Teachers Pay Teachers

Have you ever thought, "Why in the world am I making this? Don't you think someone might have already made this?" Well, you may save yourself a LOT of time by checking out TeachersPayTeachers. I don't actually sell items on there, but they do have a plethora of FREE items and downloads. (Just make sure to thank the kind teachers that you borrow from.) You know what they say: Time is Money- well if you are a creative individual and want to support your teaching addiction, think about putting some of your items up for payment.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/

Winding Down

As we wind down the school year, it is such a bittersweet time. I'm thrilled to get to spend some catch-up time with my family. I also have started to realize how short summer-time is with how full it is getting with sports, swimming, and conferences/work. What types of activities do you do in the summer with your kids to keep them active and learning?

Here is a neat LiveBinder that has a Virtual Summer Camp. I have REALLY enjoyed Twitter and the resources shared on there. Please make sure to check out the links I've posted there also. I try to post there more often than here. Soon, though I'll get caught up on this blog. Happy end of the year! :)

New Website- First Grade

http://anotherdayinfirstgrade.blogspot.com/

I came upon this website from some of my "friends" on Twitter. I have to say, it is very appealing, informative and useful. I hope she'll continue to update and share what she's doing in the classroom. It is a motivation and inspiration.

Website Wednesday- Twitter

I just started using Twitter more lately as a professional development tool. I have found some very thoughtful insights from other educators as well as some great links for teacher tools and resources. On the right hand side of this blog, you can follow me on Twitter, even if you don't join! I try to post things that I think would be most useful to myself and those around me that follow. If you haven't given Twitter a try, I would highly recommend it! Just in the week that I've tried using it more, I have loved it.  

Website Wednesday- WordSift

WordSift is a new wonder for me. I came across it after a recommendation by a friend. I like how it helps to visualize text and also helps to break it down. I am thinking that some of what I posted in it could have been organized better, but its still pretty interesting to use. Why don't you go try it? :)

Website Wednesday- Mensa for Kids

Somehow this post did not publish last Wednesday when I had it scheduled. :( With how busy I've been with classes and work, I have tried to maintain posting on the weekend but schedule them throughout the week.

As I find an increasing need to challenge my son, I also have been enjoying doing this fun activities and games with him. I'll have to admit that he does beat me sometimes. I don't think that means anything really. :)

 

http://www.mensaforkids.org/

Website Wednesday- Free Reading

As a teacher passionate about reading, I have to pass this website along for you. This is a great resource to also share with parents that are trying to help their child with reading.

http://www.freereading.net/

Website Wednesday- Education World

I realize I have taken a little bit of an absense from this blog. I've been home on a few sick days. :( One website that I'd love to share is Education World. It has a plethora of wonderful of tools and resources for teachers. I can't say enough great things about it. Maybe you can add some comments of how you'd used it or what you like about it????? 

http://www.educationworld.com/

Website Wednesday- Best on the Web

This is a website that I currently just found while I was researching some websites on differentiated instruction. By the way, last Wednesday, I introduced Livebinders.com to you and if you'd like to link to my differentiated instruction binder, by all means, please do! I scoured the web searching for helpful links to help classroom teachers.

http://connections.smsd.org/nieman/best.htm

Website Wednesday- Livebinder

One of my classes this semester introduced me to LiveBinder.com. It is such a neat website. Besides creating my own livebinder, I have explored many others related to education and reading. I am a avid Delicious fan, but livebinder just might grow on me! :)

http://livebinders.com/
Have a great Wednesday! We're on our 3rd snow day. This is VERY rare!

Website Wednesday- Have Fun Teaching

When was the last time you used the words "fun" and "teaching" in the same sentence? Ok, speaking fairly, the sentence, "who's taken all the fun out of teaching?" doesn't count! This website was presented to me at a conference I went to awhile back and it has a tremendous amount of resources that are ready to go and might possibly put the F-U-N back into your teaching. Wouldn't that be great!

http://www.havefunteaching.com/

For Kids

As a parent and teacher of students that are labeled 'gifted', I personally, do not like putting labels on kids because really, almost all children can fit into labels at one point or another and I almost think its unfair to some degree. So, as I was going to title this post: "For Kids that Need Enriching Activities", I realized that would mean ALL kids. So, then I thought of a few other posts that I would deem politically uncorrect or just plain not-fitting: For the Kids that we Label as Gifted; Finding "Stuff" for those Kids that Finish Early; Activities Designed to Buy you Time While you Figure these Kids Out. . . . until finally, I just labeled this post- "For Kids".


While I might use these links for my 2nd grader, you might use them for a 7th grader you're working with. Or while some kindergartners might use these links, so also might some college kids. So, these links are what I use to provide some challenging thinking time for my son, who as you saw in the previous post, needs a bit of a challenge from time to time.


Brain Food and Lateral Thinking Puzzles: (If you Google this, you will find a bunch of other great sites too.)
http://www.rinkworks.com/brainfood/p/latreal1.shtml


Content Standards:
http://math.ncwiseowl.org/
http://www.internet4classrooms.com/




Differentiating Instruction: (Also, Google this term and you will find a plethora of resources. If you find a great one, please share in the comments below. I'd appreciate it!)
http://members.shaw.ca/priscillatheroux/differentiating.html
http://eht.k12.nj.us/~Jonesj/Differentiated%20Instruction/1%20DI%20Strategies%20hi-low%20prep.htm
http://www.teach-nology.com/tutorials/teaching/differentiate/planning/


Gifted Education Sites and Help:
http://school.familyeducation.com/gifted-education/cognitive-psychology/38660.html
http://www.nagc.org/
http://school.familyeducation.com/gifted-education/parenting/34535.html

As I mentioned above (hopefully), I'd love feedback and comments with resources (links preferred) that you use with any kids that you work with.

Website Wednesday- Book Adventure

I hope you haven't been holding your breath since my last "Website Wednesday" post. I had a bit of a blog break for awhile. Now that I've returned, I'd like to share another wonderful website:

http://www.bookadventure.com/

My computer is not letting me do a screen capture right now to show you how neat this website looks, but just click the link and find out for yourself! This is a FREE website sponsored by Sylvan Learning. My 2nd grader loves playing games, doing the quiz-o-matic for prizes, and finding books. I use it at school to help with my students, especially the ones that are struggling to find the perfect book. This site doesn't list all the books in the world, but it does a good job of narrowing down the level, topic or interests, and priority of book suggestions. Think how long that would have taken us in the card-catalog days! :)

Happy Wednesday and if you are in the land of Oz- Stay warm snow buddies!

Website Wednesday

I've taken a bit of a break over the summer but thought I'd start "Website Wednesday" for those of you that are teachers and would like to play on some neat websites. If you'd like an entire list click on the label below this post. Also, I'd love to hear of websites that you have or use in your classroom.

Today's website is: http://www.internet4classrooms.com/

This is a website that has LOTS (absolutely TONS) of activities based on standards. Granted they are not our particular state standards, but they are close and as teachers we know what we are to be teaching and what is "extra" so that's why I'd encourage you to test out the sites before introducing them to your class. If you have a SMART Board in your classroom, you'll see that most of the websites for addressing the standards are interactive.