"Working Nine to Five"...and then some!

Well, right now I have a student teacher in my room. I love the opportunity to help aspiring teachers reach their goals and have a chance to practice their craft before going on the big stage of their own professional full-time classroom. It also gives me a chance to reflect on what works in a classroom, try new things that I may learn from them, and it also gives me the chance to work to the best of my ability to be a good model of the best practices for him or her.

Hence the title of this week, "Working Nine to Five," well as a teacher, my day starts way before nine and ends well after five. I have a full plate and don't mind pulling up a chair and digging in! I know we are all very busy and have our own tricks of the trade, but as a First Grade teacher, what are some of your go to sites? I wanted to post a few that I can always count on to help round out my lessons. I have posted a few of these before, but I think the busy teacher always can use a refresher. I really believe in working smarter not harder!
http://www.ixl.com/
http://www.starfall.com/
http://www.education.com/
http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/
http://www.brainpop.com/

Some of the sites above require paid subscriptions, as a teacher leader, you may want to try the free trial and then explore ways to introduce the sites to your school to see if they would foot the bill or buy a personal subscription to use in your classroom. I know that lots of teachers are now ipad aficionados, so what apps do you use? I haven't made that leap in my classroom yet, but I have used my kindle fire to review math facts with my students.

My student teacher and I are collaborating on a thematic unit about plants focusing on sunflowers and will use many of the above sites to tie it all together for our students. I am really looking forward to her ideas and implementation and hope to share some of the ideas that I help create here in the next few weeks.

By the way, are you an educator that is looking for a professional place to meet, connect, exchange ideas, and grow? Then think about joining Kappa Delta PI International Honor Society. This organization has many opportunities for scholarships, grants, Common Core resources, webinars, career planning, and much more, take the jump into professional and personal growth.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/KDP-Georgia-State-Delegate/508293119210310