Sites to Enhance your Teaching: Top 5

1. Class Dojo (Parent/Teacher Communication & Behavior): This site by far is one of the BEST sites I have come across when it comes to classroom communication and behavior management. Class Dojo is a free app that parents and teachers can use on their phones, tablets, or computers to connect with their student daily! The app allows teachers to post an attendance list each morning, award positive behaviors, and address negative behaviors with both the student and the parent at the same time. It is a wonderful app that includes the students in the process. Each student has a silly “monster” avatar that they customize with their parent upon activation. As you award a student, they can see their monster earn a star and a point for each positive behavior. For every negative action, the monster gets mad and turns red. It is a great visual tool to use throughout the day so the students are aware of where they stand.

2. Scholastic (Classroom Materials): I am constantly looking for sites to buy classroom materials from. Yes, I use the Dollar Tree and the dollar section in Target, but sometimes that stuff just doesn’t cut it. Scholastic is a great online site for teachers AND parents. Teachers can not only order books and manipulatives for the classroom, they can create classroom wish lists, and earn bonus points for each order they make that could be used for FREE books and classroom items. Parents can also place orders online throughout the year and can see teacher recommended items for the kids specifically in their class. Parent orders can also add to the teacher point bank, earning their class FREE posters, books, and prizes.

3. Tree Ring (Yearbook & Photos): I took on the enormous responsibility of creating our school wide yearbook this year. As I approach the next couple of months of new deadlines and last minute layout changes, I have to thank several of my fellow teachers for introducing me to this site. I have found that putting an entire year of pictures into one book is far more stressful than I thought, but Tree Ring keeps everything organized and on time. Tree Ring allows each teacher, not just the yearbook liaison to upload photos and comment on pages. As teachers and staff upload their personal class photos to the site, the administrator can simply place them into pre-made or custom made templates. The layouts are so cute and really have a variety of both lower school and upper school books to choose from. Even if you are not creating a school wide book, I highly suggest uploading the pictures from your year and make a classroom yearbook! Parents can order as many copies as they want and can even have them delivered to their homes so you can be sure to include the end of the year festivities.

4. Teachers Pay Teachers (Lesson Plans): I found this site about a year and half ago and it has completely changed the way teachers keep up with the trends of the education field. Teachers Pay Teachers in a great online resource that can improve a teachers outlook on teacher made resources for their classroom. You can sell activities, lesson plans, and printables that you create to other teachers who could possibly use them in their classroom. This site empowers teachers to share and connect throughout materials and publications.

You can check out our TPT Store HERE

5. Kid Vision (Teacher Training & Classroom Field Trips): This online resource designed specifically for VPK teachers is wonderful. It offers an online database of classroom field trips and training videos for early education teachers. Kid Vision prepares classroom enhancement tools through technology in the classroom and then shows a teacher how to implement the lesson plan to accommodate particular needs of students. Your VPK class can go on a virtual trip and experience different learning styles that can only be learned outside of the classroom. It merges both visual enhancement and home connections for over 60 themes each year!

I personally use all of these sites, however….I did not receive any compensation for reviewing or expressing my opinions about the sites listed about.

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