EdNET's Best for 2011: Teachers Select

http://mrsabirs.blogspot.com/ , is kinderagrten blog check it out

I love using Brainpop to introduce a new concept we are learning.  The kids love Moby and Tim and I have even used them to teach character traits and inferencing.  After the students come to "know" Moby and Tim, I will periodically stop the video and ask them to predict what Moby will do. (inferencing)  Also, I keep a chart in the room and we write down different character traits for Tim and Moby after viewing the video.   And of course we are learning other material as well.  After watching the video one time, we then watch it a second time and I have students taking notes (4th graders!!)  We then form two teams and do the review quiz as a contest.  The winning team gets to go first in the lunch line.  They love this!!!

Tumblebooks is books online service. Books are read out loud while some animation goes on with the pictures from the books. Kids love it. I use it in my classroom for specific studies, writing lessons and sometimes just for fun. Kids use it in the computer lab on their own. There are hundreds of titles to choose from.

Pete's power point station or www.pppst.com is a great resource for power points and other online resources for teachers and students. They have powerpoints and lessons on everything! Busy teachers hardly have time to create a fun presentation on all the different concepts we teach in a year. This website has tons of powerpoints on a variety of topics that make introducing a new concept easy and fun. There are also links to online games for students and other resources for teachers. I highly recommend you check it out!

I love www.superteacherworksheets.com. They have a ton of  free resources on everything from math and reading to science and some things that are just for fun. Everything is printable, free, and ready to go. This is a great resource when a teacher needs a quick last minute idea or a different way to reinforce a topic in class. I'm not the biggest fan of having my students doing a bunch of worksheets, but this website makes worsheets fun!

Although you can subscribe to SimpleK12, the site provides new webinars on Webtools that are free to everyone.  They provide a weekly update of new webtools to use in the classroom.  I have learned so much in the past month, that I have decide to join.

Donors Choose at www.donorschoose.org, is a great site that allows even the busiest teachers to let their community know what they need in the classroom. The process is simple and materials are delivered right to the school. Parents, community members and anyone around the country can choose to help you with your classroom needs.

www.donorschoose.org is a website where teachers can write a project proposal for classroom needs.  Donors are able to go to the website to donate money to support the project.  They also have links to other sites that support teachers and classroom learnings.  It's a wonderful and easy way to get support for classroom needs, and allow parent involvement. 

http://historymatters.gmu.edu/browse/secrets/

 

This site is so great not just for History teachers, but for teachers of any subject.  The interviews are inspiring while also offering some really great ideas for teachers.  It's part of the "History Matters" project created and maintained by George Mason University.

Our elementary teachers love to use BrainPop, Jr.  The information is presented at grade-appropriate levels, and it keeps students engaged.  There are many interactive activities to use in the program; those activities further enhance the material.  Students and teachers love it!

Kids love practicing their spelling/vocabulary words on the interactive site, www.spellcity.com. As the Response to Intervention Teacher for my elementary school, I eagerly shared this with my teachers. It works perfectly as a whole group activity or can be used with individual students. Although you can purchase rights to use more activities, the free basic package allows for more than enough educational fun. Simply type in the words for the week and your students can practice typing the words and play games with them. It includes audio assistance. Students can access the site from home. Imagine assigning fun spelling/vocabulary homework on the computer! There is even a section for writing! My teachers have seen improvement not only on tests, but in student motivation as well.

I am excited about this website which I just recently found. It is full of articles for teachers, parents as well as learning links for students broken down by specific issues in reading: alphabet, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, comprehension, just to name a few. Students can practice specific skills on line at home or after learning a new skill in class.

PE Central-best resource for physical activity and physical education resources. Many activities that classroom teachers and home-school teachers can use to get kids physically activie and guide skill development. visit them at www.pecentral.org

www.brainpop.com is an online website that can expand your curriculum in all grade levels.  It has videos on every subject: Math, Writing, Social Studies, Reading, English, Health, Science, Art & Music. I use BrainPop lessons to help my students make understand a topic more. After the videos, there are quizzes that can be done right there on the computer, or they can be printed. The videos are interesting, fun and enjoyable. You do have to register and get an account, but many schools have an account set up for the entire school.  It is well worth the registration fee.  

My favorite free online resource is Richard Byrne's blog - Free Technology for Teachers  http://www.freetech4teachers.com/.  It offers free resources and lesson plans, on a daily basis, for integrating technology with teaching.  It is a great forum for teacher input as well.

 

I love using Google Docs and so do my teachers and their students. One of my recent favorite resources is Flubaroo. After students answer a Google Form Quiz the teacher adds an answer key row to the spreadsheet. Then he or she runs the Flubaroo script and the short answer...multiple choice are scored with a class average as well!

Quizlet.com

 

What is Quizlet exactly? They start with flash cards. Students can make their own, or choose from millions of flash cards sets created by others. But that's just the beginning - once you've got flashcards, you can use several study modes including multiple choice tests and study games. You can add images and listen to audio, and even study on the go with one of dozens of Quizlet-compatible mobile apps.

 

Students are the core of Quizlet. High school and college students, language learners, grad students, home school students, anyone studying anything. Quizlet makes it easy to create and share study materials, to study with a few friends or an entire class. And Quizlet is good for studying almost any subject, from languages and vocabulary to history to science and the arts.

 

Quick Stats

• 13 million users in 2010
• 2,566 users online right now
• 5,413,493 flashcard sets
• 1,848,660 registered users
• 167,423,653 terms/definitions

This will prove to be an important PD for teachers and ultimately students all over the country!  It is geared at teaching teachers how to lead students through the skill of studying.  Too often we teachers assign the homework of "go home and study".  However, studying, like math computation and reading are skills that need to be taught and practiced.  Students do not readily know how to do this. 

 

This PD session not only helps teachers to develop models and techniques for studying, but it shows teachers how to structure the instructional lessons around study skills that will get students to use these tools effectively.