STEM websites for teachers

Many school districts are moving middle and high schools towards a STEM model to prepare students for the future.  STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math.  This interdisciplinary problem-based inquiry learning can be confusing for parents, students, and educators who have never faced it before.  I would like to share some websites that can give additional information about this topic.

National Council for Teachers of Mathematics:  www.nctm.org
National Science Teachers Association:  www.nsta.org
International Society of Technology in Education:  www.iste.org
STEM Education Resource Center:  www.pbs.org/teachers/stem
PhET (free simulations):  http://phet.colorado.edu
CAST Science Writer for lab report writing:  http://sciencewriter.cast.org/welcome
Khan Academy:  www.khanacademy.org
Nobel Peace Prize:  www.nobelprize.org/educational

A great Reading and Math resource!

I love collecting new resources for teachers.  I mean I really LOVE finding them!  You might say I am obsessed with collecting things I can share with teachers.  I visited a new site today and could not wait to get to this post and reccommend it to everyonoe!  Go on over to http://www.readtennessee.org/.  It is a fantstic resource of reading, math, and social/emotional resources for early grades.  The Common Core Standards are also available on this site.  There are lots of things for parents and educators to look at and a great section on community resources.  So take a look and let me know what you think. :)

Fun free printable activities with Post-it!

I found a fun site in one of my teaching magazines run by the Post-it company.  It is a great place to find free printables for parents and teachers.  Just head on over to http://www.post-it.com/teachers.  Have some fun!

A fun site to use in class

A fun site to use in class is http://wordsift.com.  You enter a word or phrase and the program will pull up not only photos to go along with your word or phrase but also map out the phrase with synonyms.  This is great to use when teaching vocabulary to students, especially ELL (English Language Learners) students.  Have fun with it!

Some great websites to check out...

We have added to our Links section-take a look!  One great website is Mad Scientists.  Scientists from the University of St. Louis answer questions posed by students on the website.  They also have a random knowledge generator, MAD labs, and a MAD Scientist library.  Visit www.madsci.org.

What are some of your favorite websites?  We would love to post your favorites to share with our readers. 

Using iTunes apps in reading

My district is a Mac district. All of the computers are Macs and we love it. I have been the owner of iPods since the beginning and have adored seeing how they have changed and grown through the years in capability. As someone who works with students who struggle academically I have struggled to find different ways to approach students so that I engage their interest in addition to helping them overcome learning difficulties. Today I hit the jackpot! I love iTunes apps. I'll admit it, I'm an app addict. I adore my iTouch and think every child could use one in the classroom in a variety of ways academically. Today I found 153 FREE APPS using materials from Reading A-Z.com!! These free apps allow students to use the reader books on their reading level on the iTouch (or if you are lucky, iPad). The list of apps can be found at http://books.readsmart.com/LAZ/free.html. The apps are through Language Technologies, Inc. So take a moment and go check them out. Don't just use the iPod for audiobooks, look into how an iTouch could be used with apps to work on reading skills. I know I will be looking into what else is in the app store!

Literacy Circles

I was talking to some teachers this morning and they were asking if I knew of any resources for literacy circles. They wanted to add some materials to what they already had on the subject so they could continue to differentiate their teaching with their students. Take a look at the following eight resources and let me know what you think.

www.readwritethink.org

www.litcircles.org

www.webenglishteacher.com/litcircles.html

www.npatterson.net/reading.html

www.edselect.com/literature_circles.htm

www.heinemann.com/shared/onlineresources/E00702/minilessons.pdf

www.saskschools.ca/cur_content/elemelasup/gradefive/lesson_act/mysterylessonplans.pdf

www.superteacherworksheets.com/reading.html

So check them out, poke around, and let me know of any websites that you use for literacy circles. It's by sharing that we come together as a community of educators and help all of our students.

More resources......

Teachers are constantly looking for new resources for their classrooms. The internet has many excellent resources for teachers and students to use but the internet can be overwhelming in it's size. If you look to the left of this blog, you can see a list of websites that we have found helpful. As we meet with teachers through the year, we constantly add to our list of links based on their recommendations. Please take a moment to look at some of the new additions.

Homework resources:
http://homeworkhelp.about.com
www.refdesk.com/homework.html
www.factmonster.com/
www.libraryspot.com/
www.schoolwork.org

Dictionaries/Encyclopedias
http://encarta.msn.com
www.britannica.com
www.encyclopedia.com
www.dictionary.com
www.thesaurus.com

Science
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov
www.nineplanets.org
www.solarviews.com
www.epa.gov/epahome/topics.html
www.geology.com
www.50states.com
www.earth.nasa.gov

More resources will be added this week. Please let us know of websites that you have found to be helpful!

Using websites to open up instructional worlds....

As a teacher who grew up during the time that computers moved from writing the simplest program line by line yourself on an Apple IIe to using a MacBook Pro and talking to teachers across the United States, I have watched and participated in the evolution of online learning. More teachers today expand their classrooms beyond the four walls of their school building than ever before in order to provide more tools to their students. I would like to share some of the sites that I have used and encourage you to share your favorites in the comments section.

I have enjoyed looking at the many ideas offered on Teacher Tube. It is the educator's version of YouTube that allows teachers to upload and share video clips of lessons. I have watched teachers share songs about math standards to motivational speeches by students that remind me why I do what I do every day.

Another site that I often visit is the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives. This website offers a wealth of java applets that allow students to see math in many different ways. It was a website recommended by our state trainers for math standards training.

For teachers looking for more information on differentiated instruction, please visit Verna Eaton's website Differentiated Instruction. She gives several ideas on how it can look and how to go about providing such instruction.

A large website with a wealth of information is the Center of Instruction. They describe themselves as "your gateway to a cutting-edge collection of scientifically based research and information on K-12 instruction in reading, math, science, special education, and English language learning. Part of the Comprehensive Center network, the Center on Instruction is one of five content centers serving as resources for the 16 regional U.S. Department of Education Comprehensive Centers. Explore the links to the left for topic-based materials, syntheses of recent research, and exemplars of best practices."

What websites have you found to be particularly helpful? Would you like to see them added to our running list of websites on our site? Add your favorites to our comments section.

Empowering Parents: working with children who have behavior issues

There is a fantastic newsletter by a website "The Total Transformation" called Empowering Parents. Please take a moment to visit it at http://www.empoweringparents.com/email_templates/04-14-2009C.html?&utm_medium=email&utm_source=email04142009N. Tell us what you think about it. This newsletter discusses how to stop victim thinking in kids. There is also a link to a parenting podcast.

Need some help with Rhyming?

Rhyming is a difficult but important skill for children to learn.  Learning to hear that "cat, bat, hat" have similar sounds is an early literacy skill.  If your child/student is having trouble finding a rhyming word they can visit rhymezone.com for some help.  They can click on Go Get It! and the rhyming dictionary will give hundreds of possibilities.  It can also help find synonyms, antonyms, definitions, and more.  So visit and enjoy!

Scholastic website for teachers

I often search for websites that offer lots of resources and ideas for me to use in the classroom and with other teachers. One site that I have found very helpful is the Scholastic website for Teachers. If you click on the title of this article it should be a direct link to the website. Scholastic offers many articles on several different topics. I found several articles on interventions here. It also provides links that can be passed on to parents. Teachers can also find lesson plans, student activities, planning calendars, recommended books and authors, and many more items. So take a moment and go on over to Scholastic to see the wealth of information they have to share!

Websites to check out

We have gathered together a small list of websites that we have come across that have had useful information.  This group will be adding to this list as time goes on.

www.lessonplanspage.com

www.atozteacherstuff.com

www.funlessonplans.com

www.123child.com

www.successcertificates.com

www.childfun.com

www.literacycenter.net

www.earlychildhoodnews.com

www.si.edu.com (Smithsonian)

www.history.com (History Channel)

www.homeworkhotline.info