Throughout my years of teaching, I try to implement additional resources in my lessons. There are times I find myself looking for these resources from materials that I already have. After days of researching for these resources, I find myself getting frustrated by the lack of resources that I can use in my lessons. Every year I develop a black history unit and I have difficulty finding resources to implement in my lessons. This year I wanted my students to be more engaged in the lessons, I decided to implement more technology in my unit. After several hours of researching, I was able to find exactly what I was looking for. I believed that my 2nd graders will be engaged and motivated throughout this unit.
As a Seminole County Public school teacher, I am able to access the website to find additionally resources. One of my favorite resources is located under the student tab. There you will find a link call Tumble books that provide electronic books and other digital resources for both teachers and students. Students of all ages have access to EBSCOhost, SCPS library, Grolier Online and other resources. The website provides resources for teachers as well. Teachers have the opportunity to sign up for Professional development courses like blackboard and teacher center. The website also provides useful links on FCAT and PTA information for parents.
The Florida Department of Education provides useful information for teachers, students and parents. Students have the opportunity to access the new podcast. The podcast was designed for middle school students to encourage a love for reading and it gives them the opportunity to connect with their favorite authors. Teachers can find useful information such as instructional resources to use in their classrooms. There is also information and resources for parents, community and administrators.
During this week reading, I was able to visit three great websites. I decided to focus my search on one of the units that I usually teach to my class each year. That unit was Black History. The first website I decided to research was eduHound (www.eduhound.com) . I was amazed at all of the links that was available for educators. I decided to use quite a few of those sources for my unit. The second site I visited was FirstGov for Kids (www.kids.gov) . There teachers and students can find links to government and other kids sites. This week I took my class to the lab and they were allowed to navigate the site and find information for their report. The third site I visited was Ask for kids (http://www.askids.com/) . My students also had the opportunity to navigate through this website and I was surprised how kid friendly and age appropriate the site was. While searching for more information, I decided to search YouTube and Teacher tube for great videos to implement in the unit. I was so excited that my students would be able to see these videos and learn about the struggles that African American had to endure during the civil rights movement.
I truly enjoyed reading and searching for great resources for my lessons. I’m looking forward to the great resources I will find for my next unit.
Carrene,
ReplyDeleteI feel your frustrations of having to search and search for engaging materials to use in your classroom! It seems that you are a great teacher striving to keep your lessons for your students new and entertaining. I am sure your second grade students will appreciate and see the lesson as successful. I think that it is wonderful that your second grade students are already learning how to appropriately search the internet at a younger age. At my school we have a computer lab that students in kindergarten even attend! When I began teaching, I was surprised how quickly younger children can learn how to use a computer. By researching safe sites, your students and you can feel more confident letting the students explore the websites at their leisure.
You say your research YouTube for videos - in Brevard County we are unable to access videos to show in our classroom. I wasn't as impressed with TeacherTube and the selection available for use. Have you ever tried Discovery Education? It is a great video streaming website that is free and easy to navigate!
Thank you for your incite and recommendations for educational friendly websites.
I have to agree that Tumble books are a great resource for our students. I use the website so my students have a different voice to listen to. I love Robert Munsch and "50 Below". It's great that he is actually the narrator of the story. I've realized that consistent use of this site really does help build fluency with my students. Intonation, phrasing, and reading rate all play a big role when mastering this skill. I think the ability for them to hear other readers is helpful.
ReplyDeleteI also like you reference to You Tube and Teacher Tube. Have you found that in Seminole we can't access You Tube? I like Teacher Tube, but I don't feel it includes all the best educational videos out there. There was a long vowel video song that I found on You Tube that I could not access on Teacher Tube. Bummer!
If you like Tumble Books check out the FCRR's site and they have a link to a site that has the author's reading their own stories. Not positive of the site name, but if you're interested I can get it for you.
Carrene,
ReplyDeleteI understand how difficult it can be to search for quality websites for your lesson plans. There are a ton of websites out there, but many of them may not provide reliable resources. Unfortunately, it takes hours of searching the internet to finally discover a website that works for someone.
As I explored the three websites that you provided, I was most impressed with www.eduhound.com. It provided tons of information about many topics. For Black History, it had history of events, visuals, timelines, etc. Most importantly, it was user-friendly.
The more exposure the students will have with technology, the easier it will be for them. It is great that students do not have to only rely on going to the media center to check out books. They can take advantage of the internet and explore various sites. They can use tutorials, and social networks. It is not only limited to what is available in the classroom.
It sounds like your second grade students are actively engaged in the learning process. They are able to do research projects, and use the internet to find authentic resources.
Carrene,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the interesting post. I think it is quite difficult for educators to search through the vast garden (so to speak) of the web, dig through all the weeds to find the roses.
You wrote, "I was amazed at all of the links that was available for educators. I decided to use quite a few of those sources for my unit." I am curious about what specifically you will do with your students on these sites. Were there videos? Free worksheets? Interactive PowerPoints or games? Which resources would you have your students go to themselves (i.e. at "centers") or would you do the activities together as a class?
I guess I am curious as to HOW educators use technology in a classroom. I haven't been teaching in a few years, and when I was teaching, technology wasn't really available to me. So, you have this list of links and a bunch of resources: how will you use them?
Maybe part of my question is about classroom management? You wrote, "This year I wanted my students to be more engaged in the lessons, I decided to implement more technology in my unit. After several hours of researching, I was able to find exactly what I was looking for. I believed that my 2nd graders will be engaged and motivated throughout this unit." If you have 20-25 eight-year-olds in your classroom, and you are showing them a video, how did this make them more engaged? What made the online resources special?
Today, at FECT, someone was talking about School Tube. I don't know much about it yet, but it might be an additional resource if your county doesn't allow you to watch YouTube. (www.schooltube.com)
Thanks for the post!
~ Christi S
As I taught second grade for more than a few years, I know that there can be a certain amount of frustration when it comes to finding grade appropriate material. The other issue is a lesson that keeps their attention. I have used in the past the “Tumble Books” website, there is also a site called “Book flicks”, it is somewhat similar to “Tumble Books”. The struggling reader may also benefit from “Star fall” at the upper levels of the program it will read words to students when they need it. Last the site “Brainpop” covers all subjects and you can use this as an assessment, you enter the subject, the site plays a video and an assessment is given that allows the teacher to see what was learned by the student. These are just some of the sites that my colleagues and I have felt helpful to integrate online websites with the Language Arts mainly, and other subjects with the “Brainpop” site.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Orange County also pays for a number of online resources, but the teachers who utilize it are limited. This is both a matter of forgetting about it through the years and a lack of communicating to our new teachers what is available. Although it seems that you have a great tech department it seems that here in Orange County we have to discover these resources, even things as simple as a welcome letter to parents to use the Progressbook Parent Portal, needs to be requested.
I agree that the FDOE site has many great links but it is so cluttered, that it makes it very hard to navigate. I often find myself using the search option instead of browsing through the tabs. I wasn’t familiar with eduHound or FirstGov for Kids, but I have used the Ask for kids, and the U-tube sites. I always am wary with my fifth graders, venturing off, but with the combination of teacher observation and the filters maintained from the county I have yet to run into problems.
Being a tutor last year I wanted to engage my students so I tried to supplement the lesson (20-35 min.) with an interactive lesson on www.quia.com or something I found that was relevant especially in mathematics. There are really a lot of resources on the net and many clearinghouses to supply them. I find it’s hard to find time to spend researching on weekend etc... I would think meeting the curriculum mapping is the first priority them integrating technology.
ReplyDeleteEducation World has allows been a favorite website of mine, it has a lot of topics and subjects and is for different grade levels.
I think podcasts are very innovative for students that need to learn about our national treasures like literature and music. It is a great way to engage our students and then keep integrating more teaching strategies for students to get a bigger and bigger picture.
Navigating through websites is what a webquest is based on. I am so glad your students had a wonderful time in the computer lab. It seems like they will be back.
Hello Carrene,
ReplyDeleteI was a middle school substitute for Seminole County Schools and had the pleasure of attending the "Multi-Cultural Day Assembly." At Teague Multi-Culturalism is embraced on a daily basis, not just a scheduled event. Looking around the gym, there were no sections of race or ethnicity. The assembly began with students wearing traditional regalia and carrying the flags of multiple of countries. The Band, Chorus, ROTC, Step-dancers, Latin Dancers, and Jamaican Dancers; were ALL comprised of multiple ethnicities.
While we have come a long way, we still have a long way to go. Technology enhances our ability to engage and motivate students in several ways. While we do not want to live in the past, it is important to remember what happened. When I talk with students about my segregated life in the 1960s and70s, I am thrilled and worried when students have difficulty comprehending the stories are true. Thrilled because, it tells me they have not had similar experiences; and worried because we do not want to forget and let prejudice in any form be repeated. Hopefully, global access decreases the ignorance that results in prejudice. In addition, technology can record or recreate history, in an effort to learn from the past.
Having said that, we also know there are websites and inventions that are equally destructive. As we look for new and better resources for lesson materials, as well integrating technology, do we have time to check out the facts and credentials? But, can we afford not to? It is a relief to find partners in education, with resources to do the leg work, and reveal credible sources or expose false ones. Sites like eduhound and FirstGov for Kids help monitor the messages we carry to students, so we can teach accurate and creative information. They provide sites that are safe and appropriate. Instead of policing the computer labs, we can roam around and discuss information with our students.
Happy and proficient searching,
Techknow RhondO