As a teacher you always want to find new ways to improve your student engagement and make learning fun and enjoyable.  Although I have been teaching going on eleven years, I know I have to keep up with the times to keep the students attention.  So I comprised a list of eight websites that changed my teaching.  Some are free and some have a small cost but are worth the investment.

 

• http://www.flocabulary.com: I love, love, love this site.  I found out about this site from another teacher at a professional development.  This site has vocabulary lessons by grade level, reading, social studies, science, and grammar videos that use rap to teach the lesson.  My kids loved it and remembered the songs when we discussed what they learned.  Most videos come with lesson activities and quizzes.  ***This is not a free site, they do give you a free trial to try it out and I found it worth the investment for my inner city students.
• http://www.pinterest.com: Need I say more!!!! J
• http://www.teacherspayteachers.com: I have found lessons, worksheets, games, etc. that have took my teaching to the next level.  There are so many freebies and even the paid resources are reasonable, plus they are made by teachers. I don’t think I need to say more about this site either but I was surprised by how many of my veteran teachers where unfamiliar.
• http://www.classdojo.com: This was a lifesaver especially when I worked at a Charter school with major disciplinary issues.  You can do positive behavior reinforcement, and consequences by giving and taking away points.  It also has other features like parent communication, and data for behaviors.  They have many features that they have added that I am going to try out for next year. ***Coming Soon:  Using classdojo.com for classroom management.
• http://www.kahoot.it: This is a great website for interactive student engagement. You can create quizzes, discussions, and surveys to evaluate your students understanding or to have them dig deeper by facilitating a discussion with a question.  You also have the option of using already created kahoots.
• http://www.slideshare.net: I was searching the web and Pinterest looking for a way to teach something and happened upon this site.  I actually can’t remember how I found it but yeah for me.  This is a slide sharing website with presentations, infographics, documents, and more.  You can access 100’s of presentations that you can edit or just use one slide for your lessons.  I found valuable presentations when I had to teach reading again, another lifesaver!
• http://www.studyjams.com, I loved this when I taught science, although I don’t teach it at this time, I used this as my hook because the videos were short animated, interesting, and had quizzes at the end. Sometimes, I would use them to refresh student’s memories the day after I taught a lesson.  They also have math videos but unfortunately no reading.
• http://www.learningfarm.com: Not a free site but this is excellent for test prep and tutoring.  It has math, reading, etc. depending on your grade level and state assessments.  It has lessons, assessments, and games all to go with your standards.  You can individualize the lessons for your students and even differentiate for the lower students so everyone can be successful.  The site does offer a free trial, which I used last year, and based on my scores was able to get for the next school year through my principal.

 

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Well it’s halfway through the summer and back to school time is quickly approaching.  So what have you done for your summer renewal?  Every year I have a list of goals and things I want to do on my summer time off.  However, I never complete my list, so this year I shortened my list so it is more attainable.

Teacher burn out is such a real thing.  I will not lie and say I have never thought about giving it up because sorry to say unfortunately it is a thankless job.  So here are five things I did this summer to renew my excitement for teaching.

 

• I got some rest! Yes, sometimes it’s important to just relax and only think of yourself.  DO NOT THINK ABOUT WORK!  Your year is over let it go J
• Spend time with friends and family, sometimes it’s hard to connect with everyone during the school year. A girls/boys night, game night, movie night, etc.  talking about other things that are going on in the world reminds you that you are more than a teacher.
• Do one or two things you have been talking or thinking about doing and haven’t had the time. For me it was blogging, (woo hoo! Can mark it off the list), making interactive anchor charts for next year, and making my own worksheets, activities for my students.
• Fix something up- something around the house, your wardrobe (oh yeah), car, etc. Upgrading or making something look new or better always makes me feel good and accomplished.
• Change of scenery, teachers usually have the summer off this is the time to go somewhere and do something different.

These are just a few suggestions and some of the things I am doing to get me ready and pumped for the next school year.  What have you done?  Please share some of your summer renewal ideas.