text: Maps can be a great tool for visualizing sets of data. GeoCommons offers a couple of good tools for finding mapped data sets and creating maps from data sets. GeoCommons Finder is a great place to find publicly shared data sets for use in maps. GeoCommons Maker. GeoCommons Maker provides users a quick and easy way to take the datasets found in GeoCommons Finder and display those datasets on a map. Users can create multi-layered maps and customize the way those layers are displayed. Click here to see a two layer map displaying demographic data regarding single parent households in theUnited States.
  Maps created through GeoCommons can be saved as KML files, saved as images, or embedded into a website.
  Applications for EducationGeoCommons Maker is as easy, if not easier, to use as Google Maps. The benefit of using GeoCommons Maker is that students can find datasets without having to search the Internet for them. This should save time when you're trying to complete a lesson plan in one sitting. GeoCommons has datasets that are relevant for use in Social Studies, Math, and Science.
  Quill is a service that provides an updated take on the old writing worksheets that most of us used in elementary school and middle school. The service offers more than just the writing practice activities, but that is its core feature. Here's how it works; students sign-in (email is not required) to find the worksheets that you have assigned to them. The worksheets contain spelling and grammar errors that your students have to identify and correct. Students submit their corrections and Quill shows them how they did by showing what they did correct and what they should have corrected. An explanation accompanies each Quill correction.
  To assign a Quill worksheet to your students sign-in and create a class. Your class will have a code that your students enter when they sign in to use Quill. After creating your class you can start to browse through the pre-made worksheets. Each worksheet is labeled according to the writing skill that your students will practice while working on the worksheet. You can see the results of your students' work through your Quill dashboard. Learn more about Quill in the video below.
  The concept behind Quill isn't a revolutionary idea, but it is well-executed. Having the pre-made activities at your disposal and having the opportunity to quickly see how your students did on each activity will free up some of your time. You can then use that time differentiating activities to match the needs of individual students.