netTrekker Blog

Doing More with Less

“Doing more with less.”  This statement, unfortunately, has become far too familiar to many in education today.  The budget crisis facing schools around the country has been all over the news both in the education “world” and in the national news.  It’s difficult to hear about the stories of districts facing classrooms with 40+ students per teacher, of 4-day school weeks, and of drastic cuts in teachers and other instructional staff. And although I’ve never been in the classroom as an educator, I grew up with two parents who were teachers and have children who will soon be heading into the public school system, so I find it even more difficult to consider the impact these budget issues might have on our students’ education, both in the near and distant future.

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But in the midst of all the negative news about the budget crisis, there are also some positive stories surfacing about how some districts and schools are facing these difficult challenges in innovative ways. Sometimes the problems of having to do more with less can force us to take a step back and consider how we might do things differently. Districts and schools are finding new ways to help teachers collaborate and share teaching resources and best practices, new models for delivering professional development using just-in-time and online options, new ways to offer students robust course options by providing more online courses, and many are considering moving from printed textbooks and curriculum resources to engaging digital content.

At netTrekker, we want to help you get through these difficult times and have a positive impact on your students’ education.  With a commitment to improving education through innovation and technology and to providing equitable access to digital resources for every learner. . . netTrekker can help you as you explore options for doing more with less.

“Recent budget cuts have reduced our teacher librarian support at the middle level, so we’re training classroom teachers to use all of netTrekker’s tools. As everyone tries to do more with less, netTrekker will help us organize Internet resources, differentiate instruction, and address the language needs and reading levels of our diverse student population.”

Julie Bowline
Director of Instructional Technology and Library Services
Adams 12 Five Star Schools, CO

Tags: netTrekker, resources

Getting There is Half the Battle

It’s a joke amongst my family and friends that I’m geographically challenged. I am probably the only person in the world who can get lost with a GPS unit. Just ask anyone who’s ever had the pleasure to drive with me. Even a 5 minute trip to SeaWorld can turn into a 20 minute drive.

I’ve learned to check out maps before I go on a trip and look at the physical view of the road for each turn. This way I am familiar with the route and won’t be so dependent on a tool that may not have the most up to date maps. I actually enjoy reading maps, a lesson I learned from both my father and my one college semester in ROTC.  I had a favorite tool, but recently, I discovered another – Rand McNally Maps and Directions. It’s a resource located in netTrekker’s Reference Section under Maps, Geography, and Almanacs.

On my last trip I used this resource to get directions and explore things to do during my stay. It even has hotel suggestions for the area! The tool is great to plan a trip, and since my first map was a Rand McNally Map, it’s now one that I trust.

Tags: directions, maps, Rand Mcnally, resources

Top 10 Reasons Future Teachers Love netTrekker

Shared by Education Students
Dr. Douglas Hazlett’s Integrated Instructional Systems Class
Thiel College Education Department, PA

1.  “netTrekker allows future teachers to use materials and resources that are credible and reliable – saving us valuable time planning our first units.” (Saves Time)

2.  “netTrekker is a resource for materials that are based on standards AND provide differentiated instruction.” (Standards-Aligned)

3.  “Searches for photos and videos are safe, unlike a general search engine such as Google™.” (Safe Searching)

4.  “Organized resources that can be individualized for student needs, including gifted and special needs students.” (Personalize Learning)

5.  “netTrekker pulls together all the aspects necessary for learning to take place while making instruction more engaging.” (Engaging Students)

6.  “netTrekker helps incorporate technology into the classroom while accommodating all learning styles.” (Technology Integration)

7.  “netTrekker is organized and easy to navigate which means less of a headache for teachers.” (Easy to Use)

8.  “The Read Aloud and Dictionary/Translation tools will dramatically help ELL/ESL students.” (Support for ELL/ESL Students)

9.  “Ideas and information for classroom management, professional development, learning styles and strategies, special education, and more.” (Teacher Tools)

10.  “netTrekker provides a lot of tips and resources for helping our students become 21^st century global players.” (21^st Century Learning)

“From freshman students investigating education topics through seniors doing their student teaching; Thiel’s educaiton students made great use of netTrekker.  Thiel College requires all education majors to develop standards-based lesson plans using engaging pedagogy (like Marzano’s instructional strategies) in fun creative ways using a variety of instructional strategies for all learners.  netTrekker is a tremendous digital assistant in this process. netTrekker provides all the answers for college students to design standards-based lessons using engaging pedagogies to increase student achievement for all learners.  Special features like timeline are very popular with students especially history majors.  Science majors love all of the interactive websites that are suggested with a keyword search.  All students use the image search feature.  netTrekker is just a tremendous resource for college education majors and K-12 teachers alike.”

Douglas R. Hazlett, Ph.D.
Chair and Associate Professor
Education Department
Thiel College

Tags: 21st Century Learning, ELL, ESL, integration, netTrekker, professional development, read aloud, resources, Teacher Tools

Resource Round Up

We are often asked how a teacher can recommend a site or other great resource for netTrekker. These resources are often either great state or local websites, resources for very specific science topics, great book links, sites that are available in other languages, and great cultural resources. Sometimes it’s just a great personal website with lots of curriculum connections. We want to include these resources, and so we are pleased to announce a very easy form for you to submit them for our content editors to review, align to standards and have added to netTrekker for every student and teacher to use.

To submit a resource, you will need access to netTrekker Village. That means you need to be a member! Once you are a member, check out the form under Events titled “Resource Round Up“. Fill in as many details as you can and submit it. Make sure to include your name and a legitimate email so we can contact you once your resource is added in, or in case we need more information.

While you are at netTrekker Village, take a look at the new events added to the calendar. If you would like to host an event, in order to share a website tool found in netTrekker or a great lesson, please contact Danielle Abernethy. We’re hosting topics such as Museum Box, Social Networking, and netTrekker specific. Join us for one or more today!

By submitting new resources or taking part in an event, you help make us stronger and more resourceful for all of your research needs. To say thank you, you will automatically be entered in our monthly Power Networking Contest.

Tags: content, curriculum, events, museumbox, netTrekker, netTrekker Village, resources, social networking

nT’s Latest Update: Over 4,800 NEW Resources

netTrekker’s Content Editors are happy to announce that the latest update offers over 4,800 new resources, just in time to boost the classroom experience during these final weeks of the school year, which, as we all know, are often plagued by spring fever, thoughts of summer vacation, and senioritis. A vast majority of our new items reside in the Science and Social Studies areas. Take some time to check out some of the new offerings listed and described below.

Science

1,000 of our new resources are in Science, and 185 of these are new from NASA, bringing our grand total of NASA resources to over 1,200. Noteworthy NASA sites include:

• NASA Earth Observatory’s “Global Maps”, offering a visual exploration of our Earth’s Land Surface Temperature, Snow Cover, Total Rainfall, and Chlorophyll Concentrations;
• NASA’s Educator Guides, which cover topics like Astronaut Training, the Solar System, Spaceflight History, Mars’ Missions, and important Physics concepts and how they apply to Space Exploration.

In addition, more links from PreparatoryChemistry.com have been added, bringing our total from this excellent Science online-textbook site to 114 resources. We’ve also added links from the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis’ Dinosphere, Carbon Footprint, Weather Wiz Kids, and the Lemelson Center’s Spark!Lab.

Social Studies

Nearly 2,000 of our new resources are in Social Studies, and notable items you’ll find include biographies of Civil Rights Activists, courtesy of the National Park Service’s International Civil Rights: Walk of Fame website. Individuals profiled through this site include President Jimmy Carter, Lena Horne, and Rev. Jesse Jackson. You can find a majority of these biographies by doing a search for “Civil Rights Activists” or through a drill-down search (Social Studies>U.S. History>The Upheaval of a Nation (1960 to 1975)>American Society>Social Revolution>Minorities>Civil Rights Movement>Civil Rights Activists).

You’ll also want to look at resources from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African History and Culture, which is scheduled to open in 2015. This site has a wealth of classroom resources, including an interactive timeline that “provides a sweep of the events and individuals that have shaped the African American experience from the earliest days of America until the present day.” Also from the Smithsonian are 29 new links from the National Postal Museum, featuring stamps commemorating famous people and events, bringing our total from this site to 96.

In addition to these, the Social Studies tree subject area continues to be filled with sites on the current financial crisis, pages from the new reorganized WhiteHouse.gov, and various resources from the Library of Congress, PBS, and CongressLink.org, which provides information about the U.S. Congress, how it works, its members, and the policies it produces.

Math & Language Arts

Math and Language Arts teachers, we’ve got your areas covered, too, with nearly 1,000 new resources, including many from the following sites:

• MathsIsFun.com: A collection of lesson plans, interactive worksheets and manipulatives, diagrams, and tips for elementary and middle-school math, covering arithmetic, geometry, data, algebra, measurement, and money skills;
• PearsonLongman.com: Lab Activities as part of a collection of “Sentence Resources for Writers”, which cover the writing process, parts of speech, fragments and run-ons, punctuation, good word choice, and other important grammar topics;
• BBC.co.uk:  From GCSE Bitesize’s English Literature section, a collection of study guides on context, plot, character, and theme, for important literary works such as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Frankenstein, Jane Eyre, Of Mice and Men, and Othello.

Tags: resources

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.

Tags: animals, globio, lessons, resources, science, The Collections