Online Resources for Educators

Let's get one thing straight- I LOVE the internet. I love being able to have any question I have answered, at any time, almost instantly. However, it is overwhelming for some people. There is so much information out there! I've sorted through some of it and made a list of all my favorite resources for teachers. Please let me know your favorites as I continue to learn more and add to this list.

Online Resources for Educators

Curriculum-Based Measurementhttp://www.aimsweb.com/
A commercial website for CBM. It is very similar to DIBELS, but includes more academic areas.

http://www.precisionteachingresource.net/
This site provides instruction, tools, and performance standards for improving academic and social behaviors using an instructional measurement practice called Precision Teaching.

http://www.studentprogress.org/
This site is sponsored by the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs. Provides information on monitoring progress.

http://www.progressmonitoring.net/
University of Minnesota sponsored website for the Research Institute on Progress Monitoring.

PBIS
Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports

Teaching Strategies

Annenburg Media

Council for Exceptional Children

Doing What Works

Dr. Whitten
Website for Dr. Elizabeth Whitten- click on “Strategy Bibliography” for strategies

Florida Center for Reading Research

International Mind, Brain, Education Society

Intervention Central

The IRIS Center

LD Online

National Center on Response to Intervention

New Horizons
New Horizons research-based strategies along with a list of recommended reading
 
Reading Rockets
News and research based strategies regarding reading.
 
What Works Clearinghouse

Differentiation 

http://www.renzullilearning.com/

So many learning activities for increasing student engagement, using technology, and making sure instruction is universally designed for all learners.

National Center on Accessible Instructional Materials

Note-taking

Diigo.com
Highlight and put sticky notes on websites. Access your highlighting from any computer!

http://www.eleven21.com/notetaker/
Print off sheets to take notes on for class.

http://www.webspirationpro.com/user?destination=go%2F462925
Design graphic organizers online.


Assistive Tech

 http://tinyurl.com/

Makes a long website shorter.  It makes it much easier for students to type in.

Digital Storytelling
http://animoto.com/
Create a digital story set to music by uploading photos.

http://www.digitales.us/
Introduction and resources for digital storytelling.

http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/storyboarding.html
Introduction and resources for storyboarding.

http://search.creativecommons.org
A way to copyright your photos and information that you put online.

http://teachmemoretech.wikispaces.com/Images+%26+Music+for+the+Classroom
Images and music for digital storytelling.

http://voicethread.com/#home
VoiceTread. Comment on documents, photos, etc. This is an alternative to class discussion. This is a great way to share student work and have parents, family members, teachers, etc. comment on the work.

http://www.xtranormal.com/
Turn text into movies.

http://www.glogster.com/
Create your own posters to tell a story. You can include embedded videos and several images. It looks really cool- like a collage.

http://www.grapheine.com/bombaytv/
Students can add in their own subtitles to Indian dances and movie clips.

http://www.timetoast.com/
Create your own timeline online. 

http://prezi.com/
Create Power Point 2.0 essentially.

http://www.toondoo.com/
Cartoon Maker

Phonicshttp://www.fitbrains.com/play_game/super_word_scrapers?v=2.1
Build words as you build skyscrapers.

Hooda Word
Fun reading games!

Reading Fluency

Hooda Word

Fun reading games!

http://en.childrenslibrary.org/
Children’s books to read online

http://www.storylineonline.net/index2.html
Books read aloud by famous actors. Subtitles are included if students want to follow along with the words.

http://librivox.org/
Listen to books online for free.

http://www.starfall.com/
Read easy reader books online. Allows readers to click on words they don’t know. There are also games.

http://ebooks.mlcnet.org/B5A65E3D-87A6-4085-B26F-D104244F5DC5/10/230/en/Default.htm
Free online audio books for individuals to check out through their public library account for two weeks. Great for students to have a hard copy of a book along with an audio copy to follow along with!

http://www.bookshare.org/
Online books for students with disabilities.

Reading Comprehension

Hooda Word

Fun reading games!

http://www.googlelittrips.org/
Using Google Earth, students discover where in the world the greatest road trip stories of all time took place... and so much more!

https://hosted30.renlearn.com/176197/
Accelerated Reader

http://tuneintoreading.elpcorp.com/windows_index.html
Tune In To Reading

Vocabulary

Hooda Word

Fun reading games!

http://www.verbalearn.com/
Makes MP3s of your vocabulary words.

http://www.visuwords.com/
This site is amazing!!! It’s a graphic dictionary. Type in a word and it links it to other words in a sort of web.

http://quizlet.com/
Make flashcards to help you study.

Typing

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/
A fun game from the BBC to practice typing.

http://todaysmeet.com/
Chat room for kids.  Great for bell work.

Writing
Hooda Word
Fun reading games! http://www.grapheine.com/bombaytv/index.php?lang=uk
Add subtitles to a Bollywood video. Great for teaching "voice" in the 6 Traits.

http://www.fodey.com/generators/newspaper/snippet.asp
Create a story and make it look like a newspaper clipping!

http://www.piclits.com/compose_dragdrop.aspx
Add words to a photograph that you find captivating.

http://www.favoritepoem.org/
Favorite Poem Project

http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/
Create your own comic strip.

http://easybib.com/
Automatic citation maker.

http://www.buzzword.com/#o
Internet-based word processing. Documents are saved online in your account.

https://www.pdfonline.com/convert_pdf.asp
Convert Word files to PDF via email.

501 Writing Prompts
Writing prompt book for teachers to pull from.

Kid Blog
Allows kids to have a blog!


Science

Hooda Sci

Fun science games!!!

Social Studieshttp://www.capzles.com/
Create virtual time capsule slideshows set to music.

http://animoto.com/
Slideshows set to music.


Mathematics

Hooda Math

Fun math games!!!

 http://www.math.harvard.edu/~knill/mathmovies/index.html
Find clips from movies dealing with math.

http://www.mrnussbaum.com/mathgames.htm
Great math games that actually are very fun!

http://www.kidsnumbers.com/
More math games

http://www.worksheetworks.com/
Great worksheets for homework.

http://www.math-drills.com/
Great worksheets for homework.

http://www.kidsnumbers.com/
Math games for students.


Survey Creatorhttp://www.surveymonkey.com/
Create your own survey and see the data on this free website.

http://www.zoomerang.com/
Create your own survey.

http://doodle.com/
AWESOME for scheduling SPED meetings :)







 
Photoshttp://www.photl.com/en/
Free high-quality photos online.

http://www.picnik.com/app#/home/welcome
Design Scrapbooks and Edit Pictures Online


http://www.picaboo.com/
Design Scrapbooks and Edit Pictures Online


Gameshttp://www.fitbrains.com/
Fun games to flex your brain muscles.

http://www.mrnussbaum.com/mathgames.htm
Great math games that actually are very fun!

http://www.kidsknowit.com/
Lots of games and activities in a variety of stubjects.

http://www.funbrain.com/
Many activities for children to do on their own.

http://www.primarygames.com/
Games for students to play during free time.

http://www.studyisland.com/
Games the correspond to state standards.

Communication/Networking

http://twitter.com/
Let friends and family know what you are up to.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php
Stay in touch with friends and create events.

http://editurepd.com/

Facebook for teachers.

Technology Informationhttp://www.teachingmatters.org/index.asp
A website for using technology to improve teaching.

http://www.sc.edu/scatp/ATclassroom.htm
Assistive Technology Resources

http://www.internet4classrooms.com/
Technology Ideas for Teachers

http://www.remc11.k12.mi.us/dl/fave/
Video Field Trips

http://exchange.smarttech.com/#tab=0
Smart Board Lessons

http://www.prometheanplanet.com/en-us/
Promethean Board Lessons


Virtual Instruction

http://www.hippocampus.org/

Has instructional videos on a variety of topics for middle and high school students.

http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm

Virtual college classes for free.

http://www.brainpop.com/
Brain Pop.  Short videos on a variety of topics. 

http://www.discoveryeducation.com/
United Streaming.  Videos on many topics of various lengths.

Michigan Teachershttp://www.michigan.gov/mde/0,1607,7-140-28753---,00.html
Curriculum and Standards

http://www.michigan.gov/mde/0,1607,7-140-28753_33232---,00.html
GLCE

Teachers Everywhere!

http://www.corestandards.org/

Common core standards.

http://login.clihome.com/

Curriculum Mapper.

Blogs for Educators

http://www.techsavvyed.net/
A blog on integrating technology in the classroom.

http://planetesme.blogspot.com/
A blog on only the best children's lit from the official expert in readiology!


Activities to Teach Kids About Disabilities (Middle School)
Inequity Quiz

Design a Cell Phone that is Universally Designed

Virtual Field Trip Back in Time to Look at Life Before Universal Design in Architecture

Learning about Difficulties with Auditory Directions

Step in the Shoes of Someone with Attention Difficulties

Autism Article with Audio Option

Article on Deaf Culture

Disability Social History Project

LD Article with Reading Support

Article About a Man Who Designs Unique Wheelchairs

Horse Leads the Blind Article

NPR Story Written a Read by a Student with Asperger's

Thought of the Day...

"Educational theory must be research-based, just as medical theory is."

-Kurt Fischer

Relaxed Alertness

Currently Reading: 12 Brain/Mind Principles in Action: Developing Executive Functions of the Human Brain.

Why is relaxed alertness important?

Relaxed alertness is the brain's optimum state for learning. Children learn best when in a state of relaxed alertness.

What is relaxed alertness?

Relaxed alertness is when a learner is put into a state of being where they feel comfortable yet experience a high level of challenge. Experiencing relaxed alertness often starts out with students experiencing small successes, but after multiple successes- it becomes a way of thinking and learning that seems natural for the student. When relaxed alertness becomes a way of life for a student, it's actually easier for them to learn new things.

Students who experience relaxed alertness believe in themselves and always want to challenge themselves to be better than the day before. They also bounce back easily from failures; possibly because of their confidence based on previous successes. Finally, they take charge of their learning by setting goals for themselves and using strategies they've learned to help them be good problem solvers.

How can I help my students achieve relaxed alertness?

1. Give them frequent, specific, positive feedback on what they are doing well on in class. 5 positives to 1 corrective!

2. Help students set goals within your class and reward their progress towards a goal. For example, students practice fluency daily in our classroom. Once weekly they DIBEL'd and are shown their score and how it relates to the aim line drawn on their book. They know how they are progressing towards their goal. However I thought it would help them on their daily fluency reads to draw an aim line on the graphs they were using to record their daily scores. They are more motivated and are becoming very confident each time they exceed their goal!

3. Make your classroom a low-threat environment. Encourage students to take risks and let them know that it's OK to make mistakes- that's how we learn!

Grading

What does an "A" mean? Does an A mean that a child understands the material? We all know students who are very intelligent but so... lazy. Does their "D" in a class mean they don't know the material? What about students who struggle and only get 1 question correct on a 10 question quiz? The next week they get 3 questions correct. They have just increased their score from 10% to 30%- should this not be celebrated?!!

Grading is so tricky as people are fearful to stray from letter grades but here is an idea if you're open to a change. It's adapted from ideas included in this chapter of Fair Isn't Always Equal by Rick Wormeli. It's such an amazing book and one you'll want to add to your collection!

Make a list of all objectives you'll cover in a unit and list them all as you would assignments in your grade book in a separate space. Continue to maintain a regular grade book in case parents would like to see your data. Once you feel you have enough data to determine that a particular child has mastered an objective, check off that they have completed that objective in the grade book. At the end of the unit, count up total objectives mastered and divide by the total objectives for the unit. The result is their grade for the unit. All the regular grades you took were simply data to inform your decision- not to determine it.

Creating Good Test Questions

Adapted from Fair Isn't Always Equal by Rick Wormeli

Choosing Questions

Often tests measure how well a student can take a test rather than how well a student has mastered material. Thus, tests should consist of traditional questions as well as non-traditional questions such as sketches, diagrams, real-life situations, etc. In addition, you should also have an equal balance between forced choice questions (multiple choice, matching, true/false, fill in the blank) with constructed response questions such as short answers, drawings, or charts/graphs. Having different options to demonstrate knowledge ensures that you are measuring knowledge of content rather than test taking abilities!

Efficiency

Good teachers are typically very efficient and able to get a large amount of work done to a high standard in a short period of time. They find ways to make things easier on themselves without sacrificing quality. Allow students the same curesy by setting up their test in a manner that is easy to read and quick to respond to. For example, next to true and false questions write "T F" and have students circle one. Another tip is to reduce page flipping- put needed information and questions all on one page. Also, don't make questions more confusing by adding the word "not" to the question. "Which is not a month: Monday, June, August, September?" This causes students to have to spend more time on those questions and many students misread them. For essay questions, make them clear and give bullet points with expectations for the writing following the prompt for students to check to make sure they followed directions. If they get the question wrong it's because they didn't know the answer, not because they didn't follow directions. Also, consider giving smaller tests over time rather than one large test. It will save you and your students a lot of time and the tests will be more meaningful. Finally, don't have more than two or three similar questions- no need to be redundant! We have so little time with students, let's not make the test take any longer than it needs to or make it any harder on students.

Closing Thoughts

Please don't give timed tests! No one ever has timed tests in real life- it's a school thing.

Assess student the way you taught them. Don't ask them to do things on a test that they have never done before.

Make tests fun by including students' names, famous people (Miley Cyrus often make an appearance), and real-life situations. Students score better on tests after laughter so make them chuckle in their seats with some great questions!

On another note: Please check out my professor's new book!

Ponderment of the Day...

Why does LD stand for learning disability? It should stand for learning difference?!

Tiering Assignments

The following information is adapted from Chapter 5 of "Fair Isn't Always Equal" by Rick Wormeli




As we know our classrooms today are filled with diverse learners. In one classroom teachers have a variety of ability levels, learning modality preferences, multiple intelligences, and lifestyles. When we are tiering assignments and assessments we adapt them to the different needs in our classroom- most often ability levels. This is something that should be done very dramatically at the start of a unit but should slowly fade out so you are no longer tiering as everyone is achieving on grade level. Of course we can't always stop tiering, but it is the goal for the end of a unit.



There are so many fun ways to tier assignments/assessments and the following are some of my favorites!



Bingo or Tic-Tac-Toe Boards

Create a blank Bingo or Tic-Tac-Toe board and fill it with various assignment options. For full credit students must complete 3 (or 5) assignments in a row! I used this for spelling when I interned in 6th grade creating a Bingo board full of various ways to practice spelling according to the main learning modalities as well as research based strategies. Students had to complete 5 practice activities by Friday and have a parent/guardian initial the boxes.





I found another spin off of this idea while subbing in a 3rd grade classroom in Portage, Michigan. The teacher had a giant Tic-Tac-Toe outline on one of her boards and worksheets were taped on to the board. When students finished early they could choose a worksheet to work on and there was a prize for finishing 3 in a row!


Learning Menus
Learning Menus are very similar to Bingo/Tic-Tac-Toe boards and simply list a variety of assignments for students to choose from to meet the requirements of their teacher. I first heard about this strategy when I was in high school and was a tutor in Julie VanDyken's classroom in Jenison. She frequently used learning menus. Each assignment was worth a certain amount of points and each student had an individual point goal they had to reach by a specific due date. There was a variety of assignments to reach children with various multiple intelligences. It was a great system of tiering instruction!


Learning Contracts
Often times students are pulled off to the side in class and/or quietly given a different assignment than their peers. A learning contract is a great way to show students what is expected of them during this time. Learning contracts list the student's responsibilities, the teacher's expectations, the consequences for not living up to those expectations, rewards for working hard, as well as checkpoints/due dates.







Cubing
Students create a cube from poster board. They then write one prompt on each side of the die: describe it, compare it, associate it, analyze it, apply it, argue for it or against it. A topic is given and questions are asked based on what they roll.

Popsicle Sticks
Pam Ide at Winchell Elementary in Kalamazoo writes general comprehension questions on colored Popsicle sticks. She will often assign students to choose a certain colored stick and write a response to the question on the stick. The sticks are color coded for various ability levels so a student who struggles may pick a purple stick while another student in need of an extra challenge may choose a green stick.

There are so many other great ideas for Tiering Assignments in this book as well! What ideas have worked for you?

Tracking During Reading

Students often have difficulty moving from one line to another while reading. Many students in our class use colored popsicle sticks to track their reading. I like this because of the color contrast it's easy for them to see exactly what line they are reading. I read somewhere though that if students put the "tracking devise" above the line they are currently reading, rather than below it, they read more quickly because they can see the words on the next line as well. So far students seem to be reading a lot more words correct in one minute when using this strategy!

P.S. I have no idea why this picture is sideways- I have tried 5,000 different things to get it to flip... it's saved correctly on my computer!

Bombay TV

I heard of a great site where you can add your own subtitles to Bollywood films. I plan to use it in my class Thursday to talk about "voice" in the 6 Traits Writing Curriculum. Here is my example to show the class!

Watch Video!

Here are some examples the kids made during the lesson...
Student Video 1
Student Video 2
Student Video 3

POWER TEACHING!!!

I started Power Teaching this week- links are below to see what it is exactly.

6th Grade Math 1

6th Grade Math 2

11 Year Old Power Teaching

Crazy Professor Game


Below is a link to a video of my 6th graders talking about Power Teaching as well as some of their comments after a few lessons. 26 out of 27 kids in the class LOVED it!!!

Student Feedback on Power Teaching

“I don’t like power teaching because I don’t like to move a lot.”

“I think it is like another resses! Wich means I Love it. It is one of the best things I ever heard of! Well I realy heard it! I think Ms. Shaw and Ms. Roberts class heard it too!”

“I like power teaching because it tends to keep people connected.”

“I liked power teaching. I liked power teaching do to the new class attention and how it is way more exciting.”

“I like power teaching because I like saying yes, yes when she say class, class and it is always crazy. And it’s fun.”

“I like power teaching because it becomes a little more fun and people aren’t always screaming.”

“Yes I like power teaching because it is very energetic. I love energetic and It’s fun while you learn. I heart power teaching.”

“I do like the power teaching meathod. I like it because earn rewards by getting smiles. It’s also kind of cool to answer you with a yes.”

“I like power stuff cuose its hayper.”

“I like power teaching because it is more fun. You get to move around and you don’t have to just sit around and do boring work.
The work is more fun when you get to move around so far I like power teaching.”

“I liked power teaching because it was more energetic than normal school. We didn’t stay still and we got to talk a lot.”

“I like power teaching very much because you get to move around and have miniature one second parties.”

“I do like power teaching because it is full of energy and it envolves the class with the work and it teaches them to pay attention.”

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

Just finished the best book ever! Or, at least the best book I've read in the last 6 months or so... A young boy reads an ad in a newspaper, "Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?". The ad catches his interest and he ends up taking and passing a series of bizarre tests with insane directions. Only 3 others pass and the children, all orphans and all gifted, form the Mysterious Benedict Society. The group is lead by Mr. Benedict, a man with a mission to cause the downfall of a very evil man- a man intending to send messages directly into the minds of the world's citizens and gain control of the world. It's a longer children's novel but is very difficult to put down!

My Brilliant Ideas...

My Two Brilliant Ideas of the Day...

1) Classroom Read Aloud is a must- I don't think anyone will disagree. However, if students each had a copy of the book, yes this would be expensive, read aloud time would also boost fluency. I would alternate days of them following along with days of just listening so perhaps just half a set of classroom books would be needed. Half of the group would follow along while half would just listen- then they'd switch the next day. I think there would be countless benefits from this but perhaps I'll try it out this semester and see what happens.
2) Student Read Aloud You Tube Channel- not sure if this is legal but if a safe classroom youtube account was created. Students could read aloud from the book they are reading and post it on Youtube. Is it legal to read aloud an entire book on youtube?

UDL Resources

Universal design is using technology to make content accessible to all students using their strengths and how they learn best. Universal design eliminates the irrelevant constructs of a lesson or possible "road blocks" to learning. The Number 1 site for more information on this topic is http://www.cast.org/ however, here are a few others!

Curriculum-Based Measurement
http://www.aimsweb.com/
A commercial website for CBM. It is very similar to DIBELS, but includes more academic areas.

http://www.precisionteachingresource.net/
This site provides instruction, tools, and performance standards for improving academic and social behaviors using an instructional measurement practice called Precision Teaching.

http://www.studentprogress.org/
This site is sponsored by the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs. Provides information on monitoring progress.

http://www.progressmonitoring.net/
University of Minnesota sponsored website for the Research Institute on Progress Monitoring.

Note-taking

Diigo.com Highlight and put sticky notes on websites. Access your highlighting from any computer! http://www.eleven21.com/notetaker/ Print off sheets to take notes on for class.

Study Skills

http://quizlet.com/
Make flashcards to help you study.

Survey Creator
http://www.surveymonkey.com/
Create your own survey and see the data on this free website.

Mathematics
http://www.math.harvard.edu/~knill/mathmovies/index.html
Find clips from movies dealing with math.

Reading Fluency
http://librivox.org/
Listen to books online for free.

http://www.starfall.com/
Read easy reader books online. Allows readers to click on words they don’t know. There are also games.

http://ebooks.mlcnet.org/B5A65E3D-87A6-4085-B26F-D104244F5DC5/10/230/en/Default.htm
Free online audio books for individuals to check out through their public library account for two weeks. Great for students to have a hard copy of a book along with an audio copy to follow along with!

Writing
http://www.grapheine.com/bombaytv/index.php?lang=uk
Add subtitles to a Bollywood video. Great for teaching "voice" in the 6 Traits.

http://easybib.com/
Automatic citation maker.

http://www.fodey.com/generators/newspaper/snippet.asp

Write a story and have it look like a newspaper clipping!

http://www.piclits.com/compose_dragdrop.aspx
Add words to a photograph that you find captivating.

Social Studies
http://www.capzles.com/
Create virtual time capsule slideshows set to music.

Word Processing

http://www.buzzword.com/#o

Internet-based word processing. Documents are saved online in your account.

https://www.pdfonline.com/convert_pdf.asp

Convert Word Files to PDF and have them emailed to you.

Communication/Networking

http://twitter.com/

Let friends and family know what you are up to.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php

Stay in touch with friends and create events.

Teaching Strategies
http://www.fcrr.org/
Florida Center for Reading Research

http://www.cec.sped.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home
Council for Exceptional Children

http://www.imbes.org/
International Mind, Brain, Education Society

http://www.ldonline.org/
LD Online

http://www.interventioncentral.org/
Intervention Central

http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/
The IRIS Center

http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/
What Works Clearinghouse

http://dww.ed.gov/index.cfm
Doing What Works

http://homepages.wmich.edu/~whitten/
Website for Dr. Elizabeth Whitten- click on “Strategy Bibliography” for strategies


Blogs for Educators
http://www.techsavvyed.net/
A blog on integrating technology in the classroom.

http://planetesme.blogspot.com/

A blog on only the best children's lit from the official expert in readiology!

Disciplined Teaching

Howard Gardner defines discipline as:

• Working steadily on a craft.


• Expert status in an area and continuing to be an expert by continuing your education.

“If I don’t practice for a day- I know it, if I don’t practice for a week- the
orchestra knows it, if I don’t practice for a month- everyone knows it.” –Arthur
Rubinstein

I hope I continue to learn something new every day and grow as a teacher. I do not want to become stagnant by not trying anything new or learning about new ideas. I want to be as up-to-date on all new ideas as a student just coming out of college- only with the background knowledge of an experienced teacher.

Leader v. Creator

What is the difference between a leader and a creator? I watched a video today called Creativity and Leadership: Making the Mind Extraordinary, Howard Gardner: In-Depth (1998). It was quite interesting and asked the question- what makes a great leader or creator?

Leaders- lead through stories, ideas, and the way they lead their lives. They directly share with audiences and have linguistic and interpersonal talents. They have a rhythm of success and failure however, they do not quit when they fail. They reflect after a failure to determine what to do better next time. They take risks and say what's on their mind. They have high energy and always need to be in charge of something.

Creators- solve problems, fashion products, and ask questions within a specific domain in a novel manner. Their work is acceptable in their culture. They share their ideas in more indirect ways such as through essays, theories, and other means.

So what are you... a leader or a creator?