Professional Development Plan

Educators everywhere know that planning activities that you may have to pay for from your personal pocket can be a toll. As teachers we need to be resourceful and creative with how we get our teaching material. Yes we will get the books we may need and the worksheets they want us to give, but learning is so much more than worksheets. In order for learning to happen children need to be engaged and having fun.

ToolsforEducators.com is a great way to give a personal touch to your class and their activities. The golden word here is FREE. Here are few things you can do on this site: Make word searches that match your vocabulary, dice maker to help with vocabulary and definitions, make board games, crossword puzzle maker, bingo board maker, crisscross bingo maker, spelling worksheet maker and reading sheet to assess your student in an informal way, writing spelling and tracing worksheet that you make if a child needs help writing their name or so on, certificate creator and the list goes on and on. These are all makers and generators that you create so you match them to your needs. They have thematic lessons and activities that can help you plan your lessons. They have primary grade games, sites from parents, language resources, kid sites, additional sites for teachers, and even ESL sites for more resources.

This is a great site, it is packed full of activities that you can incorporate and implement in your classroom. Did I mention the best part: IT IS FREE! yes all of it. Teaching children can be fun for both the student and the teacher. There are so many resources for educators it would be a shame if no one would take advantage of them.

Name of Site: Tools for Educators
URL: http://toolsforeducators.com/

Professional Development Plan

Think u know how to keep your children safe from the Internet? It is a nightmare for parents to have to worry about having your child attacked in their own home. Yes through the computer. The website is very is a very helpful resources for children, parents, and teachers. It it very easy to read and navigate. They have different sections for different age groups like 5-7, 8-10, 11-16, parents, and teachers. There are lots of answers to questions parents or teachers may have about the Internet and the new age terms. Parents, and teachers need to know how to keep their children safe on the Internet because there is a lot of crime going on against children. It is also important for children to know what to stay away from and give them the resources to know how to keep safe while on the Internet. This website does that and you can even register to get a monthly newsletter on the latest way to keep safe and tip to think about. All you have to do is give them your email and best of all it is free.

I would like to be able to have a training on how to keep children safe. This website is very well put together, but it is also good to have it explained by a real life person. It would be nice to have a lesson on how to spot potential harms for our children and ourselves. Computers and the Internet are in most peoples homes and with that comes lots of responsibility to take care of our children against people that my want to harm them. We need to know that knowledge is the power to protect our children.

Website: Thinkuknow
URL: http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/Default.aspx?AspxAutoDectectCookieSupport=1

Professional Development Plan

I am a special education minor and it is very important for people to know that children with special needs are really struggling in some school due to teachers not being educated about how to teach them. In my field observation I realized that some teachers feel hopeless and very burden with having to teach 20 regular ed. students and 1-4 special needs students due to inclusion. I have heard about some success with inclusion, but the teacher has to be informed on how to teach to the special needs child as well as the regular ed. students at the same time. Of course the special needs may still need more one on one teaching. Many teachers do not like inclusion because they feel very overwhelmed.

I found this website called Angel Fire. It gives teachers different resources to help with autism, a learning disability, MR students, etc. It gives several different websites that give lots of helpful information. It has lots of printable games, printable file folders, and so much more. It even has information about computer software for children with special needs like autism. They talk about a web browser that is designed for children with autism for mild to sever to be able to play games and do other activities on the web. Another website has interactive stories, plays, curriculum, classroom set up ideas, and so much more. I liked how it gives the different websites and what that website is able to share with you. It is a very easy website to look over.

Name of Website: Angel Fire
URL: http://www.angelfire.com/pa5/as/asteachersites.html