E-Educational Resources

As I prepare for my student teaching, it has come to my attention that teachers are creating lists of online resources that can be used in their classrooms and at home. My goal for this post is to give you a detailed list of the most popular "free" online resources that students enjoy.

FunBrain.com is part of the Family Education Network. This site gives students the opportunity to develop their reading skills, play math games for further enrichment, and sign up for Poptropica. Poptropica is an educational multi-player virtual world where students can compete with one another in games and get rewards/points for each "island mission" they complete.

FactMonster.com is a homework help website for kids. In addition to providing an almanac, encyclopedia, and dictionary, FactMonster also has games and quizzes for when students want to take a break from studying.

TumbleBooks.com is an online book database for schools and public libraries. These ebooks for kids range from elementary to high school level and are an interactive way for students to check their understanding.

Starfall.com is a fun reading program primarily for kids in pre-k to second grade. The site is an "inexpensive way to make the classroom more fun and inspire a love of reading and writing."

StudyIsland.com is an educational tool for students in grades 3-5. It is a web-based state standard practice tool to prepare students for the PSSA's.

BrainPop.com is an animated education site for kids. It provides videos and simulations based on the different subjects taught in school.

Most of the sites I listed above are ones that I have used in the classroom many times. StudyIsland is an extremely popular site due to the fact that it is important that students do well on their state exams and schools make AYP. Starfall and Tumblebooks I have only seen used in the lower grades pre-k to second, but depending on reading level, students in middle and high school may also benefit. Finally, BrainPop is similar to YouTube, except that it has less variety and is directly linked to the subjects taught in schools.

*photo from South Suburban Humane Society

Educational Newsletters - News You Can Use?

The Internet provides a vast amount of resources for educators. Teachers are subscribing to educational newsletters and blogs in an attempt to stay informed and as a way to improve their practice. The question is which newsletters can give you timely news you can use? We all know that it is impossible to read every email you receive while teaching, especially those that are not directly from parents, students, family or administrators. So is it worth it to subscribe? I would say "yes and no." A quick fix is subscribing to them as an RSS feed and setting up a Google Reader account to access the news feeds all in one place. This limits the clog factor, and the easy to browse feature of Google Reader is a timesaver. But it is only worth being a subscriber if you actually read the newsletter or at least skim it for something that you find interesting or beneficial for your classroom. Otherwise, they merely clog up your email waiting to be deleted. Because these newsletters are free, there is a temptation to subscribe to many of them. However, with so many coming in on a daily basis you risk missing the important information in the very good ones.

Educational newsletters range from being about "What's New" to "Job Listings.” There are a handful that I find interesting and thought provoking.

General Information: While it is not necessary to read all of these, any one of the first three does a good job of keeping you informed of important education news for the week. The US DOE news feeds are geared toward federal funding and education policies/resources.

ASCD Smartbrief is published by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD). ASCD is a membership organization that publishes several different newsletters. Its Smart Brief is a free, daily e-newsletter that provides summaries and links to top education stories of the day.

Education-World is a website designed for educators that offers valuable resources for writing lesson plans, professional development, classroom supplies, or technology integration. It offers 11 different newsletters! The good news is that the newsletters are geared for different interests from lesson plans to early childhood. I like Ed World's Education News Headlines Newsletter which provides news summaries on topics like No Child Left Behind, technology in the classroom and behavior management. All the summaries come from articles published that week in national journals and newspapers like The New York Times.

EdWeek Update is a weekly e-newsletter that includes top stories from its publication, Education Week, on general topics, and is similar to ASCD Smart Brief and Education World’s News Headlines Newsletter.

The U.S. Department of Education also offers news feeds that includes press releases, funding opportunities, No Child Left Behind, and federal learning resources.

Curriculum News and Lesson Planning: Generally speaking if you need lesson plans there are many excellent websites that offer high quality lesson plans easily searched by topic and grade. So why get a newsletter? If you are an English teacher, it is best to stay abreast of the latest curriculum and teaching strategies for English teachers. The same is true for math and science teachers. Here are some free newsletters that are highly recommended in English, Math and Science that are well laid out and easy to skim for useful information.

NCTE Inbox (Language Arts) published by the National Council of English Teachers.
NSTA Express (Science) from the National Science Teachers Association
Math Forum Internet News from the Math Forum at Drexel University
Also Middle Web has an excellent newsletter that is geared for middle schoolers but often includes articles that are great for all grades.

Educational Technology: My favorites are:

E-Learning Insider published by the E-Learning Guild and any of Eduhound’s excellent newsletters. E-Learning Guild also offers an E-learning Blog Aggregator.

Happy reading!!

*photo from Natural Dog Food Co.*