101 Websites!

It's way past my bed time and I really should be sleeping, being it's so close to Christmas and everything... However, I HAD to post this. I found this list of 101 websites every elementary teacher should know about. 

http://www.goedonline.com/101-websites-for-elementary-teachers

Now I don't want to discriminate against middle school teachers, so I decided to check some of these websites out for myself. I think that middle school teachers can easily use these too! I've used the #1 website before to help me with homework in high school actually, so in theory, all teachers can use these!

I really love this list and I hope you find it helpful!

Enjoy!

p.s. Be sure to check out all of the links at the top of this page! I've been adding new stuff for weeks, and since I'm on Christmas break, I'll be updating it even more! Check it out!

No More Name Tags!

While perusing Pinterest this morning, I found this great idea for an alternative to having the name tags on the desks in my future classroom. The teacher on this blog says that she hates the name tags because students pick at them, peel them up, and at the end of the year they're a pain to clean off. This is her solution:

They're Sharpie paint pens, and they come in a ton of colors. She just writes the names of her students on their desks, then at the end of the year, colors over them with an Expo marker, and wipes the names right off! I have to admit, I'm a little skeptical about how well they'll wipe off, however, the other teachers on her blog that commented on this post seemed to be thrilled with the results. If this works, it could be used for sight words, spelling words, and more!

These pictures and this idea all came from:

 http://timeoutsandtootsierolls.blogspot.ca/2012/11/no-more-name-plates.html

I encourage you to check out her blog, she has some fantastic ideas!!!

Enjoy!

Fractions can be fun!

I hope everyone is having a great exam week, or work week, or just a great week in general! I decided to share a fun idea that I saw recently that I really liked. While volunteering at Farwell Middle School, I saw this poster in one of the classrooms. The poster shows a demonstration for adding fractions. It says: "Only when the bottoms are the same can you add or subtract. It then shows that since there are jeans on the bottom, and since they're the same, you can add the tops. The first shirt is yellow, the second is white with polka dots, so adding them gives you the third which is yellow with polka dots. 

I really liked this visual to help students to learn! I hope that you find this creative and helpful as well!

Enjoy!