children’s concentration levels and learning capabilities; medical experts believe that poor eating habits can also impact on kids’ general curiosity, energy levels and even social skills.

4. Bear

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Examiner.com contributor Shanna Brooks reckons that bento boxes are a great way to introduce all those nutrient-rich foods back into a child’s diet. After all, if their lunch looks so cool that they become the envy of all the other kids, they’re a lot more likely to try eating Brussels sprouts!

Even school cafeterias that have successfully switched to healthier menus are finding the transition difficult, with nutritious foods deemed a “tough sell” for children. Healthier meals also tend to cost more, and students sometimes simply toss their veggie and fruit offerings in the trash.

3. Three Little Pigs

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In October 2012, The New York Times reported that many students were dissatisfied with the changes made to their cafeteria menus. In some areas, the amount of students eating school lunches has dropped by 70 percent.

“Before, there was no taste and no flavor,” said Malik Barrows, who is a senior at Automotive High School, Brooklyn. “Now there’s no taste, no flavor and it’s healthy, which makes it taste even worse.”

With junk food available from school vending machines, educators are finding it pretty difficult to encourage kids to choose the cafeteria’s new healthier options, even though it would be better for them on all fronts.

2. Totoro

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The answer could be an awesome nutritional, homemade lunch packed with love! Of course, bentos don’t have to be quite as creative and time-consuming as those pictured in this article. Some people only spend 10 to 15 minutes on them. And the handy compartments of many boxes make it easy to add a variety of foods without creating an excessive mishmash of flavors.

The bento box helps parents and kids branch out from boring sandwiches while stimulating creativity and promoting better eating. “I am not a gourmet cook,” Californian mom Sheri Chen told the New York Times. “But when you put anything in a bento box it looks nice.”

1. Hello Kitty

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In a 2012 interview with The Globe and Mail, author Andrea Curtis, who wrote the book What’s For Lunch: How Schoolchildren Eat Around the World, said that she’s not about to make “a bento box with the face of Gene Simmons for my family.” “That’s a little over the top for me,” she added. Besides, some low-income families can’t afford to pack lunches for their kids and have no option but to settle for subsidized school meals.

In the same interview, Curtis suggested that we emphasize “food literacy,” and that schools use lunch times to educate children about health and the environment. According to Curtis, even looking at pictures of food from other countries can be helpful, which naturally can include learning about what other children around the world eat for lunch.

“You can’t help but understand something about the world when you see that kids in a refugee camp are getting a mug of porridge and in France they’re getting a four-course meal,” says Curtis. We couldn’t agree more.

Teaching at the College Level

1. The Teaching Professor: With a focus on today’s higher education professional, this blog offers finessed guidance to those teaching in a collegiate setting.

Highlight: Defining Teaching Effectiveness

2. Busynessgirl: Originally starting off as Teaching College Math, this blog underwent a name change as it took on a more broad range of topics concerning the world of higher education.

Highlight: Level Up: Video Games for Learning Algebra

3. Confessions of a Community College Dean: Once a professor of cultural studies, this suburban father of two finds himself at the helm of an academic administration.

Highlight: The Forgotten Disciplines

4. Page View: The Chronicle of Higher Education presents a blog which provides news and notes on scholarly publishing.

Highlight: Mapping the Influence of University Presses

5. Social Media in Higher Education: Professor Rey Junco blogs about a subject he’s passionate about: utilizing technology to engage today’s college students.

Highlight: The Ethics of Facebook-Stalking University Applicants

Teaching at the High School Level

6. Confessions of a Prep School English Teacher: An anonymous 15 year veteran of teaching prep school English shares the joys and frustrations of instructing adolescents who pay a yearly tuition of almost $40K.

Highlight: Making Amends–Or, I Was That Student

7. Pedagogue Padawan: In Pedagogue Padawan, a Chicagoland physics teacher shares “reflections on learning to help others learn.”

Highlight: Peer Instruction with NearPod and iPads

8. High School Matters Blog: The blog of the National High School Center at the American Institutes for Research provides educators with the most up to date research on topics like college prep.

Highlight: The Use of Individualized Learning Plans to Help Students to be College and Career Ready

9. Reflections of a High School Math Teacher: Math teacher David Sladkey combines personal experience and expert advice to provide his readers with a new vision for more effective math education.

Highlight: Having Your Students Set Goals

10. Science for All: With a goal of science literacy for all, this blog is an excellent starting point for science education resources.

Highlight: Practices of Science & Engineering- Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

Teaching at the Middle School Level

11. Making it as a Middle School Teacher: Teaching middle school can be trying, but this blog gives teachers the tools they need to rise to the challenge.

Highlight: Having Fun in Your Classroom

12. The Classy Teacher: The Classy Teacher describes herself as “fairly new” to teaching middle school math and science.  Follow along as she shares her insights and tips about being a great teacher.

Highlight: The One With the Library

13. Teacher 2 Teacher: Providing high quality class room resources and research articles to anyone teaching K-12.

Highlight: A Successful Trip to the School Computer Lab

14. Caught in the Middle: The middle school grades are often overlooked in the timeline of K-12 education, but this colorful addition to the blogosphere is dedicated to making a student’s middle school experience something to remember.

Highlight: From On-Task to Engaged

15. Lessons from the Middle: A constant stream of shared lesson plans and “freebies,” this site is a welcome addition to any middle school teacher’s blog subscription list.

Highlight: Trying to Combat Acts of Bullying with Acts of Kindness

Teaching at the Elementary School Level

16. Ms. Cassidy’s Classroom Blog: Widely acknowledged as one of the best elementary school blogs, this contribution gives teachers the opportunity to better see through the eyes of their young students.

Highlight: Reading via Skype

17. Just a Substitute Teacher…: This interesting journal details the adventures of a substitute teacher. Follow him as he copes with the challenge of being a “for the day” teacher.

Highlight: Fifteen Subs…

18. Surviving a Teacher’s Salary: A helpful guide with tips and advice on stretching your teaching salary to meet your financial needs.

Highlight: SEO, Social Media and WHAT?! The Life of a Blogger…

19. The 1:1 Classroom: Reflections on teaching in a 1:1 classroom from a 3rd grade teacher. This site focuses on giving students the attention they deserve.

Highlight: How Children Succeed

20. First Grade Blue Skies: First grade teacher and mother of three Jennifer keeps her blog updated frequently with timely projects to do with your elementary school class. After reading her visually appealing and colorful blog, it will make any reader want to go back to first grade.

Highlight: Letter Naming Fluency Idea

Teaching at the Kindergarten and Pre-K Level

21. PreKinders: Provides great resources for Pre-K teachers like printable posters and ideas for lesson themes.

Highlight: Exploring Science in Pre-K with Ramps

22. Chalk Talk: With fourteen years of teaching experience at the kindergarten level and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction, Mrs. Larremore is a fountain of knowledge when it comes to early childhood teaching.

Highlight: The Statue of Liberty

23. Kinder Latino: Bilingual teacher Lydia Barbosa shares the resources she has created in her 15 years of teaching kindergarten in a bilingual environment.

Highlight: Number Posters

24. Teach Preschool: A site dedicated to making sure that your young students are more than ready to take the step from preschool into kindergarten.

Highlight: How to make a simply amazing maze for play

25. Mrs. Will’s Kindergarten : Mrs. Wills shares her weekly lesson plans and activities as inspiration for other teachers looking for new ideas or scheduling advice.

Highlight: Writing Work Station

Teaching Special Education

26. Special Education Strategies and More…: A place for teachers and parents with children with special needs to find emotional support and academic resources.

Highlight: Sight Word Writing

27. The Cooke Special Education Blog: The Cooke Center for Learning and Development faculty share their knowledge to improve the education experience for all students in special education.

Highlight: Yoga at Cooke Center Grammar School

28. Special Education Advisor: An aid for parents and teachers looking to formulate a child’s IEP.

Highlight: Top Ten Things the Classroom Teacher Needs to Know About Your Child With Special Needs

29. Reality 101: The Council for Exceptional Children works with several special education teachers to provide a course supplement for your special education classes.

Highlight: Jerry: Zero-Tolerance Wouldn’t Work in My Classroom

30. The Autism Helper: A well organized and visually appealing site providing resources, ideas, and materials to help you help children with autism excel.

Highlight: Using Schedules for Higher Functioning Students

General Resources

• Reflections — Run by the National Council of Teacher of Mathematics, this is a video-based site that helps teachers systematically observe and analyze past lessons and classroom practices in order to improve professionally.
• Math.com – Features a wide variety of lesson plans, classroom resources, career information and free stuff to help the modern math teacher. The site also offers free homework help to students and a math library that teachers can use whenever they need it.
• PBS Teachers – The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has been developing entertaining educational content for over four decades. Their site has tons of media tools designed to help K-12 math teachers demonstrate mathematical concepts in a fun and entertaining way for students.
• Free Federal Resources – The U.S. Federal Government has compiled various math resources in a variety of subjects for use by individuals and teachers in the classroom. These resources have been taken from major universities and scientific organizations that represent the greatest minds in mathematics.
• The Math Forum – As a leading resource for math learning, communication and teaching, the math forum brings teachers, mathematicians, students and researchers together to improve math education. The site provides a wide range of puzzles, team challenges and research. Educators are also able to share ideas and skills with each other.
• USA Mathematical Talent Search – The talent search is a great way to motivate advanced students at the middle and high school level who want to solve difficult problems. Students get one month to provide a solution to a problem given out four times per year. They are allowed to use resources, but all their work must be completed on their own.
• NCES Classroom – This site allows students to solve math teasers, play games involving probability or take online quizzes. High school students can also find valuable information on programs from colleges and universities, including tuition costs and degree requirements.

Math Blogs

• The Number Warrior – This Arizona math teacher has created a blog full of interesting riddles, observations and equations. There are also helpful videos and example problems. Any math teacher is sure to gain valuable new ideas that will help their students learn more effectively.
• Continuous Everywhere but Differentiable Nowhere – Read about the daily struggles and successes of a calculus teacher that constantly tries to innovate and improve his classroom teaching. The blog is full of interesting anecdotes, lessons and valuable insights.
• I Speak Math – This blog showcases creative ways to teach middle school math subjects. The teacher from North Carolina demonstrates math concepts through video, historical examples and biology, making for fun and exciting lessons that are sure to keep students engaged.
• Sweeney Math – Look at math from a different perspective by creating catapults, drawing slopes, making dance equations and establishing rules for natural phenomena. There are plenty of other entertaining tips for keeping algebra and calculus students engaged.
• Ars Mathematica – This blog provides up-to-date reporting on the latest developments in the world of mathematics. The topics range from unbelievably complex to very clear and understandable. The writing shows a clear love of both the art and science of mathematics.

Example Problems and Solutions

• Figure This! – With more than 80 challenges for middle school students, this resources provides real-world challenges with complete solutions that show how math really works. Point your students towards this resource if they are stuck on any particular concept.
• Balanced Assessment – The Concord Constortium offers more than 300 assessment activities for math subjects in grades K-12. These topics include probability, cost evaluations, basic physics and many more subjects.
• Sample Math 101 – These sample problems from WSU help students evaluate if they are ready to enter college level mathematics. Nearly every math subject is covered in this comprehensive list of problems that test middle and high school level mathematics competency.
• WebMath – This math-help site generates solutions to user-entered math problems. Students who are stuck on a particular problem can enter the equation and the site will attempt to develop a detailed solution that not only gives an answer, but provides a valuable explanation on how to get there.
• Mathway – Whether the subject is geometry, algebra, basic arithmetic, statistics or calculus, Mathway has created problem solving software that walks users through solutions and important math concepts. They also provide example problems that cover nearly every topic in almost all math classes.

Lesson Plans and Activities

• Illuminations – These classroom-ready lessons help K-12 teachers implement innovative concepts and ideas in their classroom. The site also contains activities and standards that will help any math teacher create a learning environment that is more successful for students.
• Teacher Vision – Use these creative math lessons, quizzes and activities to hold the interest of your students throughout the year. By incorporating subjects such as art and science into your lessons, you can connect whatever math subject you are teaching with real-world applications.
• MathTools – This site offers lesson plans, activities and tools for learning and teaching various math subjects: probability, area, platonic solids, fractals, percents, functions, fractions, factors and more advanced subjects like calculus.
• MyMoney.gov – Despite years and years of mathematics education in public and private schools, many students leave high school without basic knowledge in personal finance. This site provides basic and easy to understand financial information for use in the classroom or home. No student should leave school without basic financial literacy.
• Math at Teachnology – This huge selection of lesson plans from a wide range of math subjects is a great resource for teachers looking to find the perfect instruction for their classroom. These easy-to-follow plans help students discover new mathematical concepts in a friendly and effective way.

Explore and Discover

• Exploratorium Online – This resource helps students, teachers and self-learners discover how important mathematical concepts are used in the development of scientific research and technology. Search through thousands of movies to learn about the brain, DNA , magnetism, planets and even chocolate.
• SimCalc – This software helps early math students learn concepts like accumulations, approximations and real-life situations like motion and money. SimCalc was developed by Dartmouth and the National Science Foundation to create better understanding of important mathematical concepts.
• Practical Uses of Math and Science – This NASA resource provides numerous one-page examples showing how math can be used in interesting situations. Students and teachers can learn about weather, social security, ice sheets, sea level, dates, natural selection, traffic signals and volcanic clouds.
• CryptoKids – The NSA shares some of its cryptoanalysis secrets in order to help kids better realize important math concepts. Breaking codes can be a very fun way to get kids interested in a variety of key math concepts that will help them later in the real world.
• MegaMath – Discover how scientists and professional mathematicians use math in their everyday work in laboratories and offices. These activities provide real insight into how important math is in research settings and cutting-edge discovery.

Advanced Math

• MIT OpenCourseWare – Watch lectures, read notes and explore the math curriculum from one of the world’s leading research institutions. OpenCourseWare provides comprehensive materials for math courses at undergraduate and graduate levels. Students can learn from the very best in the field from the comfort of their own computer.
• Calculus on the Web – The Temple University resource provides students and teachers with an environment to experiment with a variety of calculus concepts. It covers topics ranging from Calculus I to Abstract Algebra.
• Mathematics: Research Overview – Discover the latest math related research topics being covered at major colleges, universities and other institutions. These topics currently include CPU testing, nanotechnology, proteins, financial mathematics, cellular automata, weather and climate simulation.
• The Mathematical Atlas – This gateway to modern mathematics covers a wide range of advanced math topics that are usually only covered at higher levels of math education. Discover information about number theory, abstract algebra, numerical analysis, topology and differential equations.

Teacher Education

• InterMath – This site uses workshops, technology and materials to strengthen the core understanding of math concepts for middle school teachers. It is professionally developed program specifically designed to create better math educators.
• Seeing Math – Clearly see how key math concepts work through this interactive software. Clarify key algebraic concepts like quadratic functions, linear functions and much more. These resources will help any math teacher develop more effective curriculum.
• Education-Portal – This resource provides basic information to individuals who are thinking about becoming mathematics educators. It outlines the basic steps that need to be taken and what the best paths are to getting certified in any particular state.
• Mathematics Across the Curriculum – This Dartmouth developed resources provides an electronic bookshelf of materials that helps math teachers connect their subject with history, art, science and engineering. These e-books cover interesting topics like bar codes, crime stats, DNA, data analysis and computer programming.
• Encouraging Girls in Math and Science – Help girls achieve the same level of math proficiency as boys by using recommendations based on research in the field of education. Helping girls become more proficient in math will lead to more women entering the fields of science and engineering.

Organizations Associations and Societies

• AMTE – The Association for Mathematical Teacher Educators is devoted to improving math education in all subjects. It is the largest organization of its kind, with over 1000 members dedicated to the professional development of math teachers in public and private primary schools.
• NCTM – The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics provides resources for the professional development of math teachers at all levels. They provide conferences, research, journals and articles designed to create math education standards that improve mathematical education nationwide.
• AMS – The American Mathematical Society started in 1888 with the goal of promoting mathematical research and education as an important resource for society. The AMS encourages institutions to transmit mathematical skills and understanding through education at all levels.
• COMAP – The Consortium for Mathematics and Its Applications is a non-profit organization that has a mission to improve math education for students at all levels and ages. They work with students, teachers and businesses to develop mathematical environments where real-life applications can be explored and learned.

Evernote

Evernote makes staying organized a breeze. Use it to create to-do lists, brainstorm ideas, record voice reminders, snap pictures and take notes. While Evernote’s features are impressive, the ability to sync all data across your favorite devices is where the app really shines. You can access and search your Evernote files from any other phone, computer and tablet in your home.

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Word of the Day

Word of the Day uses a smart RSS reader to pull notable words and phrases from some of the most popular word-of-the-day websites on the Internet. With this all-in-one app, you’ll never run out of new words you can teach your kids in the classroom. It’s also a great source of inspiration for vocabulary quizzes and games.

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Science Fact of the Day

Get your students excited about learning before class with fascinating science facts that are automatically delivered to your phone on a daily basis. You can also use Science Fact of the Day to browse random picks that you missed in the past year, so a fresh fun fact is always just one touch away.

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Inspirational Quote of the Day

SparkPeople’s Inspirational Quote of the Day app is perfect for starting a meaningful discussion with kids of all ages. Each quote comes with an inspiring image and a few relevant reflection questions. You can use the quotes or the follow-up questions as starting points for serious conversations about important life lessons.

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Today in History Lite

Perfect for playing trivia and making history classes more fun, Today in History Lite will show you daily historical facts in chronological order. All facts come with individual Wikipedia links that you can use to look up detailed background information for lessons and quizzes.

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World Factbook

The 2012 edition of the World Factbook is an amazing tool for planning social studies and geography lessons. You can use this app to instantly access up-to-date information on any country in the world or read themed chapters that cover important international issues like global warming and war.

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Wikipanion

Wikipanion is a must-have app for teachers who use Wikipedia for lesson plans and exams. Wikipanion makes it easy to access and navigate thousands of Wikipedia entries, photographs and facts. Your entire browsing history is always at your fingertips, and you can keep track of your favorite entries by using Wikipanion’s convenient bookmarking feature.

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Flashcards Deluxe

Flashcard Deluxe is a simple learning app that can help both students and teachers get ready for class. Students can use the customizable electronic flashcards for studying, and teachers can use them for planning and memorizing lessons. All cards can be organized in separate decks and themed folders, so you can reference them individually or in groups.

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MindNode

MindNode is an innovative mind-mapping app that can help you train your brain, organize your ideas and improve your productivity. You can create new nodes and move around old ones with just one tap of your finger, which makes brainstorming ideas and staying organized incredibly simple. MindNode comes with iCloud support, so you can access your nodes on the go or in the classroom.

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TED

TED gives users instant access to incredible speeches from the most influential people in the world. This app’s content will inspire your students to live up to their highest potential as the next generation of independent thinkers and leaders. TED’s enormous library of video and audio clips can be instantly accessed at any time, so you can use it both at home and at school.

Classroom Management

Teacher’s Assistant Pro

Save time and maximize productivity documenting individual student behavior and habits in the classroom. Share that information with administration and parents with an easy interface that was designed by a teacher. Data can be both exported and imported. All features can be customized, making Teacher’s Assistant Pro as user friendly as possible.

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LanSchool Teacher’s Assistant

LanSchool Teacher’s Assistant is an award winning software program for classroom management. Designed to help teachers in a computer based educational environment, this app will minimize student distractions with blank screens, limit application access and web browsing. It aids in assessing student comprehension, monitors computer activity and many other features, all while the teacher is mobile.

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Edmodo

Edmodo allows teachers to stay connected and share information with their students in a safe environment. Your device can be utilized to send notes, post replies, submit assignments, check messages and monitor all educational activities even when away from the classroom. Tasks can be performed with individuals or with groups.

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Attendance

Attendance allows the tracking and maintaining of attendance records. The attendance statuses can be completely customized to fit any teacher’s situation. Photos can be synched with names for easy identification. Notify students and parents with attendance issues via a quick email notification. Share records or export data to a CSV spreadsheet.

Lesson Ideas and Preparation

Mathematical Formulas

Mathematical Formulas is an app for recording and retrieving needed formulas. An excellent study tool in the classroom, post-its, notes and loose paper sheets can be dispensed with. Input all the mathematical information to a single convenient source and have easy access to them whenever needed. Data can be shared.

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MathBoard

MathBoard is an excellent teaching tool. It can be used for simple addition and subtraction as well multiplication, division, cubes, squares and square roots. That makes this app applicable to everything from early education to higher levels. Track individual or group achievement and goals through standard classroom activity or test scores.

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World Book – This Day in History

World Book – This Day in History is an interactive calendar. With a multimedia interface, it displays historical events for any random day. World Book provides related media like illustrations, photos, music, speeches and more. Data focuses on recorded information and interesting tidbits. This Day in History takes learning to a fun, personal level.

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The Elements: A Visual Exploration

The Elements: A Visual Exploration lets you and your students explore the periodic table in a new world. Using a complete 3D environment, peruse an animated periodic table with visual rotating samples of the elements. There is up to date, detailed information on all elements accessible with a simple tap of the finger.

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Magic Piano

Magic Piano encourages students to explore music by giving them the opportunity to experience it first-hand. There are hundreds of songs to access and new ones can be added. Everything from the latest hits to classical pieces can be played effortlessly. This can be an excellent music appreciation tool for teachers and students.

General Teaching Resources

TED

TED opens up the exploration of history and public speaking. The app puts a vast library of conversations, monologues and speeches by technical legends, educational mavericks, medical radicals, music geniuses and more at your fingertips. Allow students to hear inspiring words that can teach and influence on everything from health food to the way the brain works.

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gFlashPro

gFlashPro is an exceptional study tool. Create, download and manipulate an unlimited number of virtual flash cards about any possible subject imaginable in a preformatted layout. Catalog the content with a user friendly interface. Purchase premium content from educational publishers like McGraw-Hill, Wiley Publishing and Barron’s. gFlashPro simplifies studying for students of all ages.

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Free Books

Free Books is a library of over 23,000 public domain classics that can be downloaded and read using a unique ereader that offers notes, bookmarks, highlights and dictionary support. eReading for any class curriculum can be imported into the app. The material includes high resolution covers, statistics and a Night Reading mode.

Productivity

Bento 4 for iPad

Bento 4 is a personal database app for the iPad. With its advanced tools, teachers can utilize the app for organizing contacts, planning events, managing lists and tracking classroom projects in a fast and easy environment. Strong drag and drop design tools make Bento 4 a practical solution for any educational situation.

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Keynote

Keynote makes creating presentations simple. Use everything from animated charts and transitions with tapping and touch. Highlight data with graphs or use video and notes starting with one of the prepared designs. iCloud allows the effortless transition of work from one device to another. Print wirelessly or mirror the presentation on an HDTV.

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Dropbox

Dropbox lets you collect documents, photos and media that will be accessible on all your devices. Save papers or tests for review on the go. Return them with a link. No attachments. Add files to ‘Favorites’ for offline reviewing. All data is stored on the Dropbox, if you happened to misplace your iPad, you’d still be able to access your files via another Dropbox-enabled device.

Elizabeth Gilbert: Your elusive creative genius
Elizabeth Gilbert’s TED speech is one that any creative artist will drastically benefit from. She speaks of the problem that a creative artist faces when they believe that they must be the source of what it is that is genius. She speaks from the experience of writing a best-selling book and explains how humans have attached themselves to the idea of being a genius rather than being a conduit of genius.

Salman Khan: Let’s use video to reinvent education
In this video, Salman Khan explains his innovative approach to teaching: The Khan Academy. It features a series of video lessons that have all been stringently organized to efficiently teach math, and it is now rapidly expanding into other subjects. Salman demonstrates the effectiveness of video lectures and interactivity while explaining why teachers should be more inclined to reverse the roles of video lessons and homework.

Sugata Mitra shows how kids teach themselves
LIFT is a showcase gathering where the best minds meet to discuss the creative challenges of the modern world. This video is from the 2007 gathering, highlighting Sugata Mitra’s incredible findings with an unorthodox approach to teaching with a literal “hole in the wall” computer system. The evidence suggests that children will learn for themselves without the need for excessive guidance.

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity
In his famous talk at TED 2006, Sir Ken Robinson explains that the biggest problem facing modern education is that schools destroy creativity in the process of teaching kids technicality. He gives clear examples of how modern practices punish creative students and reward generic responses. Ken explains why this is fundamentally impeding of creative development.

Ken Robinson: Bring on the learning revolution!
This video is a follow up from a talk given in 2006. Sir Ken Robinson presents his ideas and evidence that have led him to believe that standardized education is moving in the wrong direction. He emphasizes the value of personalized education that allows each student to capitalize on their natural talents and the power of passion.

Liz Coleman’s call to reinvent liberal arts education
Liz Coleman is an advocate of educational reform and the president of Bennington. In her talk, she advocates synergy in education as opposed to the modern trend of narrowing fields of study down into static specializations. She explains why diverse education is necessary to solve our greatest problems.

Gabe Zichermann: How games make kids smarter
Gabe Zicherman challenges the notion that video games are a waste of time. He presents information that suggests video games are critical intellectual tools that can work to improve almost any aspect of cognitive performance. Could video games be making the human race smarter?

Arthur Benjamin: Teach statistics before calculus!
In his talk, Arthur Benjamin addresses the common fundamental question of an advanced math student: “Will I ever use this in real life?” His talk poignantly explains that the old-world model of teaching mathematics can be scrapped in favor of applying advanced mathematics to the digital era, making math more useful and mathematicians more abundant.

Charles Leadbeater: Education innovation in the slums
In his quest to find profound examples of new approaches to education, Charles Leadbeater found them in a place that might not seem so obvious: the poverty-stricken slums of Rio and Kibera. The cities are home of some of the world’s poorest children, yet they have an interesting approach to learning that Leadbeater suggests should be more prevalent in standard education.

Conrad Wolfram: Teaching kids real math with computers
Conrad Wolfram, Strategic and International Director of Wolfram Research, articulates why the way that the modern world teaches math is both too tedious to be effective and too irrelevant to be embraced. He argues that teaching youth with computer programming is the right approach to these problems.

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All too often, when we think of developing nations, we focus on the negative aspects that the media narrative tends to bring to the fore. Surprisingly, many developing nations are far more educated than you might imagine. While they don’t have institutions as illustrious as the Ivy League, they perform far better on international metrics of educational achievement than you might expect.

10. Equatorial Guinea

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With a population of just 650,702, Equatorial Guinea is one of the smallest countries in continental Africa. While sizeable oil reserves mean the country boasts a relatively impressive GDP (28th in the world), a full 70 percent of the inhabitants of this tiny nation live on less than $2 a day. Despite this, however, and despite ranking 96th out of 96 in a UN survey of educational spending as a percentage of total government expenditure, Equatorial Guinea still manages to beat countries such as Malta, Turkey and South Africa in terms of the literacy of its population. With a literacy rate of 93.3 percent, UN figures put the country in 86th place, and a high level of parity in literacy between men and women puts it in 10th place out of 138 countries for this metric. In partnership with the Academy for Educational Development and the Hess Corporation, the Equatorial Guinea government has recently invested in a $20 million program to train primary school teachers in modern techniques.

9. Burma

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Although most often hitting the news for human rights violations and the oppression of pro-democracy advocates such as Aung San Suu Kyi, not all is lost in Burma. The country, the second largest in Southeast Asia, ranks 26 out of 103 countries for spending on education as a percentage of total government spending. A literacy rate of 92 percent also places it ahead of Jordan, Brazil and Iran. The country — officially known as the Republic of the Union of Myanmar — also ranks in second place for initial enrollment of primary-school age children, at 97.79 percent, and in first place when only girls are considered.

8. Libya

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The former leader of Libya, Colonel Gaddafi, certainly created huge problems for his country, but Libyan education is better than you might expect. With literacy rates at 88.9 percent, the country is in a better position than many other African nations, including Namibia, South Africa, Kenya, Botswana and Egypt. Libya also does well for equality of female and male participation in education, with girls making up 49.2 percent of primary school students and 49.9 percent of secondary school students. After leaving secondary school, almost 50 percent of students in Libya continue their education at a tertiary level.

7. Zimbabwe

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The plight of Zimbabwe — which for over 30 years has been ruled by the highly controversial dictator Robert Mugabe — is well known, with the hyper-inflation and food shortages of the nation often reported. However, it is not all bleak for this African nation: a literacy rate of 91.9 percent puts Zimbabweans ahead of the inhabitants of many other countries in Africa, and out of 159 countries surveyed by the UN, they rank 26th for their pupil-to-teacher ratio at primary level. Six out of ten students in Zimbabwe will also continue to at least fifth grade, and on average students will spend nine years in education.

6. Vietnam

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Vietnam has come a long way since the cold war between the US and the forces of communism came to a head in this corner of Southeast Asia. Not only is it now one of the fastest growing economies of the past decade, it ranks fifth out of 138 surveyed countries for parity between men and women in terms of literacy, with an overall literacy rate of 92.8 percent. Almost 87 percent of pupils will stay in school until at least fifth grade, and 94 percent of students finish primary school. More than six in ten children will enroll in secondary school and, all in all, the average student will spend ten years in the education system.

5. Guyana

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During colonial times, the tiny nation of Guyana spent periods under the rule of both the British and Dutch, but since gaining independence in 1966, it has achieved a great deal with, frankly, not much. Educational spending is proportionally high, at 8.4 percent of GDP (ninth out of 132 countries), but in absolute terms the money spent is pitiful, as the country’s GDP is very small. Still, even facing these challenges, the literacy rate is 20th in the world, at 99 percent.

4. Mongolia

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A land of desert, steppes, and mountains, the landlocked country of Mongolia is, in many ways, part of a forgotten world, with nomadic herders populating the countryside and engaging in traditional forms of subsistence. Away from this anthropological wonderland, however, 45 percent of the population live in the capital of Ulan Bator, with a further 20 percent living in Mongolia’s other cities. At 97.5 percent, literacy rates here are far from stuck in the past. In addition, one third of the population of high-school leavers now enroll in further education after graduating out of compulsory schooling at the age of 15.

3. Samoa

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The mix of South Pacific islands that make up Samoa might seem like the setting for the perfect honeymoon, and — with the its mix of turquoise waters and white sands — the country could convincingly top the list of “most relaxing places on Earth.” In light of this, one could perhaps assume that literacy wouldn’t be a big priority. It seems, however, that living in an exotic paradise does not preclude a population from possessing a literary focus. Indeed, with a literacy rate of 98.8 percent, Samoa clocks in just two places behind the US on the global scale. With children spending an average of 12 years in school, Samoa comes in at 45th place out of 110 countries surveyed by the UN.

2. Armenia

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Hidden away in the Caucasus, the mountainous, landlocked nation of Armenia doesn’t get much of a look-in on the global political scale. Regardless of this, however, its population vaunts a literacy rate of 99.7 percent, placing the country at 10th globally. One doesn’t normally think of “mountains” and “libraries” together, but Armenia’s impressive emphasis on education dispels this assumption. Despite ranking 103rd out of 132 countries for education spending as a percentage of GDP, Armenia rises to 74th place (out of 151 countries) when you look at the number of students staying in school after compulsory education ends — with 20 percent still in school after the age of 14.

1. Kazakhstan

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Famously lampooned by Sacha Baron Cohen in his 2006 film Borat, Kazakhstan arguably suffers from a bit of a PR problem. Nonetheless, this ex-Soviet state boasts a populace who can certainly feel proud of their educational attainment. In addition to a large spread of bilingualism, with many people fluent in both Russian and the Kazakh language (and increasingly English), Kazakhs rank 11th in the world for literacy at 99.6 percent — a score that puts them nine places above the USA and four places above “Mother Russia.” In addition to this, almost a third of schoolchildren stay on to do further study after compulsory education ends at seventeen.