Having trouble planning lessons for the computer lab? We've found some of the best sites to manage bookmarks on the web. Next time you have a list of sites you'd like your students to visit, list them using one of these: MyBookmarks and SiteJot.

If you've ever assigned a project to your students that requires the use of a search engine for online research, you know the challenges students face trying to find good information. The great the about the Internet is access to the huge volumes of great information out there. The bad part about the Internet is access to the huge volumes of bad information. Rollyo is changing this. Teachers are making searchrolls for their students at Rollyo.com and pointing them to this website for their research.

It’s time to dump your desktop software. Why? Web-based software can do (almost) everything traditional applications like Microsoft Office and Corel can do. And the best part? Web applications for word processing, spreadsheet editing, presentation creation and database maintenance are FREE.

Edutopia gets my vote for the best education website ever. The George Lucas Education Foundation (GLEF) created a resource for educators, administrators, policy-makers and curious observers alike. GLEF publishes the stories of innovative teaching and learning through a variety of media -- a magazine, an e-newsletter, CD-ROMs, DVDs, books, and the Edutopia website (www.edutopia.org). The website contains detailed articles, in-depth case studies, research summaries, instructional modules, short documentary segments, expert interviews, and links to hundreds of relevant resources. Visitors can also participate as members of an online community of people actively working to reinvent schools for the twenty-first century.

What does learning in the 21st century classroom look like? What will it take for this generation's students to succeed in a 21st century workplace? These difficult questions provided an impetus for a group of committed business leaders, educators and policymakers to create the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (www.21stcenturyskills.org). This partnership has emerged as the leading advocacy organization focused on infusing 21st century skills into education.

Critical reading and writing skills are essential for success in the sciences. I assign short writing activities in my physical science classes, where the students read a science-related article from Time magazine, then write a one-page summary about what they read and their reaction to it. I've found it an effective method to build reading comprehension and writing composition skills.