Busy Teacher Resources

Below you will find a few of my favorite websites.

ABCTEACH is a great site to use for preK-middle school. It does reguire a membership fee for full access but there are many usefull tools and worksheets you can use immediately. Dolch words lists, contraction flash cards printed like word wall words, flash cards for numbers, addition through division. I use it almost every day. It has a great search tool to make finding what you need easy.

STARFALL has changed from sending you journals and materials free through the mail to letting you download and print off your computer. I recently explored and ended up with a 3" binder full of masters to use. They offer materials you can purchase for a small fee and are set up to be home schooler and parent friendly.

MATHCATS is a website with the most amazing story problems created by students and teachers. The students in my class like them because they aren't doing work from the textbook but from other kids. Visit the other parts of the webspace and find tools and loads of online games and work kids can do during warm up or down time. The site also offers a 14 page book on math tools for at home and how do you solve word problems.

READINGAZ has related links that are equally great: VOCABULARYAZ and RAZ-AZ There are ebooks online that can be read by the student or for nonreaders or emerging readers the books can be listen to on the computer. The words are highlighted to let the student know which words are being read.

With the busy schedules of every teacher today here are a few ways to make your school teacher and student friendly. First if your school does not have a teacher resource corner start one! All it takes is a bookcase or shelf in the teacher lounge or even the library. Start by asking teachers to share their favorite resource books or make binders in which teachers can share their favorite worksheets and lesson plans. As your supplies grow and teachers share more you can diversify and break up the material into subjects.
One school district I worked for in Texarkana, Arkansas had a building where worksheets were filed and assembled by the lesson material or subject. All anyone had to do was come in and browse through the files to find an instant center, lessons for emergency days or a unit on tanagrams. I have traveled all over with some of my favorite worksheets filed according to season or subject matter.
As you search online and create some worksheets or units of study on your own, make an extra copy and share...you might save some one's lunch hour..we all know how precious those times are. Why reinvent the wheel every day. Borrow from each other.
A coworker today paid me a great compliment: She was sad when I got transfered to a new school becaause I had always shared with her cool things I found on the internet. I made up a trifold game on contractions for their community celebration and printed contraction flashcards masters. It took me 20 minutes to do the search and find what she needed but saved her lots of prep time.

Next hold a make and take after school with bring your own snacks to share...chip in to cover the cost of materials and have a great time sharing and creating centers for the classroom. If someone has older students who have time or like to create things after their classwork is done; give them your laminating to cut out or color.

We are creating a teacher resource at our school now and 5th-7th graders are volunteering their lunch recesses to cut out and color material to be used in centers that can be checked out. I have downloaded and printed units for low readers and put them in a binder to share with regular teachers.
The sky is the limit when you work together and share. Have fun and let me know how it goes.