Editor’s note: Guest contributor Nancy Barlow regularly blogs at The Teacher Geek. You can follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

What's All the Interest In Pinterest?

Do you ever wish you could combine your computer's bookmarks with your idea board on your wall? Pinterest is a social website that allows users to "pin" images onto their own virtual pinboards, and then share those pins with others. There's a treasure trove in there for educators. Collections of anchor charts, books to read, and unique teaching ideas abound. If you're not sure how to get started, check out the Technology Bits, Bytes & Nibbles Blog. In an article by Larry Ferlazzo, he lists a collection of Pinterest resources, The Best Guides For Figuring Out Pinterest, including an article for The Guys. Happy pinning!

In This Case, It's Okay To Follow the Herd

High School Herd is an expansive collection of bloggers and blogging sites for high school teachers in all subject areas. You might discover such gems as To the Square Inch (a middle school Math and Science Teacher's blog), Teacher Tech (helping teachers try new technology), and Liz's Lessons (French, Spanish, and Tech resources). Started and curated by Charity Preston of The Organized Classroom Blog, you'll sure to find new blogs to read, browse, and spark your own classroom inspiration. Check it out here.

Who Loves YA?

AmyLovesYA is a wonderful new site dedicated to Young Adult (YA) Literature. Amy is a high school ELA teacher who devours and reviews YA books on her blog. Thanks to David Kapuler at the Technology Tidbits Blog for spotting this site.

App Of the Week: Microscope Advanced

This virtual medical microscope app for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch as an extensive array of microscopic samples to study, such as bacteria, viruses, and parasites. You can manipulate the microscope through the touchscreen to mimic a real medical microscope. A nice bonus feature is access to encyclopedic information of what you are viewing. Available in the iTunes store.

Editor’s note: Guest contributor Nancy Barlow regularly blogs at The Teacher Geek. You can follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

100 Ways To Plan 100th Day

The 100th Day of school is approaching quickly. If you need ideas, check out Cybrary Man's 100th Day resources page. There may not be exactly 100 listed there, but there's certainly quite enough to keep your students busy with "100" all day long. Check it out here.

Apple's Education Announcement

When Apple makes an announcement, it's usually a big deal. This time, Apple has news regarding textbooks and iBooks. Nicholas Provenzano, otherwise known as The Nerdy Teacher, deconstructs the announcement for us in plain english on Edutopia's blog, and discusses how it will affect educators.

More QR Code Resources

Scott Newcomb, who blogs as The Mobile Native, has put together a nice list of resources if you're considering using QR (quick-read) codes in your lessons. We think a QR code scavenger hunt (on just about any topic) sounds like fun. Read about it here.

App of the Week: QR Reader For iPhone

Speaking of QR Codes, if you're looking for a simple, easy to use, and free QR Reader app for your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad, look no further than the QR Reader for iPhone from Tap Media, LTD. It gets the job done, and features an integrated brewer and integrated map view. Available in the iTunes store.

Editor’s note: Guest contributor Nancy Barlow regularly blogs at The Teacher Geek. You can follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

New and Relevant Content Added To Discovery Education

David Andrade, otherwise known as Educational Technology Guy, writes in his blog about some content additions that Discovery Educationhas made to its website. Educators have long enjoyed using Discovery's extensive library of video and other media resources. New, relevant content includes videos on autism, teenagers and distracted driving, financial literacy, and the earthquake/tsunami in Japan. Check out the article here.

A "Snapshot" Of Some Great Photography Websites

Julie Greller, who writes the blog A Media Specialist's Guide To the Internet, has amassed a list of 22 websites for teaching photography. The list includes some great resources, such as "100 Ways To Use a Digital Camera" and a Photo Essay Lesson Plan. If you teach photography or would like to try to integrate it into your lessons, check out her list.

The Classroom E-Publishing House

The 21st Century Teaching and Learning Blog, written by Priscilla Taylor, features an article about the site u-Tales. U-Tales is a site where students can edit and publish their own e-books, and have them posted for sale on the u-Tales website. Students can keep the profit or donate it to a charity.

App Of the Week: K-12 Timed Reading Practice

This app lets readers practice their reading fluency by timing them reading short passages. It will track by words per minute of stories read, and you can keep track of multiple students within this one app. Available in the iTunes store.

Editor’s note: Guest contributor Nancy Barlow regularly blogs at The Teacher Geek. You can follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

Get Your STEM Digital Resources, Here!

If you teach science, math, engineering, or technology, then you must take a look at the National Science Digital Library. Funded by the National Science Foundation, it's mission is to advance learning by providing high-quality digital resources for STEM educators. It's a very comprehensive site, so grab a cup of coffee, you'll enjoy browsing through it for a while.

A New Video Search Engine

Smivi is a new digital search engine. Spotted by David Kapuler at Technology Tidbits: Thoughts of a Cyber Hero, it's different from others in that you'll be able to categorize your searches, and also "follow" videos that fit your search criteria. For ongoing research projects, this could come in handy.

Speaking Of Video, A "Safe" You Tube For Classroom Use

Angela Maiers writes that You Tube For Schools has just launched. It's a way for teachers and students to view and search for videos in the classroom without students being distracted by clutter like music videos. You Tube is hoping this will solve the problem of many teachers wanting to show a video for educational purposes, only to have that site blocked by district filters.

App of the Week: Dexteria

Dexteria by Binary Labs, is an inspired iPad app that takes full advantage of the touch-screen features of the tablet to help students practice fine motor skills and build strength, control, and dexterity. It's also available on the iPhone and iPod Touch, in the iTunes store.

Editor’s note: Guest contributor Nancy Barlow regularly blogs at The Teacher Geek. You can follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

This week, PlanbookEdu will highlight some of the biggest stories in Educational Technology of 2011, with links to our favorite resources.

Tablets Are a Game-Changer

Even if your school hasn't gone with a 1:1 tablet-to-student ratio, chances are there's one in your building, district, or plans are in the works for them. We love the following blogs for their frank and helpful discussions on tablets (many are iPad specific) in the classroom: iPads in the Classroom Blog, the Apps in Education Blog, The Webfooted Booklady, Technology With Intention, Teaching Learners With Multiple Special Needs (check out their list of favorite apps!), and Connected Principals.

Social Media In the Classroom

Social media tools like Twitter, You Tube, and blogs have changed how teachers interact with students. From BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) to creating a faux Twitter handle in the name of a character, social media is a powerful way to reach students. We enjoy posts on this topic from The Nerdy Teacher, The Daring Librarian, Free Technology For Teachers, and The Web 2.0 Classroom.

Overall Fantastic Resources For You To Follow

Here at PlanbookEdu, we're tech fans. Geeks, if you will. Here are some other geeky educators that have made teaching with technology their passion: The Tech Savvy Teacher, The LangwitchesBlog, 21st Century EdTech, Edutopia, I Heart EdTech, Moving At the Speed of Creativity, and Hack Education.

Happy Holidays from PlanbookEdu!