Do you like to use flashcards to review material for the test? Do your students always forget to bring index cards? Do the cards get lost? How can you review the cards as a group?

Try an online flashcard service like Quizlet!

Go to the site and register (it's free!). Then you can either create a set of flashcards for your students to review or search for a set made by other teachers. Once you have created or found a set of flashcards, you can review them with the class online on the SmartBoard, create classroom games and competitions, transfer them into a matching activity for centers or have students individually look through the as a center. Students can even create their own sets of flashcards to share with the class instantly. The cards will never get bent, dirty or lost. Try it out!

Evernote and Evernote Peek Apps for iPad

So aside from being the cutest little app icons around, how can Evernote and Evernote Peek be useful in your classroom?

Ask your students what they think the adorable little elephant icons and the Evernote and Evernote Peek apps have in common.  Without even knowing what the apps can do, they may come up with answers indicating "good memory" or "never forgets" based on the old saying that "an elephant never forgets".  I don't know the actual validity of that saying or how good an elephant's memory truly is, but I do know that the Evernote and Evernote Peek apps help me and my students remember lots of things.
In my daily life, I like to use Evernote to help me remember anything from daily to-do items, to grocery lists, to ideas.  If I create a note in the Evernote app on my smartphone, it automatically syncs to Evernote on my computer and my iPad. 
So how can this help my students?  Using the Evernote App, I can create study "notebooks" for anything I want my students to learn from Spanish terms, to historical events, to math vocabulary.  The note title will become the clue and the note body will become the answer.  Once you've created your clues, open the Evernote Peek app and log in to your Evernote account to download the study notebook into Peek.  Just lift the iPad smartcover to reveal the clue, then lift a little more to reveal the answer.  Close the cover and repeat to view the next clue.  Study time has never been so fun!

Visit the BCPS Technology Help Desk to view a detailed explanation on how to use Evernote and Evernote Peek to create study notebooks for your students.

SHMOOP

This site is a great resource for students and teachers. It offers study guides in many areas for students. It also offers great teacher resources. There are many sample activities, assessments, etc. There is also a paid portion which gives you full access to all the resources. But if you are on a "free" budget, there are plenty of resources to find for literature and many other areas. This site is worth a look, if you are looking for new ideas.