Teacher+Resources

Teacher Resource Page I hope this page serves as a helpful tool for many things. I have included websites, examples of my own work and more that I feel are useful in the classroom. Feel free to explore and enjoy! **Podcast ** **[|Podbean] ** A podcast is a great way to assist auditory learners, and visual learners if you feel the need to be overprepared like I do, and it is a way to assist students when you might not have as much time. Podbean is a website that allows you to make free podcasts, which can be saved to your computer as an MP3. Podbean also has many other podcasts available, some that might be helpful to your students. Below is a podcast I created on Area of Composite Figures, since I cannot think on demand I also created a script of what I would say. Therefore, I can provide these resources for both visual and auditory learners. **Warning: Please view content before you let your students, since this is an open website some content might not be classroom appropriate!** media type="file" key="cschaferpodcast.mp3" width="240" height="20" align="center"



**SMARTbook**

**[|SMART exchange]**This website is an excellent resource for those of us who use our SMART board on a daily basis, or even if you only use it occasionally. This site gives you access to TONS of educational SMART lessons, designed specifically to meet our standards. There are even PDF, websites and videos available. Simply go to the website, decide what you would like to search by (I usually use grade level/lesson) and find the lesson you need. This would be a great tool for intervention, to get extra lessons for those students who either need to go down a grade level to learn more background knowledge, or those students who are advanced and can go ahead a grade level. With laptops available, students could be assigned individual lessons to view on their own laptop as a way to reteach a specific topic. There are also many review lessons so an entire class could be working on something different, but reinforcing the concept they need the most help with, awesome :)

**Beautiful Word Clouds** **[|Wordle]** This website is awesome! If you viewed my homepage you saw an example of a wordle, literally a cloud of words that all revolves around the same topic! Mine was created around math, another I created was around my daughter's birth and I know there could be many more! One fun way I thought about using a wordle is to review vocabulary. Each student gets a worksheet with vocabulary definitions or hints, and they create a wordle based on the correct answers to the definitions. Wordles could also be used as a pre-test/post-test with a specific unit. You tellto create a wordle based on their prior knowledge before you start a chapter and then they recreate their wordle once the chapter has been completed, sort of used as a short assessment of your teaching and their reception. Happy wordling :)

**[|Ohio's Testing Portal]** This website is awesome! It provides teachers with past OAA and OGT questions that have been released, all the way back to 2003! There is an available option for teachers to use old practice tests or build their own tests based around a specific concept. Teachers can also use the past questions for review during class. For example, I use my SMART camera and take a picture of the past test questions that fit our particular lesson for the day. I can then insert that question into my SMART lesson for the day! The students get practice with the actual test wording, which is also a great asset I think! Since this website is also connected to the Ohio Department of Education, there are also many available resources. Also, because the website is affiliated with ODE it is also a reliable source of information.
 * OAA Website**

__**Who Moved My Cheese?**__ This is an excellent book to recommend to students going through many changes in life. I read this book as a college freshman and found much needed comfort. It gives change another light, a good side. This book would be good for those 8th graders changing roles to high school, or even those high schoolers getting ready to venture off to college. I also feel this book could help those teachers who are either changing teaching positions or becoming a teacher for the first time. Accepting change is very hard for many people, this book is an excellent resource to help alleviate the stress!

__**The Next Place**__ This book is an excellent resource for those students who lose a loved one. Warren Hanson of describing the place we will rest after our death as a place of peace and comfort. Hanson also describes the next place as a place will race does not matter, where everyone is the same and they have no faults. Throughout the book the illustrations revolve around the sky, as in the beauty of day and night, rainbows, clouds, sun and much more. This book was passed on to me through my sister and father, administrators, who use this book to help young cope with a loss. I feel that students, even those old enough to read chapter books, can always benefit from picture books. What a great way to help a student who might be suffering.

Written by Maria Shriver, a young girl named Kate meets a boy at the park who is 'different'. As all kids do she begins to question "Why is Timmy different? What's wrong with Timmy?". After they become friends and play together Kate realizes that Timmy is not 'different' at all, he is a young kid just like her who wants to play and have fun! This book is an excellent example for students who struggle with realizing that disabled students and/or special education students are no different from them. Shriver, who has written many books to answers curious children minds, does a fine job of using yet another picture book to educate students of all ages.
 * __What's Wrong With Timmy?__**

**__Educating Esme__** Another excellent resource for teachers, not to be read to students. I read this book as a college junior just starting to enter the classroom. This book enters into the life of a new teacher who wants everything for her students, lacks the support from above but still challenges to move forward. Esme wants to be a hands-on teacher who teaches with all kinesthetic activities, gets her students up and moving at all times.I am sure we all face times where we aren't getting the support we feel we should, or taking too much harassment from parents. However, in the end we must realize we do it all for the students because they matter most. This story is a real-life experience of one teacher who changes students' lives forever because she does what is best for them.



**__[|Internet]__**This website has a lot to offer for any classroom. There are practice lessons, different daily websites, assessment assistance, help for grades K-8 and links for those students K-12. There are tutorials to specifically assist with technology and links to help prepare those high school students for the SAT/ACT. There is a special link on side to help with SAT/ACT vocabulary and an extra, small box, on the top right side that is teacher resources. This would be a great website to use for centers or when the students have free laptop/computer time. Students can always refresh their basic skills, what a great way to help!

[|Benchmark OAA] WOW! Yet another website to help us prepare our students for the Ohio Achievement Assessment. There are many resources listed at the top of the website; however, the main focus, at least for me, is the benchmark questions. Each set of questions is broken down by grade level, subject, and benchmark. Each benchmark has a list of questions that have been on previous OAA and each set of questions also has an available answer key. Some could say this is another version of the OAA website listed above, and yes I am sure some of the questions repeat, but there can never be too much OAA review when so much emphasis is placed on this test.