Well the summer is finally
here, and with it comes a time to recharge our "batteries.":) That being said most teachers are almost
always looking for different approaches to more fully engage their students in
learning. Often teachers reflections
focus on several issues including such ideas as looking for new techniques,
practical ways to integrate technology, strategies to more fully engage
struggling students, etc. As instructors face these challenges, they must still
deal with limited school budgets. So
free tools for our teaching kits must be the focus.
With that in mind, this post
will explore a website that will serve as an excellent supplemental tool for
any grade level or content area. That
site is PINTEREST. Setting up your own account takes a few
seconds. You will then want to build
boards based on your subject, your lessons, and your interests. Here is one of mine (I have 32 boards on many
content areas and personal interests).
The theme here is TEACHER HUMOR
(a fun way to interest the site). Of
course this one is just for teachers:)
In a more serious vein, here is my board on SPACE/SCIENCE. The use of the material here would easily
provide context for all students (especially English language learners) and
that should provide better access to language and content for all students. Further, you can send "content
boards" to students to review as needed.
They do not have to have an account to access them (if they are over 13,
they can create their own accounts, but I would suggest you assign their usernames
and passwords to make monitoring easier as well as providing parents access).
Another use of this site is
to create lesson "boards" to store all your links, visuals, pdfs,
etc. Think of them as visual
bookmarks/favorites. This approach
provides a quick route to all your plans for that a class with just a few
clicks. Of course, nothing takes the
place of a well ordered lesson, but with this tool, all of your websites and
other support materials will be on a virtual "board" with a picture
of the theme of each website saved.
So, if you have some quiet
time over your vacation, play around with the site. Let me warn you ahead of time though that it
can be addictive:)
Continue to enjoy your
vacation:)
Denise, Cheryl, and Marnie
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