Dr. Heidi Hayes Jacobs runs a very resourceful and educational website called Curriculum21 and it offers so many helpful websites for educators where they can pick out ideas for lesson plans or for just anyone who wants to learn something new! It was difficult picking six out of the 68 resources I was offered, but I decided on the ones that really stuck out to me.
Storybird is a website that allows writers and artists to design their own story-rich books with an easy and kid-friendly design. The website itself has such a pretty and creative layout that I might sign up for an account myself. I could see how Storybird would be a great tool in the classroom so students could use the artwork that's already in the website and create a story from their own imagination.
Google Art Project is so far one of my favorites from this list. I am a huge fan of art and I already knew I would be picking this website from the first glance of the homepage. There are giant collections of classic, famous art that anyone can look up and zoom in on so they can see the tiniest detail. Educators can use this site to easily show students pieces of art. They can search by artist, collections, or even mediums. I find it very convient that all of it was put together in one place for an educator who wants to talk about art history to their students.
Flickr and Vimeo are great tools to use in the classroom. Flickr is a photo management and sharing website that can also store your photos on an account so a student can come back to them later. It's very easy to use and there is also a creation and editing tool that a teacher can use in the classroom for a project. Vimeo is a wonderful alternative to YouTube. If there is conflict that arises with YouTube (such as privacy) and you want to use a different website, Vimeo is a great solution. Vimeo is also home to a very creative community and students can also store videos on their account.
Solar System Scope is a great interactive website that lets students look at the solar system throughout time and where each planet was and is at presently. This would be an amazing interactive tool to use on a SMARTboard so the teacher could show how planets revolve around the sun and how long it takes for the outer planets to make a full circle around the sun. I would definitely use this a science class!
More people use Pinterest as a website to look up cake decorating ideas (I'm guilty of this) than they use it for educational purposes. But it is such a great tool for collaborating on ideas with students and teachers that it needs to be used more often in the classroom. On Pinterest, someone can "pin" an idea on a board on the website and others can see what you've put there. They can also add to the board with their own ideas. This is a great way for teachers across the world to share their thoughts and ideas in one location so we can learn from each other. It's also an excellent place to get ideas for lesson plans from.
Yes, Google Art is a favorite of mine as well!
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