Dropbox

Being a teacher often means that you do a lot of work from home to prepare for class.  I finish up class presentations, write report cards and prepare lessons as often from my home computer as I do my school computer.  Dropbox has helped me tremendously by allowing me to share folders between these two computers.  Dropbox is a free folder that you install on your computer and that will allow you to share across computers.  All you have to do is install it on whatever other computers (or smart phone or tablet) you use and all those files and folders you store in the dropbox are always available.  Another great feature of dropbox is that you can share a folder with other people.  I share folders with colleagues so that we can both have access to lessons we are collaborating on.  It's also an easy way to share documents without the need of a memory stick.  The free account gives you 2GB of storage but you can earn more space by completing simple getting started tasks or by referring your friends.  If you use my referral link you will also be granted an extra 500mb of space.  You can also subscribe to get even more space but I find that for my purposes the free account is plenty.

Billie Brings His Buddies - Safety Curriculum

Keeping kids safe is a constant worry.  The Canadian Centre for Child Protection has created a free program for grade one students to teach them "the buddy system".  It's complete with a lesson plan for the teacher, a letter for the parents with activities to do with their child, an online storybook and a new game to reinforce safety at Halloween.

http://kidsintheknow.ca/app/en/billy_brings_his_buddies

Kids Learning Station

Kids Learning Station is a great site filled with free printable worksheets for preschool and kindergarten students.  Skills ranging from alphabet skills to scissor skills all can be practiced using these sheets. All sheets are in pdf format.
http://www.kidslearningstation.com/

Centre for Energy

I came across this site from the Canadian Centre for Energy Information. It offers some free resources for the older grades (mostly high school) to teach about fuel (from where it comes from to the determination of fuel prices). All resources are offered in English and French.

http://www.centreforenergy.com/Education/K-12/TeachingResources/ByProduct.asp

CurrClick

CurrClick is actually a website for homeschoolers but I use it frequently to help me in my class. There are hundreds of units of study available for download. Another really cool thing about this website is the free units section. There are numerous units that are actually free! You can also sign up for the newsletter which offers a new freebie of the week. Other units also regularly go on sale and available for reasonable prices.

Website: http://www.currclick.com/

Dove- Real Beauty Campaign

Here's a great free program for young teenage and pre-teen girls from Dove. I ordered the print version and just got it in the mail today. The program is geared toward girls self-esteem. There are numerous activities designed for girls to analyze their own self-worth, the media's influence and finding positive role models. You can order individual workbooks for each girl in your class. The program even comes with an accompanying DVD. Really nice free resource from a company that has done a lot of good in changing our views of beauty in the media. It's also available for download from the website. The website also has great videos about beauty (remember that great commercial with the model being retouched).

Website: http://www.dove.ca/en/default.aspx#/cfrb/educators/

Sexuality and U

Sexuality and U is a fantastic Canadian website about sex and sexuality. For teachers wishing to teach sex ed there are powerpoint presentations, lessons plans and webquests. Many of the tools are available in powerpoint or PDF. Sexuality and U also has sections for teens where they can get honest answers to their questions and even a fun quiz to test their knowledge. A great find for a sex ed. teacher!

Website: http://www.sexualityandu.ca/

Hands on Banking

Hands on Banking is an online course for kids to adults created by Wells Fargo. It's a program to teach students money skills including earning money, spending, investing, credit and more. The teacher section features PDF instructor guides seperate for both kids and teens. It is an American program but can be adapted to Canadian classrooms. There are also online clips that students can use to study independantly. It is also available in Spanish.

Website: http://www.handsonbanking.org/en/

Water is Life - World Vision

World Vision has created a free program for high school students to learn about water and the environment. This guide introduces controversial debates regarding the planet's fresh water resources. It includes lesson ideas, assessment tools, and activities to accompany the Water is Life Flash animation which is available for download on the site as well. The site also has other programs which you can order for a fee.

Website: World Vision teacher materials

Practical Money Skills

Visa has created a program for financial literacy for young and old. From the website: Give your students a deeper understanding of money management using a curriculum offered by Practical Money Skills. Here you’ll find lesson plans for students of all ages – from preschoolers and elementary school students to teens and college students. We also offer course materials for students with special needs. I especially like that there is a specific section for special needs students. All guides and students activities are available in PDF. There are also money games for students of all ages!

Website: http://www.practicalmoneyskills.com/

Breaking News English

Breaking News English is a website designed for English Language Learners. It provides current news topics in a short, easy to read article. Each article is also accompanied by a range of activities for students to work on about the article and concerning vocabulary and grammar. All articles come in PDF or Word document format for easy printing.
I found it very useful with my english speaking learning disabled teenage students. It's sometimes difficult to find age appropriate material with a lower reading level but this is it! The website's creator also has other websites with articles about holidays or celebrities.

http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/