Teaching middle school is not for the faint of heart. But if you're called to do it, you know there's nothing else quite like it. Join us in discussing what works - and what doesn't.
Must-see websites?
Hi all. I'm compiling a list of the education sites that you go to every day when you log on -- the go-to place for lesson plans, curriculum ideas, a quick grabs for those national holidays that catch us all off guard, or the 100th anniversary of such and such. Thanks for your help.
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Super Sites
Thinkfinity
National Geographic Xpeditions
CultureGrams
Asia Society
CBBC (children's BBC)
NY Times Lesson Plans
theteacherscorner.net - printable maps and crossword puzzles
slideshare.net - some good powerpoints
freerice.com - online vocab and other subjects practice
freepoverty.com - online geography game
Learner.org - Annenberg media resources
Especially for ELA/R teachers
readwritethink.org
OWL at Purdue U
The Blue Book of Grammar & Punctuation
eslflashcards.com
spellanywhere.com
rickwalton.com
and always freerice.com
The Practice Project
A couple of years ago I began working with kids around the country on the Practice Project, an initiative of What Kids Can Do whose central question was "What does it take to get really good at something?" After bringing student voices to the subject of classroom culture in "Fires in the Bathroom" and "Fires in the Middle School Bathroom," I wanted to go deeper with them into the nuts and bolts of motivations and mastery--and those conversations ended up in a new book, "Fires in the Mind." On our blog, I'm posting weekly "Fire-Starters" from teachers who tell what grabs their kids' interest at the start of a curriculum unit and keeps them engaged even after the material gets hard. I'd love to cross-link with this discussion! And I hope you'll stop by to download materials and leave your own Fire-Starters on the blog, at www.FiresInTheMind.org
Just a couple
Edhelper (www.edhelper.com) - has so much stuff; membership required but it's pretty cheap
RubiStar (http://rubistar.4teachers.org/)- for rubrics; I really love it and it's free!
Byrd Seed Gifted Lessons (http://www.byrdseed.com/)- great info; and not just for gifted students!
Edutopia - of course!
Playful Learning Site
have you seen Imagination Soup? http://imaginationsoup.net?
www.mathsnacks.org - Math Snacks are short animations and mini–games designed to help learners "get it." Each snack presents a mathematical concept, particularly those addressed in grades 6, 7 and 8. Ideal for use in a classroom or on your own, they can even be placed on mobile devices for "homework". The accompanying print materials can assist learners in applying their conceptual understanding to math problems.
Math Snacks were developed by NMSU's Media Productions and tested in the Learning Game Lab.
Technology Education Design
TED talks at www.ted.com is always a great site for educators and learners of all ages.
DAVE'S TOP 10 WEBSITES FOR THE CLASSROOM
Not in any particular order but I enjoy all these resources:
#10 http://www.professorgarfield.org/pgf_home.html
#9 http://kidblog.org/home.php
#8 http://www.thatquiz.org/
#7 http://www.arcademicskillbuilders.com/
#6 http://members.shaw.ca/gf3/circle-the-cat.html
#5 http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/
#4 http://www.storylineonline.net/
#3 http://www.abcya.com/
#2 http://www.studyzone.org/testprep/index.cfm
#1 http://www.fcrr.org/SCASearch/
It would be great if everyone could share websites like that too. I used to belong to a list called MiddleWeb which did that also and they had discussions about books etc. Since I left my job as a teaching assistant I am no longer on the list but it was a wonderful way to network information.