Web Portals

Best Practice Tools for Teacher Professional Development and Instruction

This week I explored some useful website for Teacher Professional Development, as well as some useful websites/apps that I could use in my classroom to enhance the learning of my students.

Below you will find a chart of 10 websites that I found to be meaningful. The first 5 websites are for Professional Development. The last 5 websites are useful for instruction in my classroom to make learning fun and engaging. I hope you find these websites useful as well!

~Julie Love

Name of Online  Resource	Website URL	How will this site assist you in your teaching?
Bloomin’ Apps	www.schrockguide.net/bloomin-apps.html	On this website, Kathy Schrock has provided several ipad apps and online tools to support Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy. This covers the areas of Creating, Evaluating, Analyzing, Applying, Understanding, Remembering. I would use this website to obtain apps and online tools for my students to enhance their learning experience for several content areas.
Kathy Schrock’s iPads4Teaching	http://www.ipads4teaching.net/	This website provides professional development by means of teaching tips, tricks, and resources for teaching and learning with the iPad.
iPad Apps for School	http://ipadapps4school.com/	This website provides a wide arrange of apps that teachers can choose from to enhance the learning experience of their students in several content areas.
The Padagogy Wheel – It’s Not About The Apps, It’s About The Pedagogy	https://www.teachthought.com/technology/the-padagogy-wheel/	The Padagogy Wheel has several different domains of pedagogical thinking. It has mobile apps within each framework area, linking the educational purpose they are most likely will have.  This helps teachers to identify the place and purpose of their educational app and teaching activities.
California Department of Education	https://www.cde.ca.gov	This is the website for California Department of Education. It is important to know content standards and framework and make sure that lessons are designed in a way that help students achieve the desired learning goals.
Teach Your Monster to Read	http://www.teachyourmonstertoread.com/	Teach Your Monster to Read, it covers everything from letters and sounds to reading full sentences. Designed in collaboration with leading academics. Complements all synthetic phonics programmes used in schools. The reading games are fun and interactive and make learning to read engaging! I would use this resource four times a week, during reading groups when the students are working and the iPad.
Turtle Diary	https://www.turtlediary.com/	Turtle Diary offers many online learning games, videos, experiments, puzzles, coloring sheets, etc! Turtle Diary offers learning activities for Pre-K – 5th grade. In addition, it offers a variety of activities from Math, Language Arts, Science, Typing, Arts& Crafts, Biographies, Multiple Players, etc. The website also offers teaching tools such as: worksheet generator, assessments, common core activities, and assignment. I would could use this resource in a variety of ways, from Math and Reading practice on the iPad. Printable worksheets and Educational Videos for multiple subjects.
Happy Numbers	https://happynumbers.com/?redirect=no	“Happy Numbers is based on the best pedagogical practices for approaching each skill and concept: visual modeling, using concrete manipulatives and other time-tested approaches to math instruction.”  Happy Numbers can be used independently   providing individualized instruction for students.
Story Online	http://www.storylineonline.net/	The website states that, “Reading aloud to children has been shown to improve reading, writing and communication skills, logical thinking and concentration, and general academic aptitude, as well as inspire a lifelong love of reading. Teachers use Storyline Online in their classrooms, and doctors and nurses play Storyline Online in children’s hospitals. Storyline Online is available 24 hours a day for children, parents, caregivers and educators worldwide. Each book includes supplemental curriculum developed by a credentialed elementary educator, aiming to strengthen comprehension and verbal and written skills for English-language learners.”
RoomRecess.com	http://www.roomrecess.com/pages/WordSkills.html	RoomRecess.com offers a variety of educational games from: Reading, Math, Word Work, Computer Lab, Mobile games, and Stories. The website offers several ELA and Math games that I would use in my class to enhance the learning and engagement of my students.

Reference:

Bloomin' Apps. (n.d.). Retrieved February 18, 2018, from http://www.schrockguide.net/bloomin-apps.html

California Department of Education. (n.d.). Retrieved February 18, 2018, from https://www.cde.ca.gov/

Home. (n.d.). Retrieved February 18, 2018, from http://www.storylineonline.net/

IPad Apps for School. (n.d.). Retrieved February 18, 2018, from http://ipadapps4school.com/

IPads for Teaching. (n.d.). Retrieved February 18, 2018, from http://www.ipads4teaching.net/

Math Centers that Deliver. (n.d.). Retrieved February 18, 2018, from https://happynumbers.com/?redirect=no

Teach Your Monster to Read. (n.d.). Retrieved February 15, 2018, from http://www.teachyourmonstertoread.com/

The Padagogy Wheel - It's Not About The Apps, It's About The Pedagogy -. (2016, August 28). Retrieved February 18, 2018, from https://www.teachthought.com/technology/the-padagogy-wheel/

Turtle Diary. (n.d.). Retrieved February 15, 2018, from https://www.turtlediary.com/

Word Skills | A List of Word Skills for Games at RoomRecess.com. (n.d.). Retrieved February 18, 2018, from http://www.roomrecess.com/pages/WordSkills.html

Meeting the Needs of Diverse Learners

Meeting the Needs of Diverse Learners 

As a teacher, I work to meet the needs of diverse learners by:

1.         Learning about my students’ culture
2.         I also work to learn and understand their linguistic traits
3.         I use this knowledge to help me differentiate my instruction
4.         I also use multicultural books and materials to foster cross-cultural understanding
5.         I also try to learn about my students’ home life and relationships

The Power of Personality

As a teacher, my personality is outgoing and compassionate. My personality affects my relationship with my students, and my teaching, by creating a warm and nurturing environment where my students feel comfortable and capable of learning. 

Below are some important elements that I found on the website, “Classroom Management And The Power Of Your Personality,” about how your personality affects your relationship with your students. 

1.      Be yourself

2.      Loosen up

3.      Stand tall

4.      Be present

5.      Maintain your focus

6.      Join in

7.      Close the distance

8.      Let it shine

Teaching to Various Learning Styles

There are currently seven “Learning Styles:”

1.      Visual (spatial): You prefer using pictures, images, and spatial understanding.

2.      Aural (auditory-musical): You prefer using sound and music.

3.      Verbal (linguistic): You prefer using words, both in speech and writing.

4.      Physical (kinesthetic): You prefer using your body, hands and sense of touch.

5.      Logical (mathematical): You prefer using logic, reasoning and systems.

6.      Social (interpersonal): You prefer to learn in groups or with other people.

7.      Solitary (intrapersonal): You prefer to work alone and use self-study.

Different learning styles means that there are different ways to learn. That also means that teachers need to have different strategies and methods to teach. 

Here are five effective teaching styles:

1.      The Authority, or lecture style: This teaching style is teacher centered and typically involves long lectures. Students are only expected to take notes to retain the information.   

2.      The Demonstrator, or coach style: This teaching style is similar to the authority, lecture style. The teacher demonstrates what the students need to know. The lessons include multimedia presentations, activities, and demonstrations. This teaching style is good for: Math, Science, and Music.

3.      The Facilitator, or activity style: This teaching style encourages self-learning. Facilitators help the students develop critical thinking skills. This type of learning also helps student to retain knowledge that leads to metacognition.

4.      The Delegator, or group style: This teaching style is best used for curriculum that requires lab activities and or activities that require student involvement and feedback. This teaching style is good for: Science (chemistry and biology); Social Science (debates); and English Language Arts (creative writing.).

5.      The Hybrid, or blended style: This teaching style is an integrated approach that blends the teacher’s personality and interest with the students’ needs, as well as curriculum appropriate teaching strategies.

A teachers’ own learning style affects their teaching style and their students' ability to be successful. Teachers often teach in a manner based on their personal learning styles. In addition, teachers typically recall effective manners in which they themselves have learned and are more eager to explore and implement various teaching strategies and methods to meet the diverse needs and learning styles of the students in their classroom.

Since there are so many learning styles, I decided to find out my learning styles by taking the following quiz, “Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire.” Below are my results from the quiz:

Questionnaire Results for Julie Love:

Active: 3

Intuitive: 1

Visual: 9

Sequential: 3

What do my results mean?

"According to the model on which the ILS is based, there are four dimensions of learning style, with each dimension having two opposite categories (such as active and reflective). The reported score for a dimension indicates my preference for one category or the other.

It states that if  your score for a dimension is 1 or 3, you are fairly well balanced on the two categories of that dimension, with only a mild preference for one or the other.

If your score for a dimension is 5 or 7, you have a moderate preference for one category of that dimension. You may learn less easily in an environment that fails to address that preference at least some of the time than you would in a more balanced environment.

If your score for a dimension is 9 or 11, you have a strong preference for one category of that dimension. You may have difficulty learning in an environment that fails to address that preference at least some of the time."

So what does this all mean? Surprise, I am a Visual Learner! (I already suspected that, but now I have it in writing.) 

If you would also like to find out what type of learner you are, you can do so at the following address: https://www.webtools.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/submit.php .

References: 

Classroom Management And The Power Of Your Personality. (2014, April 08). Retrieved February 11, 2018, from https://www.smartclassroommanagement.com/2012/04/21/classroom-management-and-the-power-of-your-personality/ 

Learning Styles. (n.d.). Retrieved February 11, 2018, from https://www.time4learning.com/learning-styles.shtml 

Teaching Styles: Different Teaching Methods & Strategies. (2017, December 08). Retrieved February 11, 2018, from https://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/classroom-resources/5-types-of-classroom-teaching-styles/ 

6 tips for teaching in a diverse classroom. (n.d.). Retrieved February 09, 2018, from http://www.imaginelearning.com/blog/2010/06/esl_struggling-readers-2/

(n.d.). Retrieved February 11, 2018, from https://www.webtools.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/