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AskERIC ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) is an information system that provides access to education-related literature for teachers, library media specialists, administrators, and others. However, you don't have to be a teacher to find ERIC useful. I used it recently to find a paper dealing with management strategies that was written by a friend of mine, Marlene Garstang (look in the Drama category under Acting Talk and General Discussion). Web: Classroom Discipline Keeping order in the classroom is important, and it's not always easy to walk a careful path between regulations, parents who are ready to complain, and the fact that, by their nature, many students love to misbehave. Still, you're the teacher, and you do have to spend some of your time socializing the youngsters (if for no other reason than to make your life easier). This Web site contains tips and techniques that you might find useful. However, it is good to remember, every teacher has his or her own personality and what works for one person won't work for everybody, so don't stop experimenting. Web: College and University Teaching Assistants Remember how in school everyone wanted to do stuff for the teacher, like clean the chalkboard, bang erasers, or grade papers? Most of us got over that urge, but there are some who never did, and now they are hanging out in the big league academic scene wearing tweed and discussing philosophy at the off-campus coffeehouse. But that's not all they do. Sometimes they are found on the Internet discussing the roles of teacher and student with other teaching assistants. Web:
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Curriculum Materials and Ideas Here are some pointers to curriculum resources on the Net, including curriculum guides, lesson plans, ideas and resources. Before you copy anything, though, remember that your kids also have access to the Net. Web:
EdWeb If you have anything to do with schools, you know that lots of people are running around trying to figure out what to do with the Net -- and what the Net is going to do with us. One way to sort it all out is to learn what you are talking about (a solution that has somehow evaded just about every public official in the world). A good place to start is EdWeb. Web: Geometry and Art One of the nice things about teaching geometry is that you can use simple visual aids which you can make yourself. Here is a Web site that contains many different ideas on how to teach abstract geometrical ideas imaginatively. You will see detailed presentation plans, as well as descriptions of how to make all the visual aids you need. For the kids, you can find hands-on activities. For yourself, you can find grids and patterns you can copy, as well as tips on teaching geometry vocabulary. Web:
Instructor Magazine This is a professional publication for elementary school teachers. You will find articles on important topics such as professional development, curriculum planning, communicating with children and parents, grading, teaching strategies, and ideas for the classroom. Web:
Jason Project The Jason Project is an ambitious undertaking that uses modern technology to offer educational experiences relating to science and technology. The material is organized around general themes, and helps children learn about important scientific discoveries and concepts. Jason is designed to be part of a K-12 curriculum, and can provide an ongoing and valuable adjunct to classroom study. Web: K-12 Curriculum Talk and General Discussion There are specific Usenet groups for teachers to discuss curriculum and learning materials. If you are a teacher, you may enjoy participating in the discussion related to your area. The groups are: art (art), business (business education), comp.literacy (computer literacy), health-pe (health and physical education), lang.esp-eng (English/Spanish), life-skills (home economics and career education), math (mathematics), music (music and performing arts), science (science), soc-studies (social studies and history), special (students with handicaps or special needs), tag (talented and gifted students), and tech (industrial arts and vocational education). Usenet:
K-12 Teachers Discussion Groups If you are a K-12 teacher, you may want to participate in the Usenet teachers discussion group. After all, you need something to do in your spare time. Usenet:
Multimedia in Education Computing doesn't have to be complicated, dull or boring. Not with multimedia. Pictures, sounds, graphics and animations all make computers come to life. Learn about using multimedia as a teaching tool and find out places where you can be taught to use multimedia effectively. Web:
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Special Education Teachers There are a lot of unique concerns when teaching children who have special needs. It's great to be able to network with other teachers, clinicians and researchers to discuss current issues about practices, policies and new developments. Web:
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Teachers Helping Teachers The best tips and hints you can find will come from other teachers. That is what you will find at this Web site. In addition, you will find information on classroom management, language arts, special education and stress reduction. (Stress reduction? Who has time for stress reduction?) Web:
Teachers Net Teachers Net offers a variety of resources for teachers. There are places to talk to other people, as well as lesson plans, news, job information, curriculum planning resources, and a lot more. If you are a teacher, this site is a great place to trade tips, ask questions, and look for help with specific problems. In my experience, it often seems that a big part of teaching is complaining about the working conditions, lack of reasonable pay and all the dumb things your principal does. Most teachers are chronically disgruntled about something or other, so, when you feel in the mood, you might as well complain to your friends on the Net. Web: Teaching Art Anyone can draw a crowd, draw a bath, draw a blank, draw blood, draw a breath, draw a gun, draw strength from wisdom, draw lots, draw a pension, draw a comparison, draw near to another person, draw from your experience, draw away from the heat, draw out your remarks, or draw straws, but only you can draw on your experience as a teacher and the resources on the Net to draw out your students' talents while you teach them how to draw. Web:
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Teaching English as a Second Language Imagine the thrill of teaching people to speak English -- every word you say is going to be mimicked, and all across the globe there will be people who talk just like you. Take advantage of networking opportunities by looking at what other teachers of English are doing with lesson plans, multicultural classroom environments, helpful hints for pronunciation and other important issues. Web:
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Teaching Health and Physical Education Talk to people who teach health and physical education. Trade ideas, tips and stories. Find out if it is really true that "Those who can't do, teach. And those who can't teach, teach gym." Web: Usenet:
Teaching History A math teacher, a science teacher, and a history teacher have died and gone to heaven. They are standing at the Pearly Gates talking to St. Peter, who says, "Before I can let you progress, you must give me a good reason why you should get into heaven." The math teacher says, "I have an irrefutable mathematical proof that I should go to heaven." So he shows the proof to St. Peter, who finds a flaw in it. "Sorry," sayes St. Peter, "I can't let you in." The science teacher says, "I have an experiment I can perform that will show you that I should go to heaven." But then St. Peter looks at the data and says, "Sorry, this data is not conclusive. I can't let you in." And then he turns to the history teacher. "What do you have to say for yourself?" And the history teacher says, "Can I can get an incomplete?" Web:
Teaching Language Arts Your students start with Dr. Seuss and end up with Shakespeare, but somewhere along the line, someone has to spend a lot of time teaching them the language arts: reading, writing and public speaking. It's hard to exaggerate the importance of these skills. The next time your students ask you, "Why do we have to learn all this stuff?" show them my picture and say, "If you study hard and learn how to read, write and speak well, maybe some day you'll grow up to be able to own a nice cat like Harley." Web:
Teaching Mathematics All through school, I always loved mathematics. I never really had a favorite math teacher, because I was so good at it that I used to frustrate the teachers and they used to frustrate me. But that didn't stop them from trying to teach everyone else. I bet their lives would have been a lot easier if they'd had the Internet. Not only would they have been able to search for math teaching resources, they would have been able to tell me to go play on the Web and stop asking so many impertinent questions. Web:
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Teaching Music If music makes the world go round, then music teachers must make the... hmmm... well... something or other. Anyway, if you are a music teacher, you'll find that the Net has a large variety of ... hmmm... well... something or other. You will also find these resources helpful if you are a general teacher who is interested in doing music with your class in order to ... hmmm... well... something or other. Web:
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Teaching Resources Teaching takes up a lot of time, so anything that can make your life easier is certainly worth knowing about. Well, here are some Web sites that have a lot of resources to help you. You'll find information about many different aspects of teaching, including curriculum, technology and professional development. Web:
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Teaching Science When a young child is properly grounded in science, he or she establishes a sense of curiosity, wonder and awe that lasts a lifetime. Unfortunately, too many students see the study of science as being nothing more than the memorizing of a long series of irrelevant facts. This is a shame because, at its roots, science represents the pinnacle of human achievement: the attempt of men and women to understand the world in which they live. We are born into a world in which many wonderful things exist because of the work of people who came before us, but one thing we should never take for granted is the effort and discretion so many men and women have made in order to understand the world in which we live. Web:
Teachnet Teachnet is an online magazine devoted to the teaching profession. You will find classroom decor tips, hints on getting organized, lesson plans, classroom management ideas, employment opportunities, and much more. Web: |
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