Great resources from the federal government!

Here are some useful resources from the federal government.  Tons of links!  Enjoy!

http://www.free.ed.gov/

15 Misconceptions about Multicultural Education

There are a number of misconceptions regarding multicultural education in schools across the country.  Check out his list/article about 15 misconceptions we as teachers may have.  Even if you work in a highly diverse school, it's amazing how many misconceptions you may discover you actually have.


http://www.udel.edu/bateman/acei/misconceptions.htm


Reference
Aldridge, Aman, & Calhoun.  (2000, Spring).  15 misconceptions about multicultural education.  Focus on Elementary, 12(3).  Retrieved from http://www.udel.edu/bateman/acei/misconceptions.htm

Know your facts!

Do your students struggle with their multiplication facts?  Learning these facts seems to be a sore spot for many students.  I have located a number of great sites you can access to help your students master their facts.  You will find games, timed quizzes, and printable resources to either remediate or enrich your students.

1.  http://www.multiplication.com/
Great site for timed quizzes, instructional videos, online games, and even lessons.

2.  http://www.mathsisfun.com/tables.html
Demonstrates clever tricks for helping students remember their facts using number patterns.

3.  http://www.funbrain.com/math/
Fun baseball, themed games help students remember addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts.  You can even mix things up by incorporating all four!

4.  http://www.helpingwithmath.com/resources/tab_multiplication_tables.htm
Printable copies of multiplication facts.

5.  http://www.gamequarium.com/multiplication.html
Great site for online multiplication games.  Students will love this site!

6.  http://www.onlinemathlearning.com/multiplication-games.html
Very comprehensive site loaded with links to online multiplication games.  Something for everyone!

Parent Teacher Conferences

Parent Teacher Conferences are upon us.  Here is a link to a great site with loads of information on how to conduct a conference if you are new to teaching.  There are also forms you can print out to use at your conferences.  Though much of the site is geared at newer teachers, there are still many great links for all levels of experience.


Here is the link:
http://www.teachingheart.net/parentteacherconference.html

Reference:
Retrieved from http://www.teachingheart.net/.

RSA Animate - Changing Education Paradigms

Watch this clip from YouTube.  It is a fascinating and innovative take on the evolution of education.  Thanks goes out to Marge for introducing this into my consciousness.

Reference:
RSA (2010).  Retrieved from http://www.rsa.org/ on October 17, 2010.

Reader's/Writer's Workshop

Reader's/Writer's Workshop has become the newest initiative in the district I work in.  I learned about another great site at a professional learning course I took last summer.  I have shared it with my grade level colleagues and many others teachers at my school.

Here is the link:
http://hill.troy.k12.mi.us/staff/bnewingham/myweb3/literacy_links.htm

This site was created by two third grade teachers that co-teach at a school in Troy, Michigan.  These two outstanding educators have been kind enough to share a multitude of resources related to Reader's and Writer's Workshop.  There are even printables for you to use as well as photographs of every activity discussed on the site.  These two teachers are very inspiring and clearly value their role as professional educators. 

The link again:
http://hill.troy.k12.mi.us/staff/bnewingham/myweb3/literacy_links.htm

Reference:
Gordon, H. & Newingham, B.  (2010).  Literacy links.  Retrieved from http://hill.troy.k12.mi.us/staff/bnewingham/myweb3/literacy_links.htm

Interactive Story Elements!

A colleague of mine discovered a great site for teaching literary elements in an interactive format.  The website has an interactive story version of Cinderella that it reads to students.  After the story concludes, it navigates them through mini-lessons on each of the literary elements listed below and even includes a quiz at the end.  Elementary students will love the telling of the story (my 4th graders thought it was hilarious) and will be actively engaged in the mini-lessons at the end.  The students will learn what each element is, will apply it in context, and will be assessed over their comprehension of the elements at the end.

Here is the link:

http://www.learner.org/interactives/story/cinderella.html

Literary elements coverd on the site:

• Setting
• Characters
• Sequence
• Exposition
• Conflict
• Climax
• Resolution

One more time...

http://www.learner.org/interactives/story/cinderella.html