Useful websites for lesson plans

1. Useful websites for lesson plans

2. http://www.funbrain.com/teachers/index.html Fun brain offers games for your class to play. Also can be used to print flash cards for classroom. • http://www.proteacher.net/ ProTeacher Community offers friendly help and support to thousands of teachers across the United States and around the world. This website has thousands of active and changing discussions for early childhood, elementary, middle and high school teachers and staff.

3. http://teachers.net/ this website offers lots of lesson plan, classroom management plan etc. • http://www.scholastic.com/home/ Free offerings like teaching recourses, activities, book lists and lesson plans for children’s literature. • http://www.abcteach.com/ offers wealth of strategies, lessons, and activities designed to help young children learn. • \

4. http://www.readwritethink.org/ this websites “provides you with access to the highest quality practices in reading and language arts instruction by offering the very best in free materials”. It is partnered with International Reading Association (IRA) and National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). You can browse their lesson plans by grade level, learning objective, or by theme.

5. http://www.fcrr.org/ The Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR) is a multidisciplinary research center at Florida State University. FCRR conducts research on reading instructions, reading development, and reading assessments. It also studies effective prevention and intervention methods. To find student center activities and instructional routines go to ‘for educators’  ‘student center activities’ and select a grade level.

6. http://www.angelamaiers.com/2009/12/minilessons-2009-a-year-with-teachers-a-year-with-students.html This is a link to Angela Maiers’ blog. She is an educator, an author, and an advocate for innovative education. This link will take you to her mini-lesson videos. These are videos of actual lessons that you can adapt for your future students.

7. http://readingminilessons.wikispaces.com/ This is a collection of reading lessons that support the reading workshop approach. It includes English Language Arts curriculum map, lessons on comprehension strategies, and rubrics. • http://www.storylineonline.net/activity-guides/ This website has videos featuring celebrities reading quality children’s books. Each book on Storylineonline has activities guide developed by early education specialist to help strengthen comprehension.

8. http://vcuhvlibrary.uhv.edu/ click on education add your user name = people soft password and then click login. Advanced search screen will give you more option like for science you can enter rocks and elementary school. You will be able to see articles and lesson plans related to the subject. • http://www.sciencebuddies.org/ If you are looking for inspiration for a science fair project? In need of fun, classroom science experiments? Science Buddies has over 1,000 Project Ideas in all areas of science.

9. Websites For Classroom Use www.blog.ixl.com

10. Classroom websites • www.brainpop.com & www.brainpopjr.com– These websites not only provide educational videos, but there are also interactive games that could be used with the class or individually in a computer center. • www.readinga-z.com– This website offers free samples including; leveled reading, fluency, and phonics. There are also downloadable books that can be projected to use with whole group, or made accessible in a computer center. It also offers worksheets and other teacher resources. • www.tumblebook.com– This website provides read-alongs, ebooks, graphic novels, audio books, educational videos, and even streaming audio books. www.ncpl.net

11. More classroom websites • www.exchange.smarttech.com – At this website there are powerpointactivities to use with students of all ages. It allows you to search by; subject, grade level, file type, and state standard. • www.ixl.com – This website provides practice with math and language arts through interactive activities and games for students. • www.reflexmath.com – This website is used for individual students to practice math fluency. It also tracks student success. This will help in the planning of future lessons or assessing enrichment needs. www.clipatrguide.com

12. Social Media Etiquette for Teachers The Dos and Don’ts of Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, etc.

13. Facebook & Twitter • Do not use vulgar language in your facebook or twitter posts or any of the picture quotes • Keep your pictures clean…..don’t post any drunk pictures and if you have pics of yourself out drinking with friends on there, hide the alcohol in the pic • Don’t post any pics of your students on facebook or twitter or any statuses discussing private issues you are having with students or other teachers

14. Pinterest • Use Pinterest only for professional use at school • Keep your Pinterest ideas for your life outside of school (wedding ideas, cooking ideas, house décor ideas, etc.) separate from your teaching ideas found on Pinterest

15. Email • Only use email for professional use at school • Keep your personal emails separate from your professional emails • Try to stay off of the computer unless you are using it for teaching purposes until your conference period or before or after school

16. You Tube • You Tube is a great teaching tool…just be careful when you use it! • Always preview the videos and songs you want to use with your class before showing them! And try to avoid pop-ups! • Make sure they relate to something you are teaching!

17. Professional Development Websites

18. Local Professional Development Resources • https://www.escweb.net/tx_esc_04/default.aspx -Region 4 Education Service Center provides professional development courses and events that focus on helping educators succeed in providing the highest quality education to all students. There is a wide variety of professional development opportunities available every month for reasonable costs and they are held in Houston. • http://www.cmhouston.org/professional-development/ - The Children’s Museum of Houston offers professional development workshops for teaching literacy, math , science, art, technology, and more. All workshops are TEKS aligned and involve active learning instead of only lecturing. Walk away with activities you can immediately implement into your classroom and receive a guide for more activity ideas. The cost of most workshops is $25 but some are free. There is an Educator Open House on January 25, 2014 from 9am- 1pm that is free and offers interactive, hands- on workshops for pre-k thru 5th grade.

19. Local Professional Development Resources- Con’t • http://neuhaus.org/- The Neuhaus Education Center. Neuhaus has devoted 30 years to researching and developing comprehensive literacy solutions to prevent reading failure. They provide professional development for effective reading instruction to teachers. You may take on-line or in-house classes, attend seminars and join a network of reading teachers. The services are not limited to educators; they also provide support and resources to families. The center is located on Bissonnet, just inside Loop 610 in Bellaire.

20. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS • http://www.atpe.org/ - Association of Texas Professional Educators (ATPE) • http://www.tsta.org/ Texas State Teachers Association (TSTA) , an affiliate of : National Educational Association (NEA) http://www.nea.org/ • https://tcta.org/ - Texas Classroom Teachers Association (TCTA) • Professional Organizations for educators that provide protection, advocacy and resources. Members receive liability insurance, employment rights defense and legal assistance. Members’ views and concerns on education issues are advocated with state agencies and in Washington, D.C. Members also have access to quality publications and professional workshops, development opportunities and support thru webinars that cover topics such as Classroom Management, Parental Involvement/Outreach, Supporting Multiple Intelligences through Technology and Stress Management. Membership fees vary and they offer college students and Teacher Trainees Free membership .

21. Certification Exams

22. PPR • http://www.testprepreview.com/texes_practice.htm • http://www.gobookee.org/texes-ppr-practice-exam/ • http://store.ets.org/store/ets/DisplayCategoryProductListPage/categoryID.35697300 • http://www.testpreppractice.net/TEXES/texes-ppr-exam.html

23. http://www.testprepreview.com/texes_practice.htm

24. http://www.gobookee.org/texes-ppr-practice-exam/

25. http://store.ets.org/store/ets/DisplayCategoryProductListPage/categoryID.35697300http://store.ets.org/store/ets/DisplayCategoryProductListPage/categoryID.35697300

26. Generalist • www.240tutoring.com/abouttexes.com/abouttexes.aspx • www.certifyteacher.com • http://www.gobookee.org/pass-the-texes-generalist-ec-6/ • http://www.rea.com/texes/texes192/TExES192_OnlineDiagTest.pdf

27. http://www.gobookee.org/pass-the-texes-generalist-ec-6/

28. http://www.rea.com/texes/texes192/TExES192_OnlineDiagTest.pdfhttp://www.rea.com/texes/texes192/TExES192_OnlineDiagTest.pdf

29. Helpful Websites

30. Educational Websites • BrainPop Jr. teaches subjects in grades k-3rd. There are several educational videos, quizzes, tests, lesson plans and activities to use related to any subject or topic area. • http://www.brainpopjr.com/ • BrainPop teaches grades k-8th it is the same as BrainPop Jr. except it includes grades higher than 3rd. (Generalist Study Hint: Study and watch BrainPop videos because they cover all the TEKs) • http://www.brainpop.com/

31. Organization Ideas • It is important as a professional teacher to have an organized classroom, because this avoid missing assignments and preparing ahead of time. • An organized classroom helps students use function and placement. The students are aware were to find materials and where to turn in material and so on…

33. Creative Classrooms • Think outside the box, by thinking creatively in designing and decorate your ideal classroom. Use the space in the classroom to have important educational stations to guide all learners and engage students’ interests. • Use the internet to find ideas or get inspired. • http://thebrownbagteacher.blogspot.com/2013/06/oh-how-pinteresting-classroom-decor.html