Friday, April 28, 2017

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 4/28/17

Here are some interesting sites that I’ve found this week, thanks to my PLN. As a teacher, I feel we have to keep up to date concerning research in our field and current issues in the education system. I hope some of these inspire you, inform you, and even have you asking questions. Thank you for coming by and visiting!
Note: Each resource is labeled with a level and subject area to make it easier to use.

Levels:  E: Elementary; M: Middle; H: High; G: General, all levels; SN: Special Needs; T: Teachers

Subject Areas: LA: Language Arts, English, Reading, Writing; M: Math; S: Science; Health; SS: Social Studies, Current Events; FA: Fine Arts; Music, Art, Drama; FL: Foreign Language; PE: Physical Ed; C: Career; A: All

The American Revolution - An Interactive site to learn about the American Revolution (L:E, M; SA: SS)

Geoboard -  A great way to show geometry concepts (L:E,M; SA:M )

WriteReader – help students write stories featuring Sesame Street characters (L: E; SA:LA )

Word Mover – free app; “Word Mover allows children and teens to create “found poetry” by choosing from word banks and  existing famous works; additionally, users can add new words to create a piece of poetry by moving/manipulating the text.” (L:G ; SA:LA )

Spacecraft 3D – free iPad app; “NASA's Spacecraft 3D is an augmented reality (AR) application that lets you learn about and interact with a variety of spacecraft that are used to explore our solar system, study Earth, and observe the universe. Using a printed AR Target and the camera on your mobile device, you can get up close with these robotic explorers, see how they move, and learn about the engineering feats used to expand our knowledge and understanding of space. Spacecraft 3D will be updated over time to include more of the amazing spacecraft that act as our robotic eyes on the earth, the solar system and beyond!”

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Thursday, April 27, 2017

Making a Difference


“Any other ideas on how I can encourage them to be Making A Difference?”

I thought this was a great thing to focus on for the end of the year and I started thinking of other ways (including myself) that would make a difference to others.

Here are some suggestions:

Take time to pick up trash in a specific area.
Make eye contact with others we see and smile. (I don’t think we do that enough.)
Compliment a complete stranger.
Make “Thinking of You” cards for people we haven’t seen in awhile.
Contact an elderly person to see if they need any help with anything (changing lightbulbs, picking weeds, or doing things that require a ladder or getting on knees.)
Bring canned food to a food pantry for the needy.
Donate old clothes or toys to Goodwill or Salvation Army.
Do a chore that you know a family member doesn’t like to do.

What are things you could suggest? Please share.