Favorite Websites to Support Teaching
Using the Internet to Facilitate Communication (Virtual Tour)
Stage of Literacy Development:
Stage 3: Literacy for GrowthAges:
7-12
Grade Range:
3rd 4th 5th 6thFood Groups:
Primary: Classroom Organization & Time Management
Transcript
One of my favorite websites for teaching is Pinterest. Pinterest is a resource that can be used to collect and share online websites for any aspect of life. My favorite way of using it is for teaching. With Pinterest you can organize your ideas like a bulletin board. You pin different ideas that you can go back and use later. I like to look at all the different things that I've pinned and use them as an inspiration. There's been so many great things that teachers have created and they give me ideas that I can use in my own program. On my Pinterest site I have organized my boards so that they have all the different subject areas that I teach: Reading, Writing, Math, Science so that I can gain ideas in all of those areas. Edmodo is a website where students, teachers and parents can all communicate together. It is a blog where students can ask questions after hours, parents and teachers can speak about student progress and students can speak to each other about homework ideas or poll questions for each other. Another really great feature of Edmodo is that you can post pictures of what is happening in your classroom. I post the Anchor Charts that we've created in class on Edmodo so that parents can use them at home with their children. Having the same Anchor Charts at home that are in the classroom makes it easier for students to be able to practice the skills in the same ways so that its more consistent for them. In our class we also use Twitter. Twitter is a great site for sharing with families the hands on inquiry-based learning that is happening in class. I take pictures and send them to the parents with comments about what the students have done and that helps students to be able to speak to their parents when their at home about what happened that day in class.
Related References
Additional Links:
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com
Edmodo: www.edmodo.com
Activity Objective
The goal of Favorite Websites to Support Teaching: Using the Internet to Facilitate Communication (Virtual Tour) is to share useful websites that support classroom instruction. Pinterest, Edmodo and Twitter are used to enhance instruction and facilitate communication about the teaching program between students and their families. Pictures of anchor charts and student work are shared with parents daily.
Quick Tips
Additional Comments:
- Follow the Balanced Literacy Diet on Pinterest for many more great literacy recipes and resources. - Using Websites such as Edmodo or Wikispaces allows for a private and customizable experience that can be used for day-to-day classroom management, tracking assessments in real-time and connecting with students and parents.
Other Recipes by this Teacher
Anchor Charts: Promoting Independence in Applying Reading Comprehension Strategies (Virtual Tour)
3rd - 6th
Daily 5 Choices: Fostering Independence in Reading and Writing (Virtual Tour)
1st - 5th
Close Reading: Applying a 3-Step Reading Comprehension Strategy (Virtual Tour)
3rd - 6th
Technology in the Listening Center: Motivating Literacy with iPads and QR Code Books (Virtual Tour)
1st - 6th
Literacy in Science: Expanding Vocabulary in the Content Areas (Virtual Tour)
3rd - 6th
