Check out http://www.nosweatshakespeare.com
Since most secondary English teachers will have to teach Shakespeare at some point, it seems like a good idea to have some sources that relate to his life and works. This website has several different pages, each relating to a different aspect of Shakespeare's life or work. Under the "Shakespeare Resources" tab, there are links to areas of his life such as a basic biography, a timeline, information about his family, and a dictionary of words commonly used in his works. There are also links relating to different aspects of his works such as general information about his plays and sonnets, and more specifically, information about the characters in his plays, the different genres his plays fit into, and quotes and monologues translated into modern English.
Though this website isn't completely comprehensive of everything you need to know about Shakespeare, I feel like it serves as a great starting point for teachers and students. The way that it breaks down the life and works of Shakespeare into different categories could be a very beneficial way to plan lessons in a unit on Shakespeare. Whether or not students have already read his plays or sonnets and learned about his life, it is always beneficial to look at the background information of an author. Also, since Shakespeare’s plays have been performed for several centuries, it is important to consider the context in which they were written and performed. This website gives information about the Globe and how his plays would have been performed at the time he was writing them.
Another idea for using this website in the classroom would be to have the students use it as a starting point for projects or activities. Since the website does not cover the entire scope of information that students can learn about Shakespeare, it would be beneficial to have them explore the topics this website provides on their own in further detail. For example, the “Shakespeare Dictionary of Extinct Words” is a very short list. Students could add words to the list and study their origin and use at the time the play was written and performed. Students could also create graphic organizers for the lists of characters the website provides for each play.
Teachers and students could take this website in virtually any direction they please. It provides information that can help them learn more about Shakespeare, but can also serve as a building block for further exploration and learning.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
TeachersFirst
TeachersFirst Website
TeachersFirst is a website made by teachers, for teachers. It really appealed to me because real teachers actually contribute to this website. This site also has a lot of helpful resources. You can search by subject, grade, or keywords for any topic you want to explore. You can also share your experiences with other teachers and/or ask for advice. Another aspect I liked about this website is it gives you current events and resources. Having current events and resources will help us as future teachers to keep up with what’s new, so that we can better assist our students.
I really liked this website because it provides teaching strategies and lessons dedicated to English Language Learners and English as a Second Language. I think it’s very important to learn these types of strategies. There are so many children who don’t speak English as their first Language. Therefore, it is important as future teachers to try and incorporate these types of learners in our curricula. I think this website would be a perfect place to start looking for ideas and teaching strategies related to ELLs.
I would definitely use this website as a resource for my future career as a teacher. I would be able to learn from other teachers who have been in the field a lot longer than me. I can also go to the helpful websites listed on the website and browse the various lesson plans provided. It is a great resource for future teachers in any subject area because it provides an array of lessons and activities for every subject. I plan on using this website for a possible Harry Potter Unit, since it has a bunch of lessons and teaching strategies related to Harry Potter. I recommend taking a look at this website and exploring its various resources.
TeachersFirst is a website made by teachers, for teachers. It really appealed to me because real teachers actually contribute to this website. This site also has a lot of helpful resources. You can search by subject, grade, or keywords for any topic you want to explore. You can also share your experiences with other teachers and/or ask for advice. Another aspect I liked about this website is it gives you current events and resources. Having current events and resources will help us as future teachers to keep up with what’s new, so that we can better assist our students.
I really liked this website because it provides teaching strategies and lessons dedicated to English Language Learners and English as a Second Language. I think it’s very important to learn these types of strategies. There are so many children who don’t speak English as their first Language. Therefore, it is important as future teachers to try and incorporate these types of learners in our curricula. I think this website would be a perfect place to start looking for ideas and teaching strategies related to ELLs.
I would definitely use this website as a resource for my future career as a teacher. I would be able to learn from other teachers who have been in the field a lot longer than me. I can also go to the helpful websites listed on the website and browse the various lesson plans provided. It is a great resource for future teachers in any subject area because it provides an array of lessons and activities for every subject. I plan on using this website for a possible Harry Potter Unit, since it has a bunch of lessons and teaching strategies related to Harry Potter. I recommend taking a look at this website and exploring its various resources.
Your Own Virtual Teacher's Lounge!
The Teacher’s Corner allows for a ton of interaction among teachers. I referred to it as the world’s teacher’s lounge (stealing the name from one of their many sections) because this is exactly the kind of feel the website works to give. The creators seem to want us as teachers to treat it as an open forum in which we can all feel free to post our concerns and hopefully help others facing problems we have (somehowJ) managed to overcome. I think that collaborating as teachers generally creates an even greater learning environment for students because they are then able to get each teacher’s best foot forward, which is why I was so intrigued by their virtual teacher collaboration section. Doing projects which will affect schools from different areas allows a sense of community among not only the school district and teachers but students also who will feel a connection to people different from them. It really is like a teacher’s office with the way it offers up so many different potential resources ranging from ideas for units, but even potential teaching jobs! There may not be specific jobs posted, but I think that it is admirable that the site takes the time to offer up the sites it finds most useful to hopefully help us all get hired that much quicker! The book corner represents the book shelf where teachers would typically store books which they have utilized in some way or another and would thus recommend to other teachers in their profession. All I have to say is that in my placement this semester I have found that the teacher’s lounge is one of the places I have learned the most in and I hope that this site can help you guys in the same way!
Harvard Graduate School of Education Website
http://gseweb.harvard.edu/library/educator_resources.html#teaching
The Harvard Graduate School of Education is basically all of the best educational websites rolled into one. You could say this site serves more as a search engine because it has direct links to other websites for educators. However, the websites are clearly handpicked for their clarity and up-to-date information. The website divides the subject of education into different categories, such as “Children’s Literature” and “Education Law”. Once you click one of these titles, the link takes you to a set of other websites pertaining to the title. Searching through some of the provided websites, I found fascinating, modern information about the latest educational strategies and news. On this website, the content consists of everything from ideas of how to teach literature, to what new educational pedagogy is being experimented with. For example, I clicked on the site achieve.org under the “Teaching and Pedagogy” link, and I was brought to this fantastic website about a new philosophy of education being implemented in Washington D.C. high schools. The philosophy explication has a very comprehensive account on the steps, in this group’s opinion, that need to be taken to help high school students get to college and transition well into college.
I chose to share this website because it is like the educational version of google.com, except without all of the unrelated websites that come up when searching for something specific.
WritingFix
http://writingfix.com/
After spending a little while looking for useful sites pertaining to teaching and English, I began to get a little frustrated, but then I stumbled upon this site. Throughout my search, I was mainly looking for sites that focused on reading and grammar, but I never thought I would find such an interesting site that deals with writing.
There is plenty of stuff to do on this site, but one of the most helpful and interesting aspects is the individualized lessons on specific texts. Whether it is literature, poetry or one of the different writing styles (persuasive, expository or narrative) you can find some sort of lesson on the topic. In each of these lessons, there are plenty of sample journal ideas, writing topics and creative essay questions. These questions consist of daily warm-up exercises, practice prompts for the state tests and questions that could easily be used in the classroom. Along with each of these helpful tools, there is also a specific section on the writing process itself, where characteristics of well developed outlines, rough drafts and final drafts can be found. Not to mention that there are also plenty of lesson plan and creative project ideas to help spice up a lesson that may need a little more flavor.
The resources on this site consist of ideas and resources for grades K-12, but there seems to be a greater emphasis on the higher-level grades. If you ever need some ideas on teaching writing, this site might be helpful.
Creating Websites - Recommended sites of the week
One of the interesting things about the Internet, particularly Web 2.0, is the whole notion that we are not just passive consumers of media, we are also producing and reinterpreting the media out there. Take YouTube, for instance. There are folks out there creating fan art and fan-made trailers that are even better than the official movie or TV show trailers. For teachers, this means that the options available for us to create texts and showcase the talent in our classrooms are increasing exponentially every day. As I mentioned in the first entry I wrote, that was part of the motivation to create this blog.
But, why stop at blogs, I wonder. These days, creating websites is even easier than it used to. I remember around the time when "Al Gore invented the Internet" circa 1994 B.C., that in order to create a website, you needed massive knowledge at least of HTML. I remember my students back in 1997 tried to teach me HTML. They printed a handout called "HTML for Awesome Teachers (who have no idea about HTML)." Yes, I am still an awesome teacher but no, I still have no idea about HTML... I guess some things never change. The beauty of things these days is that creating a website for teachers and their classrooms is even easier. So, to get you off on the right track, my students and I recommend the following two websites:
1. YOLA, a free website creator
I learned about Yola thanks to a former student of mine when I taught CI 473 in the already legendary Spring of 2008 (since that was the one when I taught with a full-legged cast and when I met my soon-to-be wife). This student suggested Yola (at the time it was called synthasite, but they changed the name) as an alternative that she was using to put together her electronic portfolio. I started tinkering with Yola last year, when I decided I wanted to build my own website. I have to tell you, the experience has been, as comic Russell Peters would say, "mind-blasting." The site is easy to navigate, you can set your page in minutes. There are 176 free templates to choose from, so spicing up the site is not an issue. Once you're on the site creator portion, there are plenty of options to work with: You can add links to YouTube, Google, Twitter, Facebook, etc. The website also gives you the option to create a blog, if you'd still like to try that out.
I tried Google sites at first, and I didn't find it as intuitive as Yola. Therefore, I recommend this site for any teachers interested in taking their craft to the Web 2.0!
2. ZUNAL, a WebQuest maker
One of the projects we're doing in CI 473 is creating WebQuests. Another student of mine this semester brought this site to my attention. Although I am only beginning to test-drive it myself, some of my students are already rallying here to get their WebQuests done. At first glance, it seems an easier alternative than what I had to do two years ago. So, this is my second recommendation.
In the meantime, keep reading the amazing websites my students are sharing with you all.
But, why stop at blogs, I wonder. These days, creating websites is even easier than it used to. I remember around the time when "Al Gore invented the Internet" circa 1994 B.C., that in order to create a website, you needed massive knowledge at least of HTML. I remember my students back in 1997 tried to teach me HTML. They printed a handout called "HTML for Awesome Teachers (who have no idea about HTML)." Yes, I am still an awesome teacher but no, I still have no idea about HTML... I guess some things never change. The beauty of things these days is that creating a website for teachers and their classrooms is even easier. So, to get you off on the right track, my students and I recommend the following two websites:
1. YOLA, a free website creator
I learned about Yola thanks to a former student of mine when I taught CI 473 in the already legendary Spring of 2008 (since that was the one when I taught with a full-legged cast and when I met my soon-to-be wife). This student suggested Yola (at the time it was called synthasite, but they changed the name) as an alternative that she was using to put together her electronic portfolio. I started tinkering with Yola last year, when I decided I wanted to build my own website. I have to tell you, the experience has been, as comic Russell Peters would say, "mind-blasting." The site is easy to navigate, you can set your page in minutes. There are 176 free templates to choose from, so spicing up the site is not an issue. Once you're on the site creator portion, there are plenty of options to work with: You can add links to YouTube, Google, Twitter, Facebook, etc. The website also gives you the option to create a blog, if you'd still like to try that out.
I tried Google sites at first, and I didn't find it as intuitive as Yola. Therefore, I recommend this site for any teachers interested in taking their craft to the Web 2.0!
2. ZUNAL, a WebQuest maker
One of the projects we're doing in CI 473 is creating WebQuests. Another student of mine this semester brought this site to my attention. Although I am only beginning to test-drive it myself, some of my students are already rallying here to get their WebQuests done. At first glance, it seems an easier alternative than what I had to do two years ago. So, this is my second recommendation.
In the meantime, keep reading the amazing websites my students are sharing with you all.
readwritethink.org!
www.readwritethink.org
This website is one of the most useful websites that I have come across. I constantly find myself browsing through it for lesson plans and new ideas! You can sift through hundreds and hundreds of lesson plans previously posted by the teachers who have created them.
Also, you are able to narrow down your searches into grade level. However, it is easy to sift through different grade levels and adapt the lesson plans for your particular group of students. As icing on the cake, they even give you the standards that the lesson plan reaches! As far as I have seen, the lesson plans are written up in such detail, that you really get a sense of how the lesson should be presented. Also, you can narrow down your searches into the specific skill that you want your students to learn. For example, there are categories such as collaboration, critical thinking, listening comprehension, reading fluency, reading genres, literary analysis, writing processes, oral communication, and many more!
Not only does this site have an incredible amount of lesson plans, but it also has a “Professional Development” section. Under this category, I found resources such as “Teaching with Technology” and “Differentiating Instruction.”
Most importantly, this website does not require you to download any specific software, and it is EASY to navigate! I can guarantee that if you look at this site once, you will constantly go back to it for awesome ideas!
This website is one of the most useful websites that I have come across. I constantly find myself browsing through it for lesson plans and new ideas! You can sift through hundreds and hundreds of lesson plans previously posted by the teachers who have created them.
Also, you are able to narrow down your searches into grade level. However, it is easy to sift through different grade levels and adapt the lesson plans for your particular group of students. As icing on the cake, they even give you the standards that the lesson plan reaches! As far as I have seen, the lesson plans are written up in such detail, that you really get a sense of how the lesson should be presented. Also, you can narrow down your searches into the specific skill that you want your students to learn. For example, there are categories such as collaboration, critical thinking, listening comprehension, reading fluency, reading genres, literary analysis, writing processes, oral communication, and many more!
Not only does this site have an incredible amount of lesson plans, but it also has a “Professional Development” section. Under this category, I found resources such as “Teaching with Technology” and “Differentiating Instruction.”
Most importantly, this website does not require you to download any specific software, and it is EASY to navigate! I can guarantee that if you look at this site once, you will constantly go back to it for awesome ideas!
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