Online Learning for netTrekker Search
Are you looking for a convenient flexible option for learning how to get the most out of your netTrekker Search subscription …
Then be sure to check out Online Learning - your one stop shop for all online opportunities to learn about netTrekker Search.
Check out the FREE online videos, FREE webinars, FREE Moodle Class, and more extensive non-facilitated and graduate level Moodle Class.
Tip Tuesdays - Join us each Tuesday at 4:30 PM EST for a FREE 30 minute webinar as we share ideas on how to use netTrekker in your classroom
Connection Wednesdays – Join us each Wednesday at 4:30 PM EST for a FREE webinar co-hosted by netTrekker and one of our valued partners as we demonstrate the connection between our products including BrainPOP, NSTA, Weekly Reader Express, and Teachers Domain.
netTrekker TV (Tutorial Videos) – View netTrekker TV, our library of FREE Tutorial Videos for targeted training on netTrekker features. If you ever need that just-in-time learning, or if you are a visual learner, our set of FREE online video tutorials will help acquaint you with netTrekker features and tools.
FREE non-facilitated Online Courses (1.5 hours)
NT001 – Learn to Search and Differentiate digital resources using netTrekker features and tools
NT001S – NT001 with Scantron Integration
Advanced non-facilitated Online Courses (2 hours) – under construction
NT002 – Learn to Organize and Integrate digital resources using netTrekker features and tools
NT002S - NT002 with Scantron Integration
Graduate Level facilitated Online Course (30 hours with optional 3 graduate credits)
NT101 – Explore netTrekker features and tools, to share best practices for implementation into teaching and learning, and to create standards-based projects, all in the context of differentiated instruction. Discussion boards, an interactive webinar, and a variety of 21st Century Learning resources are included in this collaborative learning community.
Another Look at Resources from TeachEngineering
Why do we have to learn this? Every teacher is bound to hear this at least once during the course of his or her career, and should be prepared to offer an answer beyond, “because I said so” or “you’ll need to pass standardized tests.” Math and science teachers could explain the value of the classes they teach in terms of how they’ll lead to college and career success. However, such talk might go over the heads of students who struggle with or show disinterest in required math and science classes.
Why not show students why they need chemistry, physics, and other STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) subjects by way of fun activities, ones that link academic subjects with real-world scenarios and hands-on projects? Sounds like a great idea, right? But it also sounds like a lot of time and work. Thanks to netTrekker’s new resources from TeachEngineering.org, such a task doesn’t need to take a lot of your time – just a healthy dose of energy and enthusiasm for teaching and exploring STEM-related subjects.
In August, Danielle introduced you to our new resources from TeachEngineering. TeachEngineering is a digital library of freely usable K-12 math and science curriculum built and maintained by a collaboration of US universities, the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), the US National Science Foundation (NSF), The US Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE) and a variety of private donors.
A keyword search for “TeachEngineering” will reveal 50 resources appropriate for High School, 380 for Middle, and 428 for Elementary. Complete with introductory material, vocabulary words, detailed procedures, printable handouts, extension and scaling activities, and references, our TeachEngineering.org resources cover a wealth of science topics routinely taught in science classes, such as blood cells, energy, sound and light waves, and simple machines. However, these lessons and activities go beyond requiring students to memorize and recite facts and figures. Rather, these teacher-tested, standards-based engineering resources encourage critical thinking, hands-on involvement, and collaboration as they “connect real-world experiences with curricular content.”
For example, TeachEngineering’s Digestive System lesson and Lunch in Outer Space activity are much more than just learning the parts of the digestive system and labeling them on a chart. They get students thinking about space exploration, and the challenges astronauts face while eating while in a microgravity environment on board a shuttle or the space station.
What’s great about these resources is that they not only cover what elementary students need to know about the digestive system, but also introduce them to more advanced topics, such as gravity, and link the digestive system to a fun topic like outer space! Students will even get their hand at designing and creating their own packages for foods to be consumed by astronauts in space.
Read on to learn about other examples of TeachEngineering.org resources that will help engage students in your science classes:
On the Human Body:
Move Your Muscles: Through this lesson, students learn about the three different types of muscles in the human body, how they are affected by microgravity, and how astronauts need to exercise in order to lessen muscle atrophy in space. Students will also discover what types of equipment engineers design to help astronauts stay strong while experiencing microgravity.
The Beat Goes On: In this activity, students learn about their heart rate and different ways it can be measured. They construct a simple measurement device using clay and a toothpick, use this device to measure their heart rate under different circumstances (e.g., sitting, standing, and jumping), and make predictions and record data on a worksheet.
On Simple Machines:
Pulley’ing Your Own Weight: Using common materials (spools, string, and soap), students learn how a pulley can be used to easily change the direction of a force, making the moving of large objects easier. They see the difference between fixed and movable pulleys, and the mechanical advantage gained with multiple/combined pulleys. They also learn the many ways engineers use pulleys for everyday purposes.
On Energy:
Solar Power: In this activity, students learn how engineers use solar energy to heat buildings by investigating the thermal storage properties of some common materials: sand, salt, water, and shredded paper. Students then evaluate the usefulness of each material as a thermal storage material to be used as the thermal mass in a passive solar building.
TeachEngineering with a Special Touch
In a recent article from eSchool News about building momentum in STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), there was an urge to not forget the T and E in the curriculum.
“One of the findings is that discussions of STEM tend to be focused on science, sometimes math, rarely both together–usually they’re siloed, and the T and especially the E are really just left out of the discussion in policy, education, and classroom practice,” Greg Pearson, an NAE program officer, said.
“Even though we use that acronym, in terms of what’s really happening and what people really mean, engineering is the silent letter.”
You mean I can add MORE collections?
YES, YOU CAN add to the collections already in netTrekker d.i.! And you’ll be pleasantly surprised to find out that it’s Weekly Reader Express (WRE). If you’re like me, you have fond memories of getting this great magazine as a child. Now you can provide your students with the same great info through your netTrekker subscription! It simply appears in your Collections Refinement Menu as well as integrated with other resources in Search Results pages once you order it.
And the best part is that you can search their database of articles, teacher’s guide content, and reproducible activities from eleven Weekly Reader classroom magazines from 2000 to the present. —over 7 million words in all!
WRE covers a broad range of academic topics, from social studies and English language arts to science, health, current events, and career development in all eleven of their magazines.
Can you honestly resist a magazine with such great covers? Give me a gorilla any day! “How do I get this?” you ask. You can get a free trial or add it to your subscription by calling 877-517-1125 or emailing sales@netTrekker.com.
For even more details, check this out: Weekly Reader Express.
Teachers’ Domain: Interactive Fun!
Teachers’ Domain offers a diverse collection of activities and media resources for your classroom. The netTrekker sites in Teachers’ Domain contain video, interactive media, images and .pdf files. Resources accessed through netTrekker pertain to Social Studies and Science topics, but, once you log into Teachersí Domain you can search any topic and find rich resources that address all areas of the curriculum.
Refine your searches to show Teachers
The Teachers’ Domain site encourages you to register, requiring you to complete a short and simple profile. The process asks:
- The type of school
- Where it is located
- A user name/password you would like to access Teachers Domain
- Your name
- A COPPA regulations confirmation that you are over 13 years of age
- A question of how did you hear about Teachers Domain?
If your school uses a universal user name for the students to access netTrekker d.i., consider registering it here as well!
To continue on with the theme of hearts that Amy introduced with the SMART resources, here is an example of an interactive resource found in netTrekker d.i. from Teachers’ Domain. My search word was heart. I refined my search to only show Teachers’ Domain resources and then selected the entry about
Teachers
heart transplants. It pulls up an interactive program for your students to actually conduct a heart transplant. It includes the background information, questions, and the standards for this activity.
It is simple and truly a rich resource to enhance your classroom, all available in netTrekker! View this short video to see this classroom application in action.
Handheld Technology from TI
Texas Instruments’ Activities Exchange is a collaborative forum of activities for use with TI calculators, complete with downloadable handouts and access to calculator and PC software applications. These resources are not only free but also linked to state standards and to textbooks. They’re perfect for supplementing lectures and required reading, practicing standardized tests, and, last but not least, motivating students via a wide variety of projects and investigations.
A search for TI resources using nT will reveal over 2,500 math and science resources for classroom, small-group, and individual use.
If integrating this type of handheld technology into classroom instruction is new to you, you’ll benefit from the training and support materials Texas Instruments provides for its users. Here are a few places for those just getting started:
Click here for downloadable Guidebooks, manuals for TI’s family of products, from the TI-Nspire operating system, to computer software and calculator applications, to the calculators and their accessories. Click here to access all TI Freeware available for your calculator(s).
Before downloading and using using TI’s Activities Exchange resources, it’s a good idea to pre-download and install the LearningCheck App for the popular TI-83 Plus and TI-84-Plus calculators. An advanced search on TI’s site indicates that there are over 500 math activities that utilize this application, which allows students to monitor their own progress as they complete teacher-generated questions, practice tests, and exams. Click on the image on the left to see two screenshots from a sample program that uses the LearningCheck App.
If you’re interested in creating and uploading your own activity, click here for file-extension guide. This is useful, too, for educators new to Activites Exchange who need help with activity downloads.
Last, but not least, here’s a teacher-authored resource that will help you with your calculator. Based on common issues faced by new users of the TI-83 and TI-84, it’s organized into problem-and-solution format and is intended to help students fix errors they might encounter. See sample problem and solution by clicking the image at right.
Be SMART with Interactive Notebooks
Earlier in the week, we featured the Promethean Collection of interactive Flipchart lessons. The SMART Collection in netTrekker d.i. also provides you with over 1,000 interactive whiteboard lessons to use with your students, even if you don’t have a whiteboard.
Check SMART on the Collections menu to browse SMART notebook lessons
Developed in SMART Notebook software, lesson activities are correlated to curriculum standards and you can easily customized each lesson to suit the needs of your classroom. Each one is created in a subject-specific template with an age-appropriate design and works for a range of grades. Many SMART-created lesson activities have interactive multimedia files and dynamic graphics that students will love.
To locate SMART resources, perform a keyword search and then use the Collections refinement menu to quickly browse over 1,000 SMART notebook lessons.
This week to celebrate Valentine’s Day, American Heart Month or during your study of the body systems, have a great hands-on review of the functions of the chambers of the heart by doing a keyword search for the Circulatory System. In the Refinement Menu for collections check SMART on the Collections menu. Once you learn about the heart, there is an interactive piece where you actually put the heart back together and resuscitate a patient.
Simply click on Download Notebook Interactive Viewer to download SMART notebook lessons
Don’t have a SMART Board yet? Follow the link to the smarttech website at the bottom of the screen, select software downloads and simply click on “Download Notebook Interactive Viewer” . You will then be able to view any of the Notebooks found in netTrekker d.i.
It’s that SMART!
The Venerable PBS
First, I searched for “pbs teachersource” and got several results, one of which was the PBS Teachers site, of course. From there it’s easy enough to look around and seek specific items of interest. They have a large amount of Professional Development, Teacher Resources, and Standards-based Resources available from the home page. Nice.
Curious about just what I’d find using netTrekker like most folks do, I performed a couple of fairly random keyword searches to then refine using the Collections. Here are some winners:
I tried “wolf” from the High School tab and got a lesson plan from NOVA about wolf relocation programs that included handouts and answers!
I tried “twain” from the Middle School tab and found a fairly extensive curriculum from a PBS show, “Culture Shock,” for teaching The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and dealing with the controversial material in the book. I know I hated reinventing the wheel when teaching, so having a unit I could modify instead of creating one from scratch was always welcome.
Lastly, I thought I should try an Elementary tab search, so I looked for “president” and got a short, cute activity from PBSkid’s Arthur section. I happen to like Arthur, so it looks like fun to me, and it also includes everyone’s favorite part of early childhood education: snack! Maybe I’ll talk Presidential elections, Arthur-style with my kindergartener and we can vote on the snack, too. 
Lions, Tigers, and Koala Bears! Oh My!
As I looked through the website, I noticed how easy it is to navigate, which is a necessity for younger kids (GLOBIO’s target audience is 7-12 years old.) It also has great curb appeal which is very important. A website can have great information and be easy to use, but if it’s not pleasing to look at, kids won’t stick around long.
GLOBIO consists of several areas. One that is content related, a kids community, an area for grown ups and educators, and more. They have also even begun creating Learning Activity Guides for educators that correspond with their content. These resources consist of great articles, pictures, videos, audio, and more. The subjects matter varies from different animals, light, behavior, the human body, ecosystems, all the way to the moon. Just to name a few.
Promethe-WHAT?
Pro-ME-thee-in, that’s what!
Some of you are quick to brush this wonderful resource aside because your school or district doesn’t own Interactive Whiteboards, but WAIT!
You can still view & use Promethean Flipcharts even if you don’t have Interactive Whiteboards!
Simply click on 
to download software which will allow you to view these teacher created resources.
Then click on 
and either open the flipchart immediately or save it to your desktop.
“I don’t have time to find the Promethean Resources.”
By utilizing netTrekker’s COLLECTIONS refinement menu, you’re able to quickly and easily browse through thousands of Promethean resources.
“What kind of resources does this Promethean offer?”
These educator created flipcharts allow teachers to browse lesson plans, in multiple subjects, and incorporate into their curriculum. Whether it’s to be used in the planning of a concept or for the students to master a concept, Promethean flipcharts will enhance any lesson.
In fact, here’s how you find one!
Under the Middle School Tab, I entered the keyword, government.
I narrowed my results by selecting Promethean located in the Collections refinement menu.
Scrolling down, I found the flipchart Promethean: A New Government.
Collections: Quia
It’s Monday morning in the computer lab, I was just informed that the 5th graders will be coming to the computer lab to work on their geography projects. I have 5 minutes to prepare some extra activities for those students that finish early – and for me that means it is time to find Quia activities.
Quia has created a concept that provides educators “the ability to create customized educational software online, built around their own course materials and made available to their students over the web.” Over a million educators have registered to use this service and almost 700 of these shared assessments have been catalogued in netTrekker d.i.
The Quia activities found in netTrekker d.i. span over 100 categories from Accounting to Zoology in the form of quizzes and tests including matching games, scavenger hunts, hangman, and much more. These assessments can be accessed by individual students or for whole class instruction.
I login to netTrekker d.i., click on the Middle School tab, enter the keyword geography and click search. From these 1000+ resources, it is very simple to pull out only the Quia activities by using the Quia Collection Refinement menu… I can hear them coming down the hall … I have 1 minute before they arrive in the lab… I quickly select 4 of the Quia activities, Save to My Portfolio in a folder shared in the School Portfolio… the 5th grade class has arrived and I am ready to help them with their geography project and also direct them to some extra activities!
netTrekker d.i. has over 70 Quia resources catalogued in the Elementary section. Some of the more popular include activities to help students practice 
geography and map skills. Jeopardy-like games are utilized to practice reading skills for the emerging reader – by practice alphabetizing, rhyming words, and word families.
netTrekker di has over 130 Quia resources catalogued in the Middle School section. Some of the most popular include activities to help students practice matching up the World Language vocabulary. And to get students off to a good start on a research paper – have them play a challenge board game to review info needed for a research paper.
netTrekker di has over 140 Quia resources catalogued in the High School section. Some of the most popular include activities to help students review economics vocabulary. 
Newton’s 3 Laws of Physics can be confusing – until a student practices matching the terms with the definition.
Quia provides high-interest activities for the student by providing them with an interactive game to practice and learn skills and facts. Even though the students think that they are playing games, they will actually be learning geography!
As an added bonus by using Quia within netTrekker d.i. – you have the assistive tools for your students to use with the Quia activities – Assessments with Assistance! Dictionary HotKey provides definitions and translations for the instructions listed with the Quia activity, and for those students needing auditory support, instructions can be read to the student with the Read Aloud feature.
New Free Content: National Humanities Center Collection
(Note: This blog post is the first in a series of posts about nT’s collections, through which you’ll learn about netTrekker d.i.’s highly valued content partners.)
As part of netTrekker d.i.’s latest publish, three-hundred teacher resources from National Humanities Center (NHC) have been added to the Social Studies and Language Arts trees. These resources have been harvested from the NHC Toolbox Library, which offers free access to primary resources, from historical and literary texts to works of art.
Educators will benefit greatly from how these primary resources are bundled with teaching suggestions and strategies, discussion questions, and notes, all created and compiled by college professors, K-12 teachers, and NHC staff.
You can access the all of the newest NHC links by simply doing a keyword search for “National Humanities Center.”
Or, use select “National Humanities Center” in the Collections Refinement Menu to find NHC resources within
keyword search results, for example, on “Native Americans” or “Civil War” or “Gilded Age.”
netTrekker’s new NHC links cover America’s beginnings, Nationalism and Sectionalism in the U.S., the Gilded Age, and African American identity.
Refine a keyword search for “African Americans” to find great NHC resources–pulled from the three-volume series “The Making of African American Identity”–just in time for Black History Month.
nT’s resources from Volume I, which covers African American history from 1500 to 1865, offer materials for study of slavery and emancipation as well as African Americans’ involvement in the Civil War and contributions to art and literature. Volume II (1865-1917) explores life for African Americans following freedom, and you’ll find a wealth of documents and related materials for studying the works of Charles W. Chesnutt and W.E.B DuBois, and for examining the institutions and political actions that shaped African American men and women in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Finally, Volume III (1917-1968) follows the further development of African American identity through years of segregation, protest, and changing perception of race in twentieth-century America. You’ll find nT links to primary documents from Marcus Garvey, Alice Walker, Malcom X, Gwendolyn Brooks, Zora Neale Hurston, Martin Luther King, Jr., and many, many others. 
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