https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them - Walt Disney en-us 2019-04-09 00:50:40 UTC 2019-04-10 03:27:03 UTC hello@padlet.com mattiaan1 https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/349772873 This website is everything special needs. It has a wide variety of articles, webinars, pds, classes and even job listings.  
The CEC has some free resources but there is a membership fee. My district has a membership so I am able to use these resources. 
This website is most important to me because of all of the resources that are available on it. 
I am able to keep up with what seems the ever changing laws and rights of my students. 
I've also taken a few of the webinars and there are many topics offered that I can not find elsewhere. ]]> 2019-04-09 02:30:09 UTC https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/349772873 mattiaan1 https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350034016 The George Lucas Foundation for education. This site has articles and videos for everything education. Topics range from assessment to technology to social emotional and more.]]> 2019-04-09 16:57:50 UTC https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350034016 mattiaan1 https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350036902 Pinterest is a search engine where you can find the greatest ideas for just about anything, organize them and save it. I use Pinterest for a number of reasons.
 For school I search ideas on how to make boring topics more fun! For example, I commonly search for new ideas on life skills lessons and how to assess the lessons. 
I use Pinterest personally and search for organizational tips, recipes, party ideas and more. ]]> 2019-04-09 17:03:45 UTC https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350036902 mattiaan1 https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350056557 All of the websites and videos here are what I use in my day to day lessons or are sites that simply give a great message that I believe in.As you look at the sites I cover the four major subjects as well as social and emotional and sites that help teachers deliver fun and creative lessons.
There are two sites here that I feel  are under utilized by educators. First is Teaching Tolerance. This website is a magazine as well and is a tremendous resource to use to talk about difficult topics that are going on in the world today. Teaching Tolerance also provides lesson plans and videos. Although we are busy teaching academic topics, the students are facing different adversities everyday.
 One of my favorite Teaching Tolerance activity is called "Mix It Up Day!" I organize this at my school and its basically a day where you "mix" up the kids in the lunchroom by a color or birthday. The goal is for students to sit in a new place and perhaps meet new people and make new friends. 
The second site that I feel is under utilized is Thrively for the classroom. This site really helps the teacher get to know their students hopes, goals, difficulties and skills in addition to tracking them. I use this site to help with making attainable goals and their reflections. I believe all teachers should take the time to show students how important it is to haven work towards accomplishing a goal. ]]> 2019-04-09 17:42:05 UTC https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350056557 mattiaan1 https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350056721 Rethink Ed is a company that provides an online tool that helps teachers track behavior, successfully link and track ieps and goals, so many printable resources and lessons.
ReThink was recently introduced to my life skills program in my district. I use this website to track and assess life skills and student  behavior. For example If one of my students goals was to independently brush their teeth, I would write down all the steps. I would then teach the steps and assess by simply a check or not if the student can complete the steps. This way we can track growth of skills and abilities.
Another great thing about this website that my district purchased is I am able to take training in ABA.

]]> 2019-04-09 17:42:23 UTC https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350056721 mattiaan1 https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350073965 This is a site where teachers can schedule interactive field trips and educational videos for students. The interactive field trips are so much fun! I have used this site many times. I was able to "take" my class to the Iditarod Headquarters in Alaska! A museum staff showed use so many interesting facts about the race etc. The coolest part was how I received a box full of items that the students could touch and manipulate while we were talking about it. 
I was also able to speak with the museum before hand to explain my classroom population and their needs.
Some activities need to be purchased for this website.]]> 2019-04-09 18:11:58 UTC https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350073965 mattiaan1 https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350078276 We have a subscription with Scholastic News and my students absolutely love the articles. This webs is great because not only are the articles interesting there are many resources that come with the articles. There are several worksheets available for each article, videos, vocabulary and everything is linked to standards. My students have part of the lesson is the games we are able to play at the end of the lesson.]]> 2019-04-09 18:20:03 UTC https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350078276 mattiaan1 https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350086059 This Is a website I recently came across. I have found so many interesting and educational talks about just about anything you can think of. I have been able to use this in my classroom by simply finding those videos and modifying some of the advanced language. My students especially enjoyed the science videos.]]> 2019-04-09 18:36:15 UTC https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350086059 mattiaan1 https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350089536 Go Noodle is a fun and interactive website for kids. I use this website as a reward for earned free time. There are all kinds of dancing, yoga, and mindful videos. My students love to follow the Zumba dances and stretch out to the yoga.]]> 2019-04-09 18:43:33 UTC https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350089536 mattiaan1 https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350092038 Storyline online is a website that has many popular books that are narrated. I have several students that have difficulty reading and this website helps them read the books they love independently.]]> 2019-04-09 18:48:54 UTC https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350092038 mattiaan1 https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350094079 The Exploratorium is a website by the San Fransisco Museum. I use this site a lot to supplement my science lessons. Theres many games, videos, and activities available.]]> 2019-04-09 18:53:04 UTC https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350094079 mattiaan1 https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350123438 I love kid president! He has words of inspiration for people of all ages. Kid President simply brings a smile to my face every time I watch one of his videos. He has a website with so many positive messages. His website is:
Kidpresident.com
The video below is one of my favorites. It has been viewed over 43 million times. ]]> 2019-04-09 20:05:18 UTC https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350123438 mattiaan1 https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350129287 This video was shown one year on the first day of school during our pd sessions by a school counselor. This was especially purposeful because our school mascot is the soaring eagles. I found this short video to be inspirational to all. The basic idea of not to give up when things in our lives get tough!]]> 2019-04-09 20:29:14 UTC https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350129287 mattiaan1 https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350133820 Rick Lavoie is an administrator turned motivational speaker. He speaks about the world of education, students living with special needs and social and emotional topics. Ive seen a few of his speeches over the years but there is one that I will always remember because of how it affected me. 
The video below is a segment of one of his speeches called "poker chips". During this segment he equates life of adolescents and teens to gaining poker chips. He explains how one bad remark can make a child lose every "poker chip" (self esteem) he has. 
I consider this a must watch video.

]]> 2019-04-09 20:45:05 UTC https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350133820 mattiaan1 https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350173297 PBS is a is a great free resource. PBS has lessons and activities for just about any subject. One of the greatest features is that the activities and lessons are aligned with standards. PBS is also able to be used for any grade and functioning level.]]> 2019-04-10 00:23:41 UTC https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350173297 mattiaan1 https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350173579 The Smart Notebook Exchange is a website where teachers can share lessons they have made for the smart board. You are able to join for free and have thousands of premade and editable smart board lessons. I use this website alot  because the program smart notebook is hard to work with. 
I would love to receive training with smart notebook to effectively use my smart board.]]> 2019-04-10 00:25:01 UTC https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350173579 mattiaan1 https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350173825 Edmodo is a free website for teachers to keep in contact with students and parents outside of school. I feel the is an important and effective tool for teachers to use. Not only are you having great communication with students and parents but as teachers we can teach students the appropriate way to write/ behave while on a social media type site.]]> 2019-04-10 00:26:12 UTC https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350173825 mattiaan1 https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350178098 Teaching Tolerance is a free website that discusses all topics concerning diversity, respect and social justice. This site is by the non profit organization The Southern Poverty Law Center. I love this website because it gives lesson plan for all grades on very difficult and abstract concepts like diversity. 
I use this website to help my students with character education topics.]]> 2019-04-10 00:44:59 UTC https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350178098 mattiaan1 https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350178616 Every teacher has lesson plans to do. This website makes it so much easier for me to accomplish just that. It is online, the standards can be attached, worksheets can be attached and you can have multiple plan books at one time. As a special needs teacher I have many different levels and groups and this provides enough space without me having to worry about formatting like when I use word to pages.
My district does not have a form or specific type of lesson plan for us to submit. PlanbookEdu really helped me organize my plans made them meaningful.]]> 2019-04-10 00:47:38 UTC https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350178616 mattiaan1 https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350179149 Thrively for classroom is a free website where a teacher can identify students strengths, goals, create online portfolios, journal, work on specific skills, plan for the future and basically personalize each students lessons and learning.
I like to use this website in addition to my students IEP's. I meet with my students at least once a week to talk about their interests and how they feel like they are doin in school. ]]> 2019-04-10 00:50:06 UTC https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350179149 mattiaan1 https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350184355 Khan academy is a free website that offers courses in math, sciences, and test prep. Khan academy is great because there are videos to teach topics step by step. Teachers are also able to assign work and track progress.]]> 2019-04-10 01:14:06 UTC https://padlet.com/mattiaan1/3xrz0nznm72y/wish/350184355