The activity of searching the web this week was both fun and interesting. It is an activity I find myself doing often. I usually get to a point where I get frustrated with the things that I find. Using the correct keywords and phrases is my biggest problem when it comes to searching. The searching tips found in our text this week helped a lot when it came down to searching for various things I could use in my classroom. I am constantly on the lookout for activities that I can do with my students that are different and fun. I don't like sticking to the textbook or the supplemental materials that go along with it.
I visited several websites this week in my search for new materials. A to Z Teacher materials and Teachnology both had many resources I could use or adapt to suit my needs in the classroom. My biggest problems with both of these websites is that while they both provide tons of materials, much of it is worksheets. I am not a worksheet guru at all. Teachnology also has a membership fee. I'm sure if I paid the membership fee I could access a great number of activities that would probably be more useful. I also paid a visit to Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators. This site has tons of useful stuff, ranging from classroom activities to classroom management materials. I liked this site a lot. My favorite site though was Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE). This site lets you gain access to educational materials through our federal government and it's museums. The National Archives museum has a lot of materials for social studies. In my search, I was looking for things I could use for “Freedom Week”. They had exactly what I was looking for, the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, etc.
In my searching endeavors this week, I also paid a visit to the Florida Department of Education site, as well as the DOE sites for Georgia and Alabama. All three sites provided information about teacher certification, accountability, and other various things that educators and administrators may find useful. All three sites also had a link for soldiers looking to transition into teaching, which I found interesting. On it's homepage, the Georgia DOE had parent/community/teacher videos and information about child abuse and bullying prevention. It's something that all schools should take seriously, but Georgia puts it in your face from the start. The Florida DOE website was the easiest to navigate. At the top of the screen they have nifty little links for educators, students, parents and community members. The information for educators, parents and community members was adequate, but I found the student link to be lacking in useful resources for our students. I also took a look at my school district website for Lake County Schools. Personally, I don't think it provides a lot of information for teachers. If a teacher wants to find something, then they really have to search through all of the various departments within the county. The links for parents was adequate with links to school calendars, code of conduct, bus route information, as well as information on student textbooks. If you want to find good resources for students, you need to search each individual school's websites.
This searching activity made me better aware of the amount of resources available right at out fingertips. Unfortunately, a lot of the material is garbage. If we search thoroughly enough, and take our time (something I need to remember to do), then we will find those fabulous activities and resources that we are looking for.
Shelly, G. & Gunter, G & Gunter, R. (2010). Teacher Discovering Computers Integrating Technology and Digital Media in the Classroom. (6th Ed.) Cengage Learning
Teachnology- http://www.teachnology.com/
A to Z Teachers Stuff- http://atozteacherstuff.com/
Federal Resources for Educational Excellence- http://www.free.ed.gov
Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educator's- http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide
Florida Department of Education- http://www.fldoe.org
Alabama Department of Education- http://www.alsde.edu
Georgia Department of Education- http://www.doe.k12.ga.us
Lake County Schools- http://www.lake.k12.fl.us/lakeschools/site/default.asp
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