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Community Library

Community Library     A community library (or even a school library) is a great resource for students. Libraries provide research materials, reading for enjoyment materials, and people who can be resources to help students learn how to use a library to find resources, as well as how to use the internet to find resources. Having a librarian come to the classroom for additional instruction on research and resources would be beneficial for students because it would give them a professional connection and resource they could always go to for help. Libraries foster a learning environment because they are resource-centered, depending on what each person needs. Libraries can be used for studying as well as research because they are a quiet place to work. This would be part of best practice because books and other materials for projects are numerous and offer a wide selection. This would also teach students how to find resources which they can use even once they have finished school.

Teachers Pay Teachers

“Teaching Resources & Lesson Plans.” Teachers Pay Teachers , www.teacherspayteachers.com/.     Teachers Pay Teachers is a website full of lesson plans and other tools for the classroom. There are resources for all subject areas, and for Language Arts there are lesson plans and other resources on numerous topics, some of which are close reading, grammar, vocabulary, writing, and many others. The lesson plans can be filtered by price, grade, or topic. There are other resource types including assessments, google apps, games, and unit plans. This would be a great resource for differentiated instruction or learning centers because it would give different options for students to choose from, on top of what teachers have already come up with. This resource is also a great way to get ideas for lessons from other teachers who have had success, and it reinforces the idea that teachers support and help each other be successful so students may be successful.

Adolescent Literacy

“All About Adolescent Literacy.” AdLit.org , WETA, www.adlit.org/.     Adlit is a website that offers resources and support for teachers and parents of struggling readers and writers, grades 4-12. There are tools and support for hot topics, classroom strategies for before, during, and after reading, blogs, themed book lists, videos for support, and professional development webcasts. The information is research-based and best practice for helping struggling readers. This website is a great tool for every classroom because there will always be a struggling reader. The website acknowledges in the importance of students being able to read and analyze what is read, not just the basics of literacy. Along with different tactics, having themed book lists is a great tool to help struggling readers become engaged and motivated to read the books they choose. Not only does this website focus on what students can do to become better readers, it also looks at the future and how to prepare student

National Education Association

“NEA - NEA Home.” NEA , National Education Association, www.nea.org/.     NEA is a website that offers professional development focused on public education. There are resources and tools for development, as well as lesson plans, teaching strategies, classroom management, and support for teachers. These resources are available for Pre-K-12th grade. There is a tab for Issues and Actions where current news about education can be found. This website gives resources and tools for every aspect of education and lots of support for teachers. This website also has grants and events that focus on education and recognizing teachers. This website is mostly focused on the support of teachers and education, but has many tools and resources that can be used in the classroom, other than just lesson plans. This website would be great for applying the social cognitive theory, where students can read about current education news. This would also support differentiated learning because of all the suppo

National Council of Teachers of English

“NCTE.” NCTE , National Council of Teachers of English, www2.ncte.org/.     NCTE is a website that offers support to teachers and students in classrooms. There are journals, books, meetings, and web resources for teachers for professional development. There are also tools and guides for teaching writing and improving student and teacher writing. The lesson plans are linked through a website sponsored by NCTE, called ReadWriteThink. ReadWriteThink provides lesson plans, apps for the classroom, professional development guides, videos, and parent resources. There are lesson plans for grades K-12, with many different themes to choose from such as art, nonfiction, poetry, science, and many more. The lesson plans also have different focuses such as collaboration, comprehension, critical thinking, and others. These many options allow for teachers to choose what type of learning they want to teach with which topic. This is an important feature for differentiated learning exercises. This web

Annenberg Learner

“Teacher Professional Development.” Annenberg Learner , Annenberg Foundation, www.learner.org/.     Learner.org focuses on the teacher’s development as a professional by offering current news and learning for teachers within different subjects. It focuses on teachers as learners, which shows that this website recognizes the importance of lifelong learning. Not only does it offer professional support for teachers, it also offers lesson plans and videos that can be used in the classroom for grades K-12, as well as college. The lesson plans for literature and language arts are few, but can be adapted for use in different pieces of literature. There are also interactive lesson plan ideas that include images, videos, and creating/writing to show knowledge. These would be great for station work. There is a section called “Learner Express” where there are videos for enhancement of student knowledge or professional development. This website offers lesson plans and activities that encourage

Study Guides and Strategies

“Study Guides and Strategies.” Study Guides and Strategies , www.studygs.net/.     This website offers tools for students and teachers. Some of the tools for students are how to take notes, prepare for tests, or write papers. These tools are focused on individual use but can be adapted as lesson plan support for teachers. This is a very student-centered website, and gives much information so that students can use it as a resource without having to ask for help. This would be a great tool for different ideas of how to teach different topics, such as different types of writing or reading. There are also guides for how to manage time, organize tasks, etc. on this website, which can be great for helping students who struggle with this. Teachers could use this website in their lesson directly, or they could use it for reading before teaching to give students things to focus on in an upcoming lesson. This would be a great resource for teachers to be actively engaged with different types o