Sites Real Teachers Use
By Karyn  Zoldan

K-6
Rich Kopro, K-5 substitute teacher for Los Angeles Unified Schools, says that he would be lost without the Internet. "A sub must establish control instantly and trying to figure out the regular teacher's lessons plans can be time consuming. I rely on the Internet by bringing an arsenal of grade appropriate lesson plans. I get over the awkward hump of not knowing what is going on in the classroom and the students are exposed to some new and different material. If I'm there for more than a day, I can work my way into the teacher's lessons plans and still supplement with my own."

His favorite resources are:

• Columbia Education Center http://www.col-ed.org/cur/#sst3 has hundreds of links to websites including the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse for math and science.
• Swift http://www.swift.cps.k12.il.us/swift/lessons.html employs simple text formats for subjects divided by grade level with an overview, objective, materials and step by step activities.

Donna Fitts, Principal of South Road Elementary School in Wakefield, Rhode Island recently had the school wired for Internet. She encourages teachers to use the Web for lesson plans based on the following criteria: Is it relevant to the curriculum? Is it easy to access and use?  Does it make a difference in the classroom delivery? Does it provide technology rich experiences for both teachers and students? Fitts also sends teachers daily announcements through e-mail.

One of the most frequently used websites used by the students of Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District is the White House http://www.whitehouse.gov Teacher Regina Smith says it's a good starting point for current events and some students are eager to write letters to the President.

Beth Lewis, student teacher at Poway Unified School District near San Diego,

recommends that student and first year teachers join the First Year Teacher's

Interactive List at http://www.ametro.net/~teachers/home.html. Some of her favorite sites for lessons are http://www.scholastic.com/inschool/ for reproducible ideas and http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/index.html for lesson plans sorted by subject with a focus on science. She's excited that teachers are so willing to share their expertise. "I can build on the ideas of more experienced teachers, which is less work for me but will definitely enhance my students' learning. Our job is to prepare students for the new world of web technology", says Lewis.

Wanda Haight of New Haven Unified School District in Union City, California recommends "Brainstorm of the Day" at TeachNet http://www.teachnet.com. The extensive brainstorm archives offers creative list of theme related projects recommended to kick-off the year or for extended use by integrating other subjects. "Things that grow" touched upon science, the environment, language arts, art, and nutrition. Concepts involved how to: planting and nurturing herbs and tomatoes, getting project materials donated (writing letters to local businesses), decorating milk cartons, and recommending how to use the herbs in recipes.

Marcia's Lesson Link (http://members.aol.com/Mgoudie/index.html) has an amazing source of K-8 lesson plans. Goudie admits to being a Web junkie and when friends couldn't find specific information, she goes into cyber-sleuth mode and returns with an encyclopedic tally.  She looks for sites that are easy to use, keeps information updated, repairs broken links, and acknowledges sources. Her favorites are TeachersNet http://www.teachers.net and S.C.O.R.E. http://www.k12.ca.us. She organized the first Northern California gathering for TeachersNet and enjoys their various interactive lists and live chats. Goudie likes S.C.O.R.E for its visual tools and terrific literature section.

Middle School

Sheri Rose teaches 8^th grade English and two computer classes at Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School in Seaside, California. She also designed the school's website http://www.mpusd.k.12.ca.us/king.

Her website http://www.mpusd.k12.ca.us/king/sheri/sheri.htm is a labor of love linked to art, industrial arts, drama, and music. Improvising for a rainy day schedule, students can link to an art history resource center and view international museums from Cuba to Morocco as well as local culture and geography. Click on industrial arts and follow the path of creative return to crafts and puppet making. She offers step-by- step instructions

http://www.mpusd.k12.ca.us/king/re/research.htm for an assignment from her 8^th grade English class about "Careers and Beyond."

Rose is very connected and subscribes to listserves and e-newsletters at Ed's Oasis http://www.edsoasis.org and Classroom Connect http://www.classroomconnect.com. Ed's Oasis has a lesson plan library categorized by grades (K-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12) and subjects (language arts, social studies, science, and math). 

At Social Studies Services http://www.socialstudies.com much of the content is presented with diversity in mind. For grades 5-8, multicultural math fun fuses with holidays around the world.  At its sister site, The Writing Company http://www.writingco.com middle and high school students can learn journalism, Shakespeare, literature, writing, black history, and women's history. Both sites offer free catalogues, downloadable lesson plans, and multimedia software for sale.

High School
Linda Volin of Martin Van Buren High School in Queens Village, New York uses the History Channel www.historychannel.com in her classroom going directly to the speeches. Students can hear the actual words spoken from astronauts, famous women, political figures, scientists, athletes, and pop stars. Teachers can help students interpret and analyze the presentations through a combination of techniques: Students can role-play events.  They can write about the values presented or research the speakers in more depth. They could tie the speech into current events and write news articles creating their own publications.  After hearing Pierre Salinger's speech about Robert Frost, her students expanded into poetry reading and writing. This site provides opportunities for students to work towards success and high standards.

Special Education
Arlene Velleman is a special education teacher, workshop presenter, actor, and Texas certified sign language interpreter. She started an interactive list Creative_Teaching at onelist.com to share lesson ideas and vent.

Miscellaneous
Kinderart www.kinderart.com draws from an organized cornucopia of art stuff on the Web. K-8 projects for textiles, recycling, folk art, painting, and sculpture are easy to understand and fun to execute. Kinderart provides fresh alternatives for how to say goodbye to tired and boring bulletin boards!

Marc Alter loves his job at Instructional Technology Services of Central Ohio http://www.itsco.org where he teaches teachers how to use technology as a resource tool and integrate it into their curriculum.

For teaching tools, he uses Kathy Schrock's Guide to Educators http://www.discoveryschool.com/schrockguide/, Homework Central http://www.homeworkcentral.com and Microsoft's Encarta Lesson Plan Collection http://encarta.msn.com/schoolhouse/default/asp. He looks for sites that navigate easily, are well organized, and have a varied collection of links for all levels.

New kid in school
Educator and author Karen Ellis has spent three years planning and building the Cyber Playground http://www.edu-cyberpg.com. It's now open for business and beta testing. The crisp and clean playground walks techno-phobic teachers and parents through crystal clear instructions. Sections are almost equally divided among instructions, curriculum and the mall. You might also consider joining her interdisciplinary interactive list ducsubscribe@egroups.com, Diversity University Collaboratory. I bet you can't say that five times!

Karyn Zoldan is a freelance writer and online marketer at www.bridgemarketing.com.

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