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I am wondering what listservs, email blasts, e-newsletters etc. anyone subscribes to and likes.

I can recommend the NSTA Elementary listserv and the NSTA Express - you can subscribe at NSTA.org and check out some of the articles from this page.

NSTA also has some podcasts you can subscribe to - check out Lab Out Loud

I also find this 'science sites of the week' very useful. Here is a 'best of' archive to get you started.

Does anyone else have resources to share?

NSTA also has a general science group and all their groups are fantastic. I have found that listservs are getting out of date; it's a bit of an older system and many of them aren't maintained. If you google for "listserv ...(fill in blank)" you'll find many, many pages with dead links. Try this: yahoo groups middleschoolscience. Good people, good advice. Don

Hi Karyn and Don, Thanks for sharing links to some listserv and blog resources. How do you use the listserv, etc most frequently? I'm curious if you seek out the information on the listservs as you are planning, or do you see ideas on the listservs that you then implement into your classes?

site: need.org has resource for teachers in the area of energy. The games and activties are lots of fun and easy to do.

Caryn, I frequent the NSTA General Science, Earth and Space, and Assessment discussion groups. I am also a subscriber of the the NSTA Biology, Earth Science, and General Science email listservs. Freebies for Teachers and SciLinks are great resources for supplemental materials. Recently I joined The Middle School Portal Ning and SUNY Oneonta's Earth Science (ESPRIT) listserv. I love the latter because it allowed me to connect with more local teachers. I also just joined NYSTA.org, whose local representative has been awesome in connecting me with a mentor teaching science to similar demographics in a nearby district. In Gmail, I filtered all listserv addresses so that emails from different listservs go straight to a folder instead of cluttering my inbox. I usually try to read most during downtime, but I skim for immediate topics that I am also currently teaching or will be teaching soon first. I save those materials (documents, PDFs, links, etc) to a Diiggo bookmark account and go back to the tags later to flesh out my unit and learning plans.

Hi Cheska, I really like your idea to filter out the listserv email addresses so they go directly into a folder. I frequently use the ideas I get from various listservs in my lesson planning, but sometimes I get overwhelmed by the amount of mail coming into my inbox. I'm definitely going to try to filtering tactic! You also mention tagging using Diiggo bookmarks. I've never heard of this before. Can you provide a little more information about diiggo? Thanks! Maureen

Cheska, Your organization of listserves and other resources is an example for others to consider. I agree with the thread reader who siad that list serves get stale with time, as do blogs, if the owners do not clean them up regularly. url's are not always active after certain dates and many listserve resources seem to emerge from active ongoing courses or webs hosted by teachers --and these change with time, energy to maintain, and focus group. So--classifying, tagging, and then accessing info within a short timeframe and taking what is useful in your current or future teaching is a great ploy. Thanks for sharing since many teachers new to listserves see all that info and do some scrolling and then say 'sayanara.' Good energy to you in your teaching :} ~patty

Maureen, Here's a couple of helpful tutorials on using filters in Gmail: http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=6579 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkXeRmT96AI (video) Here's a nice PDF that explains what Diigo is: http://www.rcgov.org/pdfs/Library/Diigo_Description.pdf http://www.diigo.com/about Essentially it's a free social bookmarking website that lets you capture snapshots, add sticky-notes on a webpage, create lists and slideshows out of your bookmarks, and many more. I use it so I don't have to pull up a Word or Pages document and add links. When I am surfing online and come across a great resource, I click the bookmark sign and add tags. When I am creating lesson plans, I open up my Diigo sidebar, type in a tag, and all the bookmarks with that tag pop up. Very helpful when I am looking for something specific right away! Also, there are Diigo educator accounts that you can sign up for and use with classes...

Hi Cheska, Thanks for mentioning Diigo. I recently started using it, too. It really is nice to immediately be able to sort and compartmentalize everything. The only thing for new subscribers is to know this: As soon as you download it, you lose all of your old tabs. I didn't know this, and it threw me for a loop for a couple of days until I got everything all organized again. Carolyn

Thank you, Cheska! The links are very helpful and I really appreciate you sharing them with us!