Resources and Ideas of Classroom Tech Integration
Language Arts
Sites Worth a Look: Mashpedia
Aug 22nd
- Mashpedia
I have absolutely fallen in love with this site. This site is Superman’s version of Wikipedia. Mashpedia pulls resources from many different websites such as: news sites, video sites, encyclopedia sites, social sites, etc. It then mashes them up into one page so that students or teachers) can quickly access meaningful content. This is an excellent resource for teacher lessons or for student research!
tags: encyclopedia research reference mashpedia wikipedia real-time web2.0 search
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Florida Center for Reading Research Provides Strong Collection of Literacy Centers
Aug 18th
My 5th grade classroom is not your run of the mill class. When you walk in, it looks like chaos, but when you actually sit down and observe, your realize that it is nothing more than 25-30 students doing about 20 or so different things. I manage this by consistently running small groups (or what they really are, which is centers). I train my students to be as self sufficient as possible, by going over the rules of each center, what is expected, what to do if they have a problem, what to do if they can’t solve the problem, etc (which usually takes about 2 weeks total). Once the procedure is established, then I move into running a small group of my own, where then I can really work with 4-5 students. It becomes much easier to individualize and differentiate when my class is run in this manner. Since I teach primarily reading and writing, my centers revolve around literacy. The difficult part is finding resources for literacy centers in upper elementary grades.
The best place I have found for literacy center resources (for all of elementary) is the Florida Center for Reading Research. The resources are broken into K-1, 2-3, and 4-5., and then by topic: Fluency & Phonics vs Vocabulary & Comprehension. When reviewing the 4-5 resources, the Vocabulary & Comprehension section alone totaled near 500 pages of resources. The material is available through pdf downloads for easy viewing and printing. Most games and activities have the materials premade as well as templates for adjustment.
Classroom Use
After choosing the activities I felt met my students need, I printed out the corresponding pages and created a Literacy Center Binder. Within the binder, I took the directions of each task, glued it to construction paper, and then laminated it,. Behind each set of directions is the remaining documentation and a folder containing any necessary pieces for the center. Each day in preparation for class, I pull out the directions and pieces for the centers of that day, and set them out for the kids to use. Although the students have been trained how each center works at the beginning of the school year, the directions serve as a reminder of what is expected in each area.
DonorsChoose.org: Help Teachers Fund Classroom Projects
Aug 17th
DonorsChoose.org is one of those sites you can hear about soon enough. All teachers spend a plethora of cash out of their own pockets, and would spend more if they had the chance. All teachers have those projects they wish they could do, but can’t due to funding. Donors Choose is a site to help bring those projects and ideas to life. Donors Choose has partnered with companies such as Barnes & Noble and Sonic in order to help teachers fund classroom projects. Teachers are allowed to place projects on the site for people to donate, and all that is asked in return is a thank you note from both teacher and students, as well as photos of the project in action. To make this step even easier, Donors Choose sends the self address enveloped when the project materials are delivered, with a disposal camera to take the pictures! Once you have a project funded, and return the thank you packet, your allowed to submit another project!
Classroom Use
Donors Choose makes it painless to seek funds for classroom projects. From class book sets for novel studies, to digital cameras for video and podcasting, many different projects find funding. They have integration with both Facebook and Twitter for easy social sharing, as well as a teacher page hosted on Donors Choose (find mine here). Also, students get involved and take ownership when they write the thank you packets and work in the photos of the project taking place.







