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20 websites to the rescue of new teachers
The biggest reasons for attrition of teachers in the first 3 years of working are lack of support, experienced teacher mentors, and resources. Here is a list of 20 wonderful online resources for teachers.
Teaching is not only a noble profession but a very challenging one too. What with keeping up to date in the field of core knowledge along with the in-class management skills. It can become quite a handful for new teachers. In fact, research indicates that even new teachers need support, as they struggle to feel empowered in their positions as educators. In fact, the biggest reasons for attrition of teachers in the first 3 years of working are lack of support, experienced teacher mentors, and resources.
Technology has come to the rescue of new teachers with a lot of online resources, but as we all know the internet is a treasure trove of information, finding the right technology or tool often proves challenging and time-consuming.
During an edWeb webinar, Shannon Holden, assistant principal at Republic Middle School in Missouri and a longtime educator, came to the rescue by offering a list of websites to help new teachers find online resources quickly and easily.
Holden said that searching educational materials online can reduce work time because there are chances that another educator may have already created the exact same resource. The original resource can simply be edited to meet the individual need of a class.
1. Teachers Pay Teachers: Free and paid content–in fact, sellers are required to offer free materials alongside their fee-based materials.
2. Really Good Stuff: Educational materials as well as supplies like furniture, filing cabinets, and sticky notes.
3. Amazon, eBay, : Paid content: Fee-based educational resources and materials that can be shipped directly.
4. Google: A simple Google search is great, Holden said, because educators can search through all the various categories–images, videos, books, and apps. A Google image search can lead searchers directly to resources and are often linked to Pinterest accounts. “The great thing about the [Google] ‘videos’ search is that ALL of the videos are free,” Holden said. Copying the embed code for a video lets educators paste the video into their websites, blogs, or LMS.
5. Share My Lesson: Free lesson plans for teachers, organized by grade, subject, and standard. The site also offers professional learning resources.
6. Scholastic: Offers resources, tools, teaching strategies, and student activities.
7. Discovery: Resources organized by grade level and topic, with a “Teacher Picks” resource category, too.
8. Laura Candler Educational Resources: An educator who not only offers her own resources but also curates other content for use.
9. Indiana University – Bloomington: Resources organized by topics such as active learning, assessments, and collaboration.
10. TES: A research page for all grade levels, including whole-school and students with special needs, organized by topic.
11. Web Anywhere: Teacher resources split into primary and secondary categories, searchable by subject. This site offers some resources from the UK.
12. SMART Exchange: Offers searchable and editable SMART Board activities created by teachers.
13. Read Write Think: Not only does the site have activities for educators to use with students, but the site also offers professional development topics
14. National Geographic: Mainly videos which often come with companion documents such as writing prompts.
15. ArtsEdge: This site from The Kennedy Center offers a “lesson finder” to help align resources to different art topics.
16. Education.com: Searchable site organized by resource and age/grade.
17. We Are Teachers: Lessons and materials, tips for grant writing, a blog list, and popular education topics.
18. Kids.gov: A federal site for free educational resources.
19. Federal Resources for Educational Excellence: A federal site retired in 2015, it still offers links to other federal resources.
20. Education World: This site offers news, blogs, teacher materials, and more.