Teachers Pay Teachers

We all have grand ideas and plans to make new things over the summer to spruce up our classroom and curriculum, but often life throws us a curve ball and we don't get to it. Or maybe during school, we are fresh out of ideas on ways that we can reteach a topic. Or you know the days that the flu bug or other germs pop out of nowhere and we have to make sub plans. I have stumbled upon a great resource for just those situations. http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/

Yup! Teachers Pay Teachers. The site has great organization and filters that you can use to find exactly what you are looking for. You could search by grade level, subject, idea, etc. You can pay for some resources or download the ones that people put up for free.

You should know that there are THOUSANDS of free resources that you don't need to pay for and are really great quality too! Just the other day I downloaded a resources about Cheating and what students may or may not think that cheating is. (Here it is: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Cheating-Survey)

I did just purchase my first thing from TpT this evening. It was painless and easy and downloaded right to my computer. It was a clip art graphic set of owls. :) I love little clip art to add to different things and this pack was perfect. Owl Clip Art Package

This is a great resource for any subject! Check it out! Be sure to add a comment if you try it or download a really great resource that others could use!

Pinterest...for classroom use!

First, a big thanks to those who submitted a new piece of technology that they used last week in honor of Digital Learning Day. Here are two of the entries from last week.

One teacher is going to use https://cat36.learningstation.com/portal/index/login/ 

"

• It's a great tool for research assignments because it gives wonderful, credible print sources."  ~Katlin Slowik

• You can send them here to know that they are looking at CREDIBLE and RELIABLE resources. Look at the bottom right side for those types of resources. 

• Teachers login information is firstinitiallastname (beginning of email address) and then password thunder. You will be prompted to change password after you log in. 

• Students login information is their Powerschool username and password.

Another teacher is using http://www.hippocampus.org/ 

• "I use this site in my American Government classes. They are assigned 2 - 3 videos a day, that pertain to a topic we are studying, they can watch the video, read the text of the video and download the notes as well. The videos also have graphics or extra study skills applications that helps to understand the material. I use this like a "flipped video" concept." ~Angela Charlton

• This website has NUMEROUS subjects and content videos that students can watch. This site could be used to supplement a topic or could be used to flip a certain lesson.

• Subjects Included are
• Arithmetic
• Algebra & Geometry
• Calculus & Advanced Math
• Statistics & Probability
• Natural Science
• Biology
• Chemistry
• Physics
• Earth Science
• Social Science
• Economics
• History & Government
• Psychology
• Humanities
• Religion

Now on to this weeks TECH TIP!

This week's Tech Tip is Pinterest. If you are like me, you may have spent countless hours searching inspirational quotes, recipes, or potential home decorating ideas. But did you know that you can use Pinterest to find activities that you can use in your classroom?

• First, Pinterest is a type of social bookmarking. http://pinterest.com/

• It allows you to have different boards and you can pin (or bookmark) directly to a board. This is easier then cramming your Internet browser with a bunch of different bookmarks that are hard to access. It looks like this: 

• To get started, go to http://pinterest.com/ and reuest an invite (or just email me and I'll send you an invite since I already have boards started). This request process usually only takes an hour or two at the most. Once sent a link, get started by searching various topics using the search menu at the top of the page. 

• If you need additional ideas on how to use Pinterest for educational purposes, check out the following blog entry which has 36 different ways to use Pinterest for educational purposes.  http://www.bestcollegesonline.com/blog/2012/02/05/37-ways-teachers-should-use-pinterest/ 

This weeks challenge is to use Pinterest to find a link or board on Pinterest that corresponds or enhances a classroom lesson (s) this week or next. (Simply put, find a new idea to teach or enhance using Pinterest). Once you have found an idea, email me the link that you are using to me and include a couple of sentences on how you will be using it in your classroom. This weeks reward...your favorite morning beverage brought to you one day next week! :) 

NOW GO GET STARTED!! :)