Index Cards

I have seen this idea floating around Pinterest, so I thought this would make the perfect index card assignment! If I implement this in my future classroom, I would put velcro on the backs of the cards and on the students desks. They can neatly keep these three cards in their desks, and when we are working on a new (or old) concept, they can take the card out that best fits their understanding that way I know who understands it and who still needs help.

My second index card assignment, I can't take full credit for. While browsing Teachers Pay Teachers I found a free resource for parents. I just took the idea and created my own. This index cards lets parents know if/why their child didn't complete their homework assignment. I would staple this to the top of the assignment before I put it in the students folder to take home.

Hope you enjoy! =)

Google Form

This is an online, interactive forms for parents to fill out so that I can get to know their children and the important information we need to know as teachers! 

I wanted to share a funny one with you this morning! =)

 

Kid-Friendly Search Engines

As I looked into some kid-friendly search engines, two of them stood out to me. They are KidRex.org and SafeSearchKids.com. I have found some pro's and con's to both search engines. 

Pros:
*It looks inviting and kid-friendly
*The main screen is easy to navagate
*Search results are easy to navigate through

 Cons:
*I couldn't find a place to search for images

Pros:
*You can search for images 
*Good resources come through the search results
*Parents and teachers can control the filters

Cons: 
*I don't like all the different links on the side of the page, this makes it easy for the students to get off the main website

Kidspiration

I stumbled upon Kidspiration while researching Inspiration Software. This software offers visual representations of ideas and the ability to link them together. This program does waaay more than I thought it would. I actually went to Google.com and searched for images of Kidspiration. After looking at some of the screenshots I decided that this might be worth purchasing. It was a little more than I would of liked, but I can see the potential in it. I even found a couple of things that my boys could benefit from right now. 

Not only does this program help students map out their reading and writing concepts, they also have Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies. There are different activities within each section. I will warn you now, there might a few too many pictures by the time I get done with this post, but I want you to be able to see what this software is capable of. 

Here is the main menu for Kidspiration.

Here is the view after you select Reading View from the main menu. I added a whole bunch of clipart to the picture so that you could get an idea of the variety of the clipart offered within the software. 

This is the writing view.

This is the math view. From here you can go into different activities using the tools provided. I will provide a screenshot inside the Color Tiles option.

I have selected the Reading and Writing Activities option. This brings you to a menu with a variety of different activities you can do. I will post Beginning Letters below. 

You get the same type of menu to pick activities from with Math, Science, and Social Studies. I will just post one activity from each subject below. =)

 Time of the Day activity.

 Balanced Meal activity.

And 50 States activity. =)






 

ReadWriteThink.org

As teachers we are always on the lookout for new tools to keep in our back pockets for future reference. One tool I will keep for sure is ReadWriteThink.org. I explored this website and discovered that is has a lot of templates that students can use to help them organize their writing process. I did a PowerPoint presentation showing how to set up a book cover.

 If I need to list out my steps in a comment because the pictures are too hard to read, please let me know!

Design - Plan - Act Model

The Design - Plan - Act Model is a series of three steps to help teachers plan their lesson accordingly and to fit into the time frame they have for teaching the standards required.

Step one is design. In this step teachers study up on the standards that they are required to teach for their grade level. This is where the Dynamic Instructional Design comes into play. This is like a template that will help teachers design their lesson plan so that no important information is missed. (I think Laura is doing her research on the DID model, I can't wait to see it so I can see what the rest of this step looks like! =))

Step two is plan. As a teacher, it is important for us to let our students know what they are getting ready to focus on. This is also where we write out the objectives we wish to achieve daily. Next, is to systematically prepare the classroom. This entails getting the classroom ready with whatever supplies are needed to reach the daily objectives. We need to detail the steps in the pedagogical cycle, identity what other materials and technologies we might need to present the lesson, and finally we check for success. No lesson is ever perfect, nor will it always go as planned. It is important to have a backup plan. And even more important to look back at what worked and what didn't, and revise it for next time.

Step three, and the final step is act. Before you present the lesson, make sure to review it. And than it is time to put into play what you have prepared. Having a daily to-do list can be a very handy thing to have. This will help keep you on track to helping your students achieve their objectives.

I did find one tool that looks promising, but you have to be associated with a school in order to sign up. I did see a place where an instructor can request accounts for their pre-service teachers. I would be more than happy to look into doing this is anyone is interested! =) The website www.teachersweb.com. Here I stumbled across a DAP template. It has a place to enter all of the information you need for the DAP model. Here is the link DAP Model Template

Link to LiveBinder

I absolutely LOVE Pinterest! I probably spend way to much of my time of there, but there are soooo many great resources on there, I can't help it! =) I love Pinterest because there are soo many GREAT ideas from fellow teachers, tried and true ideas that WORK! When it comes to some things, why reinvent the wheel when there are so many great resources out there that fellow teachers post to share with all of us? Pinterest is my place to go to get some great inspiration. My biggest problem is, I will pin something, but forget to go back and actually implement the idea that I saved. Why? Because I forgot I pinned it! This is where LiveBinder will easily become my second favorite tool of all time!!!!!!

LiveBinder has provided me a place to organize and save all of the priceless resources I have found via Pinterest. Here is the link to my very first LiveBinder! I hope you all enjoy and can find something that you can use!

Classroom Resources <<<<<click there to go to my LiveBinder! =)