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Top 5 Teacher Recommended Websites for Fall
- September 27, 2015
- Posted by: The Teachers Academy
- Category: All Blog Postings Educator Resources / News
The leaves are falling, the air is crisp and Pumpkin Spice Lattes are in the hands of teachers everywhere. It’s fall, and for teachers it’s the beginning of a new school year. A time to spruce up the classroom and experiment with new strategies. Here at The Teacher’s Academy, we’ve been searching the web for new, inspiring ways to help celebrate the fall season in the classroom. We’ve compiled some tried and true fall ideas from teachers from all over the country who are generous enough to share their ideas for free! Take a moment and check out some of the best ideas from around the web to see if there are any that you can implement in your classroom today.
1. Pinterest
Of course Pinterest is a go-to site for teachers looking for new (free!) ideas. At the
Teacher’s Academy Pinterest page, we have an entire board devoted to September ideas! We’re always in search of new ways to help teach those classroom rules and routines, as well as ways to learn about our new students. Amy at milkandcookiesblog.com has a great getting-to-know youactivity. Trace each student’s head for a silhouette, and let them fill the space with all of the things they love. It’s a great way to find out what your students like, and it’s an activity they’re excited about. Bonus: it can be used as an art piece to hang for Back to School Night that parents will enjoy too!
2. Storyit.com
Story It is a website designed to make creative writing easier for students and more convenient for teachers. One of the many features of Story It are story starters where students can log-on, choose their story starter, and either print or start typing. Story It offers a few great fall themed story starters. There is a Thanksgiving story starter where students write about an adventure they have on their way to Grandma’s for Thanksgiving dinner. Students can get creative, and teachers have access to themed story starters any time of the year.
If you are using Google Apps for Education in your classroom, the folks at Instrumental Tech Talk have put together a step-by-step guide for Getting Started with Google
Classroom. The easy to follow instructions will walk you through how to set up GAFE for you GAFE newbies. If you’ve been hesitant to explore all of the features of GAFE, the experts at Instructional Tech Talk will give you the confidence you need to get started. Interested in learning more about all of the features Google Apps for Education offer? Check out one of our Google for Educators courses and discover all the ways GAFE can streamline your administrative responsibilities.
4. LemonLimeAdvenures.com
Because STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) is one of the hot educational topics right now, teachers are always on the lookout for affordable, exciting STEM projects. Lemon Lime Adventures has a great fall STEM project that can be used in just
about any elementary classroom – and it only requires two materials! Just provide your students with candy sugar pumpkins and toothpicks and instruct them to build a tower or object. Students can make them as complex or straightforward as they want. Students will love the freedom they have while learning basic principles of engineering and building.
This app allows you to create comics using an avatar of your own design. Students will love creating their own avatars and customizing comics for presentations, e-chats or just for fun. Teachers can also get in on the fun by creating avatars and comics to use in their own presentations. Even better, it’s free! Warning: you may find yourself investing more time than you planned creating your avatar and comics, as I learned while researching this app. If you’re interested in learning more about BitStrip, StoryIt, or other great educational websites, check out our course at The Teacher’s Academy – Website Review for Teachers 2015. Here you can learn about great websites and get professional development credits while doing it!
Hopefully these websites will ease your transition into fall and the new school year. Check us out at The Teacher’s Academy for all of your professional development needs!