What to do if you click on a link and get an error message:
Ever clicked on a link you couldn't WAIT to see only to get an error message- page not found? How disappointing! But you may have some recourse. Here's how:
Many links are 'deep links'- that means they don't link just to the home page (like mspowell.com) but to one of the pages 'inside' the site (such as mspowell.com/behavior.html). If a link doesn't work, try deleting the end of it (everything BEFORE the first slash mark) and just going to the home page. Many times, the site or even the page isn't really gone- the webmaster just renamed the page or mistyped the link. By visiting the homepage, you can often navigate your way back to the page you were looking for. Happy hunting!
Examples:
Best Classroom Photos
Teaching Is A Work Of Heart is an all-encompassing site that has much more than classroom photos- and each classroom site has been reviewed by the webmaster, with comments!
http://www.teachingheart.net/classroomsaroundtheworld.html
Classroom Displays and Bulletin Boards- who knew there were resources this comprehensive? The displays are alphabetized and categorized for easy searching in the first link by Barbara Colvin; the second is Kathy Schrock's collection of links to more bulletin board sites; the third includes pictures as well as MORE b-board links by Virtual Vine. Wow! And to think I used to try to come up with this stuff up myself! :-)
http://home.bellsouth.net/personalpages/s/community.dll?ep=87&subpageid=10382&ck=
http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/bulletin/
http://www.thevirtualvine.com/displays.html
Best Classroom Management Details (By Classroom Teachers)
Mr. Moore knows a great teacher site needs more than just photos. His site is phenomenal- detailed explanations of very creative and original ideas he uses in his Canadian third grade classroom. This site has not been updated to my knowledge for several years.
http://www.geocities.com/mrmooresclassroom/index.html
Kim Korner has great organizational tips, and is very specific about how she runs her classroom. If you like lots of details about the day-to-day stuff (like on this site) you'll love Kim's site.
http://www.kimskorner4teachertalk.com/classmanagement/organizingtips/4classroomlibrary.html
Mrs. FitzSimmon's third grade website is designed for her families, but she gives lots of detail about how her classroom is run, and has some unusual and creative practices.
http://www.geocities.com/mrsfitz23/
Mrs. Dryzal's first grade web page describes M.O.O.S.E. notebooks, class rules, cooking projects, mini-offices (adorable!), and 40 ways to practice spelling words, as well as updated classroom photos and links.
http://www.geocities.com/mrslisamaried/welcometoourclassroom.html
Mrs. Taylor (Our School Family) has a lengthy collection of teacher's websites that show photos of their classrooms and much more. There are so many links I have not been able to visit them all yet!
http://www.ourschoolfamily.com/Favorite%20Links.htm
Best Clasroom Management Resources (Commercial Sites)
The Busy Teacher's Cafe not only has great management tips on discipline, organization, and routines, there are also classroom photos and dozens of management links. Many of the links are to other teachers' sites, rather than large commercial sites, and were new resources to me.
http://busyteacherscafe.com/classroommanage.htm
While the printables at Teacher's Closet are very plain, the site includes LOTS of thoughtful tips for teachers on how to run an effective classroom, from Author's Choice to Pen Pals to realistic money saving tips. Be sure to check it out for yourself.
http://www.teacherscloset.com/
Best Discipline Resources
Despite what some people might like to believe, teaching in urban schools DOES present a different set of challenges for educators, and those needs are not always addressed in colleges or by administration. "Learning From Urban Schools" is a collection of articles and resources about high-poverty schools that have achieved at levels often surpassing those of their wealthier counterparts. Successful urban schools generally have specific traits in common; learn what these factors are and how you can apply them to your own teaching situation.
www.ascd.org
If you haven't already, read "The Essential 55" by Ron Clark. He is an INCREDIBLE educator who worked with the populations no one else wanted to, and now tours the country teaching others how to do the same. His approach is incredibly unique. and is best used with upper-elementary++. There is a heavy emphasis on life skills, common courtesy and respect, teaching students exactly and specifically what is expected of them, and being a person of integrity. Read bout how I have adapted his ideas in my character education program on the link here. http://www.ronclark.info/
Best Sites for New Teachers
This is a page FULL of links for new teachers. I enjoyed browsing it, too, because there are so many good ideas.
http://busyteacherscafe.com/teacherlinks/newteachers_links.htm
Best practice, best practice, best practice. What does that mean? What does any of that educational jargon mean? If you're confused, you need to read, "Making Sense of the Research, Recommendations,and Rhetoric of Professional Teaching". This is good teaching defined, in an honest and practical way. http://www.ttms.org/best_practice/best_practice.htm
Best Message Boards/ Forums
The forums at A To Z Teacherstuff are the place to get advice from the nicest, most helpful teachers you will ever meet. The site owner, Amanda, often posts helpful links and makes sure that all dialogue is respectful and edifying.
http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/teacherchat/index.
In the past, I have visited the forums at Teachers.net almost daily. The advantage here is that you can get lots of quick responses to any question you may have, because the boards are so busy, and there are specific forums for almost any area of education that you are interested in.
http://www.teachers.net/mentors/
Best Printables
Carl’s Corner is probably THE BEST teacher resource collection on the ‘net right now. I was absolutely blown away when I first visited. I’ve been there a dozen times, and still haven’t seen all the center ideas, free (beautiful) open-ended worksheets, activities, and much, much, much more. If you love Teaching Heart, Carl’s Corner is the perfect complement. Please check this one out- there’s something for everyone here!
http://www.carlscorner.us/
The Mosiac List-Serve is THE most valuable reading resource I have ever come across. There is a near-endless list of documents to download, from comprehension rubrics, reading conference forms, reading strategies bookmarks, SSR self-evaluation rubrics, schema studies, text feature search worksheets, and so, so much more.
http://www.u46teachers.org/mosaic/tools/tools.htm
Abcteach has fantastic printables that far surpass any other internet collection I have seen. You'll find center signs (which you can see in my classroom photos), tons of worksheets, desk tags, and anything else you need-and much of it is free.
http://www.abcteach.com
Billy Bear 4 Kids has a humongous assortment of award certificates to print, from honor roll to paying attention to science fair, plus a variety of customizable blank certificates and ribbons.
http://www.billybear4kids.com/show/awards/certificates.html
Reading A-Z has free books you can download and use in your small group reading instruction. You have to pay to subscribe, but you should be able to get at least one book for every reading group you have, as well as worksheets, lesson plans, and Spanish and French versions. Click the first link to see the various free book titles to download; click the second link to find out what the leveling system means (I looked at the DRA correlations and saw that third graders would generally need Reading A-Z levels N through U.
http://www.readinga-z.com/newfiles/preview.html
http://www.readinga-z.com/newfiles/correlate.html
ILoveThatTeachingIdea.com has hall passes, bingo boards, Venn Diagrams, graph grids, and more printables, plus lots of great teacher tips.
http://www.ilovethatteachingidea.com/ideas/subj_teacher_tips.htm
There's a lot more here than printables (including literacy in the news and message boards), but the collection of printable resources submitted by members for language arts here is beyond extensive. Categories such as 4 Blocks, 6 Traits Writing, reading theater scripts, even power point presentations include something every teacher can use.
http://www.readinglady.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Downloads&file=index
Over a hundred links to sites with printables for all grade levels and subject areas.
http://www.nvnet.org/nvhs/edresource/hubpages/Worksheets.html
Best Lesson Plans and Ideas
TeachingHeart was my inspiration for creating this site. There is a seemingly endless array of topics to choose from, and under each one, you will find teachers' advice submissions, photos, lesson plans, forms, book recommendations, llinks, and anything else that will help you walk away feeling like all of your questions were answered. Although the site is geared towards K-3 teachers, the Webmaster is a kindergarten teacher, so not everything was applicable for my own classroom situation. I hope that one day, this site can compliment TeachingHeart with an equally large collection of resources for primary and upper elementary teachers.
http://www.teachingheart.net
Marcia's Lesson Links is not a site I have spent a lot of time at because I use it as a reference tool. When I need info on an ed research topic, or an organizational tip, or help teaching a science concept, I check out what Marcia has to offer. This site wil take hours to explore fully. Have fun!
http://www.marcias-lesson-links.com/
Poetry Teachers got me excited to teach poetry, and that can be hard to do! Tons of creative ideas and poems for all grades.
http://www.poetryteachers.com/poetclass/poetclass.html
Now THIS is a cool site, and I bet you've never visited it before! I just found the Teacher's Desk, which is full of activities organized by content area. They are designed for fifth and sixth graders, but can be adapted. It's incredibly easy to navigate and the lesson plans are unusual and creative.
http://www.teachersdesk.org/index.html
Inspiring Teachers' has a page called Tips for Teachers, with lots of great ideas on topics not always addresed on other sites, such as teaching character-building and life skills, assessing students, commmunicating with parents, building a classroom community and more.
http://www.inspiringteachers.com/tips/index.html
Best Tools and Resources For Teachers
Songs for Teaching: Using Music To Promote Learning' is the definitive site for any teacher wanting to use songs in his or her instruction. This site explains how to create your own songs, when and how to use music in the classroom, and has an unbelievably extensive list of age-appropriate song lyrics and tunes sorted by every theme imaginable. The best part? It include lyrics, tunes, SOUND CLIPS (great because I can’t read music!), and where-to-purchse info if you want to buy a particular recording. A tremendous resource worth checking out, whether you are an avid music user or wanting to incorporate song into your classroom for the first time.
http://songsforteaching.homestead.com/index.html.
School Clip Art for Teachers is all FREE! Use on your class webpage, teacher-made assignments, worksheets, and tests, or to create center materials and manips. Enjoy!
http://www.school-clip-art.com/
Laura Candler’s File Cabinet includes printable lined and journal paper, an MI survey and teaching tools, permission forms, passes, progress reports, and much more, in a very professional and colorful format.
http://home.att.net/~teaching/oddsends.htm
Math Fact Cafe is one of the best sites for creating math worksheets. You can make worksheets for lots of concepts, such as fractions and decimals, plus every math operation- just pick the number of digits and total problems you want, and print! There are also pre-made sheets and flashcards. While there are several other sites like this, this is the only one I have found where you can make a sheet with the same number in all problems- I test my kids on mutliplication facts, and I can make a sheet with all 2's facts on them, all 3's facts, and so on.
http://www.mathfactcafe.com
Mrs. Jill Perkin's first grade webpage has an assortment of downloads I have not seen on any other webpage. You can find Dolch word lists, abc and number recognition assessments, lesson templates, flashcards, a 100's chart, a classroom grading aid (like the E-Z Grader that costs $5 in the store!), and more, many of which she has created herself.
http://www.mrsperkins.com/testing.htm
Ever have a really great book you want to share with your class but you weren't sure how to use it? Check out this site from Richmond schools (adapted from Montgomery County (MD) school's "Children's Literature- Beyond Basals" resource). This portion of the site lists thousands of books to use from grades K-12. Simply find the title you want to use and you'll fnd lesson objectives, suggested grade levels, and much more.
http://richmond.k12.va.us/readamillion/literatureactivities.htm
The Little Giraffe's Teacher Page has TONS of unusual ideas for themes, centers, back to school, story props, literacy, and much more, all organized in a very user-friendly way. A fun site to check out.
http://www.littlegiraffes.com/teacherpage.html
Don't know what authors are 'cool' right now with kids? Heard of a book series but don't know anything about it? Kids Reads allows you to stay current without having to head out to the bookstore. Search by title, author, or series, as well.
http://www.kidsreads.com/index.asp
Science is my weak area- but now that I've found Electric Teacher, I have a thematic list of links for everything science resource imaginable!
http://www.electricteacher.com/resources.htm
An Australian teacher compiled this enormous list of links. Many of them are not American and therefore were new to me- if you think you've seen it all, check this out!
http://barbaraschaffer.tripod.com/
Need a laugh, poem, or story to brighten your day or share at an in-service or staff meeting? All the classic teacher articles are here, plus some new ones, including 10 Reasons to Become a Teacher, You Might Be A Teacher If..., Only A Teacher, Humorous Quotes, and 1923 Teacher Requirements.
http://www.salem.k12.va.us/south/teacher/lounge/
Best Center Ideas and Pics
Thoughtful, creative Kindergarten literacy centers!
http://www.ourschoolfamily.com/Literacy%20Centers.htm
More fantastic Kindergarten centers- WOW!
http://www.mrspohlmeyerskinderpage.com/stations.htm
A first grade teacher’s explanation of her literacy stations with an excellent FAQs page.
http://www.msrossbec.com/literacy_index.html
A humongous collection of center ideas from Teaching Heart
http://teachingheart.net/LC.htm
I love this site and am praying this teacher switches from K to primary grades!!
http://www.hubbardscupboard.org/abc_centers.html
This is not a centers site, but it's contents would make a really cool center, especially when you're studying proverbs, morals, folktales, etc. The site features Aesops' Fables... online! Print them out or have students listen to them using Real Player on the computer and follow along with the text on the screen. Lesson plans and suggested morals are included to make follow-up activities easy to design for your students.
http://www.pacificnet.net/~johnr/aesop/
Best Sites for Students
Quia has online games and activities for students in every subject area, from accounting to zoology, with every elementary subject area in between.
http://www.quia.com/shared/
Online phonics games from PBS Kids features the lovable Between the Lions characters your kids will recognize if they watch PBS cartoons. Fun, colorful, and simple to play.
http://pbskids.org/lions/games/
Phonics games to play online (plus some printable games, poems, and activity sheets) from the BBC Network (meaning, the characters have British accents and use British spelling). Something a little different.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures/phonics/index.shtml
Do your students need someone to read to them at home? How about Storydog? Every Sunday, a new story is started, with a different chapter uploaded to the site daily. Students can log in and hear (and see) quality literature every day in class or at night for their independent reading time! There are also games, an online interactive library, and more.
http://www.storydog.com/home.asp
The Study Stack has flashcards for everything from math facts to state capitals to the food groups. Students can study online, play hangman, study the cards as a table, print the cards, email them, or do word searches. The best part is that the teacher can customize the data on the cards! You don't need to log in- just click on the categories on the left.
http://www.studystack.com/java-studysta/frames.jsp
Best Class Webpages
Mrs. Pearson's Third Grade Web Page is one of few class website recomendations here because, like my own class webpage, there is usually not enough detail to be of interest to other teachers. However, Mrs. Pearson's webpage could appeal equally to students's families and teachers alike- it's worth checking out as a model for your own class webpage AND to learn about Mrs. Pearson's classroom.
http://www.davis.k12.ut.us/webs/mpearson/
The Busy Educator's site has an extensive collection of award-winning class and school websites, from PreK to college, art teachers to history teachers, journalism to Spanish. If you want some ideas for what to include on your own class webpage, this list will give you a good start.
http://www.glavac.com/awardwinningsites.htm
I love Mrs. Hick's webpage because she includes such detailed explanations of her lessons and has tons of resources for students, parents, and teachers.
http://www.cape.k12.mo.us/blanchard/hicks/News%20Pages/classnews.htm
Best Tools For Class Webpages and Technology in the Classroom
Are you clueless about incorporating technology into your classroom? Don't know how to do a spreadsheet or power point presentation, much less teach your kids how to do them? The free online tutorials designed for teachers at the Canadian site 2Learn will change all of that. There are many practical ideas here for making sure your students are using the latest technology even if their teacher isn't. ;-)
http://www.2learn.ca/teachertools/teachertools.html
Mrs. Fischer's Kinder-Themes is a great model for anyone wanting to start a webpage, because her initial and primary purpose was to put all of her teaching ideas online by theme so she could access them more easily. Now she also has a class webpage linked to it and parents can see what she is doing in the classroom, read the words to the poems and songs their children are learning, and much more. I'd like to put my thematic ideas online in this format one day, too! Great idea.
http://www.kinderthemes.com/
Basic instructions on how to create and maintain a class website, in very easy-to-understand language, plus more tips on the Computer Main Page at Busy Teacher's Cafe.
http://busyteacherscafe.com/web_tutorial/webpage_tutorial2.htm
This Q&A format on creating a webpage is really informative, especially if you're a Virtual Vine fan like me and you wonder how in the world Cindy makes the site so wonderful! There are also lots of links to other sites that will help you build your webpage.
http://www.thevirtualvine.com/website.html
TeacherWeb is great for novices and those who don't want to bother writing HTML scripts and designing templates. This service costs $25 a year, and makes everything SO easy. All you do is type your info in- and the site looks adorable!
http://www.teacherweb.com
If you are cheap like I am, and don't want to pay for webservice, I would highly recommend Freehost. That's the company I use for this site, and it is FREE if you don't use more than 2MEGs of bandwidth a day (that means, you don't have a lot of visitors viewing graphics or photos. Because this site is so heavy on the graphics, after 4 visitors a day, the site would be overwhelmed. I had to pay to upgrade so that more teachers would be able to view the site- it's only $7.95 a month, very reasonable). Freehost gives you totally blank pages, so there is a lot more work involved than with TeacherWeb, but the customization is almost limitless. If you don't like Freehost, run a search through a search engine for 'free classroom websites for teachers' and several other sites will pop up (angelfire.com, etc.).
http://www.00freehost.com
Lunarpages provides all the things 00freehost does, but has excellent customer service and answers any questions you may have through emails in a matter of hours. You can also buy domain names very cheaply through them. I love lunarpages!
http://www.lunarpages.com
Bravenet provides graphics, search engines, polls, counters, chat rooms, message boards, and much much more for FREE. I have used their services on every website I have ever done and loved them, although they have redesigned their counters, polls, and such and I like the old designs much better. Again, the only catch is that there are ads displayed.
http://www.bravenet.com
I also really like Dynamic Drive, because they feature a lot of unusual and techie stuff (print this page buttons, menus, cursor scrollers, text effects). You should have some knowledge of HTML and javascript or you will go nuts trying to customize the features. It's pretty simple overall, though- search for the tool you want, and copy and paste the code to your site. Very cool stuff.
http://www.dynamicdrive.com
Mrs. Renz has an extensive collection of links to teacher graphics- great for use on your webpage or in class projects.
http://www.redmond.k12.or.us/mccall/renz/filecabinet3graphicstoc.htm
Are any of these links broken? Please click here to let me know...
bravenet.com