iknowit.com Makes You Work for Its Title!

"iknowit.com" is a fairly new site that can help elementary school math teachers keep students at a good pace while also being able to modify the learning to their own level. It has lessons from kindergarten to 5th grade, and has dozen of informative and focused exercises for each grade! The fun and well-animated characters can be distracting at times, but they also add some entertainment value as every student could feel a sense of accomplishment when the characters on screen are congratulating them for every step they make towards a goal. The site tells you exactly how many problems you have left to go, which can help students to know how much time they should put into each question. It even gives a limited number of hints that students can use per lesson to help them along if they get stuck once or twice.
The site uses a profile based system for each student, which makes it easy for the teacher to see who has completed what lessons. In addition, because it is website-based, it could also be an effective tool to use in tandem with keyboard learning lessons, combining both skills! If a math teacher is looking for something new, modern, and fun for many different grades, look no further than this site!

Chromebooks in the Classroom.

A new school year has begun and my 16 and 9 year daughters are out of my hair and back in the classroom. I attended both the elementary and highschool orientation nights and was quite excited to find a new addition to their classrooms. Both of my daughters will now have access and gain experience using Chromebooks. In my children's school there has never been chromebooks or ipads, and it had me thinking, why now? What will this costly investment offer to my children that the library or a computer lab cannot? So I did some research and this is what I found out….

You can buy a Samsung Chromebook for just about $200 from best buy. It looks like a mini-laptop and from an amateurs point of view has everything that a laptop would offer. It’s rating is 4.6 stars and can complete many tasks associated with education. Now more than ever we rely on the internet to explore our education. I think that my children have a greater chance at being successful having knowledge in navigating a PC or similar device. Teachers now have to educate students on how to research credible sources, and show students how to discern truth from false media or critically analyze information. The use of Chromebooks can show students how to access credible sources, prove thesis statements,  and research subject content without having to go to the library or rely on outside sources. All children will have the ability to get the information they need to complete tasks that they could not otherwise. It is individualized and cooperative. Books are available, collaboration note taking is possible, educational games can help memorization, and projects can all be completed. We are in a Tech savvy global world were my children absolutely need a chromebook in the classroom to keep up with the demands of today's world.

YouTube

A technology that maybe some of you didn’t think of to use for learning is something you probably use every day! YouTube is a great tool for learning! In high school, many of my teachers would actually assign homework that involved watching certain YouTube videos. We watched a lot of videos from John and Hank Green’s “Crash Course” channels. We also would watch BrainPop videos via youtube as well. Since YouTube is so popular, you can probably find a helpful video on any subject for school. You can subscribe to channels to get notifications to when a new video is updated. I find it useful to download the YouTube app rather than getting to it via browser because the formatting is much better and you get extra perks like skipping ahead 10 seconds by double tapping on the right side of a video. When you create a youtube account, it will recommend videos to you based on the vids you have watched. YouTube is free, which is extremely important to us college kids paying tuition. So instead of watching cat videos, (which are extremely entertaining by the way) try using YouTube for educational purposes!

Starfall

     

For an Early Educational website that is fantastic and developmentally appropriate for children as young as Pre-K, Starfall.com is an exceptional option. This website was created in 2002 with an extensive Language Arts and English curriculum directed towards Pre-K through Second grade. With over 180 free games and subjects ranging from ABCs to Reading, Starfall has also expanded into apps available for apple and android. This website comes equipped with a section for parents and teachers as well, loaded with resources, tools, and support to ensure the expansion of your children's learning and development. Go ahead and give it a go!

Clue Finders

When I was in elementary school I remember playing these computer games. They had different grade levels which in the game the higher grade levels had harder math problems, bigger word problems to solve, etc. You had to solve math, English, and science problems to move on to the next level. This motivated me to learn because I wanted to reach the next level. I still own my original disks, but they no longer make these games.

FunBrain

In the age of digital natives electronics in the educational system are rapidly booming, and the digital immigrants methods of teaching are surely dying. Children as well as adults generally enjoy playing  games and are motivated to finish something when they can make it interesting; so why not combine the two and make learning enjoyable? well luckily there are plenty of new resources for that. Teachers are now more then ever using games as a new primary source of learning, such as this online website  https://www.funbrain.com/: It is an online website that combines games and rewards to learning. This method leaves students wanting more because they are gaining something out of it without realizing they are putting in the efforts to expand their knowledge. 

                                                                                                          

This online website ranges from K-8 grades of learning. It has different sections for English, math, and sciences as well as videos and readings. In between the learning there are rewards and online games that take learning to a whole new level. This ensures students are getting the most out of their education by allowing them to enjoy their studies and giving them the motivation to come back for more.

ABCmouse.com

ABCmouse.com is website aimed at younger learners, preschool to around 1st grade. If you're a parent and you want your kids to have a head start on school or if they need extra help ABCmouse.com is a good site to use. It has different levels to match different learning abilities. The site is set up like a board game.The child creates an avatar and picks the look of the classroom teacher they want to have. The choices for their avatar are realistic. Real skin tones, hair types, and body types. The child's avatar travels along "the learning path". At each spot on the path the child has to practice a specific skill. Each stop doesn't take long to do and they get magic tickets for each stop they complete. They can also go back and repeat stops as much as they want. Since it's aimed at young learners there are lots of songs, coloring pages, and games for them to do. When they get enough tickets they can "buy" things with the tickets to add to their digital classroom. My younger son uses this site and he enjoys it a lot. The lessons are challenging but doable.