Helpful Resources

As a high school teacher, I find that there are so many resources available to students in order to further their learning.  When I work in the classroom, I find that organizational resources are the first step in maintaining a classroom that focuses on digital literacy.

One of the first resources is https://planbook.com/ .  

This resources allows teachers to not only create lessons in the format they would like but also allows easy access to standards when creating lessons.  Teachers need only to click the tab for standards and select and add their standards in order to make them applicable to their lessons.  The site contains a database of not only common core standards but also standards that have been directed by a person's state.  If a set of standards is not in the system, a teacher can create a spreadsheet and upload the applicable standards.

In addition, this site allows students to view their lesson plans at any point, and students who have missed class often find this is the most helpful way to catch up on work.

Teachers who would like to use this system can share lesson plans between themselves as well as create printable documents that meet the requirements of their individual school.

Another excellent organizational tool is Google classroom found here: https://classroom.google.com/ineligible?emr=0

This allows teachers to upload assignments as well as attach documents that students use in class.  Teachers are able to grade on this database as well as access the documents or presentations the students are creating through Google drive in order to guide them during their writing process.  Teachers can now organize the students alphabetically as well as allow students to create presentations in Classroom.  Every document is saved to the students' drive for easy access even without logging into classroom.

Remind, formerly Remind101, is found here: https://www.remind.com/

Remind allows teacher to send texts to students and/or parents that do not allow students to respond for the sole purpose of reminding them to bring assignments or turn in homework.  If a teacher finds he or she will be absent, it's another great way to remind students they are accountable even without the teacher's presence.

Poll Everywhere is an excellent tool to use with students in order to engage them with using their cell phones in class to respond to a particular prompt or answer a question to check understanding: http://www.polleverywhere.com/

Teachers set up an account as well as a question and can delete comments that are not conducive to class discussion, though a teacher should reiterate her expectations prior to using this service.

All in all, these are effective tools that help the classroom to run smoothly and in an engaging way!