Educational Websites

Throughout my education I have found many useful websites. Many of them can be used at home by the students and their parents, or can also be used as a center activity. My favorite website is Starfall.com . It is full of many wonderful educational games young students can play. There are different stages that the student or parent can click on. For preschool and Kindergarden the first two links ABC's and Learn to Read will probably be used the most. For the older students there are It's Fun to Read and I'm Reading links available full of fun educational games. There are stories to read, tongue twisters, magic and art games that incorporate reading. When students are at the I'm Reading level they can select different categories of what they like to read. From folk tales and comics, to greek myths and plays, there is sure to be something every student can enjoy. There are also seasonal games to play and create things as well as a create your own calendar that helps students learn how to read and use a calendar correctly. I have used this website many times and will do so in the future with my students.

Alabama Learning Exchange

ALEX (Alabama Learning Exchange) has many tools to help educators. One can easily click on the "Courses of Study" link, click on any subject, and then select a grade level. There he/she will find different topics within selected grade and subject that they might need more information on in order to teach effectively. There are lesson plans that can be accessed from the subject section, or by clicking on the "Lesson Plans" link and selecting fields from the menu and then searching for what one needs. For even more education to help the educator become more proficient, the educator can click on the "Professional Learning" link for learning tools, latest educator news and the best practices.If one has any problems with ALEX or just needs some help making lesson plans etc. there is a help link and a soon to be available "support round table". Also Teachers can submit their own lesson plans as well by becoming a member. This helps out teachers by being able to share lesson plans not only with teachers in your school, but teachers throughout Alabama. ALEX is a wonderful resource tool and I believe having it available helps teachers educate better. The more resources and knowledge available, the better off we all are.

Google Documents

Google has a great resource called Google documents. With everything costing a lot these days this is a great free resource to have. If a student does not have Word or perhaps has an apple computer and therefore has Pages, which is not compatible with Word, the student can use Google Documents.

It is extremely easy to get to but some things may require a little bit of looking around. First the student creates a free Gmail account. One can either type in gmail.com into the address page or can go to google.com and click on the gmail link. After the gmail account is created there is a link at the top left that says documents. The student clicks the link and then can start creating a document. Not only are Word documents available but the student can also create excel spreadsheets. After the document is created the student can click on save a copy and select the format they want to save it as onto their computer. It can also be saved in their documents and be accessed just by logging back into their email account.

Some features take some looking around to find and use, but for an everyday paper it is a great free and easy tool to use. I have already used it many times from my apple computer and found it to get the job done well. All students should hear about this great resource.

Blogs

Blogs are a great educational tool. Teachers can use them as a way to communicate with both the students and their parents. Parents are able to see firsthand some of the things their child is learning in the class as well as how the teacher interacts with the students. Does the teacher give clear and precise directions? Does the teacher answer questions the students have? Does the teacher put for the time to make sure every child has the necessary tools to accomplish the task? These questions and more can be addressed by the parents just by logging onto the blog page. They can communicate with the teacher and so can the students if they have any questions. Students can also share their work on the blogs. Overall Blogs are great tools that, used properly, can aid in the education of our youth.

Podcasts

Podcasts are a great educational tool that are not widely known about yet. Podcasts are free and can be found by downloading iTunes, accessing the iTunes Store and clicking on podcasts. There is an educational link called iTunesU which is full of educational podcasts. There are some that are designed for teachers to learn more about technology tools in the classroom and how to use them. There are also video podcasts that can be downloaded and used as an educational reference shown to the students. The possiblities are endless when it comes to podcasts and they are definetly a resource all teachers should look into.

To download iTunes Click here