Link: http://www.preschoolexpress.com
This website contains the ideas of Jean Warren, former teacher, owner of totline productions, and developer of products for toddlers and preschoolers. She is most famous for her rhymes, stories, and songs. Jean Warren is an advocate of play-based, hands-on education and the resources on her website reflect such an approach.
This website contains many activities and ideas organized by subject, theme, holidays, skill, etc. The activities are very creative and hands-on however the website is very wordy and does not contain visual examples of the activities making them more difficult to follow.
One advantage of this website is that it includes resources for infant and toddler teachers in addition to preschool.
The advice station of this website includes practical ideas pertaining to classroom management and common problems that arise in early childhood classrooms.
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
PreKinders
Link: http://www.prekinders.com
Karen Cox created the PreKinders website in 1999. She has 14 years of experience teaching preschool and a bachelor's degree in early childhood education. Cox has studied a variety of education approaches and believes in hands-on, play-based learning, thus she promoted this on her website.
This website contains a wealth of activities and ideas to implement in a preschool classroom. They are organized by both subject (art, science, etc.) as well as theme. The activities offered are hands-on, creative, and unique.
The printables section of the website includes valuable resources for literacy, music, math, science, visual discrimination, and classroom management. I found the classroom management printables to be the most useful, especially the assessment form which list age appropriate skills for preschoolers. The teacher makes a check mark if he or she has observed the child demonstrate this behavior.
The technology page of the PreKinder website is a fantastic resource. It contains all the information a teacher needs to successfully use technology to enhance his or her classroom from pinterest, to ipads, to ebooks and online calendars. I particularly like the list of teachers to follow on pinterest. Browsing through these teachers pages I have found many great ideas.
Cox also touches on classroom management and organization while including real examples and photos from her classroom.
This website may be the most comprehensive and useful website I have encountered. It does not have any downfalls but present information in a useful and easily navigable manner.
Karen Cox created the PreKinders website in 1999. She has 14 years of experience teaching preschool and a bachelor's degree in early childhood education. Cox has studied a variety of education approaches and believes in hands-on, play-based learning, thus she promoted this on her website.
This website contains a wealth of activities and ideas to implement in a preschool classroom. They are organized by both subject (art, science, etc.) as well as theme. The activities offered are hands-on, creative, and unique.
The printables section of the website includes valuable resources for literacy, music, math, science, visual discrimination, and classroom management. I found the classroom management printables to be the most useful, especially the assessment form which list age appropriate skills for preschoolers. The teacher makes a check mark if he or she has observed the child demonstrate this behavior.
The technology page of the PreKinder website is a fantastic resource. It contains all the information a teacher needs to successfully use technology to enhance his or her classroom from pinterest, to ipads, to ebooks and online calendars. I particularly like the list of teachers to follow on pinterest. Browsing through these teachers pages I have found many great ideas.
Cox also touches on classroom management and organization while including real examples and photos from her classroom.
This website may be the most comprehensive and useful website I have encountered. It does not have any downfalls but present information in a useful and easily navigable manner.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Busy Teachers Cafe
Link: www.busyteacherscafe.com
This website was started by Erika Gomez-Schanne, an educator based in New Jersey. She has 14 years of experience teaching in grades kindergarten-3rd grade. Erika also has experience in bilingual and ESL education. Busy Teacher's Cafe is geared towards Kindergarten-6th grade.
The most valuable addition to this site is it's extensive amount of thematic activity and lesson ideas. Each featured theme includes many ideas for subjects such as math, literacy, art, science, and social studies. Erika also includes a list of links to other websites that contain teaching ideas for that theme.
The strategies section of the website also includes very valuable information and ideas regarding literacy teaching strategies, classroom management, and classroom organization. Each category contains many printables that assist in implementing these strategies. Some of these printables are also available in Spanish.
This website also includes a great list of links to other teaching websites organized by grade level.
The one downfall of this website is that it can be difficult to navigate and it also contains many ads that distract from the site's content.
This website was started by Erika Gomez-Schanne, an educator based in New Jersey. She has 14 years of experience teaching in grades kindergarten-3rd grade. Erika also has experience in bilingual and ESL education. Busy Teacher's Cafe is geared towards Kindergarten-6th grade.
The most valuable addition to this site is it's extensive amount of thematic activity and lesson ideas. Each featured theme includes many ideas for subjects such as math, literacy, art, science, and social studies. Erika also includes a list of links to other websites that contain teaching ideas for that theme.
The strategies section of the website also includes very valuable information and ideas regarding literacy teaching strategies, classroom management, and classroom organization. Each category contains many printables that assist in implementing these strategies. Some of these printables are also available in Spanish.
This website also includes a great list of links to other teaching websites organized by grade level.
The one downfall of this website is that it can be difficult to navigate and it also contains many ads that distract from the site's content.
The Cornerstone for Teachers
Link: http://thecornerstoneforteachers.com
This website was founded by Angela Watson, a former teacher, an educational consultant, and author of several educational books such as The Cornerstone: Classroom Management that Makes Teaching More Effective, Efficient, and Enjoyable and Awakened: Change Your Mindset to Transform Your Teaching.
This website was founded by Angela Watson, a former teacher, an educational consultant, and author of several educational books such as The Cornerstone: Classroom Management that Makes Teaching More Effective, Efficient, and Enjoyable and Awakened: Change Your Mindset to Transform Your Teaching.
With resources primarily for teachers of kindergarten-6th grade, the website addresses an extensive amount of topics including behavior management, classroom organization and arrangement, family outreach, professional development, and many other topics. Watson also has a small section geared towards early childhood professionals. She mentions that many of the resources available on the website can be easily adapted for preschool.
The website is visually appealing as it contains many pictures and visuals in order to make the content more applicable. The organization and structure of the website makes it easy to navigate.
Although the majority of printables available on the website are not free, each month Watson selects several printables available at no fee. For example, among the December freebies is a recipe handout to make reindeer food and an alphabetical order game featuring holiday objects.
One of my favorite areas of this website is the classroom tour section. This page contains detailed pictures and explanations of a real classrooms arrangement and organization. Another unique topic offered on this website is a section about God's place in the classroom. This page includes teacher devotionals, an article on religious rights regarding education, and an encouraging article for Christian teachers.
It is also important to note that this website does not seem to take any particular stance regarding education methodology.
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