Tools for students ANd Parents
Academic
Big History Project
(https://school.bighistoryproject.com/bhplive)
This site is what we will be using as a textbook and where the students will find the online resources necessary for completing their assignments.
Quizlet
(https://quizlet.com/)
This site is a great study tool to use. You can create flashcards and other study sets to help prepare for any quizzes or tests.
Purdue Owl
(https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/)
This online writing lab at Purdue University is a great resource to help find appropriate techniques for research and citation. We will use this resource in class as well as outside of class to learn how to properly cite resources we use to write papers.
Crash Course
(https://www.youtube.com/user/crashcourse)
This Youtube channel provides entertaining, short, educational videos about all the major topics we will be covering in class this year. Watching the videos is a fun way to review before a test or check out what we will be learning in the future.
Career
Career Cruising
(https://public.careercruising.com/en/)
This is a great site where you can learn about yourself and the careers that match your interests. You can take quizzes that will provide suggestions of career clusters to investigate. Additionally, you can easily explore different careers through this site and determine which ones you are potentially interested in investigating further.
Social/Emotional
Olweus Bullying Prevention Program
(http://www.violencepreventionworks.org/public/index.page)
This site provides great resources for parents and families to use that address concerns and specific situations in relation to bullying. This includes information on tips for parents if their child is being bullied, tips for parents if their children witness bullying, tips for ways parents can prevent and address cyber-bullying, and much more.
Middle Schools: Social, Emotional, and Metacognitive Growth
(http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/106044/chapters/Middle-Schools@-Social,-Emotional,-and-Metacognitive-Growth.aspx)
This online resource, which is a chapter from a book, covers many of the different aspects that affect early adolescents. It addresses the needs of early adolescence, inappropriate developmental practices in middle schools and examples of developmentally appropriate educational practices, including facilitating social and emotional growth, emotionally meaningful curriculum, health and wellness focus, metacognitive strategies, and building relationships.
Community Resources
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Champaign County
(http://bbbscil.org/Champaign-County/)
Big Brothers Big Sisters is a great community resource. Their goal is to help children work to reach their potential through developing one-to-one relationships. Many students in the community have benefited from these mentor relationships, and it helps foster a sense of desire to succeed in life and hopefully go to college.
Champaign Public Library
(http://www.champaign.org/)
The Champaign Public Library provides many resources for students and the community. Students can go there to utilize the resources provided by the library as well as use the areas to study. The library also provides specific programs for teens. Every Tuesday is "Teen Innovation Station" from 3:00-4:30 and every Thursday is "Teen Thursday".
Rationale
One of my main concerns when putting together these resources was that I did not want to overwhelm the students by providing too many. I want to be able to come back and update these sources over the course of the school year to meet the needs of my students. I figured that this is just the base that I want to start off with. For the academic resources, I figured first and foremost it is important to include whatever site we use as a textbook-type source. As a middle school teacher, one of the main jobs is to prepare students for high school and beyond, and helping develop productive study skills is a very important aspect of that. As a result, I included the Quizlet resource, because I feel that is a useful site to help young learners begin to understand how to effectively study. Middle school is the time when students start to learn how to properly cite sources and begin writing comprehensive essays, so the Purdue Owl site is a great resource that middle schoolers will be able to use to reaffirm what we learn in class. Lastly, the Crash Course video is more of a fun resource. It is however also very educational and a great way to review what we learn in class this year.
I included one career resource, because while it is important for middle schoolers and their parents to begin thinking about possible career paths, it is not as big of a topic as it will be in high school. However, it is still important for teachers and families to begin having those conversations with students so that they can become encouraged to want to succeed in middle school, high school, and then in college to pursue those career goals. Social/emotional development is a very important aspect of an early adolescent's life. Those students are going through so many changes in their lives, and that is why I felt it was important to provide a few resources that both parents and students can use. Bullying is a major issue in middle schools, and I ended up referencing the bullying prevention program that is used in my former middle school (http://www.d57.org/Anti-BullyingProgram.aspx). Additionally, the other social/emotional source is in some ways more geared towards teachers. But I think it is useful for parents to use this source because not only does it help explain what is going on with their students, but it also shows how middle schools try to help their children in social/emotional development. This helps show that middle schools are focused on more than just academics. Lastly, I included a few community resources as well. As we learned in the community inquiry project, in order to provide a well-rounded education to students, the community needs to work as a whole with teachers, administration, parents and students to foster a sense of learning for everyone. The Champaign Public Library provides great resources for students this age, and Big Brothers Big Sisters is just one example of a program in this community that works to benefit students and help them succeed in life.
Resources gathered from:
http://www.d57.org/Parents.aspx
http://phs.d214.org/students/career-resources/
http://www2.champaignschools.org/schools/home/?id=21#
I included one career resource, because while it is important for middle schoolers and their parents to begin thinking about possible career paths, it is not as big of a topic as it will be in high school. However, it is still important for teachers and families to begin having those conversations with students so that they can become encouraged to want to succeed in middle school, high school, and then in college to pursue those career goals. Social/emotional development is a very important aspect of an early adolescent's life. Those students are going through so many changes in their lives, and that is why I felt it was important to provide a few resources that both parents and students can use. Bullying is a major issue in middle schools, and I ended up referencing the bullying prevention program that is used in my former middle school (http://www.d57.org/Anti-BullyingProgram.aspx). Additionally, the other social/emotional source is in some ways more geared towards teachers. But I think it is useful for parents to use this source because not only does it help explain what is going on with their students, but it also shows how middle schools try to help their children in social/emotional development. This helps show that middle schools are focused on more than just academics. Lastly, I included a few community resources as well. As we learned in the community inquiry project, in order to provide a well-rounded education to students, the community needs to work as a whole with teachers, administration, parents and students to foster a sense of learning for everyone. The Champaign Public Library provides great resources for students this age, and Big Brothers Big Sisters is just one example of a program in this community that works to benefit students and help them succeed in life.
Resources gathered from:
http://www.d57.org/Parents.aspx
http://phs.d214.org/students/career-resources/
http://www2.champaignschools.org/schools/home/?id=21#